New York, Seoul and the Return back to the 'Pore

Michigan brought me shopping and visits. I got to lunch with some Hildebrandt parents, I got a breakfast with a Wachter, a short visit with Aunt Belle, and some trail mix, shoes, and other finds unavailable to me in Singapore.

After a thrilling day in the suburbs of Detroit (okay, nothing is really thrilling in the suburbs of Detroit), I headed to New York. When planning my return trip to Singapore, a free stop-over in New York sounded excellent. Negotiating the stairs in the subway with a train switch and two heavy bags (at least six hair mousses, at least six bottles of contact solution, at least six books, and six other heavy things) plus my backpack made me want to fall over, however, and I had not thought of this in my planning. When I finally got to Ruthie's apartment I was hungry, smelly, and my muscles hurt. At the bottom of the 96th Street subway stop I simply stood there until someone offered to take my 50 pound suitcase up the stairs. The "someone" did finally come along, and I was really thankful.

My 27 hours in New York were wonderful. I got to spend time with Liba and Yona (Liba's 7.5 month old), Leslie and Andy and their new Asher, a small bit of time with Terese, Jeremy and their little Max, a quick walk with Ellen, a rainy afternoon including CP Shades with Eli, and a great dinner with Eli and Flyer. I got my favorite cookies, I ate great shakshuka, I confirmed that New Yorkers do indeed walk better than Singaporeans, and all in all, I had a great day.

My trip home included a 12 hour layover in Seoul. This was my first time in Korea, and my friend Jinah, from INSEAD, met me downtown at 8 am. She's a superstar, but she claims that her mom makes her get out of bed each morning at 7, so apparently the hour wasn't a problem for her. After the required breakfast and coffee at Korean Starbucks, she took me to the beautiful palace and to a great area with beautiful crafts and shops. We had five tastes Korean tea, and finally she treated me to a fifty course (not really, but it felt like it) Korean lunch (see photo).

A highlight was when two Korean university students stopped me on the street and asked me questions from their sheet in English (see photo). What is your name? Where are you from? When did you get to Seoul? When are you leaving? Do you like it here? I think my answers of "I just got here a few hours ago," and "I'm leaving in a few hours" were confusing, but they were cute. They took a picture with me, so I took a picture with them as well.

Click here for the "best of" pictures from my whole trip.