Singapore Sling Tour: Day 10 Wandering Changi Airport

 

By the numbers

17 kilo bag

mum's 15 kilos

23.52 kms

28,183 steps

 

The final day had arrived for the journey to Singapore and we were going to make our way to the airport. One of the best airports around and one that we could just do a bag drop hours early since we were flying with Singapore Airlines. If we weren’t then we would be stuck with the normal checkin and bag drop times like the other airlines. We had packed the night before and I had put several things in mum’s bag as I couldn’t actually get them in there. The figurines I had gotten, I had to remove one from the box as the box itself was bigger than what was inside.

 

We had breakfast that actually went missing at Maccas even though we had table service. I ended up seeing the servers and they sorted me out and I actually followed the guy back to our table. It seemed strange things were not going well for them at that time of morning. They had the same issue last night. We were ready to check out and the time we could was at midday, I wanted to be at the airport a touch early as the phone weather said there were meant to be storms that afternoon. Knowing the accuracy of the weather there might have been a storm that afternoon, but I was cloud watching too. Before catching the train, we caught up with Dawn to say bye at the station in Novena. I actually didn’t mind the walk especially now that we knew there was a walkway from the hospital side, and don t need to go the long way around. The security at the station didn’t even look at me even though I was looking at their signs. They had the scanners that include the bag scanner, but I had never seen them actually move. As they say don’t poke the bear, and besides they probably already knew we were harmless. It was pretty easy to get the train back to the airport and in daylight this time. The really convenient part is when you walk off one train the next is in front of you that takes you all the way into Changi.

 

After a few minutes wait, the train came and took us to the airport. Once we got off, I had to orientate myself as the platform was so big and I needed to get my main bag back onto my back until we found a trolley. We needed terminal 3 and the closest to walk out of was terminal 2, so we had to go in the other direction. The best part is we didn’t need to rush as we didn’t fly out until later that night and we had something like 8 hours before we had to be at our gate and waiting. We went up some escalators and couldn’t actually figure out where to go to get to the next floor and decided to take the lifts that just kept beeping before taking us up. Once we were in the correct departure area we found a trolley and weighed our bags to see how much we were carrying. We still had heaps of room if we wanted to buy more things. By the time we used the loos and headed to the bag drop area, we both found just by scanning our passports that we could have printed off our tags and boarding passes together. The bag drop guy basically did all that for us except for pressing some of the buttons like declaring we were not carrying prohibited items. The next stop after dropping our bags off was to head over to Jewel, which was the waterfall.

 

Mum wasn’t very convinced at first when we were heading that way and it was a decent walk as we planned to see Jewel and then go through the gates to the inner terminal. The clouds were starting to build, but there was no rain at the time as we wandered to the Jewel area. Once we made it through the long walkway and some of the shops, we found there were quite a few people in the area to see the giant waterfall. I looked at my phone and mum vanished, I thought she had gone down the stairs to the bottom, which I did. Turns out she got stuck in a lift that was confused and I eventually found her walk out. The whole area had many orchids and we both were taking pictures of them as we went back up the stairs. I couldn’t believe the amount of people in the area. Once we moved away from the waterfall, there were plenty of shops to have a look in and I did have a look at some of the blind boxes. You buy a box with a figurine, and you didn’t know which one you had. I got two Lord of The Rings ones as you do. We made the top floor and decided to do the Bloom at Jewel, which was an off shoot of the stuff at Gardens by the Bay There were many flowers and figures in the area. It was worth doing a visit as we got to see a slide, a trampoline area that I didn’t go on as I didn’t want to hurt myself before getting onto a plane. It was basically like what we had seen on our other trips, but it was just as good. We decided once we were done that we would head back to Terminal 3, although we seen the walkway to terminal 2. We kept walking until we made it to the right exit.

 

Once back in Terminal 3 checkin area, we made it to the security control and while I made it past the guys checking the boarding pass, mum got held up as for some reason something was wrong with hers. I thought she had the old pass on her, but the guy started laughing and several others ended up having a look too. We didn’t understand what they were saying as I think it could have been Malay, but they let mum through and then we could pass through the passport scanner and into the terminal. The first stop was for food where we stopped for a little while. There was a little confusion as mum wanted another drink, but the lady wouldn’t refill and used a whole new cup even though mum was happy to pay. I took a wander and found the Butterfly house. At the same time it was storming outside of the airport. I was glad we were not caught in that tropical downpour of a storm. The butterfly house was open to the elements, but you could see plenty of the butterflies around and they were also feeding. By the time I wandered mum had came down from the food court and was looking at the shops. Before we went anywhere I showed her the butterflies and it was still raining, but I got to show her what the terminal had to offer. I wanted to show her the other terminals and we jumped onto the train to terminal 2 that took us past the Jewel waterfall. On the other side mum seen the words arrivals and wasn’t too impressed, but I showed her the flower display in the terminal that was all orchids. She wanted to rest for a bit and I was wanting to find the boarding gate as it at the time said we were going to be at A13 on the other side of terminal 3. I dropped her off at the goldfish pond so her phone could charge and she could have a read. I left my backpack with her as it was heavy.

 

I soon realised just how faraway the gate was in terminal 3, but there was a solution. There was a terminal train that took us to gate 15 so we wouldn’t have so far to walk. I ended up taking the train back to the main part of the terminal. The gate I should point out is where the bags are xrayed and the security checks are taken before you board your flight. Hopefully there is a water filling station and toilet there too. I had a half bottle of water that I was trying to drink. I thought I was heading to terminal 1, but somehow I ended up at the other end of terminal 2, and not noticed until I walked to where mum and I had had a look at with the flowers. I did look at the line up at the arrivals hall and there were more people there than when we had arrived even though this was a different terminal. While in Terminal 2 I looked around the food area and while I could watch the planes take off I could see that there was a bit of construction work being done near the gates in this area. I kept on walking passing the air train along the way. While in terminal 1 I had a look at the cactus garden, where it seemed to be a smoking area as well. I was on my way towards terminal 3 or so I thought. On the escalator that helps you move large parts of the terminal, I seen a book vending machine, it was then I realised I had gone in the wrong direction, so I had to double back as I was in the far end of Terminal 1 and the map showed I was on a spur. Soon I was on my way back to the right terminal and I looked on the website again to see if there were more updates on the gate. There was it had been changed to gate B5 and was closer to where mum had been left instead of being so far away.

 

I reunited with mum and I put my phone on charge and waited around. There were several other Aussies floating around as well. We looked through the shops before getting some duty free alcohol that would be waiting for us on the other side of our gate before we board. We hung around the gate before the security gates opened as there are no announcements at the airport as you have to be there to sort yourselves out. There wasn’t a toilet or a water station in the security area once we went through. I had to take my shoes off and put them in the xray machine along with my laptop. They checked my boarding pass and the security guys gave us all our arrivals card for Australia. Mum and I filled those out before we boarded the plane. I ended up not sleeping during the 7 hour flight as I was watching movies. There was Pirates of the Caribbean, Spider-man tv series, part of Kung Fu Panda 4. I ended up with fish for the meal as they were out of chicken. It wasn’t actually cold on the flight so I was comfortable. Landing in Brisbane showed how the airports were worlds apart. The immigration area had a line up and the bags were slow to come through. It does seem like the Gold Coast airport is a bit better with the arrivals especially as it’s a newer section. We did make it home and while it was a nice drive we both soon crashed due to sleep catching up with us.

 

All around it was a great trip away with meeting some great people and eating different foods that we don’t always eat. Some little bits of things to learn for next time especially when the train travel card app will no longer work on international numbers, but at least now I will know the prices of travel on the train and that my card doesn’t need to be registered. There are vending machines for the public transport cards too. I think it was cooler in June than the last time I was there in August, and the heat didn’t knock me around. Mum learnt her limits as well as she couldn’t totally keep up with me, but we both seen different parts of Singapore even though there is still more to explore on another trip. Though we had a tech issue when we got home and that was the modem deciding it was time to become a paper weight, but I ended up ordering a new one through the ISP as it turns out the new one I bought didn’t actually work as it couldn’t connect to the internet even when I made a phone call to the tech at the ISP.

Singapore Sling Tour: Day 9 Flowers in Singapore

By the numbers

11.01 kms

14,087 steps

The weather was looking a little iffy this morning and we were not sure if it would keep raining or not go anywhere. When we went down stairs for breakfast it wasn’t raining and would hope that it stayed that way. The original plan was to visit Changi prison, but the weather might not be so good if the tropical downpours happened while waiting for a bus. I went for the next best thing and that was Gardens by the Bay to see the one flower thing we had not seen and that was Floral Fantasies. I had been doing something different this whole trip and looking at flowers specifically Orchids. We sat and chatted with Dawn for a while before heading our separate ways.

 

The station from Novena we were heading to was Bayfront. We took the Downtown line from Newton. We knew that we would pop out of somewhere, but the walk took us past shops, though they were spelt as shoppes, so they were upmarket to what we wanted. The exit we had chosen coincided with the entrance to Floral Fantasies as we thought it was all the way down with the other exhibitions in the park. We were near the entrance and never seen this one when we walked through several days before. Basically we were inside the building with all the flowers. The displays were a mix of live plants and cut flowers. There was even several flowers that had crotched parts to them. Part of the experience was the Flight of the Dragonfly a 4D type experience where you sit in a seat with 3D glasses and experience the whole Gardens in the Bay from a Dragonfly’s view. You got squirted with water, felt fish skim by as they jump. There was even a poison frog display and when we first arrived there was only one showing and the others were hiding. We waited around a little bit as we kept going back and forth amongst the flowers and there was something new each time. When we visited the frogs again there were around 8 of them looking out with different colours. The phone couldn’t seem to get the colours right that I could see. Somewhere along the line a kid fell in the water.

 

After the Floral Fantasy we wandered through the gardens all the while spotting Orchids that were randomly in trees up high. I was told to keep an eye out or else I would miss something. We ended up having a quick bite to eat at the same place near the gift shop for Cloud Forest and Flower Dome. We had a nice wander back to the train or MRT. We got on the right escalator down as we were going to head to Botanic Gardens to see if we could spot Otters or even Monkeys. At the time we spotted neither, but the heat had come back in full force and I was a little worried with the cloud build up that we could get wet. We heard grogs and spotted more Orchids while wandering through the Botanic Gardens. We didn’t go too far as it was pretty warm as in hot and sticky, but we had a nice walk around anyway. If we didn’t go back then it would be just out luck that it would rain, but I did want to start packing as I had not started yet and wanted to have attempted to do so. We will be exploring Changi airport tomorrow as its one of the best to explore.

 

Singapore Sling Tour: Day 8 Wandering Singapore

By the numbers

20.72kms

26,381

The morning looked pretty clear and we were down stairs to have breakfast before heading off to check out one of the local hawkers markets even though we had just eaten. There were some stalls open with several vegetable stands selling their stuff. I think I gave mum a fair idea on what they would be like. From there, we walked towards Novena station the long way round as we were coming from another direction. I nearly got lost, well walked in the wrong directing and it was getting pretty warm out there. One of the local hospitals had a walking tour around it, so I would find something interesting after a while. In the end we ended up at the train station, where I walked into a supermarket for a look at it was playing their theme song the entire time I was there. Don Don Donki was an interesting store especially when they had suggestions on foods. We were resting our feet and waiting around. They seem to be having a security day as they were telling people to keep an eye out for suspicious people.

 

Dawn met up with us and we took the train into the city, although Singapore is just one big city with shopping centres on nearly every corner. We ended up at one of the shopping centres that backs onto Fort Canning Park. The shopping centre has an indoor rock climbing area, and a cycleway that runs right through the place. You have to be careful not to be run over, although I never seen anyone there and that includes the last time I visited the shopping centre. We had a tour of the eatery before I ordered my lunch beef noodles that came with coriander. I was asked if I wanted it and I obliged. It was a decent portion and I was happy with it as it would last me all day. From there we went to the National Gallery where Dawn showed us her sensory room that others in other locations had modelled off. It was a calming environment and I didn’t mind the weighted blanket and the mood lighting. It was nice of the supervisor to show us around and that there were stuff in the cupboards. Though I would never have looked in there at all. The building was part of the old supreme courts and they had little bits of the former life of the building like the remains of the cells with two remaining, the library and one of the court rooms, although they were showing exhibitions inside so we had to pay to really be in there. It was a nice old building that had been repurposed. Mum and Dawn decided to return and let me wander around on my own.

 

I headed back towards the shopping centre across from Fort Canning Park while watching the clouds form as they were getting dark. I was going to stop and have a look around. I was going to look in some of the shops, but I bypassed that for pictures of the fire station across the road and also the old police station with the colourful shutters. I crossed the road for a closer look and found the fire station is a civil defence museum that was not open on a Monday. The side of Fort Canning I was on was all steps and I was part way up when I heard my first bit of thunder. That had me worried, but nothing came of that as I walked all the way around as I went from the lighthouse to the Battlebox that was part of the British command when the British surrendered to Japan during the war. I was following the path that lead to the train station of Dhoby Ghaut, and part of the way was the covered forest and people were crowded on the stairs and halfway through the underpass taking photos. I ended up at the side of the station, where I could easily cross the road to enter the station.

 

The next place I headed to was Orchard around two stops away so I was happy to stand until then. Once I got off I popped up around Timezone inside of Ion and walked out the back of the building where the bus stop was. I seen some interesting buildings that I took photos of and then decided I wanted to try to find a music shop I was looking for. I ended up finding a space between the Ion and next door to it. Then I found I couldn’t cross the road as a sign told me to use the underpass. The first escalator took me past the floor I was meant to stop on. I ended up going up two flights to be on the correct level, though along the way I found other station entrances to the MRT. I found a random set of escalators that pointed to the road I wanted. I was able to cross the road from there, but I ended up popping underground again to get across the road though this time I used some random stairs. Turns out I was correct. I was looking for the Far East Plaza and found it. The stores inside were not big, but while I found the music store I wanted, I kept on walking as there wasn’t much there at all. Every suit shop I passed had a guy out the front wanting me to come in. I found the exit and headed back to the main road and followed the shops to Paragon, where I crossed the road to reach the bookshop again for a look. The bookshop in late afternoon was pretty busy.

 

It didn’t look like it was going to rain when I left Orchard, but by the time I walked out of Novena the rain had started. I had to take out my brolly so I wouldn’t get wet. By the time I ended up in the room the rain had turned into a full on storm. I was sitting at the window watching the storm and the flashes of lightning. You had a hard time seeing outside with the rain, and it soon eased off enough that I could go out for food. You could literally dodge those drops. By the time we had dinner the rain had stopped.