Melbourne to Singapore

Jan 21

After just four hours' sleep John was up to get his packing finished and be on his way to Singapore. Janice was worried about the traffic and so they left around 7:30am. John was very sad to say goodbye to Barney because he is an old dog and John knew for a fact that he would never see him again.

As they drove to the main Melbourne airport, John and Janice reminisced about their time together and how both had enjoyed the holiday. It was her birthday, in fact. They faced the inevitable they they, too, might never see each other in person again although they agreed to stay in touch. After dropping John off at the departures, Janice was going to see her sister's children's children who are visiting her sister.

The traffic, however, had been a dream and they were at the airport at 8:30. John's flight was at 11:20, so he had lots of time and no worries about getting on the flight.

John lined up to get his boarding pass and filled out his Australian exit form. He passed through exit Customs and then security with no worries this time apart from emptying me again for them. He bought a drink and a science magazine and settled down to wait.

The time passed quickly and it was time to board. Perhaps John is getting too old but he felt some trepidation with the number of families with two-year olds getting on the plane. They were in a Boeing Triple 7 and the two rows directly ahead had three toddlers. Each child took their turn emitting piercing screams from time to time. John heard shrieks of pain, of fear, of frustration, and sometimes just plain naughty ones as one tyke tried to outdo the kid in front.

That was the only negative of the whole trip. The service on Singapore Airlines was beyond excellent. Before the plane was very high in the sky the flight attendants were around offering complimentary wine, juice, pop, beer - and that was in economy! They did two rounds before bringing lunch. Each passenger had a menu. The appetizer was marinated sweet chili shrimp with asian slaw along with a roll and butter. There was a choice in the main course: roasted chicken in mushroom sauce, buttered vegetables, and lyonnaise potatoes OR Gaeng chu chee pia (fish filet in red curry and coconut milk) served with mixed vegetables and rice. John asked for the chicken, but they had just ran out of that one but he was fine with that because the fish dish was remarkable. They ended with cheese and crackers, and an ice cream cone.

Twice more they came around with drinks before serving refreshment - lamb and potato curry pie or fried rice with chicken, shrimp and vegetables. John asked for the fried rice and the flight attedant made sure he got it. John had not seen such service in Canada since the 1960's.

The plane was not full and John had only one seatmate in the three seats. He was a young guy from Hyderabad, India just finishing a two-year contract with a bank in Australia. He is a software engineer and his job was to increase the bank's business intelligence. The two had a couple of really good chats during the sevan and a half hours they spent together. He said that John should visit India some day and John said he should really come and visit Canada. They made a deal that each would do it - completely unenforceable, of course!

Upon landing at Changi airport, John filled out his Singapore Immigration card and passed through Immigration with no lineups and zero difficulty. He went to pick up his luggage and it was already on the conveyor belt going around. There was room everywhere - no people jostling to get their bags, no huge lines anywhere. Customs just waved him through the door. John was not used to being trusted like that! Everywhere else I have been like a red flag in front of a bull as far as Customs people are concerned. John and I must fit some sort of profile, I guess.

He went to the traveller's desk and paid for his shuttle to the hotel. It was only nine Singapore dollars. The same rde had cost $50NZ in Auckland.

He met a young Aussie woman who seemed a little nervous because she started to talk to John spontaneously while waiting for the shuttle. By the way, from getting off the plane to the shuttle leaving the airport was about 15 minutes.

Anyway, she had just got a job as an occupational therapist in one of Singapore's hosptials and she was kind of nervous about the new job, finding a place to live and so on. John tried to reassure her and it seemed to help.

Her htoel was out by the hospital so John was off before her. Both wished each other the best.

John is very happy with the hotel. It is the highest quality place he has stayed on this trip. His room was upgraded from superior to deluxe which means he has slippers and a robe and little extras like that. Take a look at the video.



John decided to splurge and pay for good Internet access while he is here.

He went out for a walk and found that indeed Singapore ia all about shopping. More on that another time. Now it is time to say goodnight as it has been a long day.



TRB