Arrived back in Singapore early in the morning of Tuesday. After all the usual paperwork at the office, I reached back and did some unpacking before hitting the shower and then the bed.

Peculiar thing about China is that the soldiers at the airport will really salute aircraft as they taxy past them. They literally snap at attention and will not budge even if we give them a wave of acknowledgement.

Nanjing is extremely poluted, a lot worse than the situation here in Singapore. At first, I thought it was mist but later realized it was the smog from the rapid modernization taking place there. The city centre is really big, and this is just Nanjing, not the major cities like Beijing and Shanghai. And looking at the way the cyclists rule the roads, it is no wonder that some of them here in Singapore imported their mentality here too.

Next was to Anchorage. The night flight was great as we overflew Japan. The lights were really bright even from up there. We also saw some Russian trawlers out in the middle of the sea. Nearer Anchorage, the snowcapped mountain tops were peeking out of the clouds. Looked really big as we descended and at times were alongside the mountains. Things at Alaska are really cheap since it is tax-free. On top of that, the local shopping mall was having the autumn sale, so things were really, really cheap. Oh yes, and it was cold. But apparently, not as cold as it will get later this year. Temperatures went to negative one. My first sub zero temperature...

Next port of call: Los Angeles. Overflew San Fransisco on the way down and had a good view of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. Los Angeles was shrouded in fog coming in from the sea. Whole reason for this phenomenon was covered in Meteorology Theoy but let's not get there. Also had a glimpse of the Hollywood hills over at the east as we descended into LA. As did dozens of other aircraft as the radar screen was filled up. No wonder they say that LA is really busy, but apparently not as busy as Chicago.

Coming back to Singapore, my coursemate and I took the flight back which transited over at Japan. Originally, I thought that I was going to have a night stop there. But no, we waited an hour in the plane and we were on our way to Singapore. We were originially allocated economy class seats, but eventually were upgraded to business class seats. My first trip on business class. Very nice. Had enough time to catch four movies and numerous episodes of the Simpsons. The band Iron Maiden was also on the LA - NRT flight on their way for a performance in Tokyo. The cabin crew took photos and got autographs from them.

Trip down to Singapore was quiet. No more movies to watch, so I caught a few hours of sleep. Went to the flight deck for the approach to have a chat with the crew and also to watch them fly into Singapore.

And now, I am going back to sleep again.

Zzzz....