It took days to actually get to Kathmandu. A 14-1/2 hour non-stop United flight from Chicago to Hong Kong, four hour layover, three more air hours to Singapore for a one-night stay. It was impossible to do the entire journey, Chicago-Kathmandu in two days without misconnecting somewhere, ergo, one night in Singapore. (Read some of my prior entries, Visiting Singapore for more details on Singapore.)

This time, we stayed at Le Meridien Hotel, in the heart of Orchard Road and all the shopping malls. Feeling good after a fast seven-hour deep sleep, it was time for breakfast and time to experiment with the MRT, Singapore's super fast and clean transportation system. Give public transportation a try in countries that are safe and clean. It isn't necessary to spend a fortune on taxi's...

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Singapore is hot and humid the entire year. Casual clothes and flip-flops are worn day and night and, if you have curly hair like myself, another one of my pastimes is hourly watching to see how much my hair expands from the humidity. I usually look like a walking Brillo or SOS pad within minutes.

Hotels. Singapore has a multitude of 4**** and 5***** hotels along with many less expensive ones but one of our favorites is the Regent. We started staying at the Regent Hotel years back (got a great rate on an Internet site) but what keeps us coming back is the incredible service.

On our first stay, "ex-Marine" and I, dressed in our usual "street people" clothes, dripping with sweat, had purchased an "older" Indonesian chest in a market. We dripped up to the concierge desk, sweat beads flying and asked if they could possibly find a cardboard box for us to package it and ship through baggage on the way home.

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Whether you call it the "Lion City" or "Garden City," Singapore is sure to make a positive impression on you. 1980 was our first visit to Singapore and, like everyone else, were struck by its extreme cleanliness, ethnic diversity of both the food (a foodie paradise), people and friendliness. When was the last time you visited a country that has four official languages: English, Tamil, Chinese and Malay! And, is among the 20 smallest countries in the world with the #1 Airport, #1 Airline and #1 bunkering port.

We have returned many times since then because Singapore is one of the major gateways to Asia and is convenient to transit in and out. Not to mention, it gives us a chance to use Singapore Airlines, rated #1 as the Best Airline in the World on a yearly basis. And, each time we fly (or transit) through Singapore's amazing Changi Airport, it's always a wonderful surprise to experience its user friendliness, cleanliness and one time, even used the free tours of Singapore offered to passengers in transit for more than 4 hours.

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