The Jewel of Singapore

Today was CONSIDERABLY less eventful than even my first day away.

I was exhausted from all the travelling yesterday, so in an attempt to conserve some energy, I did absolutely nothing all morning. Apart from grabbing a coffee and some breakfast, I sat around the accommodation, chatted with other travellers, and packed my bag for the long flight to Europe. I had to check out by 12, and although I could have left my bag at the accommodation and wandered around for the afternoon, the last thing I needed was to spend the next few hours drenched in sweat before a 13-hour flight. The journey to the airport was going to do enough of that already. Instead, I was much more excited to explore Singapore’s enormous - and, most importantly, air-conditioned - airport. I planned to window shop, visit the Jewel, grab some food and have a few drinks while I waited for my flight.

Unfortunately, I arrived a little too early to drop off my bag and found myself sitting outside the check-in area waiting for it to open. Given that my flight wasn’t until 11:40pm and it was only 2pm, I had a feeling I was going to be there for a while. There are places where you can temporarily store your luggage for a fee, but the one in my terminal was currently closed. I briefly considered walking all the way back to Terminal 1 to use another one, but I had already lost the motivation to make the trek only to have to walk all the way back later. Eventually, when I regained some energy, I decided I’d find a trolley and make my way over there.

In the end, baggage drop opened a couple of hours later, but I still had more than six hours to kill at the airport. With the freedom of no longer having a bag to drag around, however, I was finally free to explore the massive airport and, more importantly, see the Jewel.

It was quite stunning. Walking into the enormous glass enclosure, surrounded by trees and greenery, with an enormous vortex of water cascading down through the ceiling, was genuinely a sight to behold. You can catch a shuttle through the jewel section but seemed a bit unnecessary given I didn’t need the service. An avid shopper could probably spend days at Singapore Airport with the sheer number of shops, but with my budget firmly in mind, I kept my distance.

That being said, I did sit down for two beers at the top of the Jewel while I spoke to my parents. The final bill for two pints came to almost 50 AUD. A HUGE expense at this point in my trip. I used to think Australian prices were ridiculous. I had planned to continue drinking while I waited for my flight, but my budget had already been blown on those two beers. The view and atmosphere of the place ALMOST made it worth it, though.

Eventually, the time came to board my flight. I’ve just hopped on and am hopeful I can get some good sleep during the 13-hour journey.
The view of Singapore from the sky was pretty incredible—a fitting way to say goodbye to my first stop on this adventure.Read more