Singapore to London

Jan 26 Enroute

John and I are sitting in gate B7, waiting to board Singapore Airlines flight 318 to London. There is supposed to be wireless access here but John's computer cannot find it. One might have to go upstairs to the first class waiting area, perhaps. Anyway, we have some time to wait so we decided this might be a good time to write the content for the next post.

John is not looking forward to the long flight but he picked an aisle seat in a back row in hopes that if the plane is not full he might be able to stretch out a bit. It is a gamble because the row is close to the toilets. In the flight from Melbourne either he or his fellow passenger could have had a whole row but it would have been impolite to accept over the other and so both turned it down. However, John noted that the last rows are the ones they do not fill up until the end.

The day itself is typical. Sunny with clouds, hot and very humid. John was pleased when he checked out because he had eaten breakfast each morning at the hotel and it turned out to be included. So $100 Cdn a night in a 5-star hotel with breakfast is a pretty good deal.

Unlike what he had been told taxis were not cheap. They weren't expensive either - just not dirt cheap as in some third world countries. John had to take a taxi to the airport rather than the shuttle because the shuttle could only take him at 8:15 and that was wayyy too early for a 1:00pm flight.

As it was being at the airport three hours early was too soon anyway. The airport is so efficient that you check in very quickly. John went through passport control with no problem and was able to check out the malls in all three terminals by using the Skytrain between them. Terminal 3 is definitely the best one as it is the newest. If you don't look around when you arrive the other terminals can seem sort of dull. But if you look closer there are many, many shops from Ferrari and Dolce & Gabbana, to public post offices, restaurants, bookstores, childrens' stores and so on.

One of the most interesting things is that security is at the gate. There is no central hub through which everyone must go. This little change makes security clearance much, much more comfortable. John had accidentally taken a bottle of water from the hotel to drink at the airport but had forgotten to drink it. When it was discovered by the scan he was given the choice to drink all or part of it before proceeding to the seating area. After having a short drink John proceeded on and was met by three police officers who checked his passport again. That seems to sum up the way many things operate in Singapore. Tourists are seen as honoured, valued customers but underlying that is a tight security regime.

Well, it is close to the time to board so Jhn is putting the laptop away for the flight and picking me up again. Talk to you later from the UK.

TRB



On flight SG 318 currently at 39,000 feet southeast of Ashkhabad in Turkmenistan (north of Iran) after overflying Afghanistan between Kandahar and Kabul. John sent his wishes for safety to the Canadian troops below.

The Airbus A380 is an amazing plane. It is so new and the features make it a joy in which to fly. Of course, Singapore Airways gives more knee room than John is used to. Not only that but they give economy passengers more room as well.

This is the BEST flight John has ever taken and he has been flying since 1960! One reason is that his flight has come at a real down time for the airline. Nobody it seems is going to London today. His strategy of asking for a seat near the back was unecessary. There must be only 20 passngers in his section of the plane that can hold 120 people. The only downer is a baby that cries incessantly. The baby went to sleep for a while but has cried the rest of the time and the flight has been airborne for seven and a half hours.

John has a row all to himself and can lay down aytime he wants. He even had a fairly comfortable sleep. The service has been phenomenal. He was served two drinks of a good Cabernet Sauvignon before lunch (steak with mashed potatoes au gratin), beer with supper (John chose the Thai fried rice over the bangers and mash. He has been offered drinks on at least five other occasions. Since there are so few other passengers there is never a line up at the washroom!

We are in the main cabin of this double decker plane but the ceiling is curved just like it was any other wide body jet. The plane is also extremely quiet. There is a jet engine sound so low you can hear the hiss of the air flowing over the wings. The individual lights are very focused to avoid disturbing other passengers. The entertainment is superb - John watched a movie called The Informer with Matt Damon, then slept, then watched two episodes of Two and a Half Men followed by two documentaries (one on Cleopatra and another on penguins and other life in and near Antarctica). It reminded John of his ecperience in Christchurch at the International Antarctic Centre.

John has been reflective of late as his trip is starting to wind down. What does it mean and what has he learned. There are so many different cultures from the Maori to the Australian aborigines, to the Chinese, Malays, Indians. and those of us from a Western tradition. The street of Harmony with all the different religions is good but it doesn't take religion but rather goodwill. Each culture is worthy to live in peace with its neighbours. There is intolerance but it can be overcome by good faith and good karma. We are all indigenous to our beautiful Mother Earth, our Gaia.

TRB