I’m flying to Singapore (connecting to my hometown Kuching to see family) with a departure of 0115. I had organised it so it would be within minutes of my brother and sister-in-law’s departure to Kuala Lumpur (and onwards to Kuching) at 0055. We headed to the airport together in one car with their luggage including a carton of wine, making it a tight squeeze
Having checked-in online with a home-printed boarding pass, I went airside immediately at the airport since I had no luggage. The gate staff needed to swipe my passport to capture the details themselves rather than rely on my input.
Boarding commenced late, supposedly due to late aircraft arrival (but it was sitting there way before). We left about 15 minutes late and got to Singapore on time. I managed to get 4h of sleep on the relatively full flight, plus another hour of dozing inflight.
Upon arrival in Singapore, the plane parked at the far end of Changi Airport’s Terminal 3. I needed to get to the new Terminal 4. With no luggage, it is normal to complete the whole transit airside. The instructions I found said that I would take two trains followed by a bus, all airside (viz T3-T3, T3-T2, T2-T4).
Unfortunately, the third step, which was the bus from T2-T4 didn’t work. The airport staff refused to let me get on the bus saying that AirAsia passengers (even with boarding passes), need to clear immigration and take the land/street-side bus (free) and then go through immigration and security. It didn’t make sense that they would allow Vietnam Airlines and Cathay Pacific passengers to complete the whole transit airside but not me (despite having a valid boarding pass).
Most things work perfectly in Singapore and when one finds a quirk like this, it’s quite disappointing. Whereas, in other countries, expectations are low and I tend to just go with the flow.
I was airside in T4 about 1.5h after my arrival from Auckland. I reckon it would have saved about 30 minutes if I had been able to complete the transit airside.
I had three hours to kill till boarding my AirAsia flight to Kuching so made use of that time by freshening up at the Blossom Lounge’s shower and then kept feeding myself to stay awake.
Changi’s T4 isn’t as flash architecturally as the other terminals but it uses a lot more technology operationally and aesthetically. For example, relief walls and a traditional street facade both cleverly integrate projection screens. The stone relief wall would have some fluttering parts at times and the street facade would open up to show its occupants and a love story would ensue.
Arriving “home” in my hometown Kuching, I took a Grab (like Uber) ride to my apartment. My driver normally works in the gas industry, and in recent years has been working on ships off Trinidad and on-shore also in Dubai. In between contracts, he does Grab driving. So nice to meet interesting people.
I’m having my usual stay to spend time with family in Kuching. But this time, I’ll have my partner’s sister come visit for the first time and I’ll be showing her around.