First Night in Singapore

Our first day was spent traveling. We arrived at Sydney Airport at 10:00 after Peter, Maryanne and Hayley dropped us off. They are making good use of the trip by going on to look at dresses for a significant upcoming event (wink, wink).

Because we are traveling without check-in luggage our first task is to navigate what happens when you are bypassing the check-in desk. A helpful Scoot crew member in the process of setting up tells us just to go on through to security and immigration. I though we would need to print out a physical boarding card somewhere.

After taking the obligatory photo next to the Sydney sign we enter the restricted, no-turning-back-area. There are no departure cards to fill in anymore. This is new. Immigration is quick and easy and then it's on to security. We empty our water bottles as these aren't permitted through the scanners unless empty, place our bags in the trays, then proceed to get the full body scan. It's the way of the world now if you want to travel. Richard's case is pulled aside for having scissors. We have removed every possible item that we think can be confiscated and made a call to leave the scissors which are a pair of rounded tip, baby nail scissors, the blades are about 10mm long. He's allowed to keep them.

And we're in. I have two things I want to do and I realise that I probably should have attended to one of them on the other side. I need to amend my mobile phone data plan as I won't be needing 100Gb of Australian data per month for the next 12 months. And the other thing is getting a prescription filled for anti-malarials as a just-in-case measure.

We find a place to sit down and have coffee while I try to figure out the data situation. We discover that there is nowhere on this side of security that sells Sims so I am going to have to work out something with my service provider. I spend the best part of the next hour in a text conversation with the online chat representative but we land on an outcome that will suit finally and get it all sorted just in time to head to the boarding gate.

During this time we have also grabbed a bite to eat, checked out travel adaptors for my laptop, (everything else is catered for with USB attachments but not my laptop) change money and get the script filled. I am about to buy a travel kit from the Apple range but they require my passport and boarding card which I had left with Richard so I give it a miss and decide to get something in Singapore.

At the boarding gate our names are called. That's never happened before. It turns out that because we have bypassed the check-in counter they aren't even aware we are here and need to check our documents. I am still nervous about the combined weight of our bags which we have weighed and shuffled the contents of numerous times. It turns out they aren't even weighed. All that tension was for nothing.

Scoot is one of those no frills budget airlines where the fares have been stripped back to nothing and absolutely everything must be purchased on board. We have pre-purchased a meal each, taken pot luck with the seating, filled our water bottles, charged our phones and back-up battery and are as ready as you can be for eight hours with no snacks or entertainment.

The meals were okay, nothing to write home about, (this doesn't count). We spend the time alternating between reading, attempting to catch some sleep and occasional moments of standing for some relief. With three hours remaining and in the knowledge that we won't actually sit down to eat anything for probably five, we order some snacks to keep us going.

It is 37 years since we were last in Singapore. Everything you've heard about Changi airport still doesn't really prepare you for the sheer size of this place. And we must have arrived at the furthest gate because after something like eight (I wasn't counting) travelators we finally reach a cluster of shops and I quickly buy a travel adaptor before we go down some escalators to immigration. The entry card details have already been registered so it's just a case of getting your photo and thumb prints recorded and you're good to go.

It's pretty hard to miss the indoor fountain and we spend a few minutes marvelling at it. It really is quite something. I hope we get another chance to see it on our way out in a few days time. Seeing it at night under colourful lights was pretty cool though.

We now need to organise transport and have already downloaded the Grab app. I just need to add a payment method. I discover it will take PayPal which is perfect. Our driver arrives within a few minutes and it's about a fifteen minute ride to our hotel.

We are staying on Joo Chiat Road which is in the heart of a traditional Peranakan area. These were the original Straits Chinese, a blend of Chinese, Malay and Western cultures. I am looking forward to discovering more about that tomorrow.

Our room in the Hotel 81 Sakura within a traditional shop house building is basic but roomy enough. It has no windows and is a bit musty but I tell myself it is only four nights. We'll manage. We freshen up before heading back out to find somewhere for dinner. We are on a street with lots of restaurants, some are already closing while others are a bit out of our price range. We check out menus for one places that include frog, Singapore Crab, and hotpot before settling on a Vietnamese noodle soup place. It's very good but Richard adds a touch too much chilli to his.Read more