The Road to 40 Day 92/365: We’re Back, Singapore!

After a month of staying in the PH, we’re finally back home in SG and we need to get ready for school again.

Che went out early as she had a 9am flight to Bacolod. I got up to write the blog but went back to sleep again beside Vino until around 10am when he decided to get up.

I told him that Che left early and said goodbye, but he was sleeping. He didn’t say anything and just got up, walked around the room aimlessly and found Waddles. He just looked at it and stroked it without a word.

Waddles is the penguin squeeze toy he got for Che on her birthday. It was supposed to help her for when she got stressed at work. Knowing that Che was at work and Waddles was left, he looked kinda sad, so I had to tell Che about it.

We had a bit of time, so we played a bit while waiting for breakfast. Later, we got ready to go to the airport. Che packed our stuff so the bags were ready to go.

Vino said goodbye to our hotel as we booked a Grab heading to the airport.

Of course I had a checklist of stuff in my head, but that didn’t stop me from panicking a bit when I realized I didn’t have keys to our house in SG.

I had to call Che, who reminded me that Steph and James had keys to our house because they were watering our plants weekly.

With that information, I told the driver that we can go on the trip as planned.

It took about 30 minutes to get to the airport and another hour to get past the immigration counters. If anything, I’m happy that the TIEZA folks – the ones who collect travel tax – are friendlier now. Before, it felt like I was committing a sin by traveling out of the country when I went through them.

The immigration counters were also surprisingly efficient, with not a lot of build up of the lines for PH passport holders.

The boarding time of 5:30pm wasn’t followed, as expected, and the flight that was supposed to fly at 6:30pm lifted off at 6:45pm.

While in the air, Vino chose the Filipino-style chicken barbecue with Java rice. Usually, he doesn’t eat much in the plane because of his fear of vomiting. I guess he liked the food this time around, as he ate more than he usually does.

He watched the Minecraft movie and was cracking up so much at one scene that the lady from across the aisle was curious what he was watching. I watched Thunderbolts/New Avengers, but I fell asleep on a few parts. I went back for it when I had the chance, so at least I got the complete story.

For his part, Vino put his playlist on and I let him borrow my earphones to listen to it while he slept. He woke up a few minutes before touchdown. He’s always been a good passenger since he was a baby – no fuss, and always got up when needed.

I think he was very excited to be back. He was looking around the airport and pointing out things to me.

Immigration was a breeze, and he easily cleared it even without having to take out his passport. I had to take mine off for some reason but I guess it’s mainly because I didn’t remove my glasses.

I stopped by the bottle shop for a spirit and a wine, just to restock our home for when we have visitors again.

It was a bit difficult to book a car, maybe because Singapore was celebrating its 60th year of independence. They were celebrating their 50th when I arrived, so I’m about two months away from officially living 10 years in the Lion City.

We passed by Steph and James’ place to get our house keys. I intended to go down, but Steph gave me the keys and a snack for Vino and sent us off. Really missed those guys, so I appreciated that they both went down so we can physically see each other.

Once we got back home, Vino insisted to open the doors. He said hi to everything – the TV, the sofa, the table, the snack bar, the bed, his footballs, and even the CCTV camera. He relished everything he missed – from his home clothes to the bed.

We put on a show on TV and went to bed. He was still very much excited about the things, so he kept asking questions about the movie. He willingly gave me his glasses after a few minutes though, a sign that he’s ready to sleep already.

He went to sleep on my shoulder again, as he does when it’s only two of us on the bed. I waited for Che to get back to the hotel before crashing out as well.

She had a great event in Bacolod, one big check mark on her to-do list in her short term role. There’s another big one on the way, so she canceled her flight tomorrow so that she can focus on doing that first.

After that gets out of the way, there will only be a few days left before she’s back in SG again with us.

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