I had a layover in Chennai, and had to collect my luggage and re-check in, which meant that I had to actually leave the airport and then come back in. They wouldn’t let me in until 3 hours before my flight, so I had to wait in the visitors’ area. I had been planning on eating dinner in the airport, but there was just a little snack kiosk. I spent the time reading, and at one point a guy sat down next to me and started asking me questions—not incessantly, just a question and then long stretch of silence before the next one. They started off pretty innocuous—is this the international departures terminal (yes), where are you going (Singapore), where are you from (the U.S.). Then he started asking me all sorts of visa questions, like for some reason he expected me to know all about Australian immigration law. Then he wanted to know about my stay in India—was I here with a church group? (no) IT company? (no) just a tourist? (yes). Did I have contact information for someone in India? Where had I stayed—in hotels? Ah, here we go, veering into sketch. He offered to get a pen and paper so I could give him my email address, which I declined. His line of questioning got more and more personal (married? Boyfriend?) and more and more absurd (do you find me smart enough? Funny enough?) until he flat out asked about the chances of “getting intimate, or starting friendship.” Sigh. I suppose it had to happen sometime. Men: just a little hint for you. When a woman answers your questions with single syllables, asks zero questions in return, and refuses to even look up from her book when answering you—she’s not interested.

Chennai airport is seriously old school. The signboard listing departing flights is analog, and to find out your gate you have to listen to the blurry loudspeaker announcements. There are also no restaurants in the international terminal, just a couple stands selling pre-made sandwiches and the like.

So going from that to Singapore airport is a little nuts. Foot massage chairs, free wifi that you can actually access, restaurants where they can accept debit cards and foreign currency. Whoa. I was thinking I would venture out of the airport during my looooong layover here, but was super tired and out of it when I got off the plane, so I changed my mind and decided I would just go on the free tour run by the airport. But by the time I got to the registration kiosk for that, the last tour I could take and be back in time for my flight was already booked solid. Oh well. I guess it’s just a day of foot massages, butterflies, and naps.