Trip update: just arrived in Singapore

I just arrived in Singapore around 2 AM local time. Free internet at the airport, awesome, never seen that in any airport. It has been a long trip and delays.

Due to heavy snow in Minnesota my flight was delay. First, the plane arriving from Washington DC was delay for about 2 hours. The pilots for my flight were from Miwakee, Wisconsin, and it was delay too. We had to wait for another hour after we boarded the plane. The total delay was 3 hours. I missed the next connecting flight which was supposed to be with Malaysian airlines. Northwest re-book my flight from Malaysian Airlines to Singapore Airlines but it didn't depart until 12 hours later. They put me in a hotel and I got some sleep.

The next day to my surprise Singapore Airlines didn't have my name in their system and I had to carry my luggages to Northwest counter. LA airport is huge, it was a long walk. Then another surprise, Northwest didn't have my name either, I was a bit upset, it was unacceptable. Then they said they would take my word for it but still couldn't book me on Singapore airlines. It said the plane was full but I told them the singapore airlines told me they were plenty of seats. They were working on booking me for an hour but couldn't. He apoligized that there was nothing he could do, I said it was unacceptable. I demanded to see the manager. She improvised and put my name on the FIM (booking system) for the next day flight in order to put my name on the system (go figure). Perhaps they couldn't do it for that time while Singapore airlines was doing check-in. If that is the case they should have had me on the system the day before when they re-booked me when I missed my flight (with receipts to prove it). It seems like computer synchronization problem.

Then I had to go for another long walk with luggages to Singapore airlines ticket counter. They couldn't find my name until I mentioned that Northwest booked for the next day flight. He said he wasn't sure he could move my name to the flight that day. He said I could either talk to Malaysian airlines (original connecting airlines that I missed) which doesn't open until 5 PM and fly the following day or buy a new ticket at my own expense. I said neither one was acceptable option. They had to work something out and I wouldn't take "no" as an answer. He went away and called Northwest and his manager. Half an hour later he came back and booked on the flight.... phew.... finally. By the way the flight wasn't any near to being full, not even 3/4 full, plenty of empty seats. It looks like Northwest can't access their computer system (but I still wonder why Northwest computer said it was full).

Singapore airlines is very nice, like an upgrade from Malaysian airlines. There is a monitor screen on each seat. There are more than a hundred movies available, play games, and monitor flight status. I watched I am Legend, National Treasure: book of secrets, and Golden Compass (bad movie, not because I am biased but it was truely bad). I sat next to a Canadian who travels a lot. He is an electricians and this time he is on business trip to Singapore. We talked quite a bit.

Ok, now I am at the airport and have another 4 1/2 hours to kill and free internet before my final flight to Medan, a city close to my hometown. I am going to spend time in Binjai (my mom's hometown) and visit relatives, Medan and visit relatives and friends, then Siantar which is my hometown.

Stay tuned.....