The hiccups continue. Haneda was an oasis of free WiFi, sparkling loos, eye-popping Japanese snacks and smiling service staff but when we arrived in Singapore shortly before 6am on Monday morning, there was NO ONE at the arrival hall to meet us, and not a useable phone between the four of us.

But hopeful sign 2: the guy opening up the Quiznos kiosk gave me some change, and hopeful sign 3: there was a payphone and hopeful sign 4: Alan was waiting by the kerbside. He'd sent a text/email but of course we are not that mobile coming from America!

That familiar wall of damp heat. We loaded up and drove to Ghim Moh where mum and dad were to meet us. I planned the menu: hae mee noodles dry, youtiao with black coffee, carrot cake two kinds, nasi lemak and prata. The table was laden....But alas, as we parked and walked towards the deserted hawker centre, a banner cheerfully told us the place was closed for cleaning.

Argggghhhhhhh....

Setback number who's counting: the Holland Village hawker centre was closed too. But of course. It's Monday. What was I thinking? Have I been away for so long that I've forgotten this is the day of rest for many market stalls? We settled for a barely-operational Crystal Jade and then a bit of Ya Kun kaya toast. Adequate but not ideal.

I did not look forward to the prospect of entering the Pine Grove apartment and it was as I expected, but no worse. Ethan is staying here this week and had a happy reunion with the girls. I went to work clearing out my old room as best as I could. We do have some breathing space though, as mum and dad are going to church camp in Desaru this week so we can have their room. They left around noon. I got to work cleaning up in the kitchen as well, and the bathroom, and unpacking all our luggage, except for Alexis's, which is simply voluminous and unmanageable. I think she brought nearly every piece of clothing in her closet.

Try as they might, J and Izzy succumbed to jetlag and went to sleep. The other two children clamoured to see MIB3, so we got to the laborious task of waking them up. But setback # way off the charts by now: J's glasses have gone missing!!!! I went through all the suitcases and every bit of trash I had taken downstairs but I could not find them. Woe is me! I knew we should never have come!!

There was no help for it. The movie was out of the question. Instead, I drove everyone to Sunset Way, where Alexis had mee pok from her regular stall and I bought some pasta/pizza for Izzy and Ethan from Rocky's. Afterwards, we got prepaid mobile cards from 7-11, and while everyone spaced out, I went to work contacting friends etc. As expected, I am immune to the 12-hour time zone difference jet lag, and I went to bed at 11. Of course Izzy was up half an hour later and needed a snack. Luckily, we had foreseen this earlier and were prepared with cup noodles from 7-11.

So, the first day ends and we survived. Hopeful sign # 5: The heatwave took a break today.

The day I've dreaded has come. Maybe dreaded is too strong a word, but I've not looked forward to going to Singapore, despite my professions to the contrary. Everyone thinks I'm excited to be going home but I'm worried: will the kids and J find staying at Pine Grove too crowded? The house is old and cluttered and grimy now the maid is gone. Will J and my parents get along? Will that tension be difficult to manage? What will the children do for fun now they don't have many friends left in Singapore? Will they complain there's nothing to do? Will they even get out of bed before noon? Will I find it frustrating that our wishes, agendas and schedules will rarely coalesce and be guaranteed to clash? After all, this has happened with every trip in the last four years.

Anyway, I have not relished the prospect that this trip, which means such different things to each of us, could be disappointing to everyone in the end on some level. But here we are now.

Still, if beginning omens are worth anything, this departure was less stressful than those of previous years. Of course J had multiple chores which "had" to be completed, but we were more or less packed and ready to go by noon or so.

Pam and Jan as usual were troopers, bringing breakfast, washing up and driving us to the airport when it came time. Finally we are on our way. At our three-hour layover in JFK, Alexis was desperate to facetime with people at the party she was missing (which included her new boyfriend, Tucker) and. Izzy was super bummed that she didn't go walkabout with J and me and so missed a Selena Gomez sighting. I mean, she was this-is-the-worst-day-of-my-life typical Izzy bummed. Maybe I was premature in reading hopeful signs. Especially as it turned out that we had not ordered a vegetarian meal for Izzy on American Airlines, which was not inclined to find a solution (this is why one flies SQ if one has money), so she was reduced to eating the side dishes and cheese/crackers. She did it with very poor grace, I guess to punish us. Oh, forget it. I downed an Ambien and went to sleep for the rest of the 13 hours to Haneda.