Jason's Trip Around The World, and now Expat life in Singapore

Well it has been a long time since I have wrote a travel related post on here! Since Kevin has recently moved to Asia, we are somewhat near each other, and we both were looking at a vacation. So I suggested we try India, I had never been there, and it has been on my list. So after some planning, we decided to meet in Mumbai, the way flights worked out we arrived pretty much around the same time.

First thing I noticed when I got out of the airport was the air quality, it really smelt like there was a forest fire near by, I thought nothing of it, and since it was late in the evening, and we got into the taxi and headed to the hotel. Traffic in Mumbai involves a fair amount of honking, and is rather crazy, but I have seen worse, so no big deal. We get to the hotel, Chateau Windsor in the Churchgate area of Mumbai. It was decent enough, and surprisingly quite clean, which is always a bonus!

We spent a few days exploring that area of Mumbai, and found a few nice restaurants, and a couple nice bars, prices were not cheap if you wanted something nice, but street food, and some restaurants were quite inexpensive. Odd thing was that nearly every restaurant had Chinese food on the menu, and I didn't even see that many Chinese there! Kevin fell ill one day, so I ventured out on my own, it is a very dirty city. But the people are friendly, and it is easy to get around, however there are these older taxi's that have the meter on the outside, and they display a number, we had no idea what this number meant, and would give the taxi drivers some money, and they would look confused, and we would hand them a bit more, and go, as not all taxi drivers spoke English. I then found a magazine that had a guide on what the numbers meant, and it turned out we were paying 3 or 4 times what were should have been for some taxi fares, but even that was still quite cheap, so I guess that is why they were confused, we were handing them too big of a bill to start with. Live and learn!

We took a boat trip out to the Elephant Caves, just a place that had a bunch of old carvings from 1500 years ago or so, nothing to spectacular, but was a nice break from the city, and it was interesting to see some similarities to those carvings and to Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

Mumbai was a neat city, and I think there was a lot we missed there, but really I can't see myself going back there anytime soon. We then went to Goa, I will write about that next.

Posted by Jason Willock

Well this is a pretty hard blog to write. After 2.5 years of living with Tan, we have separated, I have moved out.
It was an interesting 2.5years, lots of great times, and a few sad points as well. There was always a chance this would happen, and I would be left alone in a strange country, this was a risk I took when I chose to move across the world, but I would do it again if I could do it over, as I do have many fond memories of our time together.

So now I am single in Singapore, It has been quite a while since I have been on a date with someone new, so it will be weird to start again. I think it will take a while before I can actually handle that. So I will just have some me time for now.

Fortunately I was able to move in to the company house, it's a nice big house in Siglap, a pretty nice area of the city, with lots of restaurants, and a few pubs, which is nice. I am sharing the house with 4 other co-workers, 3 brits, and a dutch guy. It is a very big house, so there is still some privacy, or so it seems, I have only been there for 2 nights. But I have gotten my room all set up, HDTV and Xbox360, all a guy really needs right?

The day I moved out was a pretty emotional day, a lot of tears were shed by both of us, it was an amicable break up, and hopefully we will remain friends, as we do have lots of history together, I have seemed to remain friends with most of my ex’s in the past, but Tan was the only one I ever lived with, so it does put a unique spin on the situation.

I am sure I will be fine, just will take some time to mend the broken heart, I am planning to be in Goa, India first part of Feb, if anyone is interested in joining along!

Posted by Jason Willock

Had a recent trip from London to Bangkok, on British Airways Flight #9, I was originally ticketed for there World Traveler Class (Premium Economy), but when I went to go board the plane, I heard the beep, and usually that means your seat has been changed, I had asked for an aisle seat as opposed to my window seat so I thought that was the case, but it was even better, I got upgraded to Club World (Business Class).
I expect one of the reasons is because I gave them my Cathay Pacific Silver Card, so maybe trying to woo me over to BA. Who knows, I was happy none the less.

I had no idea what to expect on this BA Flight, I knew it was continuing on to Sydney, so I figured it would be a nice plane.

Took my seat, and was quite happy to see that it is a full lay down seat, with lots of room, and a nice big screen. The strange thing was I facing someone who was facing towards the back of the plane, kind of strange, there is a privacy screen that goes up in between, but that has to come down every time the flight crew need to serve a meal or a drink ,which is rather bizarre seeing your neighbor, every now and then again. The seat has a drawer at your feet, than you can put your laptop, and valuables in, and it is secure when you put the seat in bed mode, I think that’s a great idea.

I was quite tired, and a bit tipsy, as I had a few pints of beer at a bar in LHR T3, but decided to eat dinner, when I saw that it was roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, one of my favorites, that my mom used to make, however haven't had it in ages. So I placed my order, and started on the salad and seafood appetizer with a nice glass of white wine. My eyes were starting to get very heavy, as even though it was only midnight in London time, my body clock was still in Singapore time, so it was nearing 7am!

Finally my dinner arrived, the food service really seemed slow, maybe just because I was tired, but I don't think 2 hours after take off for the main course to arrive is acceptable on a late night flight. The food arrived, and it was a huge chunk of beef, which was dry, and very tough to cut with my dull airplane knife, the Yorkshire was nothing like my mom made, but it was ok, I ate what I could, and then decided I would skip dessert, which is a tough choice for me, went to brush my teeth, then put my seat into bed mode, and put on my eye shade, and head phones with some audio track that was soothing, and called something like sounds to sleep to. I quickly fell asleep, and awoke about 5 hours later, feeling quite well rested. Went to get some water, and was given a dirty glass, and a nearly empty 1.5L bottle of water, so I asked someone else for my own bottle of water, and was given, my own bottle which I promptly finished right there. (I was very very thirsty)

Went back to my seat, and watched a movie, and waited for breakfast to come, they started serving an hour before landing, which is a perfect time, incase you wanted to get as much sleep as possible, had some fruit and some omelet, it was decent enough, as good as airline breakfasts can be I guess.

Most of the flight was continuing on to Sydney, I had to hunt down someone who would give me a Thailand Immigration card, the service on this flight was mediocre, but I guess I am spoiled by the Asian airline service, I would probably chose Cathay Pacific over British Airways, if I had to fly in the Oneworld Alliance in Business Class again, but it was still quite nice, and I thank them for the upgrade!

Posted by Jason Willock

On my journey back home from Canada I was using some frequent flyer miles I had accumulated, and booked AA169 LAX-NRT in First Class, seat 3J. I was quite excited for this, as it would be the first time flying in true 1st class cabin, sure Air Canada Executive First, close, but it's more like a business class product. So I was excited to see what the first class experience would be like, I checked how much it would cost to buy that ticket online, and it was over $12000usd so I had some high expectations.

It started out nice, being granted access to the first class Admirals lounge at LAX, which was nice, nothing to mind blowing, but some nice food, and comfy chairs, and a lot less crowded than the normal lounge.

It was time to board the flight, so I exited out the lounge and headed to the gate, walked through the 1st class line, and was greated at the door by a nice flight attendant, nice, but old, well into her 60's I would imagine, she greated me and escorted me to my seat, it's weird turning left to board a plane, and not right. I then got my first view of the American Airlines Cabin, and wow was I dissapointed, it was like being transported back in time, I am sure the cabin was 10+ years old, and I am sure was very nice in it's day, but it was very dated looking, ugly brown leather seats, they were full lay down, and you had a lot of space, but it was just old and tired looking. I took my seat, and had a look around, it was very dusty and a bit dirty, so when they came by with the warm face cloth, I decided to use it to clean the eating tray, and various other areas like the hand controls, the cloth was certainly not white anymore, it wasn't that dirty, just a lot of dust I guess.

Enjoyed a glass of champagne and took a look around at the other people in the cabin, it was quite empty, there are 16 seats, and there was 6 people in the cabin, and then the relief captain had a seat as well, so 7. And 2 flight attendants, both in there 60's so I figured service would be good, and it was, they were very friendly, and I think there goal was to get me drunk, as they kept offering me wines, I tried both of there white wines, and they were quite nice, can't recall the names though..

Dinner was also very good, and alot of it, again can't recall the exact menu, I should really start taking pictures of these menu's, or just take them with me, or write these reviews sooner! Oddly all I can recall is the very nice ice cream sundae for desert, so I have a sweet tooth!

The ammenity kit was typical, and contained everything you need for a long flight.

The entertainment system was as old as the cabin, I pulled out the screen from it's hidden compartment and saw what maybe was the first touch screen made, a small 6 or 7" screen with a visible grid of where you can touch, I watched one movie before going to sleep, and after a while you don't really notice the grid anymore, but still pretty crappy. I wanted to charge my ipod touch, as I played somegames, and I use it to read the news, and searched for the power outlet, I found it, and well it was the old cigarette style plug in, who on earth carry's one of those power adapters with them anymore! And of course no USB plug in, so the touch remained dead.

I had a nice sleep, the blanket and pillow were quite nice and comfy, and there was lots of room to lay down and get your self comfortable, and I guess that is the important part, however if I was to have paid $12k for that flight, I would have been rather dissapointed, considering there are so many options from LAX-NRT why would you choose to pay for AA?

Posted by Jason Willock

On my last visit home to Canada, I had the pleasure of flying Air Canada from Tokyo to Vancouver in Business Class.

The cabin, and the seats on this plane were great, full laydown seats, in a relativley new cabin, very similar to Cathay Pacific's business class product. The service is maybe not as good as Cathay Pacific, but I enjoyed the food more, perhaps because it is catered to a Canadian taste.

I can't recall what was exactly on the menu, but I do recall the food was nice, and there was lots of it. Plus since I am Air Canada Super Elite, I got my first choice of what was on the menu, a nice touch to reward there frequent flyers.

The entertainment system is also top notch, with a large touch screen, loaded with tons of movies, and of course some Canadian content, which is actually nice when you have been away from home for a long time.

You get a ncie little ammenity kit, with everything you need to make your flight comfortable, and the nice self serve bar is a nice touch

I would put Air Canada right in the top of my favorite business class product that I have tried, right next with Cathay Pacific.

Posted by Jason Willock

Last week I had to fly from LAX - Singapore. And luckily for me I got to fly with Thai Air via Bangkok on flight TG795, even more lucky I got to fly in Premium Economy, I sat in seat 34F, and the middle seat in the row was empty, which is nice, but with the space available, it would not have been too noticeable if someone was sitting there.

Thai Air's premium economy is much different than say United Airlines Premium Economy. It's a service in between Business and economy, your in your own cabin, and you get slightly nicer meals than in economy, but not as nice as Business Class.

The plane was a A340-500 with 42" Pitch and 19" Width with 122 degrees of recline, there are 42 seats in the Premium Economy Cabin, so it gives you a lot of space, and is quite quiet. The seats also come with a leg rest, but I actually found it rather useless unless I was sitting straight up. However I did get to sleep quite comfortably on the the long 17 hour journey from LAX-BKK. 3 Meals were served on this flight, all with numerous choices of main dish. I had a tasty chicken curry and a nice noodle dish, I slept through the 2nd meal service.

Service on Thai Air is quite pleasant, with a very happy and friendly flight crew, and the on board entertainment system, with nice large touch screen helps the time go by on what is currently the 5th longest non-stop route at 8270miles.

The price of the ticket was also quite reasonable at just over $1500usd for a oneway last minute flight from LAX-SIN, only slightly more than most economy class tickets, I will certainly be asking to fly this airline again if at all possible, even in regular economy class you get more leg room than Singapore Air, and I prefer the long flight followed by a short 2 hour flight, as compared with the SQ LAX-NRT-SIN route, which is an 11.5 hour flight followed by a 7 hour flight.

Safe Travels.

Posted by Jason Willock

I have decided I will start blogging about some of my courier trips. See if there is an interest in them.

It was Sunday, and just finished making a nice breakfast, usually Sundays there are no trips, so we were making plans on the day, then the phone rang, it was the courier company asking if I was available to fly today, as they had two trips, one to Los Angeles and the other to Guadalajara Mexico. I said sure I am available and would prefer the trip to LA, since it is a shorter trip, and the pay is the same for both of them.

About an hour later, got the call that the job was confirmed, and to be at the airport for 4:30. Met a guy from the company who had my shipment, fortunately it was just one small box, really makes things easier, I don't have to check it in, and can just carry it on board.
Also met the guy who was going to Mexico, he was going to be on the same flight to Hong Kong with me, first time that has happened, it was nice to talk to him for a bit, and trade some stories about some trips.

I was flying Cathay Pacific to LAX via Hong Kong. Cathay Pacific or (CX) is part of the OneWorld Alliance, and unfortunately I do not have status with them yet. All that really means is I have to use the regular check in line, and don't get access to the lounge, and am unlikely to get a decent seat. The check in line was actually quite empty so there was little wait, and after no time I had my boarding passes for my two flights, and happily they were both Aisle seats, even though they were way in the back of the plane, I was happy with getting an Aisle Seat.

First flight CX716 SIN-HKG. As with all flights on this route the plain was full, it was a decent Boeing 777 and had a personal video screen, I was in 55C, and had a couple of nice ladies sitting next to me, they were Asian, and part of a tour group, but what was unique about them as when they spoke they had really strong scottish accents, weird hearing a scottish accent out of an Asian lady. The meal on the flight was nothing memorable, as I can't recall what it was exactly, not great, but not bad, filled the gap. All in all it was a pleasant enough 3 hour flight to Hong Kong.

Checked in with the company at Hong Kong, as was told the client needed a copy of the invoice I had with me faxed to them, normally this is not a problem, as I can go to the lounge and use there fax machine, but since I did not have access on this flight I had to find a lounge that would let me use there fax machine. Oddly enough the other courier had to receive a fax for his entry documents to Mexico, so we set off together looking for a lounge. The first lounge said no fax machine, but that there was one near Gate 24, which was an internet kiosk place, and they did indeed have a fax machine, but alas they were closed. So set off looking again, and found a pay per use lounge. I have used this chain before in Kuala Lumpur to send a fax, so I asked if we could pay to send and receive a fax, they said no they don't have a fax machine. I then pointed to the fax machine sitting right next to them, and they said, oh yes but can not use it. I said ok, what if we were to pay for lounge entrance, can we then use the fax machine, and they said sure. Fortunately a manager over heard the conversation, and said it was no problem to pay for just a fax, and instructed them on how to do it in there system. After some time we sent and received our faxes for a total cost of $4usd, much cheaper then the $50 lounge entrance fee.

I then had to rush to my gate to board my flight, the other courier was on a later flight to San Francisco.
Got to the gate, went through the second layer of security where they checked my backpack for bottled water, and inspected my box of microchips. Boarded flight CX716 HKG-LAX. It was another Boeing 777 but had the strange capsule type seats in a 3-3-3 configuration, which is my favorite configuration if I can get a middle aisle seat, which I did, 65G way in the back of the plane, but doesn't bother me. it was a pretty full flight, and had two guys sitting in the other two seats, but fortunately the guy in the middle seat found another window seat that was free, that he took instead, which made for a much happier flight. The flight was delayed nearly an hour, as they were waiting for passengers from a connecting flight that was late, I believe it was from Manila, and there were about 20 late arrivals, fortunately none of them were sitting in the window seat that the guy sitting next to me went to, so had the extra space for the flight I have mixed feelings about these seats from Cathay Pacific, they don't recline, instead the bottom of the seat slides out to make it like a recline seat, however this really cuts into the precious legroom pace, the plus side is that the person in front of you can not recline into your space. I don't find them that comfortable, but they are very solid, and I did sleep well, so well in fact that I did not watch any movies on the nice in seat screen. 2 meals were served, the first meal since I was at the back of the plane, I did not get a choice as all they had left was some fish in a sauce with some rice and vegetables, that was quite disgusting actually, but I wasn't that hungry, as it was after midnight, and I was wanting to get some sleep. Woke up, with about 2 hours left in the 12 hour flight, found out that there was some great tail winds, and we were going to be 30minutes early, even after our hour delay. Breakfast was then served, had a choice between some chicken noodle dish, or omelet with bacon and sausage. I don't really lke omelets, but was not in the mood for noodles, so took the omelet, was surprised that it was a nice chunk of real bacon, and tasty sausage, the omelet however was super salty, and only had a couple bites. before moving on to the fruit and yoghurt.

Landed at Los Angeles and turned on my phone to find my customs entry # and contact info for the person I am meeting at the airport. Had to take a bus to the terminal, and since I was at the back of the plane got on to the last bus and had to wait for all the people in wheel chairs to get loaded on as well. About a 10minute drive to the terminal where I got off and zipped down the immigration line, which was quite long, had to wait about 30 minutes or so, then off to customs, and fortunately there was no line and they found my paper work quickly, and I was out of there in 10minutes. Made contact with the driver who would take the box to it's final destination, and job was done!

This trip I had an overnight stay, so I booked a room at the Holiday Inn LAX, a decent hotel close to the airport, since it was late in the evening, around 10:30, not much else I could do, hopped on the shuttle bus and checked in and got upgraded to an executive room, as I am a Priority Points member, but no status with them yet either. Room was nice, on the top floor, opposite side of the airport, so less noise. I was a bit hungry, and not really tired, so I headed to the Taco Bell near the hotel. I am not sure what it is, but I really miss Taco Bell! There must have been a high school basketball convention going on as there were tons of super tall teenagers roaming the hotel, never seen so many 7' tall kids before, I felt short!

Got a few hours sleep, and watched some TV, my flight back was not until 2pm, I could have done some shopping in LA but I was lazy and didn't really think of anything I needed. After another couple Taco's I headed back to the airport for my flight back. The flight back was with Singapore Airlines or (SQ). They are part of the Star Alliance network, where I have gold status with Air Canada, and United. However SQ doesn't really seem to do much for other airline partners members. The night before I tried to check in online, and saw that I was in a middle seat on a completely full flight, so I was kind of dreading the flight back home. Got to the airport, and the check-in line was massive for economy class easily 1.5hours! But I went to the business class and gold member line, and was immediately checked in. I was prepared to start begging for an aisle seat, when the check in guy said, we got you an exit row aisle seat! I said wow thats great. 39C for LAX-NRT-SIN on SQ11. Went through security, which took about 20minutes, and then zipped up to the super nice Star Alliance Lounge, where I had a couple beers, and watched a bit of some baseball game. It was then time to board the flight, again the line was very long and chaotic, but the joys of having status, I just waltzed in the business/gold line, and was at my seat in no time. It was as usual with this flight, which I have done several times, the old boeing 747, with crappy old screens, and old uncomfortable seats, but since I had unlimited leg room, I was not complaining.. A few people even commented how lucky the 3 of us sitting in those seats were, I had two guys next to me, a Singaporean, and an Indian guy, nice quiet small guys, always nice to have as neighbors on a long flight. The drawback with sitting in Row 39 is that the middle section is where they place the families with the small babies, and this was no exception, fortunately they weren't that loud, and only a few small outbursts during the flight.

The service on SQ is really great, CX is also very good, but SQ is just one step above, I don't recall the first meal, I do recall the desert which is always a favorite of mine on SQ flights, some yummy Ben & Jerry's ice cream. I was getting a bit tipsy, after 3 beers on the plane, and 2 in the lounge, normally I don't drink when I fly, but I really wanted to try to get some sleep, and wanted to see if drinking would help. It did, I slept quite well, except for being woken up a few times by the kid sitting behind me who for being so small seemed to kick the seat a lot! And her mom would grab the back of my seat every time she wanted to get up to the bathroom, and shook the seat violently each time, I complained once to her, but not sure she understood me. Oh well back to sleep, the 11.5 hour flight to Tokyo was ok, I got some sleep and awoke just in time for the next meal which was a choice of some Japanese Eel dish, or Beef Lasagna, as I was quite hungry, since I slept through the snacks SQ provides during the flight. I didn't want to risk the Japanese dish, and went with the Lasagna, it was ok, not great, not bad, filled the gap. We then landed in Tokyo for a 1.5hour stop over. Left the plane, went through security and was in the nice ANA lounge where I had a couple glasses of Perrier, and a few snacks, while checking my email and surfing the web. Re boarded the flight SQ11 NRT-SIN, which is just over 6 hours. Had a japanese seafood rice dinner, and watched some funny Korean Movie, and slept an hour or so, before arriving back in Singapore, at Changi Terminal 3. I love Changi Airport, and wish all airports were as efficient as this one, got off the plane, and got the immigration, where there was no line, it was 1am, but it is usually always like that, very small lines if any. Then if I had luggage it would likely already be there for me, then went to the taxi queue, and immediately hopped in a taxi for the 20minute ride and was home 30 minutes after the plane landed!

All in all an easy trip.

Posted by Jason Willock

In early January I found out I was going to be a father, at first I was a bit scared, but then the thought of having a cute little kid of my own made me happy, and I was excited that me and Tan were going to start a family together!

As the weeks grew on, and Tan's belly started to grow larger, I was more and more excited, and curious about what he or she would look like. Excited to teach, and learn both at the same time! I was talking to the baby inside Tan's belly, not sure exactly what to say, but talking nonetheless.

All this happiness came to an end however, as due to complications in the pregnancy we had to terminate it 18weeks 2 days in, on April 27th.
This has been the most emotional event in my life, just utter sadness, and emptiness. It certainly will take some time to heal these wounds, the healing begins today, with a ceremony for our little girl today at a temple in Bangkok.

Little One-

First Smile, First Step, First Word.
Won't get to be seen or be heard.

Wanted to teach you all I knew
Now that I just can't do.

You will always be in our heart
Didn't wish to have to part

Hope you are happy up above
For it's you I will always love

Posted by Jason Willock

GuideGecko.Com travel guide is a handy website if you are looking for Travel Guides for that upcoming trip you are planning. They offer Lonely Planet and other guidebooks at discounted prices - with free shipping in the Singapore, US, UK, and other countries. You can also list your old guide books for sale on there. When I was traveling I would always try to trade guide books with travelers going in the opposite direction as me, but at the end of the trip I always had a few guide books left.

If you are really creative, you can write and publish your own guide books for sale on there website, perhaps a good way to earn some money and help extend your back packing journey. You don't have to write a complete guide book, just share some tips you learnt along the way, that you think will help other travelers, or if you found a great hostel, pub or restaurant that you want to share with the world, write about it, and earn some cash.

Another way to earn money with GuideGecko.com is to sign up for there affiliate program, and link your website or blog to there page, and earn commission on any sales. So if you are interested in buying a guide book or two for an upcoming trip, be sure to click the button below, and shop away!

Posted by Jason Willock

Well recently I have flown across the ocean a fair bit, and most of that time it has been in economy. If your lucky enough to fly in Business Class or 1st class all the time, then you can ignore this.

Airlines are cutting back now, for the most part Asian and Middle East based airlines are a bit better than N. American based airlines, in the way of comfort, and service, and European airlines are in between the two.

Before you buy your ticket, check to see what kind of plane the flight is on, sometimes the same airline will have different planes for the same route. And some airlines have recently refreshed there older planes cabins, for example I recently flew Philippine Airlines, on a 747 from Manila to LAX, and it was brand new inside, and quite nice, much nicer than the old 747's that Singapore Airlines flies, even though Singapore Airlines is generally a much nicer airline, I enjoyed the Philippine Airlines flight more.
Seat Guru or Seat Expert are both handy sites to tell you what plane the flight will be on, and what features that plane has, like in seat entertainment, and power ports. It may be worth paying a small price more for a nicer cabin.

Choose your seat. If you can choose your seat, here are my suggestions, if your traveling alone, pick an Aisle Seat in the middle seats, I find 'G' seats are usually best, but check with the sites above, as different airlines put the entertainment boxes on different sides, so you have less leg room. If your 2 or more, some airlines have 2-5-2, 3-3-3 or 3-4-3 configurations, so if you can get two seats next to each other all alone, then your set.

If you don't have a very tight connection I suggest you sit near the back of the plane, not the very last row, as the seats don't recline much, but 3 or 4 rows from the back. The reason is that I find the back of the plane is usually less crowded, as everyone likes to sit at the front of the plane. So your more likely to get a whole row to your self, which is very nice! Who cares if your the last one off the plane, your generally going to be waiting for luggage anyways.

As for what to bring on the plane with you, here is a list of what I bring

1. Refillable Water Bottle - Planes are dry, around 10% humidity! You need to stay hydrated, once your settled in, and the flight attendants are not to busy, kindly ask one of them to fill your bottle up, if you can't fill it before boarding. They will be more than happy to do so.

2. Eye Mask - if you are wanting to get some sleep bring one, some airlines provide them, but most don't in economy. they come in handy because you have no idea if the person next to you, or in front of you is going to want to read the entire flight, and those lights can be bright!

3. Neck Pillow - At first I never flew with one of these, but I borrowed Tan's one flight, and it really did make a difference, especially if you don't have an empty seat next to you.

4. Ear Plugs - Again if your wanting to sleep, ear plugs can be a life saver, who knows how many babies, loud talkers, or snorers will be around you.

5. iPOD - Or other music device, you can use this instead of ear plugs as well. Load up some familiar soothing tracks to help you fall asleep.

6. Contact Lens Case with Solution - If you wear contacts either don't wear them on the day of the flight, and wear glasses, or take them off before you sleep, your eyes will thank you.

7. A Pen - For filling out immigration and customs forms.

8. Some snacks. - If your flying a nice airline like Singapore Airlines, they will feed you like crazy, so you don't need to worry about this, however if your flying an american based airline, you may get a little hungry I love munching into a nice apple when I wake up from a sleep on a plane. Apples, Granola Bars, are easy to bring in your bag.

9. Toothbrush and ToothPaste - Most Asian airlines provide these, please brush your teeth, if not for your own tooth health, for the comfort of the passengers around you!

10. Something to read. - Even if you have an Inflight Entertainment System at your seat, sometimes you can't find a movie you want to watch, bring a book, or a magazine. Often airlines will have some magazines for you to read as well but you have to grab them quick, check at the back of each section, there are often magazine racks.

With these items, your 12 hour flight to Asia will be a tad less painful, if you have your own suggestions, or have any questions about flying, which airline to choose, or need help finding a ticket, shoot me a message, I will do my best to help!

Posted by Jason Willock

Wow, again I will start the message by saying, where on earth has the time gone.. Here it is 2010, 3 years have passed since I first left Calgary. It really doesn't seem that long ago.
The last few months I have been flying a lot, doing the job as a Hand Carry Courier. For the most part it is not all that bad of a job, pick up a box, take it on a plane, give it to some guy at the other place, and head back home. Don't worry it's all legal, usually electronic components for the Automotive Industry.

Although sitting around on planes and in airports does get a bit tiring, most of the flights are trips to the states, which is handy if I can stop off and do a bit of shopping for some items that are expensive here. Guadalajara Mexico is another frequent destination, which I haven't really had a chance to see other than the airport and one hotel outside the city, but nice to eat some authentic Mexican Food! Perhaps one day I will get to check out the old city.. I did although get to go to Porto Portugal for the day. It had been a while since I had been to Europe, and even though it was a rather rainy day, I did enjoy strolling through the old part of the city, Europe does have it charms that are not really available here in hectic South East Asia. I know Tan prefers it in Europe, who knows maybe one day we can figure out how to live there again.

I still have no cravings for cold weather and snow, although some days the heat here can be a tad annoying, always so sweaty, although it doesn't bother me much.
We spent Christmas and New Years in Thailand, it was a nice trip we didn't go to the beaches as usual, but head into the Wine Country, for some nice cooler weather, in the low to high 20's quite enjoyable, plus the wine was quite nice as well. Tan's mom came to Bangkok as well, was nice to see her again, however I think she was disappointed I could not speak Thai, I try to learn, but get quickly frustrated, and give up, I really wish I had learnt another language when I was younger, as I think that may make it easier to learn a third, although Thai with it's 5 tones, and strange characters would still be a challenge I am sure. In ways I prefer Bangkok to Singapore, and perhaps if I lived there I would be able to pick up the language quicker, trying to learn with Rosetta Stone just doesn't seem to work for me, maybe if they had the new version of there software for Thai it would improve things. But I get annoyed at having to repeat 'the boy is under the table' or the girl is on the horse 100 times.

2010 also means it is my 20 year high school reunion, there are a couple events in August, that perhaps I will come to, since I am sure I will have an abundance of Frequent Flyer miles if I keep up the courier job for a while, although it has been rather slow so far this year. I also am unsure if there is really any point of attending a high school reunion, I don't really keep in touch with anyone from High School except for the odd Facebook Message, but perhaps that is the whole point of a reunion right? Plus if they have a prize for the person who traveled the farthest to get there, I am pretty sure I have that in the bag. Regardless, I do hope to make it back to Calgary sometime this summer, even if for a short little visit, but I think I will wait until all that white stuff goes away.

Once again I will make the promise of updating this more, perhaps instead of telling just about travels, I will give some tips on flying, or some of my cooking experiments, as rather surprisingly there are still a good number of people that come to this website often.

Keep in touch!

Posted by Jason Willock

Well today marks one year for us in Singapore. Hard to believe how fast this year has zipped by.
Had a couple visitors, my mom and Mike, which was nice, had a brief trip home, and went on a few trips with Tan. All in all it was a pretty good year.

Living in Singapore is different than Calgary that is for sure, it's much hotter, and way more humid, which for the most part I like, but sometimes it does get annoying to go outside and be sweating instantly!

I think I miss the seasons a bit too, certainly not winter, but I do miss Fall! I was reminded of that when I had a quick trip to Indiana last month, it was quite nice with all the colors of the leaves, and the corn fields.. However the constant green color as in Singapore is also quite nice too, no long brown/white winter seasons.

I am not really a fan of most of the local food here, we eat at home most of the time, the local cuisine is just to oily, and filled with MSG for my liking, and vegetables are over cooked and covered in sauces, but there are some exceptions, crab being the best, Pepper, Chili, or Butter, all very tasty! I much prefer Thai or Vietnamese cuisine and that is usually what we eat when we go out.

I also find myself missing fruit from our area, Nectarines, Plums, Cherries, Blueberries, Raspberries, and Strawberries. Now while they are available here, they are insanely expensive, and don't taste the same, I think they are picked way to unripe, for the long shipping. However the pineapple here can be fantastic, and when it is Mangosteen, or Rambutan season, that is great too, however Thailand seems better for fresh fruit than Singapore.

It's much more convenient having a car here, the first half of the year we went with out one, and while the public transport is fantastic in Singapore, it can take a substantially longer time to go anywhere by Bus, and waiting outside for 20mins for the next bus to arrive in the heat can be unpleasant. The downside of having a car is that they are expensive, finding parking can be difficult and expensive in places, and there are speed camera's anywhere, so even when there is no traffic you can't drive fast!

I do enjoy the mix of cultures here in Singapore, and I do like being a minority here, it is nice to feel unique. Tan however feels the exact opposite, she dislikes how everyone assumes she is local, no matter where we are in Asia, in Singapore, they assume she is local, and speak in Chinese to her, same things happen in Vietnam, Philippines, and China, they just assume all asians are local, even though she is Thai.

I am also discouraged how I am unable to find a job here, it's not great for the self esteem!

That being said, we are considering at looking at relocating somewhere else, however that is a big decision, and we can't make it hastily, so who knows where we will end up, or maybe we will stay in Singapore a while longer.

One thing I know is time is just flying by, as my old high school physics teacher warned us, he told us to enjoy our time while we can, as it just starts going by faster and faster! So True!

Posted by Jason Willock

So I have been searching for a job here in Singapore for quite some time now, and not coming up with much, but things seem to be picking up, I am getting more calls, and there seems to be more job postings in the market, so that is a good sign, a couple recruitment companies are actively searching for a position for me.

I managed to get some temporary work as a Hand Carry Courier, basically I take product, (usually hi-tec product like sensors or semi-conductors) as checked luggage on a flight. I have done three trips so far, one to Toronto, which I got to fly business class there, which was quite nice. Then just flew back to Singapore, I can choose to stay as long as I like if I pay for my expenses there, but Toronto doesn't excite me all that much! Next trip was to Chicago, where I then had to drive the product to Kokomo Indiana, where there is a big Delco plant, it was a nice drive through the mid-west corn fields, on a beautiful sunny day. Since I had an empty suitcase to bring back, I decided to stop off at a grocery store to pick up some stuff that I can't get in Singapore, or is very expensive here, so I stocked up on cereal, popcorn, and some spices for cooking, and a few other things, funny thing is on the way out of Singapore airport, I was checked by customs, and my bag had to go through x-ray, I figured for sure they were going to ask me to open up the bag, but surprisingly they let me through with out a word, I think they look out for cigarettes and alcohol, since they are heavily taxed here.

My last trip was to Hong Kong, I was to stay one night, and then bring back some product to Singapore, however the product was delayed from China, so I got to stay 2 nights, it had been a while since I had been in Hong Kong, I forgot how crowded and dirty it is compared to Singapore, but I think living in Hong Kong would be more exciting than Singapore, which is kind of dull at times, but I am not sure how I would handle the crowds all the time!

So how the job usually works, is I will get a call in the morning, saying would you like to go to Toronto or wherever, and then I go that afternoon or night, so it is quite last minute. I then have to update the company along the way, until I deliver the package, usually I just meet someone at the airport who takes it to it's final destination.

I get to keep the frequent flyer miles for the flights as well, so that adds up, we will be able to fly back to Calgary for much cheaper now, just have to pay taxes, and I am now Star Alliance Gold, so I get to use the lounges which makes things much more comfortable on the longer layovers.

This is by no means a dream job, as the work is sporadic but it's interesting, puts some money in my pockets (or should I say back into Tan's), and I don't have to worry about leaving the country each month now, as I am always coming and going! I am still able to work a bit on the websites I am working on, and hunt for a more permanent job, and in a strange sort of way I do like flying!

Posted by Jason Willock

Hard to believe it has been nearly a month since I left Calgary.
It was a rather short visit of just 10 days, and the time flew by, saw some friends, and family, but didn't get a chance to see everyone I wanted too.

Calgary is still my home, and I feel comfortable there, however I don't know if I could live there again, at least not anytime soon. I do miss a few things about Calgary, but the long winters, and the atmosphere of the city has changed, or maybe I have changed, it just felt like I didn't fit in there any more.

The job hunt still continues, with out a University degree it is difficult to find work in Singapore, as everyone has a degree, and that seems to matter more than real world experience. So I have decided I will start studying and take some exams to get some certifications, I haven't fully decided which path to take though.

In the mean time I have got a strange part time job, I just finished the first shift yesterday, it was a 60hour shift, which has me fly to Kuala Lumpur, pick up a couple boxes, and deliver them to Toronto, sounds sketchy right? It's all on the straight and narrow, it is for a courier company that does rush deliveries, when things are needed faster than air delivery from companies like FedEx or UPS.
It doesn't pay a lot, but I get to rack up the Miles, and since I have to leave the country once a month anyways, it saves on me having to buy a ticket somewhere.

I also got to fly business class on the way to Toronto from Hong Kong, that certainly increases the comfort level a fair bit, and if I do a couple more long flights like that, I will have access to the airline lounges, which are also very comfy, so I can still do some website work, and try to get some studying done. And I do enjoy people watching in Airports, it's an interesting environment.

It was also good timing, as I was going to be all alone for 2 weeks anyways as Tan had to travel for work, and I was going to have to leave Singapore in a week anyways, and had no idea where to go.

Not sure how many of these jobs they need done, I really don't think I could do them more than once a week anyways.

Well thats all from me for now.

Posted by Jason Willock

After a couple days in Manila, it was off to Boracay, it is rainy season in the Philippines, but the weather looked like it was going to be good for a while there, so we decided to take a gamble, and head to the island of Boracay.

The flight there was quite interesting, in a little 19 seater Czech built propeller plane. It was a tad rough at times, and flying in a non pressurized airplane is a bit strange, we flew just at 9500 ft, and could really notice the lack of oxygen in the cabin, as everyone was yawning. The runway to the Caticlan airport, is very short, in fact a couple airplanes have fallen off the runway, causing the government to put a ban on larger aircraft to the airport. We had to get weighed before boarding the flight, and not everyones luggage made it on that flight, it had to come on a another flight, fortunately ours made the flight, since we hadn't picked where we were staying yet, so they couldn't deliver it.

Then it was a short boat ride to Boracay, where we took a tricycle motorbike to the beach area, then the fun began, we started trekking up the beach to look for a place, this was not a great idea, as we were getting mobbed by people trying to take us to places, and to get the best rate we wanted to deal with the resort directly, not with some guy that would want a commission for bringing us there. So since Tan is the more picky of the two of us, I said I would just sit on the beach and wait for her to check out some places. I became quite the amusement for many of the people selling the rooms, as they couldn't believe how many places Tan was looking at. We wanted something nice and cheap, which on Boracay is not so easy to find. However after 1.5 hours of Tan searching, she came across a nice new place called Boracay Pito Beach Huts. It was so new that we had to wait for a while as they put the finishing touches on the room. It's always nice to stay in a new place, nice and clean!

We had some great weather the first day as we explored the beach, it's a long beach with great sand, and amazingly clear water, it was a tad windy which made the sea a little rough, apparently normally it is still and flat. We spent the first couple days just lounging on the beach, trying the various restaurants, beer is cheap, and food is decently priced, perhaps a little expensive for S.E. Asia, but this is a very touristy beach resort area. It was actually nice to be there in the off season, there were still people there, but it wasn't crazy busy, and we had lots of space to ourselves on the beach. However nightlife perhaps was a bit lacking, but we still had a couple of fun nights out.

Took a snorkeling boat trip around a few islands, the other side of Boracay where the water is still not choppy, it was amazing how crystal clear the water was, snorkeling was great. Tan wanted to do some SCUBA diving, but it has been a while for her, so she would have to do some refresher courses, and I of course would need to start from scratch, they had a 2 hour explore diving package, but that was quite expensive for what you get. But I still really want to get my SCUBA certification, and I know Tan really wants to go diving again. Hopefully we can do it sometime soon.

The next days the weather took a turn for the worse, with some high wind, and rain, kind of annoying, but at least it didn't rain all the time, and we still were able to swim in the ocean, as the water is warm enough still.

Filipino's really seem to love Buffet's there were many of them on the beach, the first night we tried one in a nice hotel, it was decent enough, but we ate too much, and said no more Buffet! However a few days later we tried one again, when we couldn't decide where to eat! No more buffets. We had a couple nice seafood dinners as well, nothing fancy, but fresh and tasty, had lobster one night, kind of expensive, about 40USD for a small grilled lobster. We also decided that lobster didn't excite us, and we should stop ordering them on our vacations.. We will have to see if we remember not to order it next time!

There was heavy rain and wind for part of this morning, which made us concerned about if we would be able to fly back to Manila today, but fortunately there was a break in the weather, and we were able to get to the boat, and the airport, and got to fly in a slightly larger more modern 32 seat propeller plane, the ride was quite bumpy, I am glad it was a short flight, a little less than an hour. Otherwise I think I would have needed to use the 'paper bag'.

I am writing this from Manila airport, as I wait for my flight back to Singapore. Tan took an earlier flight with Singapore Airlines, as her work paid for the tickets, to save money I took a budget airline Cebu Pacific, so I have to wait, at least it is in there new Terminal, the old terminals are nightmares, this one isn't great either, no wifi, but at least it's clean and there are some restaurants here, and more importantly somewhere to sit. There are 3 international terminals, 1 domestic terminal, while they are all in the same general area, there is no easy way to get between them. We arrived in the Domestic Terminal, Tan flies out of Terminal 1, and I Terminal 3, so we were able to find a taxi driver that would do the trip, and it took about 20 minutes to complete the journey, at least taxi's are cheap here, if you can find one that will use the meter. The fare came to 100 Pesos, under $3, so I tipped him the small bills I had left an extra 70 Pesos, still a cheap ride. The authorized airport taxi's wanted to charge 300 Pesos for such a trip!

I will have one day back in Singapore, which I am sure will be filled with laundry duties, and packing, then I am off the the airport bright and early to begin the travel home. Looking forward to seeing everyone!

Posted by Jason Willock