To Singapore

We had a comfortable, on time 2 hour flight with Air Asia from Kuching to Singapore. The three flights with this budget carrier have been very good, including well organized boarding process compared to the chaos of both Vietnamese airlines. There were a series of polite announcements before landing listing a variety of illegal acts: bringing in any weapon including knuckle dusters, bringing in more than $10,000 , stealing the lifejackets and carrying drugs is punishable in Singapore with the death penalty. Hmmm .. you certainly know where you stand.

We arrived to Terminal 2 which connects with the MRT subway system.

Singapore is a “rags to riches” story that is amazing given its small land size and this was evident immediately. The MRT is modern, and everything is superbly signed in both directions and expectations for Singaporean behaviour (eg, glass sliding door barriers protect the tracks, lines are clearly shown as to where to stand, there are metal guides to aid to the blind. Four written languages on the MRT signage, English and Mandarin announcements. We easily located the Strand Hotel right across from the MRT Blue Downtown #21 Bencoolen metro stop and we were to find this location very central.Read more