It was around 18:30 local time, on the next calendar day. Singapore is 15 hours ahead of the West Coast of the U.S. Crossing the International Date Line is a bit surreal, in either direction.

I walked through the terminal to Immigration and waited in a short line. The customs agent reviewed my passport and declaration form, which stated my length of stay as 54 days. He requested the letter of invitation from the company for which I was here to do business. Uh-oh.

No visa is required for visitors from the U.S. for either business or pleasure travel, and this was the first I’d heard of any such letter requirement. Many employees from the Portland office visit and work in Singapore, probably for a lot less time than my assignment.

I told him I don’t have any such letter, and he asked how he was supposed to buy my story. I replied that I wasn’t aware my story needed buying. I offered to show him my employee badge and as I did so realized it doesn’t have the company name on it. He said I should be aware of this next time, and I told him I would absolutely bring this requirement to the attention of our HR department.

He moved on and asked for proof of my onward travel out of Singapore. Goddammit.

I’ll be flying home from Chiang Mai, Thailand, and had researched flights from Singapore to Chiang Mai many times and found that I didn’t like any of the options so I hadn’t booked one yet. It hadn’t occurred to me I would need this prior to entry into Singapore.

I told the customs agent I’d had a lot to do to prepare to be away from home for two months and had not prioritized the planning of my leisure trip after my business assignment. I felt very lucky that he again relented and allowed me to pass.

My suitcase was already off the belt and waiting for me, and with nothing to declare there was no bag scan necessary and I walked right out. Whew!

I withdrew cash from an ATM, as I always do at the airport upon arrival in a new country, and then followed signs to the MRT — Mass Rapid Transit. At home, I’d looked up the route from the airport to my Airbnb listing and found it was easy and straightforward. I believe most of my colleagues would have taken an Uber but it honestly never occurred to me. I love public transportation.

A co-worker had just returned from Singapore shortly before I left, and she had given me her EZ Link card, on which you can load funds for use on MRT and local buses. It already had enough to get me home, but I put $20 SGD on it at a machine anyway.

I took a train from the airport two stops to Tanah Merah station, where I needed to cross the platform to continue on the same line. It was here that I got my first blast of Singapore’s heat and humidity. I removed my hoodie, though I was soon back on an air-conditioned train. MRT runs frequently and efficiently.

I rode another 20 minutes to Tanjong Pagar station in the CBD (Central Business District) and Google Map-walked 5 minutes to my listing, a serviced apartment in a high-rise called Lumiere. The Airbnb “host”, a team of property managers, had sent me self check-in instructions via WhatsApp, and I had taken a screenshot in case my T-Mobile cellular data connection was spotty.

I opened my photos, reviewed the screenshot, and found that I was to retrieve a lift pass (lift = elevator) from unlocked mailbox 16-04 and I would find apartment 18-05 unlocked as well. Mailbox 16-04 was not unlocked, but I was able to reach inside and grab three lift passes. One of them was a master, and I took it with the intention of putting it back after I’d coordinated with the property team on getting my own. I rode the lift to the 18th floor and found that apartment 05 was not unlocked.

My phone’s data was working just fine, and I messaged the property team on WhatsApp, desperately hoping they were paying attention and would answer quickly. As I did so, I saw that they’d updated the instructions: both my lift pass and apartment key were now in unlocked mailbox 15-05. I rode the lift back down, replaced the master lift pass in box 16-04, and retrieved my lift pass and key. After nearly 26 hours of travel, I entered my listing and dropped my bags. The property team apologized for the inconvenience, and I thanked them for their prompt replies.

I unpacked my toiletries and laid a blanket from the couch on the floor to do some press-ups. It was 21:00 and I didn’t feel particularly hungry, but in the last several hours, I’d only had a small breakfast sandwich on the plane shortly before arrival and was afraid of eventual hunger keeping me awake. I had no energy or desire to eat in a restaurant or even deal with takeaway, whether by calling an order in or sitting and waiting for it to be prepared. I looked up supermarkets and found one less than a 5-minute walk away. Clutch.

I shopped at Cold Storage, a local chain, picking up mostly breakfast items: eggs, yogurt, granola, almond milk. I’d noticed that the shower has shampoo and shower gel, but no conditioner, which is a must to detangle my curls, so I grabbed a bottle of that since my travel size wasn’t going to last the duration of my stay. For my dinner, I grabbed a frozen pizza. And what kitchen is complete without a bottle of wine handy…

Throughout, I had constant sticker shock. The value of $1.00 USD is about $1.38 SGD, but even after calculating the prices in the currency I’m accustomed to, they were surprising. These seven items cost $71.20 SGD, or about $52 USD.

Back at home, I realized I had a microwave and no oven. I would not be having frozen pizza for dinner. I still wasn’t hungry and decided it was now too late to eat and, having been awake for almost 29 hours, I just hoped I would sleep through the night.

I showered off the travel and headed for bed. I’m always a little bit anxious about the quality of the bed in any Airbnb I book, and I was especially concerned for such a long stay. To my great relief, the bed at my new listing for the next 8 weeks is fantastically firm, as I need.

I laid my long two-days-in-one to rest at 22:45.