Farewell

(picture of the post: upper = Ronny, Sandy, me and Chrissi; lower = Glenn and me)

LEAVING DRESDEN NEVER EASY

Well, first thanks to all of you who wished me the best for my trip. It certainly would not have been so difficult to leave without all of you asking me the whole time how I felt about leaving ;-). The last days in Dresden were fabulous..special thanks to Sandy and Ronny, who organised a wonderful combination of birthday and farewell party on Sept 11th. Thanks to Anke and Matt who managed to pay me a visit. Having so many friends at the platform (also cheers to Chrissi & Glenn), who wished me luck, certainly was a sign that somethings gonna change..

Well, my ICE trip to Frankfurt was a quick and comfy ride. The flight to Dubai was interesting. I haven't had the opportunity to try Emirates before (who are supposed to be 2nd only to Singapore Airlines in the world with regard to customer satisfaction). Stylish music, appetizing videos and quite beautifully smiling stewardesses, hmmm. And all these different cultures. Not too bad I thought, before a German guy sat next to me boasting of his frequent flyer bonuses for the first two hours of the flight. Back to reality at last. Well, there's not much to tell about the flight, other than it was relaxing then (the German guy was competing in his snoring loudness with the engines. I cannot sleep anyways during flights, so I was listining to podcasts and music..sometimes the other neighbor of the guy bumped 'accidentily' but heavily into him, which merely let him grunt for a second).
Nevertheless, Emirates surely know how to treat even their 'wood'-class customers gently. The only thing I missed, was a decent massage (more to this a few posts later in Singapore..;-)) I wasn't bold enough to ask for one, but an Indian guy who sat next to me on my final flight to Singapore told me confidently the staff generelly would do anything before letting the word 'no' slip out of their mouths to a customer. Maybe I give it a try on my way back ;-)


ARRIVING SINGAPORE NEVER EASY, TOO?

The arrival at Singapore airport was marked by a first slight shock. Although I was given a letter directly after leaving the plane containing my work permit, they would not accept it. Apparently, Infineon HR had missed out to print page 2 of 2 of my work permit..luckily, I am European, so I could finally enter the country as a tourist after numerous discussions with their police and immigration personnel. puhhh...immigration laws are really strict in Singapore, so I was kindof lucky.

It was indeed a weird feeling to walk through the doors of the airport...tropical hot climate, palm trees, humidity, spiciest Asian food, unspeakable names of Indian cab drivers and of course an internship with Infineon ;-) were waiting somewhere behind these doors...