I was supposed to spend two weeks in Blaichach followed by one week in Singapore. The flight over to Europe is nearly always exciting because it’s a flight that allows you to see the sunrise, but with all the rain leading up to my trip I wasn’t sure what would happen. (It worked out; I saw the sunrise.) But really the uncertainty became less about German weather and more about conditions in Singapore.

Ultimately, my itinerary changed to spending one week in Blaichach, one week in Singapore, and one more week in Blaichach. The week before I left for Singapore, fires in Indonesia caused massive haze issues through much of Southeast Asia. I wasn’t sure what weather to expect when I landed; the day before my flight, the PSI readings had set a new record.

Flying thousands of meters above the haze and basking in the superb service aboard Singapore Airlines, I was oblivious to what lay below me. Astounding service, the best attention to detail, courteous flight attendants, and outstanding equipment (i.e. planes) are all hallmarks of that airline. Contrast this to service on most American airlines. Case in point: I got a free tub of ice cream because the lead flight attendant felt badly about running out of the meal option I wanted.

(Nerd comment 1: that dark grey mat under the ice cream tray is really anti-slippery, so everything on the tray stays completely put. Cool! Not so cool: there’s no friction between the underside of the tray and the tray table, so the whole tray still slides. Nerd comment 2: nice packaging on the spoon! Nerd comment 3: premium airlines still use steel utensils, even in Economy. Apparently in some parts of the world, service still trumps cost. Take note, airlines of America. This is how it’s done.)

So the flight was awesome — not the least because this was my first time flying Singapore and on a Boeing 777-300ER (my favorite plane) to boot — but the question in my mind as we landed was, “What is the weather going to be like IN Singapore?”