Day 1 - Off to Singapore

I’d love to say the lead-up to this holiday has been full of excitement, but honestly, the last month has mostly been spent battling a stubborn cough that just wouldn’t let go.

Thankfully, by Tuesday I finally started to feel properly on the mend, and by Wednesday the coughing fits were far fewer than they’d been in weeks. For those of you who follow HRV (not the heating systems), mine actually returned to its normal range for the first time in a month and a day when I woke up this morning. That was surprising considering I only managed about six hours of sleep.

After a quick breakfast and a last tidy-up around the house, it was time to say goodbye to the cat and call an Uber. My driver, Voltaire, was from the Philippines. His father apparently named him after a Frenchman he once knew. We had a pleasant drive to the airport, chatting about how underpaid emergency service workers are, despite being the people everyone relies on in a crisis. That conversation then turned into a chat about how broken the American healthcare system is.

I arrived at the airport around 8 a.m., with plenty of time before boarding at 10:20. I definitely take after my mum when it comes to being early rather than stressing about being late. Going through customs, my bag was pulled aside. I assumed it was for the usual battery check, but no. It turned out I had forgotten to take out the large tube of toothpaste in my toiletry bag. I always have a small one in it, but for some reason I had a large one in there as well. Whoops.

With that sorted, I headed to Duty Free, only to realise I had also forgotten a travel essential, my universal plug adapter. They had plenty of single-country adapters on offer, but nothing that would cover me for multiple stops. Bugger. I’ll have to try my luck in Singapore.

Now I am on the plane. I have a window seat this time, not my first choice since I prefer the aisle so I can get up and walk around when I like, but at least the seat between me and my row-mate is empty. That gives us both some extra leg room, which is a bonus.

Just before takeoff, I managed to sign up for the airline’s rewards program. That means free Wi-Fi on this and the next few flights, not a bad little win to start the trip.