the big adventure part one

i am sat at the desk of a room on the thirty third floor of the Swissotel Stamford Singapore, it is four twenty in the morning local time. Anthony is still asleep and i am trying to be as quiet as possible so as not to wake him. As usual i have not managed my sleep pattern very well but it will all sort itself out by tomorrow morning. The adventure began two days ago, again i woke early and then had too much time to waste before the off, but eventually we left the house and headed to the train station with Marthe, the trains ran perfectly and after two and a bit hours we were in London. Even the underground didn't give us any trouble, despite it being rush hour we got seats, it was very hot and a little over crowded but it got us there in good time and relative comfort.
At Heathrow we had to go to terminal four and see if i could check in, i could not, i was too early and would have to come back at 8.45, 2 and a bit hours later, so i sent ant off so he could get himself sorted for work and amused myself. Terminal four is horrible now, there were no seats in departures so i went down to arrivals and mooched about. I tried to book into the pod hotel for a couple of hours but they were full so i found a seat and read some of the short history of australia. Eventually the time came to go back to the staff travel desk, it is always harrowing experience, not knowing if you will get on the flight, but this time the pressure was more intense. I got chatting with a lady stood waiting, she was traveling with the captain so i knew she would get on. Finally our names were called, they gave me a seat in club, lovely, so i rushed through security and got to the gate, it was already boarding, we went straight to the executive channel and were informed we had been bumped back down to cattle class, a bit of disappointment but we had got on.
When we boarded the flight we introduced ourselves to the csd and were ushered in to a galley to wait till they could re seat us, when everyone was on we were seated, 4a, my usual seat in first class, couldn't be happier. I forwent the champagne but tucked into the macadamia nuts, my favourite nut, perused the menu and the wine list then planned my viewing choices. Finally were got off the ground and the journey began, the flight was long but the seat very comfortable, the little pre-dinner nibbles were lovely, i was a little disappointed that the crayfish ravioli had gone by the time i ordered my meal, but that's the way of things. I had an asparagus salad starter, then a lamb curry thing that stripped all the tastebuds from my tongue, half a glass of pinot noir, a very nice chocolate desert and then settled in to the films, Wolverine the beginnings, not bad, then Star Treck, simply awful. I tried to get to sleep but only managed a couple of hours.
Singapore was just as i remembered it, i got through the airport quickly, not stopping to find the roof top bar i love to go to for a smoke, headed straight outside and was hit by the damp heat, then enjoyed that smoke so long in coming for the last fourteen hours. The crew were out quickly and we headed into the city. At the hotel we got to our room, very comfortable, with the biggest firmest bed and best view of any hotel i have ever stayed in, refreshed ourselves then headed to the mall to get provisions for a room picnic. Back in the room we settled in or a relaxing night, i quickly polished off a chicken teryaki burger and a scallop thing in rice, delicious and very cheap from mos burger, and ant had a huge bucket of chicken nuggets. We relaxed and opened the bottle of wine we had bought, ant was asleep before he had had two sips so i drank a glass and finished his then went to sleep too.