After quickly packing up my room, you know it – back to the airport! I take a short walk down Market Street to the St James Station of Sydney Trains, which is right on the edge of Hyde Park.
This station is close to 100 years old.
After a very quick and efficient ride down to the airport, I’m in the Qantas domestic terminal for the first time. It’s very bright and airy, and doesn’t seem busy at all even though there are a lot of flights. One peculiarity about Australian airports is – there is no requirement to show a boarding pass to go airside (aka beyond security). So literally anyone could go and see a friend off to a flight, or meet them right at the gate for an arrival! Sadly, at the security checkpoint in the center of the photo, I was forced to throw out the nail trimming scissors which I’d just purchased in Munich the other day for 15 Euros, as Australia is about the only place I know of that doesn’t allow scissors of any size at all in carry on luggage. Oh well.
Here’s a view back from the upper level, at the entrance to the Qantas lounge where I’ll spend about an hour having breakfast and coffee.
What a great seat I’ve got here to go with my bacon and eggs.
And a nice flat white, which is one of the hallmarks of the Qantas lounges – barista made coffee all day.
There was constantly a lineup for this freshly made, and very good coffee.
A little bit late departing Sydney, but we’ve got some awesome views. It sure would have been nice to be over at Manly Beach today!
We pass over varied geography on the way west to Melbourne.
And even some snow!
The flight attendant on the flight from Sydney to Melbourne was so cheerful and friendly, especially when I asked for a mimosa, that I didn’t have the heart to turn down any of the food.
If we were on the other side of the plane, I think I’d be looking right at central Melbourne right now, but this view is pretty good too.
Almost at the airport now, heading north from the coast.
After disembarking that pleasant, short flight, I walked over to the International terminal, past the arrivals area.
Quickly through security, passport control, and in minutes I’m in the Singapore Airlines lounge to await my next flight.
They’ve got a scale model of their A380 on the lounge reception counter. Love it !
I’m directed to the First Class lounge which is only for passengers flying in First Class (or Suites, as I am today), and the highest level elite status members of Singapore Airlines’ frequent flyer program.
For the first half an hour of my stay, I’m the only person in here. And the place could seat about 50 people. There’s probably less than 10 passengers from each flight that would be eligible to come in here.
I take a look at the menu but don’t want to eat too much as the food onboard Singapore Airlines should be very good.
But it’s still going to be at least 3 hours before they start serving food onboard, so I have a little something – beginning with the Japanese Edamame Salad.
And the Chicken Schnitzel Burger – and Australian pub classic (I ditch the bun).
The lounge manager pops by and insists that I have a Singapore Sling.
And some Chicken Satay. Yum.
Their Wi-Fi authentication system appears to run on Windows 98.
Boarding is announced and it’s at least a 5 minute walk to the gate, so I hustle over to get some pics of the magnificent machine we’re about to ride to Singapore, especially since there were no good photo ops of the previous two long haul flights.
And here we are (meaning myself and Veria) in the most spacious suite you can get on a commercial airliner (excepting the Etihad Residence).
I’m booked in 1F. I am the only person on the F side of the cabin, so the purser offers to lower the divider between 1F and 2F to create even more openness. The suites if row 1 and 2 can be combined into a double suite with the bed folding down in the middle.
It’s massive.
While I’m settling in, an awesome bottle of vintage champagne arrives at my seat.
Not only is there amazing champagne on offer – Veria gets a new travelling buddy !
The menu is gorgeous, classy, and contains plenty of appealing options for this roughly 7 hour flight.
Since I’ve got the whole right side of the cabin to myself I move back to 3F for takeoff so I can attempt some pics with the engines in view.
It sorta works. It’s really hard to take good pics from the forward compartment of the upper deck because the fuselage is so thick.
As soon as the seatbelt sign goes off, one of the crew comes by with an offering of nuts.
And more champagne. I think I’ll sit and look out the window for now.
Checking out the bathroom, there’s no shower but otherwise it’s huge and gorgeous.
The stairwell down to the lower deck is beautifully lit.
Here’s looking back down towards the galley. 3 suites on each side, each with their own door.
Back in my suite, so pleasant and relaxing. Feels like a hotel room.
Veria checking herself out in the mirror.
The glassware is all subtly branded on the base.
They propose a different vintage champagne to try with some appetizers. Why not!
The garlic bread on Singapore Airlines is so good.
The TV in each suite is a whopping 32 inch screen. As always, I have it only on the flight info/moving map.
As usual on any first class flight worth its salt – caviar !
And of course, more champagne.
This is the best onboard selection of coffee I’ve seen. Blue Mountain coffee in the air. Wow !
As mentioned, I was the only passenger on the F side of the cabin. The A side was also occupied by only one passenger, a friendly lady from Melbourne who was going on a special trip to Paris for a few weeks. She was sitting in 2A and invited me to come over and have a drink and chat. It was like having our own private bar in the sky. Just wow!
Can’t resist taking pics of the fine accents around the suite.
I order a dessert as we fly over Indonesia.
The crew sets up the double bed back in my suite – I’ve still got some eating to do so these two will just hang out here for now.
After the dessert, why not some port and cheese.
Sadly the flight is almost over as we get close to the top of the descent.
Here is my smiling and amazing cabin crew from this flight standing in the suite. They were better than top notch. I feel like anything that I could have reasonably asked for, they would have made happen. Bravo!!
We’ve arrived “Finally in Singapore” – I could have stayed on that flight for another 7 hours easily. Gorgeous airport. When I flew through Doha I was reminded of how much I like that airport. Well, now I’m reminded that Singapore is even better. My personal favorite in the world.
The immigration hall is pretty empty. I was directed to use the eGates (yay!) but I guess I didn’t submit my declaration online in time (I did it at the bottom of the escalator – doh!), as I didn’t get the confirmation email for several minutes and had to go through the regular line to see an officer.
As stated, this airport is so beautiful and inviting.
Smoothly and quickly checking into my hotel, the Pan Pacific, where 5 of us stayed on my last trip to Singapore in 2019.
I go out walking in the humid late evening. Just across the bay is the iconic Marina Bay Sands.
And looking the other way, downtown Singapore.
Today was National Day of Singapore which is a huge deal. Amongst all of the other day long events, there was a huge fireworks show here a few hours ago. There’s still barricades everywhere for crowd control, such as along the edge of the Helix bridge, which eliminates some of the good photo opportunities.
The Singapore Flyer.
Next morning, after some Nespresso room coffee, I head over to one of the shopping centres closeby for a classic Singapore breakfast.
Kaya Toast, Half boiled eggs, and coffee.
There’s a Don Quijote in the mall, a famous Japanese discount chain.
No time to waste, I go down to the MRT station at the other end of an interconnected mall.
And pop out in Little India.
Taking a shortcut through a typical Singapore courtyard between apartment buidlings. Tropical trees and gardens.
I walk by this mosque on the edge of Little India.
Fish head curry……sounds… appetizing?
Being Singapore where it’s constantly 34 degrees and humid every day of the year, I don’t want to walk too much so I hop on one of the double decker buses to bring me back a bit closer to downtown.
And then hop off the bus at a 7-11 for a cold drink and salivate at the selection of Irvins snacks.
Just down the street is Padang – a big park in central Singapore. Was hoping to come here for some good views of the city but they are currently dismantling this massive but temporary stadium from yesterday’s festivities.
Across the street is the National Gallery Singapore.
Many historical buildings here in the Parliament district.
And the Parliament House itself.
View of downtown Singapore from the Singapore River.
Restaurants setting up their patios along Boat Quay.
A Singapore Bumboat cruises upriver.
The Statue of Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore, at the spot where he landed in 1819.
The 150 year old Cavenagh bridge.
And a warning sign just about as old, it seems.
This museum is to celebrate Singapore’s many cultures.
I didn’t expect the Mirror Balls to be here – a cool surprise, particularly with hardly anyone around.
A Singapore icon – the Fullerton Hotel on the downtown side of the bay.
And the famous Merlion statue.
Looking the other way, there’s the MBS. I like it better at night!
Another bumboat, this time looking over to the area where I’m staying in the cluster of buildings behind.
Looking back, we can see how many people are there getting photos.
But a few steps away – no one!
They put a massive amount of effort into crowd control for yesterday’s national celebrations. Along some of the main streets around the bay were these high steel fences, and every so often these portable surveillance units (you can make out a white box with a riser and then camera hanging, just in the middle between the jersey barriers).
Lunchtime now, and I’m over to meet my friend Jody who works very close to my hotel.
We go down to the food court and in typical Singapore fashion, the food court fare is cheap, healthy, and delicious!
There’s my hotel from his office building.
I’m going to walk some more but need to walk inside for a bit to dry off in some AC, and I pass by McDonald’s, which is hard to resist.
As I head over towards the MBS, I snap a photo of one of the double decker buses like the one I was on earlier.
My last stop of the walk will be the Gardens By The Bay.
Which has a great view of the Marina Bay Sands!
A true oasis in the city.
I haven’t been up the Skyway in the Supertree grove before, so I’m going to do it now. It’s an elevated walkway that connects a number of the Supertrees.
The view from up here is very nice!
Already, it’s time to head back to the hotel and pack up. I take a different route on the return, bypassing the MBS and going along the water for some alternate views.
They’re already starting to get ready for the Singapore Grand Prix in just over a month.
Sweltering after all that walking (I did 20,000 steps already today), I duck back into a mall to get a cold fruit tea. It was delicious and I demolished it in seconds.
As I head down to check out, I get a final view from the sweet exterior elevators of the Pan Pacific.
Back to the airport very shortly!
Ellie's Adventures 