Travel – John Lennon – Hong Kong to Singapore

John Lennon flew from Hong Kong to Singapore on 22 October 1976.

Lennon had arrived in Hong Kong on 19 October, as part of a week-long journey around southeast Asia. He returned to New York on 27 October.

Lennon stayed at the Hyatt Singapore Hotel, where he checked in under the name John Gherkin.

The solo trip helped inspire Lennon’s 1980 song ‘I’m Losing You’.

It came out of an overwhelming feeling of loss that went right back to the womb. One night, I couldn’t get through to Yoko on the telephone and I felt completely disconnected… I think that’s what the last five years were all about – to reestablish me for meself. The actual moment of awareness when I remembered who I was came in a room in Hong Kong because Yoko had sent me around the world to be by meself. I hadn’t done anything by meself since I was 20. I didn’t know how to check into a hotel… if someone reads this they’ll think, ‘These bloody popstars!’ They don’t understand the pain of being a freak. Whenever I got nervous about it I took a bath, and in Hong Kong I’d had about 40 baths. I was looking out over the bay when something rang a bell. It was the recognition – ‘My God! This relaxed person is me from way back. HE knew how to do things. It doesn’t rely on any adulation or hit record. Wow!’ So I called Yoko and said, ‘Guess who. It’s me!’