Day 2

After yesterday’s long day, we both slept well—even though the hotel’s walls were basically paper-thin. After getting dressed, we headed down for the included buffet breakfast. It was pretty mediocre, but that didn’t stop us from eating enough to get our previously mentioned money’s worth.

I realised I’d forgotten to pack white socks (quelle horreur!), so Ted kindly lent me a pair while we went for a walk to explore the local area. Since we’d already seen plenty of Singapore on our last visit, neither of us felt like heading into the city. Instead, we walked down to the local marina and boardwalk, as well as the nearby beach. By 9 a.m., the heat was already stifling, so I bought some new socks and we headed back to the hotel.

We were both keen to relax in the rooftop pool, which was a great temperature and offered views of the nearby airport as we floated around and unwound. Ted thought it would be a good idea to explore Jewel at Changi Airport, so he arranged a pickup through Klook. It was mildly amusing to see that our driver’s surname was Bin Laden—nothing like a little excitement to start the afternoon.

The first thing we saw at Jewel was the Rain Vortex waterfall. We managed to squeeze in for the 10 a.m. show alongside what felt like a thousand other tourists. It looked nice, but after five minutes we were ready to move on.

Since we were already at the airport, I suggested visiting Canopy Park, which includes access to the Mirror Maze, Canopy Bridge, Hedge Maze, and Walking Net. The Mirror Maze and Canopy Park were both quite fun, but the rest were underwhelming. Still, not a bad way to pass the time.

We caught the airport shuttle back to the hotel—though for a moment, I thought I might be stuck there for good. Neither Ted, the driver, nor I could get my seatbelt to release. After much wrangling (and a moment of panic), it finally let me go.

To cleverly avoid needing lunch, we tried the “light snacks” on offer at the hotel. Sadly, the name was not misleading—it consisted of peanuts, crisps, and crab-flavoured crackers. Not even a beer in sight.

Later, we braved the heat again and walked to a nearby cluster of restaurants. One was air-conditioned and clearly aimed at tourists, but we opted for Le Xuan Dim Sum instead—it was cheaper and felt more authentic. Vegetarian options were limited, but still a step up from the Club’s snack menu.

After lunch, the rest of the afternoon was mostly about killing time. Even with late check-out, it felt like a whole lot of waiting. After showering, packing, and checking out, the hotel kindly let us stay in the Club Lounge until our 5 p.m. airport transfer.

The transfer bus was chaotic. A whole crowd of guests all tried to board at once, racing for the limited seats. We’d noticed online that the Business Class seats on Lufthansa and Swiss Air had mysteriously vanished, so we got off at the first terminal to ask at the counters. Sure enough, all the seats up front were gone—and both flights were weight-restricted too.

We spotted an option with Finnair and trudged over to Terminal 1. We should’ve taken the internal train—we tried to shortcut through Jewel again, but the place was heaving with people.

The mystery of the vanishing seats was solved at the Finnair counter: due to industrial action, most flights out of Helsinki had been cancelled. We could still get to Helsinki, but the onward flight to Berlin was less certain. Still, with Lufthansa and Swiss fully booked and unlikely to upgrade us, Finnair seemed like the best gamble. At least we’d be moving.

So we trudged back to the Lufthansa desk to be removed from that booking and begin the refund process. The Finnair check-in counter wasn’t open yet, and by this point, we were starving. Burger King it was—cheap and queue-free.

Fortunately, the detour paid off: when we returned to the Finnair counter, our Business Class boarding passes were issued immediately. The flight was lightly booked—turns out most other carriers were helping absorb Finnair’s stranded passengers, and our flight was only 40% full.

At the gate, we found barely anyone in the lounge. Once we boarded, we settled into our seats—though Finnair’s Business Class layout might be the most confusing I’ve ever experienced. You actually need to watch a how-to video just to figure out the seat. Storage was limited, the sash-style seatbelt crossed right at the neck, and the earplugs were so tiny I skipped them out of fear they’d vanish into my ear canal.

Still, it’s Business Class—I’m not complaining.

Dinner came quickly (and was thankfully much nicer than Burger King), and by 10:30 p.m. Singapore time, we tried to get some sleep. Easier said than done. The awkward seat design made me feel like a human question mark. I eventually moved to an empty window seat with a slightly better layout and managed a few hours of uncomfortable sleep.

About four and a half hours before landing, I gave up on sleep, brushed my teeth, and went to say hi to the crew. That’s when they dropped the final bombshell: due to the strike in Helsinki, no passenger bags would be unloaded. So we wouldn’t be seeing our luggage until the next day.

Also, that “40% full” figure? Misleading. There were only 40 passengers in total.

I broke the news to Ted when he woke up, and we started working on a Plan B for when we landed. I tried not to dwell on it too much, so I watched the in-flight movie Argo—fitting, since the passengers in that film had their own run-in with Swiss Air too.

We’re about to land—fingers crossed it all works out from here.Читать далее