My original return flights were Singapore to London and then to JFK. However, when I heard about the British Airways labor actions, I decided to change routes and come back via Tokyo. The United Airlines 777 left Singapore on time for the seven hour flight. We headed northeast, south of Vietnam and over Manila in the Philippine Islands — that was the first 1,600 miles. From there we continued northeastward south of Shanghai, and on to Tokyo. Just another 1,800 miles from the Philippines. Then it will be another 6,700 miles to New York. This is a big world, and Singapore is very far from home. I was anxious to get a WiFi connection at Narita Airport — but it was not to be.

I had not been to Tokyo for awhile and was pleased to see that the United Airlines lounge was modernized. It was very nice. I was sure there would be abundant WiFi like I found at the Singapore Airport. I did find a signal but it was a peer-to-peer signal from another PC somewhere. The lounge seats did have RJ-11 jacks and power receptacles — but no WiFi? I always marvel at the precision of things in Japan; everything is engineered. The lounge had a beer dispenser next to the glass-doored refrigerator which was full of beer glasses. After placing the beer glass on a small platform and pushing a button, the platform tilts so that the beer flows nicely down the side of the glass from a nozzle. After the glass is filled to about one inch from the top, the other nozzle tops off the glass with foam. This was really neat — but I would gladly give it up for WiFi. Why is there no WiFi? What could the management of the lounge be thinking? It will become very hard to justify not having WiFi in any public or business place.

The route of flight from Tokyo is a great-circle route that arches up from Japan to Alaska and down through Canada to New York. The flight arrived right on time at John F Kennedy Airport. A few seconds after everyone got up to deplane, the captain announced that due to some construction in the building, the Immigration Department was not ready for us. We then sat back down for 55 minutes. The immigration process was slow and then we had to wait nearly half an hour additional for our bags. By this time Friday evening traffic was building to a peak. Door to door from Singapore to home was 26 1/4 hours. When looking at the globe at home I realized I had been around the world this week.

I thoroughly enjoyed my week in Singapore, made a number of new friends, and learned a lot about the Island and from IBM customers. Now I am ready to be back home with loved ones and am looking forward to a motorcycle ride tommorow.