Home In Kudjip

We flew out of Singapore late Thursday evening. Air Niugini has added Kuala Lumpur to it's Singapore route. That's nice for the throngs of people who want to travel between PNG and Malaysia (and some who travel from Malaysia to Australia via PNG), but not so convenient for those of us who just want to get home quickly.

So a quick 45-minute flight from Singapore, leaving at 10:20 put us in Kuala Lumpur a bit past 11. We had to disembark, go through Malaysia security, and reboard, all of which took about an hour. So now well past midnight, we are back in the air (now flying back over Singapore) and what does Air Niugini do? They serve supper! We tried to eat a bit, but it was the worst meal we've ever eaten on Air Niugini (which usually doesn't do too badly, as airline food goes). We both picked at it, but fell asleep. I woke up several times to see that the trays were still there--I don't know when they finally took them away.

Well, because of adding KL to the flight, arrival in Moresby is now TOO LATE TO CATCH THE MORNING FLIGHT TO MOUNT HAGEN!!! But do they serve breakfast? A little cup of OJ. That's it. So we arrived hungry, exhausted and not as happy as we'd like, and spent two hours of clearing immigration and customs, then waiting for the shuttle to the Airways Hotel before we finally got some coffee at nearly 11 AM. Oh, yeah, and some food.

But we spent several pleasant hours at the Airways, had several coffees (no free refills here--K6.50 per cup, every cup) and read. We got the afternoon flight home to the highlands, departed only about 20 minutes late and were met by Jim and Kathy Radcliffe, and volunteer Sid Sharpe. On the way to Kudjip, the cruiser had a flat, but we were giving a lift to a group of pastors and laypeople from our Middle Ramu district, so there was plenty of help in getting it changed.

A container had arrived while we were away. It included a few personal items that we had shipped during our home assignment. These were all stacked in our dining room when we got in. We managed to get the new recliners set up before going to dinner at Dooleys.

We had a great 8 days in Singapore, spiritually, professionally, emotionally and socially. It was a welcome break in the routine, as well as helping us in the ministry God has called us to here. But we're happy to be home.

I'll leave you with a photo of Singapore taken from our hotel room window. It shows a bit of historic Little India, an area we enjoyed exploring.