Here is a brief description of what I know about Singapore:

Every time I hear the name Singapore, I usually think of words like “tropical,” or “rain forest environment.” But I realized a little more than two years ago that there’s definitely more to this Malaysian state then tropics and rain showers. Singapore is one of the fourteen states in Malaysia supporting a population of more than 5,784,538 people on a 270 square miles of land area. Being the smallest country in southeast Asia it is still widely know for it’s tropical climate, and large multicultural population as well. Since it lies 137 kilometers north of the equator, it is incredibly hot. It’s brutal weather can get a while to adapt to. But with it’s rain forest like climate it also consists of very sudden rain showers. What I really like about Singapore is that it has a deep history for it’s name. It was first know as Temasek meaning “sea town” in the Javanese culture.  Later in 1299 an Indonesian king mistakenly had though an unidentified creature as a lion while visiting the island. Naming the lion Singapura. Which is Sanskrit for Lion City( unfortunately there are no actual lions in the wild in Singapore.)

• Part 4

My legs felt like airplane mush as I walked into the entrance of Terminal Three. I was relieved that I wasn’t walking around in walkways that were only thirty-six inches wide and on an airborne aviation vehicle. I mean, I’m not scared of heights or anything it’s just, walking on a piece of machinery that is thirty six thousand feet in the air is quite overwhelming if you think about it for a while. We then got ourselves freshened up and attempted to jump start our aching bodies. We were currently in Terminal Three but we then went to Terminal Two bye monorail. As we rode inside we noticed that the big windows inside made it very easy to the see the gardens and architecture outside. We then met up with Ganesan Mama( Mama means uncle). He is one of my dad’s childhood best friend. He brought along Sumathi Athai( athai means aunt), and there son Deepak.  My brother looked a little better then the way he did when we got of the airplane. His eyes were still tired and weary, but he had a little spring to each step he took. The same with my father, the redness in his eyes were still there from the flight, but he was a lot more active than he was before. On the other hand we were all a little better than we were before we landed.

While we passed by all of the shops and stores, my brother’s eyes must have been caught by one of the toy stores. He started kicking and screaming, asking for one of the toys they were displaying, he one the argument. Apparently he wanted this bow and arrow thing with Captain America on it. I was hoping that he wouldn’t start shooting little foam darts at me.

Now here is the part that probably annoyed me the most out of the whole time we were in Singapore. Baggage claiming. I now it doesn’t really sound that bad but really it is probably the most irritating part of a long distance trip. Well for me anyway. It all started when we all had to go to that big baggage claiming area to pick up or luggage. But we couldn’t find any of ours. Not even a single piece of luggage. I MEAN WE LITERALLY BROUGHT LIKE THREE DUFFEL BAGS AND THATS IT. We looked for our bags for like fifteen minutes. Then my dad took the situation into his own hands and went to the office that was in charge of any mishaps that have happened with passenger’s luggage. We sat on these couches that were nearby and waited, we were all talking and chatting, my brother was jumping from couch to couch. He kept asking me the same question over and over again. “Where’s daddy?” I didn’t give him a reply because he was right there beside me when we saw my dad walk away to the office. So I just shot my brother a dirty look. I wasn’t exactly helping my own little situation by doing that little act of annoyance. Finally my dad came lugging our bags behind him.

The next thing that happened was probably my favorite part out of the whole time we were in Singapore. We went outside to meet Bala Thatha( Thatha means grandfather by the way)who was going to be taking us to the hotel we rented. Now here comes the part that I loved the most. When we all stepped outside it was pouring rain. Usually one of my fondest memories in Singapore consists of the sudden rain. One time I was seven years old and we were in Singapore. We were just strolling along a market. The sky was completely clear, not a single cloud in the sky when we walked inside. Then when we walked outside it was pouring rain. The sky was completely gray, storm clouds were everywhere. The warm rain ran down my cheeks and made my hair curl with each raindrop. We were only in the store for a little more than ten to twenty minutes. It shocked us all to find that in such a short amount of time there was this much rain. It was the same situation when we were outside the airport with Bala Thatha. Once again my hair curled around framing my face. Raindrops trickled down my hair and skin. Splattering on my clothes and shoes. It tickled my toes as it reached my socks and bare feet underneath the strong material of the shoe. My grandfather greeted us all. He shook my hand, his hand was very burly and strong, his palm was warm and smooth. This was the first time I ever got to meet him in person.

He was very nice and was fun to be around. I like him very much.  My dad then asked him “When did you come here?” “I came three hours before you guys came.” I stared in shock. He was waiting for three hours and he didn’t look annoyed our winded at all. He must have seen the guilty looks on our faces because he then said “Don’t worry, I was just reading my book the entire time. I was very deep into the book so I didn’t mind.” Though on the outside I just smiled, on the inside my mind was doing a dance. HE READS BOOKS AS MUCH AS ME! A FELLOW BOOKWORM! WOOOOHOOOO! He then nonchalantly walked up to one of the doors of the big black cab and asked “Everybody ready to go?” We all nodded and stepped inside, still dripping wet from the rain. The plan was that we were going to be riding in a big cab, while he rode in his own car with all of our luggage with him. I sat there and looked out the window, and I watched as the rain danced for us halfway across the world.

Changi Airport in Singapore.