Yesterdays blog was written during our 3 hour wait in the business lounge at Dubai Airport whilst we were waiting for our connecting flight to Singapore.
This time we had an A380 for the leg between Dubai and Singapore which was a good choice as it was our bed time.
The flight left on time and the pilot predicted a flight duration of 7hr 35min.
Mick finished his partly watched movie "The Internship" from the previous flight and Lyn watched a movie called "The Company You Keep" with Robert Redford and Nick Nolte.
Movies watched, we pressed a button and created our beds and settled down for the night putting on our blackout goggles and noise cancelling headphones. Unfortunately the weather had other ideas and we had quite a bumpy night with little sleep and even Lyn couldn't overcome the bumpy ride to sleep much. In fact in the morning she felt very nauseous and spent some time holding a bag over her mouth whilst, surprisingly, Mick tucked into scrambled eggs and sausages, which probably made Lyn feel worse.
We arrived at Changi Airport in Singapore at 3pm on time and we were off the plane very quickly unlike economy class who spent what seemed like an age disembarking. I guess having a ratio of 76 business to 400 economy explains it.
Unfortunately, unlike most of the other airports we have been to, we weren't given fast track flow through customs and immigration so we had to join the queues.
Once cleared we went to find our driver who was waiting with a Mitsubishi 3000, which Mick thinks looks a bit like a Bentley, and we were driven down the expressway to our hotel. The temperature outside was a warm 34C
When Mick booked the Singapore hotel early in the year, he found difficulty getting one at a reasonable price. The reason for that had become apparent recently when we realised that the Singapore Formula one Grand Prix is on this weekend and the place is full of enthusiasts.
After we booked in we went to our room and showered before curling up for an hours rest.
Refreshed but with Lyn still feeling queasy as the earth was still moving, we decided to catch the free hotel shuttle to a shopping and cafe centre to get something to eat.
On the shuttle was a young girl who worked at the hotel and we asked her about getting to places in Singapore and she said that there was an MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) system station at the shopping centre where the shuttle stops so when we arrived she took us down to the station and showed us how to use the ticket purchase machine.
After dinner Lyn felt much better so we looked around the shops for a while before catching the return shuttle home where we found they were televising the Formula 1 practice sessions, followed on Saturday by qualifying and on Sunday, the race.
This was surprising as the bloke who took our bags up to our room offered to sell us tickets for qualifying, which he claimed was not being broadcast, for $200 each.
Note of particular interest to Peter re exchange rates:
When we got some Singapore money from the travel agent in Whitley Bay, for our £200 we got $382 SGD so we got 1.91 SGD for each £1. At a shopping centre money exchange booth here in Singapore, we gave them £25 which we had left over and were given 1.97 SGD for each £1. So Peter was correct, it is cheaper to source your local currency when you arrive.
This time we had an A380 for the leg between Dubai and Singapore which was a good choice as it was our bed time.
The flight left on time and the pilot predicted a flight duration of 7hr 35min.
Mick finished his partly watched movie "The Internship" from the previous flight and Lyn watched a movie called "The Company You Keep" with Robert Redford and Nick Nolte.
Movies watched, we pressed a button and created our beds and settled down for the night putting on our blackout goggles and noise cancelling headphones. Unfortunately the weather had other ideas and we had quite a bumpy night with little sleep and even Lyn couldn't overcome the bumpy ride to sleep much. In fact in the morning she felt very nauseous and spent some time holding a bag over her mouth whilst, surprisingly, Mick tucked into scrambled eggs and sausages, which probably made Lyn feel worse.
We arrived at Changi Airport in Singapore at 3pm on time and we were off the plane very quickly unlike economy class who spent what seemed like an age disembarking. I guess having a ratio of 76 business to 400 economy explains it.
Unfortunately, unlike most of the other airports we have been to, we weren't given fast track flow through customs and immigration so we had to join the queues.
Once cleared we went to find our driver who was waiting with a Mitsubishi 3000, which Mick thinks looks a bit like a Bentley, and we were driven down the expressway to our hotel. The temperature outside was a warm 34C
When Mick booked the Singapore hotel early in the year, he found difficulty getting one at a reasonable price. The reason for that had become apparent recently when we realised that the Singapore Formula one Grand Prix is on this weekend and the place is full of enthusiasts.
After we booked in we went to our room and showered before curling up for an hours rest.
Refreshed but with Lyn still feeling queasy as the earth was still moving, we decided to catch the free hotel shuttle to a shopping and cafe centre to get something to eat.
On the shuttle was a young girl who worked at the hotel and we asked her about getting to places in Singapore and she said that there was an MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) system station at the shopping centre where the shuttle stops so when we arrived she took us down to the station and showed us how to use the ticket purchase machine.
After dinner Lyn felt much better so we looked around the shops for a while before catching the return shuttle home where we found they were televising the Formula 1 practice sessions, followed on Saturday by qualifying and on Sunday, the race.
This was surprising as the bloke who took our bags up to our room offered to sell us tickets for qualifying, which he claimed was not being broadcast, for $200 each.
Note of particular interest to Peter re exchange rates:
When we got some Singapore money from the travel agent in Whitley Bay, for our £200 we got $382 SGD so we got 1.91 SGD for each £1. At a shopping centre money exchange booth here in Singapore, we gave them £25 which we had left over and were given 1.97 SGD for each £1. So Peter was correct, it is cheaper to source your local currency when you arrive.
Our A380 
Tail camera view coming in to land
Chrysler 3000 at Changi Airport
Free WiFi internet speed, not too bad
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| Australian Pura milk $3.65 per litre |
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