These are some of the orchids that were growing inside the terminal.

This link will take you straight to the next stage of our trip.










Nathan and Stephen in United Airlines' International First Class. This definitely is the way to travel over very long distances. Just a pity that we cannot afford it except when we have lots of frequent flyer miles.

We had an almost 4 hour layover in Tokyo. Here they treated us well in their special lounge, all compliments of United Airlines. We rested, took a shower, ate a lot of sushi, and watched the planes from the picture windows.

Singapore
Once in Singapore, the hotel had arranged for us to be picked up at the airport. We were staying in the Westin Plaza, one of the best hotels in Singapore. Thanks to United Airlines' frequent flyer awards, we could afford this luxury place. The hotel has a full service spa, so Stephanie had her first massage of the trip here.

We had major jetlag because of the 12 hour time difference, so we did not do a lot; mostly eating and sleeping. However, we did visit a couple of places including the Raffles Hotel and China Town. We also visited the Singapore Zoo.
Our 2001 Vacation, the vacation of a lifetime (page 1)

This is the story of our 2001 vacation. Once every five years, when Diederik has earned another sabbatical, we get to take a real vacation. This year we made a big production out of it, with stops in Singapore, Bali, and several places in Australia.

We left on July 7. A stretch limousine picked us up at 7:15 in the morning at our home. It was a 2 hour trip to John F. Kennedy airport in New York City, where we checked in our bags and waited in the special lounge for our flight to leave. The trip to Singapore is a long one. We arrived there 24 hours after we left New York. However, don't feel to bad for us. All those business trips Diederik made finally paid off and we traveled in the ultimate luxury of United's International First Class. Can you imagine a bed in the sky, or a selection of 20 feature films to play on an individual video system? The pictures show that we did do quite well.
Nathan and Stephen in United Airlines' International First Class. This definitely is the way to travel over very long distances. Just a pity that we cannot afford it except when we have lots of frequent flyer miles.

We had an almost 4 hour layover in Tokyo. Here they treated us well in their special lounge, all compliments of United Airlines. We rested, took a shower, ate a lot of sushi, and watched the planes from the picture windows.

Singapore
Once in Singapore, the hotel had arranged for us to be picked up at the airport. We were staying in the Westin Plaza, one of the best hotels in Singapore. Thanks to United Airlines' frequent flyer awards, we could afford this luxury place. The hotel has a full service spa, so Stephanie had her first massage of the trip here.

We had major jetlag because of the 12 hour time difference, so we did not do a lot; mostly eating and sleeping. However, we did visit a couple of places including the Raffles Hotel and China Town. We also visited the Singapore Zoo.
This is a picture of the boys in the Singapore Zoo.
Dim Sum Lunch

After 3 days in Singapore, it was time to move on to Bali. The airport in Singapore must be one of the prettiest places in the world. Look at the flowers they were growing here:
These are some of the orchids that were growing inside the terminal.

This link will take you straight to the next stage of our trip.