Singapore now

First Chengdu, now Singapore; we are here after 4 hours and 20 minutes flight; actually a bit less with a good head wind. At the Chengdu airport, the security got tight as the Olympics opening got close. Guards at all entrance; special forces with guns and dark sunglasses. Really, indoor; as if you can shoot with those dark glasses on! At the gate, there were 9 people! Four from airlines, one from duty free and the rest were securities of all kinds - airport and army.

The flight from Chengdu to Singapore was by Silk Air, the discount airline runs by Singapore Air. Service was good; you can rent a VOD (Video on Demand) portable for the duration of the flight for S$15. It was an Airbus 319 model. Wasn't pack at all. Only 8 Biz class seats, single aisle. Refreshment was plentiful; non-stop actually. Food was acceptable. Service, beat any North American's hands down.

The M Hotel we are staying. It's the fourth time. I know the area well now; it's by downtown. And with a promotion going on, we got a Suite for S$390 per night; normally, this room is about S$1,000! Basically, we have two rooms put together. 1 full bath and a 1/2 bath. Plasma TV, Bose sound system with iPod plug in for music, free Internet access, free b'fast for two and free 4 pieces of laundry per day. Wow, biz must be tough. From the newspapers I read on the plane, the Singapore gov't and businesses are bracing for an economic down turn. It's finally going to hit home there. It's airport manager has quited; most middle and upper managers are being hired away by other big airports; notably, the Beijing's Terminal 3.

One interesting point in the taxi as we were going to the airport in Chengdu; the taxi driver wasn't really into the Olympics; no one was allowed to participate in torch relay viewing without explicit approval from the gov't; one needed to apply and then the family being "investigated" first before approval was given, if that. The taxi driver expressed freely of his view about the "handling" of the torch relay. Totally not good for the "regular" citizens. Also, this taxi driver participated in May's rescue effort. He drove all night with many taxi drivers to the damaged area to deliver water. He witnessed collapsed buildings... One had over 1,000 people buried but after several days after the quake, no rescue effort was evidence. Too many areas to be handled.