It’s a 7 1/2 hour flight on the Airbus 380-800 pictured in yesterday’s post – traveling at 80% of the speed of sound (which is just shy of 800 mph).  As expected, the service was excellent, great food, but not a lot of rest.  Given it’s the weekend I have some downtime to look around and am looking forward to adding photos to my growing Picassa album tomorrow.

The Lo family, a connection my daughter made last year through a home school retreat in the states, hosted me for dinner, treating me to local favorites at a nearby church fellowship in the evening.  It’s not often that I have opportunity to interact with families abroad, so I made the most of it, trying different cuisines from areas surrounding Singapore.  Laksa is a favorite local dish here (pictured to the left).  It’s made with chicken, thick noodles, coconut milk, an egg, local vegetables, and a bunch of seasonings. The small lime on the side of the dish then is squeezed over the noodles just before eating.  I was expecting to be served with chop sticks, but they graciously handed me a fork.  Meeting various families and touring the grounds made this evening exceptional.  I was surprised to learn that their 82 year old pastor and his wife are from the Savannah Georgia area, not far from my home town.  Tomorrow the Lo’s have planned a sight-seeing trip where I hope to capture numerous photos and sample mooncakes (an important part of the Mid-Autumn Festival here in Singapore)!