Leaving Vietnam and Heading to Singapore

Well we woke up early today to make the trip to the airport. Before leaving I presented a 100,000 dong bill to the housekeeper for all of her extra work she did for me. She washed and ironed all my clothing before leaving and I really appreciated the help. Hong's Father and Hong accompanied me to the airport at 8Am as planned. We made it on time!! THANK GOODNESS!! I had to pay $68 US to get my baggage to Singapore because it weighed 15 Kilos too much. If I had been going to the US in 15 days it would have been fine, however I wont leave until August 20th.

I sat around the airport and ate some coconut snacks that where so great! I really enjoyed them.

The flight to Singapore was less than 2 hours long! Arriving in Singapore was a totally different experience. Coming from a 3rd world country to a developed country was really apparent in the lobby. The atmosphere was really modern and resembled American airports.

I made my way throughout the terminal and immigrated to Singapore. I got my baggage and met up with my friend's, Shou Han, mother. I made arrangements prior to leaving the USA to stay the first night in Singapore with her family. The rest of the Aggies will not be here until the 9th at 2AM. I will meet them in the hotel.

Ms Han took me around the area of their home. The majority of people in Singapore live in government flats. Extremely tall buildings with 40 floors. They are similar to large apartment buildings in America. Each flat has 3 bed rooms, kitchen, living room, sitting room, and a balcony.

She then took me to exchange my American money to Singapore money. We walked around the area and you can defiantly tell this is a developed country. The first sign I saw out of the apartment complex was none other than, McDonalds. Americanized food is near so I feel at home!

We walked about two miles to the bank at the mall. The exchange rate is 1.6 Singapore Dollars per US Dollar. In Vietnam 100 dollars equaled 1.6 million dong, and that would go a long way. Considering each meal was usually less than 16000 dong, or 1 US dollar.

Singapore resembles America as far as what I have seen. It is an extremely clean country and you can see this first hand on the streets. It is extremely clean and you never see any trash on the streets. Singapore is the most densely populated country in the world and the cleanest.

Ms. Han then took me on the Mass Rapid Transport System, or MRT, to eat Chinese Fried rice, Shou's favorite dish. The MRT is a subway. We then returned to the flat and I took a nap and the watched some tv. I just got to meet Mr. Han who came in from work.

Tomorrow I will meet up with Affandi at the hotel and meet the rest of the Aggies late at night!