Visa day! and Taiwan trip

Singapore market

Tuesday, October 4, 2016
In Singapore, my visa comes today. It's for 6 months of work, play, or school. What a relief not to have to reapply every 30 days! But if I leave the country, we start over.

W and I can't wait for him to finish the USA citizenship process. W has an appointment on Monday with USA immigration. Hopefully the process will move along then.

Only the man can be considered head of household in Indonesia (unless he's dead, in which case the widow can qualify. I'm not tempted, just getting impatient. haha) When he's done, we'll apply for an Indonesian visa with longer stays and multiple entries. I got my American stamp in May and my passport in June. (Crossing into the USA without an American ID had become a hassle.)

I have a hard time on my immigration forms though. Filling them out on the airplanes before landing, I write "Canadian" for my nationality. I cross out that reflex twice on this trip. I come back to Jakarta at the end of the week with 29 immigration stamps in my "new-in-June" USA passport = that many ins and outs since June.

Our friend is in town from Kuala Lumpur so we meet in Chinatown for a quick meal and walkabout.

Here are a few of the sights of Singapore:

Strange snacks

My Little Pony dresses

The best lamb biryani on Arab Street 

Bananas we know: the others, not so much 

The waving hand: a mannequin with
an animated flashing "slow down for construction" arm

Public transit is excellent

Goodbye to Joshua, Claudia, Kat and Leo: see you soon in Bandung

Wednesday
I catch an early flight to Taiwan. W accompanies me to the airport and goes back to the flat to meet Kathleen for his 8:00 ride to the seminary. He's finishing his second week of teaching Church History, and his class is enthusiastic.

Kirsten is waiting for me at the Taipei airport. She's come in from Korea a few hours ago.

We take Uber to the hostel she has found across the street from the Night Market. There's nothing going on at 4:00. Shops are closed, a few people seem to be stirring ... but we're hungry. More in the next post.