We left for Singapore on Tuesday, August 27, 2013 at about 8:30 am. We had to return a rental car (super quick and easy at SLC int. FYI) before catching our 11:40 flight. The boys were pretty excited. Thanks to a blessing from Colin, I felt pretty calm about the whole thing and wasn't panicking or scared at all. Dad and Jess (and Emry and Jax) helped drive us and all of our luggage to the air port. All together we had 8 checked bags and 8 pieces of carry on luggage (3 rolling suit cases, 2 back packs, 2 lap top bags, and 1 purse) not including Evan's Build-a-Bear Monkey Tail.
We quickly returned our rental car and met Dad and the rest of our luggage at the curbside. We loaded up two carts, and worked our way inside the airport. We checked all of our bags and went through security.
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| Evan in Grandpa's truck with all 8 of our checked bags |
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| our entourage at the air port, Jax asleep in the car |
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| Jess and the kids |
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| Before we got all of our checked bags |
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| This picture makes me sad. It's kind of hard to see Evan but Colin and I are each pushing a huge pile of luggage. |
I've got SLC int. down to a science when it comes to wearing an insulin pump. But, I had never taken a year's worth of insulin across the world with me. So, I was a little bit worried about how that would all play out but it turned out fine. I separated my ice packs from my luggage and sent them through as instructed. I hid my pump under my shorts and easily walked through security. No issues and on to boarding. We had about an hour or so before boarding. The boys were so hyper they didn't know what to do with themselves. I was really worried that they'd be terrible on the flight.
Our first leg was to San Francisco. It was a quick 1:37 flight. I sat by Evan and Colin sat next to Ryan. Evan was in need of CONSTANT entertainment but otherwise pretty good. The DS and headphones came in pretty handy.
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| Seating arrangements for the San Fran flight |
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| Trying to keep this kid entertained |
In SFO we didn't have a lot of time. So little, in fact, that unbeknownst to us, our bags didn't have enough time to make it on to our flight.
Security at the international gate at SFO was basically a nightmare. It was HOT and so crowded! We barely had enough time to get our boarding passes from Singapore Airlines before they started boarding our flight.
Stepping in to Singapore Airlines was like a different world. That said, I must add that we were lucky enough to be in business class for the remainder of our journey. It made all the difference in our flights. The boys were really cute about the great accommodations on the flight. They thought they were in heaven. And I will also admit that it was very nice! I can't imagine what the difference would have been in economy. Although I fear it will be the last time I'll have to wonder about that! ha ha ha!
Our second leg was from SFO to Seoul, Korea. I don't know the exact flight time but I want to say it was about 11 hours. We boarded at about 2 pm Utah time. We had lunch (more like a dinner) and then we all went to sleep. The boys slept very well. I slept some, and Colin probably slept the least. I think he was too excited!
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| Settling in to business class |
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| I wore compression socks due to an increased risk for blood clots. |
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| Scenes from Incheon Airport, Seoul, Korea |
Our layover in Korea wasn't really long. I think we had about an hour. It was like 4 am our time and the kids did fine waking up and walking around the air port. I have to give it to the Koreans, their Incheon airport was fantastic. Security could not have been easier, it was 6 pm their time and there was no line whatsoever. A nice man helped us all put our belongings into bins and carefully guided us through security. No issues with the insulin, ice, or any other bags! Quick, easy, and so friendly. We had about 30 minutes to kill before getting back on to our plane. I was feeling motion sick so Colin got me something to drink and the kids got to play in the little playground for a minute. Then it was time to board again.
The third leg of our flight was about 5 hours, 30 minutes I think. I wanted to get right back to sleep but they served another meal. Even though I felt like sleeping, I knew I should probably eat again. It was the strangest thing eating a full course dinner at what my body thought was 6am. As soon as meal service was over, I made up the beds for the boys and me and went back to sleep. I think I got another 3 hours or so before I was awoken by an Asian man singing Korean pop. Ha ha ha. I was not amused at the time but to type it out sure sounds funny.
Before we landed, I started getting pretty excited that we were finally going to make it to our destination... Singapore. We landed and the boys were awake and ready to explore the new country. We went through emigration without any problems and then on to baggage claim. As we were standing near the carousel we heard Colin's name over the loud speaker. Apparently our bags didn't make it on to the flight in San Francisco so they told us they'd deliver them to us later that day. It was like 1 am Singapore time when we landed. It wasn't ideal to only have 1 change of clothes each but it ended up being a minor hiccup in the big scheme of things.
A driver was waiting for us (with the name on the plaque and everything) and he'd brought a huge van to fit all of our luggage which didn't arrive. He drove us to our service apartment and we basically spent the whole night prowling in our apartment waiting for the rest of the country to wake up!
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Changi Airport, Singapore
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