Pre-Holiday Preparations

It's been a very busy last few days - with so much to prepare for our trip to the USA this Saturday. Good thing we were able to confirm hotel stays and car rental bookings via the Internet. We will stay at - the Holiday Inn, Salt Lake City , Utah (Sat 17th), - the TownePlace Suites in Pocatello, Idaho (Sun 18th to Sat 24th), - Grosvenor Suite in San Francisco (Sun 25th to Tue 27th).

The US government now requires visitors to register with their Department of Homeland Security no later than 72 hours before entering the country. Good thing you can do this online too - still it takes time to fill in required details and do some silly declarations, e.g. do you belong to any terrorist organisation, have you taken part in any terrorist activities, etc..............

Had to visit my ophthalmologist friend Dr. Khoo Chong Yew at Raffles Hospital to check on my right eye - felt a bit of pain there last week and thought it better to have it checked. -The Dear Wife wanted to make sure we don't have a problem on the 20-over flight. Turns out it was an infection - called "episcleritis", was given some eye drop ('TobraDex' - tobramycin, Dexamethasone) - problem taken care of. Chong Yew once again waived his usual $80 consultation fee on account of the help I had rendered him when publishing his book 'The Meaning and Purpose of Life' some ten years ago......it's great to have him remember what I did for him so long ago ......what a friend! Thank You again CY.

Next stop was a visit to Dr. Ng Siau Peng at Ubi Medical Clinic for our flu jabs and to chat about my Cholesterol test result which wasn't that bad - no drastic increase over the last test result 6 months ago - but still have to watch my diet. Current weight at 70 kg - too heavy, man....need to lose 5 kg!

So, OK, let that be my New Year Resolution.......

Total Cholesterol 197 (<200) Jul08 195
HDL Cholesterol 51 (>38) Jul08 50

LDL Cholesterol 124 (<130) Jul08 122

Cholesterol/HDL Ratio 3.9 (<4.51) Jul08 3.9

Triglycerides 109 (<200) Jul08 119

Had to visit the AA to apply for an International Driving license - I don't normally do this for visits to Australia, but for the USA, better play safe, the Americans can be quite fussy over such things.

Finally a vist to SIA downtown office at The Paragon.....to do an advance check-in. However, could only checked in for the Singapore- San Francisco leg. The connecting flight on Delta to Salt Lake City will have to be done at Changi Terminal 3 on Saturday morning.

Our schedule for the trip;

Saturday 17th SQ 16 Singapore - San Francisco dep 0915 arr 1105 18 hrs

(stop over Seoul, South Korea)

DL 4822 San Francisco - Salt Lake City dep 1300 arr 1555 2 hrs

Sunday 18th drive Salt Lake City - Pocatello dep 1300 arr 1500 3 hrs

We will stay in Pocatello til Saturday 24th and spend time with son Kelvin Ang, who works as a sports journalist with the Idaho Journal.

Saturday 24th DL 4813 Salt Lake City - San Francisco dep 1055 arr 1215 2 hrs

Will spend Lunar New Year in Frisco - other son Kenny will join us from his current visit to LA.

Also, hope to get to do some line dancing in the San Francisco areas.

Tuesday 27th SQ 15 San Francisco to Singapore dep 1235 arr 0105 with stop-over in Seoul, South Korea (Jan 29th!) 20 hrs

Will try to post our journal on the trip.......so , stay tuned.