Jakarta

Last night I arrived in Jakarta on a one hour flight from Singapore. It is 7 pm here, exactly 12 hours later than the time in New Haven, and I am admittedly jet-lagged. Travelling from New Haven to Asia was tiring; a total of about 22 hours of air travel, plus all the time waiting in lines, sitting on the runway, etc.

My day in Singapore was fun. The Changi airport is nicer than any I've seen. It is a combination of shopping mall, hotel, tourist agency, food court, military camp, and airport. Why military? All the airport guards (and there are many) carry large machine guns. I wont' try to brink any illegal water bottles on the plane, I promise...

After arriving at midnight I was able to buy a shower and a nap. The shower was nice and the nap even better -- three hours' rest in a dark room with blanket and pillow, with an alarm to wake me after my doze.

Upon waking, I wandered around the airport and discovered that free tours of Singapore are offered each day. So I signed up for a tour. We departed the airport at about 9 am, on a fancy greyhound-type bus complete with tour guide. The group drove to downtown Singapore, which is a strange mix of colonial buildings and high-rise structures. And it is colorful! The windows of many buildings look like a child's crayon box - yellow green blue orange and purple. From the buses we moved onto small boats that drove us around downtown waterways. Not to impressive, but it was nice to get out into the sun for a bit, after all the airport time. We saw the mascot of Singapore -- a lion's head on a mermaid's tail -- representing the fierce- and royal-ness of the country, combined with it's dependence on the sea. At least that's what our tour operator said.

Back in Changi, I found the exercise room and ran for about an hour, and then found a free foot-massager (conveniently placed throughout the airport) and relaxed before my flight to Jakarta.

Martin (one of Lisa's colleagues who works for Simpur Hutan, my NGO sponsor) met me at the airport and helped me get set up with a hotel room and food for dinner. After fighting off sleep throughout dinner, I was happy to return to the hotel and crash for about 12 hours. I have rarely been so tired. Today I woke, showered, and wandered outside to find food and a cell phone. I very much need to learn bahasa indonesia! So frustrating not to be able to effectively communicate with the people who surround me. Once again, just as in Thailand, my blond hair makes me stand out. Kids stare, and adults smile. Oh well.

Now I'm off to find dinner. Tomorrow is visiting LIPI to fill out documents for my visa.