I landed about four hours ago and hailed a cab once I’d collected my luggage and managed to find my way out of the airport. I got through customs okay, they checked my passport as usual and let me through. I guess I looked just like one of the thousands of other americans streaming into Shanghai. One thing does keep me separate though. My passport is fake, and my bag contains nothing but stacks of hundred-dollar bills, amounting to a grand spanking total of five-hundred-thousand dollars. And this laptop.
I took a hot bath once I got to my room. I went ahead and got a single room, I figure the frivolous spending can come later once I’ve found someone to share the room (which will then be a suite) with. I, thus far, have found three people that speak english. I introduced myself under my fake-passport name (“Winston A. Stetler”; note that I didn’t get to choose the name). The first was the man at the lobby-desk in the lobby of this hotel. The second was a man in the elevator, who asked me which floor I was on and pushed the button for me. The third was an older man who came out of the door across the hall from mine as I was sliding my keycard into the locking mechanism of my room.
His name is Frank. He looks about fifty, and will be here for the next two weeks on a business trip. He was wearing a wedding band, but seemed to be expecting a female caller later that night as he gave me a brief rundown on the luxuries of Singapore, with knowing winks at the “important” parts. He told me to give him a ring if I had any questions. He gave me his mobile number.
Goals for tomorrow:
1) Get information on a high security, anonymous bank account
2) Get a mobile
3) Get clothes.
Now I really need to sleep. It’s late here even though it’s morning for my biological clock. Must adjust to time change. Jet lag sucks.
