Penang - Singapore 15 - 16 December

From the satellite images, Flemming had expected some bad weather en route to Singapore, but we were pleasantly surprised.  There were some significant clouds to the west of Kuala Lumpur, which is common in this part of the world, but it was basically good flying weather and we were in sunshine most of the way.  After 2 and a half hours, we landed in Seletar, the general aviation airport for Singapore.  There are a total of 5 airfields in the small country including the big international airport.

It was time to do the 50 hours maintenance, so after passing customs and immigration we piled back into the plane to taxi over to Hawker Pacific, an FBO that Flemming had called from Penang and arranged to use their facilities.  We were met by their friendly Executive Sales Manager, called Louis Lam.  Before we started work, we were in need of a cool beer and a meal.  Louis drove us to the nearby golf club where we enjoyed a good meal before returning to work.  Unfortunately the hangar at Hawker Pacific was too full for Honey-Mooney.  We pushed her under partial shelter from the sun, but as the sun moved round, she was more and more exposed to the heat of the day, so it was hot work doing the maintenance.  The men looked after changing the oil and spark plugs while I washed the plane.  We also took the opportunity to refill the oxygen bottle and pump up the tyres.  Thanks to our good team work, the whole process only took 3 hours and we had finished by 5 pm.  We paid Louis a fee of US$ 100 and then taxied back to the arrival area.  Landing and parking fees at Seletar came to a very reasonable US$13 and there was absolutely no hassle with greedy handling agents.

Susanne and  Claus, Danish friends of Ulla and Martin, whom we had met on a couple of occasions when they had stayed at our chalet, had kindly offered to put all three of us up for a couple of nights at their apartment.  We hadn't chosen the most convenient time for them, as Susanne and the children were due to leave for Denmark the following evening to spend Christmas there, Claus joining them a few days later.  What is more, it was Claus'  Christmas office party the evening we arrived.  The taxi we called from Seletar took an age to arrive and then there was heavy traffic into town, so unfortunately we kept Claus and Susanne waiting.  But they took the time to point us in the direction of cool beers and the shower before they left for the party.

Later we took a taxi into the centre and headed for Clarke Quay, a lively spot with plenty of restaurants by the river. After a good meal washed down with white wine, we sat at a bar by the river, entertained by an excellent duo who sang and played Caribbean music.  The scene contrasted sharply with that of the night before in Penang.  We enjoyed ourselves so much that, in spite of having started the long day at 6 am, it was after midnight when we decided to head for bed.

Next morning Flemming was finally able to restore our website.   We also discussed the routing in Australia with Ray and ordered some VFR charts for visual flying.  Up to now, due to the restrictions in Asia, we have only been flying IFR (instrument flight rules), so we are looking forward to having more freedom from Australia on.  We joined Susanne and Claus at the very pleasant and large condominium swimming pool for a short while and then Jens - another Danish friend originally from Geneva - came to drive us into town for a drink at Raffles Hotel. Ray had told us that the done thing was to have "tiffin" (or high tea) at Raffles.  We took in the scene at the tiffin room but preferred to keep our appetites for dinner so drank a beer in the garden instead.  Jens recommended a Thai restaurant at Clarke Quay and we enjoyed an excellent meal there later.

Thanks:

Louis LAM, Hawker Pacific, Susanne and Claus JOHANSSON

Base to final for runway 03 at Seletar, Singapore

Flemming and Ray finalising the 50 hour inspection at Seletar

Angela and Jens Scharff-Hansen enjoying a drink in the garden of Raffles Hotel

Two happy earthrounders in Raffles Hotel