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Archive for the ‘Singapore 2022’ Category

Back to Singapore – Mandai Bird Paradise

Posted in Jurong Bird Park, Mandai Bird Paradise, Singapore 2024 on April 1, 2024 | Leave a Comment »

During our previous visit we visited the old Jurong Bird Park. We only just caught it, in fact – we visited in October 2022 and in January 2023 it was closed, to be replaced by a new, bigger and better bird park – Mandai Bird Paradise.

Let’s first talk about the former attraction, Jurong Bird Park. This was built in the late 1960s/early 1970s, opening in 1971. It was inspired by a visit by Singapore’s finance minister, Goh Kong See, to a free-fly aviary that was part of Rio de Janeiro zoo when he was visiting that city fir a World Bank meeting. He determined to establish something similar in Singapore so that they would have a place where they could escape from urban life and relax with nature. The park featured three large free-fly enclosures – that is, enclosures that were big enough for people to enter and walk around,  in which a specific environment could be created (as far as Singapore’s climate allowed), yet which would have some sort of security system, typically a steel mesh roof, to stop the birds from flying away. In addition to the enclosed free-fly zones there were also areas with specific features, e.g. lakes and ponds, that would be populated by birds that would tend to stay there anyway, without the security. There were lakes for water birds such as flamingos and pelicans, for example, plus of course the mandatory penguin pools.

This park became a huge hit – it was one of the first leisure facilities for the growing population of the newly-independent nation. But in recent years it was beginning to show its age. It was requiring a lot of maintenance; some of the facilities, such a monorail that circulated the park, had reached the end of their lives and weren’t replaced, and away from the free-fly enclosures a number of birds were held in aviaries that no longer looked or felt appropriate. Thinking on how to keep birds in captivity had changed between 1970 and 2010. So it was announced in 2016 that Jurong Bird Park would be replaced a few years later – 2020 was the first target – by a new park that would be bigger, better, and co-located with other wildlife parks in a central area (Mandai) of the island where there would be more space.

In the event the new Bird Paradise didn’t open until spring 2023, due largely to the pandemic. Initially there was a restricted ‘soft’ opening, but by the middle of 2023 it was in full swing, which meant that we’d be able to get there on our 2024 visit. And we did, spending most of the day there.

We had a good day which we enjoyed. But maybe, just maybe, we found a problem with it, one that’s been alluded to by other visitors: the new enclosures are so good, and so big, that it can be hard to actually see the birds! I was glad that I had my new binoculars. I also had my new(ish) camera and long(ish) lens, which received a lot of use.

My conclusion: it’s worth visiting, but if you’ve got binoculars take them. The park itself is very well laid out, there are facilities such as toilets and water-bottle refill locations in a lot of locations, and a central plaza which in addition to having an outdoor auditorium where bird shows are presented, also has a cafe. Here we had an excellent Chicken Rice meal. But as ever in Singapore, for much of your visit you will be out in the open and dealing with the climate.  It’s also quite a long way out: It took us 90 minutes or even a bit more, from leaving the hotel to walking in, what with the walk to the MRT, a good 45 minutes or longer on the MRT, then queuing for the shuttle bus from the MRT to the park and finally the bus ride itself. So a worthwhile and enjoyable day but also quite a hard day.

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Back to Singapore – the Botanic Gardens

Posted in Singapore 2024, Singapore Botanic Gardens on April 1, 2024 | Leave a Comment »

In 2022 we visited the Botanic Gardens, spending several hours there. However we didn’t see all of it – it’s huge, we were walking around in the sun for a long time,  so we stopped when we were feeling exhausted. But we were aware that there was more to see and it was definite target for this visit.

But first a bit of history. The Botanic Gardens were originally founded in 1859 by the Agri-horticultural Society of Singapore which was granted land by the colonial government in the Tanglin area. At that time this land would have been well beyond the town of Singapore. During this initial phase the gardens were used as a pleasure park for the society’s members, but significant development and expansion took place and the basic layout of the gardens as they are now (at least the central part) was created during this time. In 1874 the society ran out of money and handed the gardens back to the colonial government which appointed a Superintendent in 1875. Since then there has been a continuous run of Superintendants and Directors. One of them, Henry Ridley, used the Gardens in the 1880s to develop the techniques of tapping rubber trees to obtain rubber without killing the tree. He publicised this and as a result rubber cultivation spread throughout British Malaya to the point where the colony became the world’s leading supplier of rubber. Two Directors were Japanese – they held their positions during the Japanese occupation of Singapore, from 1942 to 1945. Indeed, the first of these (Hidezo Tanaka) saved the gardens from being looted and perhaps converted to training grounds by the occupying Japanese military.

After independance the Gardens were handed over to the National Parks Board of Singapore, which has continued to develop and expand them. The Gardens are free to enter and explore – only one area, the National Orchid Collection, has chargeable admission. The orchid is Singapore’s national flower and Singapore’s climate is especially suitable for tropical orchids. We visited the orchid collection on our previous visit and therefore did not do so this time; however, the orchids are stunningly beautiful and the Collection is well worth the price of admission. The Gardens are one of only three to be honoured as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the only one of those which is a tropical garden. (The other two are the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, and the Orto Botanico at Padua, Italy, apparently the very first ‘University Botanical Gardens’ in the world.)

For this visit we knew the layout so we were able to navigate our way to areas we hadn’t visited last time. Chief among them was the ‘Tyersal Extension’, a large new area added in 2009 and opened to the public about ten years after that. Essentially it’s an area of forested wetland which had been slowly drying out and the vegetation changing as a result, of course. The Gardens have restored the original conditions, and as a result examples of the original vegetation are returning. It’s very much a work in progress, in a passive sense – they’ve set up the conditions, the vegetation will respond to them over decades, and the Gardens will manage those changes with a very light hand. We spent maybe an hour walking around this area which felt quite wild and very forested – this was definitely not an area of manicured lawns.

As on our previous visit we walked and explored until we felt tired and decided we’d done enough. Time for lunch! – at a small restaurant we’d found last time, ‘Fusion Spoon’. Basically just a big open indoor space (and blissfully cool) with an automated ordering system through which we built our own, individual salad lunches. And so cheap! – Singapore is often described as expensive, but if you eat local you can often eat cheaply. A customised salad and a soft drink for each of us cost £16 total, and was very tasty. Then back to the hotel; and thanks to the continuing development of Singapore’s MRT (metro system) there was a new station just by the Garden’s gateway.

There is one thing I wonder about as regards the Botanic Gardens. Actually, not just the Gardens, but all the vegetation in Singapore and throughout tropical SE Asia. I think that if I lived in these conditions I would very much miss the annual cycle that gardens and woodlands go through in the UK. In Singapore it’s always green, and mature green at that; no light green leaves in spring, no early summer flowers, and above all, no autumn colours. But I don’t live in tropical climates so I won’t worry about it.

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Singapore 2022: Coming home

Posted in Singapore 2022 on October 29, 2022 | Leave a Comment »

Inside T3 at Changi Airport

We flew back to the UK on the Friday, 10 days after our arrival in Singapore. As with the journey out, this was a direct flight from Changi Airport to Heathrow with Singapore Airlines. We arrived at the airport with almost four hours to spare. We handed over our big bags at check-in and headed off to Jewel, home of the world’s highest indoor waterfall. Readers, we were disappointed – the waterfall has a rest until 10 o’clock every morning. Not much else seemed to be open, so we just headed back to the terminal and went through security. (Note to other travellers: Jewel is landside; you can’t get to it once through security.)

Once we were in the Departures area of T3 we found something I had forgotten about – the butterfly garden. It’s a small, enclosed area where butterflies of many species are just flying about and feeding on the sweet food that’s available to them. The butterflies are very beautiful, and looking at them helped fill up the time before we could board the aircraft.

Which brings us to the flight. It was not a pleasant experience; we were sat on the aircraft for 15 hours or a bit longer. The flight itself took almost an hour longer than scheduled, 14 hours instead of 13-and-a-bit. Then there were the usual periods spent sat in the plane both before and after the actual flight, and these amounted to at least an hour extra. I was feeling very sore and uncomfortable by the time we got off.

Getting back into the UK was pretty quick. There was a long walk from the gate to UK Border but after 15 hours being sat down I was glad for the opportunity to stretch my legs. We both got through the automated immigration process quickly, didn’t have to spend too long waiting for our bags, and found a Hoppa bus waiting to depart once we were outside in the T2 approach area.

We were staying at the Renaissance hotel, which is on the Heathrow estate. We’d left the car there 11 days earlier and were finishing the holiday with a night’s stay before driving home the following day. We felt that it would not be wise to attempt the drive after the long journey especially by the time we were at the hotel (8:30pm) we’d been awake for about 23 hours. So it was straight to the room, have a cup of tea, and then to bed, and slept well.

We got away from Heathrow somewhere around 9am the following morning and were home by just after 2pm. By this time the hours spent awake the day before were catching up with us. We did a bit of shopping for food, we washed some clothes, and then we went to bed, happy to be home.

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Singapore 2022: A visit to the Botanic Gardens

Posted in Singapore 2022, Singapore Botanic Gardens on October 23, 2022 | Leave a Comment »

An Orchid in the National Orchid Collection the Botanic Gardens

On our last full day we visited the Botanic Gardens. These are are a couple of miles away from the city centre but not too far from the hotel we’d moved to – we’d planned a two-centre holiday in Singapore (more on that in another post). It was a bit of a walk but went for it anyway. Additionally, entry to the Botanic Gardens – the main gardens, that is – is free, for locals and visitors alike. So off we set.

Thankfully – because we took a wrong turning and it ended up being further than we’d hoped – it was cloudy and eventually wet during the later morning so we weren’t walking in bright sunshine. Indeed, for a few minutes we had to get the umbrellas out. By this time it was late morning so coffee was called for, and we found a small food court selling kopi (more on that in another post, too). Then we set out into the gardens themselves.

They are large and, by Singaporean standards, old. The oldest section dates from the late 1850s, and the gardens were expanded during the following decade. In the early years it seems to have served as an ornamental garden for the enjoyment of the members of the horticultural society that then owned it, but they ran out of money to maintain the gardens and they were handed to the government in the 1870s. The government took them with several intentions. First, the ornamental aspect of the gardens were preserved and expanded, with access now free to all. Secondly, a zoo was established in the gardens. Thirdly the cultivation and exploitation of the rubber tree was studied at the gardens. This was so successful that by the end of the 19th century, Malaya (of which Singapore was then a part) produced half the world’s supply of latex, by tapping growing rubber trees. During the 20th century, and especially since independence (1965) the gardens have been principally developed as a leisure facility for the population to enjoy.

The gardens enjoy great regard among Singaporeans and in the world-wide horticultural community. They have been awarded the World Heritage Site accolade, one of only three gardens to be so honoured. The gardens also house Singapore’s National Orchid Collection – the national flower of Singapore is an orchid, and the National Orchid Collection holds well over a thousand different orchid species and many more artificial hybrids.

There’s also a small area of original tropical forest on the edge of the garden that’s been preserved. We took pictures of it, but I think that public access to it is restricted, or even prohibited. Much of Singapore was originally tropical forest but almost all was replaced by cultivation early in the colonial period – something called ‘gambier’ was the first cash crop to be raised. In fact its cultivation may have pre-dated the founding of the colony – Singapore’s early history is a matter of intense debate. But more of that in another post, as well.

We walked around parts of the gardens for several hours. As ever it was hot and humid, and in the early afternoon the clouds rolled away and the sun came out making it even hotter. Eventually we gave up long before we’d seen everything (indeed, I think it would take a number of visits to achieve that). However we did visit the orchid collection. There is a cost for this, but we found that by declaring ourselves to be Seniors we got in for a very reasonable price. They are very beautiful and very varied, and I applaud those who have made the study of the orchid their lives’ work (there are indeed such people).

And there were a couple of animals. We saw another otter, scurrying along a path. He was past us so quickly that I wasn’t able to get a picture, but I did get some of a later encounter with a monitor lizard; again, just lazing on a path.

Although hard, this was a good day.

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Singapore 2022: Marina Bay at Night

Posted in Marina Bay at Night, Singapore 2022 on October 18, 2022 | Leave a Comment »

Just some pictures of Marina Bay at night.

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Singapore 2022: A walk along Singapore River

Posted in Singapore 2022, Singapore River walk on October 18, 2022 | Leave a Comment »

Lower Singapore River with Boat Quay beyond

On Monday we did a walk along Singapore River. In fact, we walked its entire length, from mouth to source; and not content with that, we added an extension along the Alexandra Canal. But fear not, this was no marathon – the river itself is listed as being about 3.2 kms in length, plus another 2 kms or so for the canal which makes about 5 and a half kilometres. Or a tad more than three miles, in old money. An hour’s walk, in other words, although what with stops here and there for coffee, loos, and pictures, it took us the best part of three hours. And we enjoyed every minute of it. It’s certainly not wild country – indeed, most of the walk was along paved walkways – and it’s completely developed. But we thoroughly enjoyed it, especially as it took us through some very different scenery and showed us some wildlife.

Otters playing on the river sidewalk

The first stretch was through familiar territory, along the Boat Quay and then Clarke Quay. However it was here that we had our first delightful surprise of the walk – we came across a family of otters on the walkway, playing, grooming and just being sociable with each other. I had heard that otters were becoming common in Singapore and were being accorded a special place in people’s regard, but to see a group from close up in this way was extraordinary – I had though that if we did see any, it would be from a distance, or in the water. We didn’t get too close, however – they are wild animals, no matter how accustomed to people they may have become, and predators at that, so the message is “don’t approach too closely, don’t annoy them, and above all don’t touch them”. So we didn’t do any of those things. By the time we walked on there were about a dozen people looking at them and really enjoying the experience. The otters seems to be taking no notice of the people at all.

Riverside Point – somewhat rundown

The next stretch was along Robertson Quay. The lower end of this has the air of having been left behind – there are some  developments, possibly from the 80s, that now look fairly abandoned. I gather that back in the day they were among Singapore’s prime destinations. But that would have been before the lower river had been cleaned up and made available for development and renovation. Today the crowds go to Clarke Quay and the Boat Quay.

As we progressed the quality of the buildings either side improved until we realised that we were moving through some prime real estate. Apartments in the upper Robertson Quay region go for millions of Singapore dollars, and I have to say they look very swish. Some of them take the form of gated estates formed from high tower blocks, with upmarket restaurants and bars at ground level. Oh to have the money! There were also some older-looking blocks that were undergoing renovation work – obviously this is an area where property is in demand.

This took us up to the end of the river proper, but we continued along a feeder canal that would lead to the Alexandra Park Connector. This was through plainer territory, mostly Housing Development Board (HDB) blocks, erected at various times from the 1970s onwards. At the end of this stretch was a small park, Alexandra Park, with some water areas and children’s play areas. Here we had another wildlife surprise – in an area of the park being restored we saw a small monitor lizard. Unlike iguanas, of which we saw an example at Jurong Bird Park and which are herbivorous, monitor lizards are definitely carnivorous predators. This was only a small specimen, but still not a creature to be approached carelessly. We looked, we took some pictures, and we walked on.

And that was our walk. After that we found a nearby MRT station and went back to the hotel, where after showering (being outdoors was very hot and sticky) we eventually got ourselves round the outside of a bottle of Burgundy. Expensive, but delicious.

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Singapore 2022: Gardens By The Bay (in the rain)

Posted in Gardens by the Bay, Singapore 2022 on October 16, 2022 | Leave a Comment »

Supertree, Skyline Walkway and Dome

This morning we went to Gardens by the Bay (GbtB from now on). This is several things all rolled in together: a) a large open-air public garden; b) a pair of two climate-controlled ‘domes’, containing plants and various other things appropriate to their theme; c) the Supertree Grove – more of that later. It was built in the early 00s, to replace an earlier public garden. It’s alongside Marina Bay Sands hotel, and something equally iconic was required, and this is it. In terms of external appearance, it’s probably the Supertrees that get the attention, but in terms of the quality and depth of the attraction it’s the domes and their contents.

When we left the hotel it was raining. Fortunately it began to dry up very quickly, and in any case we decided to do the Domes first, as we’d be indoors out of any rain.

There are two domes, the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest. The first of these is a series of plant exhibits – flowers, trees, succulents, etc – from all the areas of the world that have a Mediterranean climate. That includes the Mediterranean itself and also the coast areas of Southern California, a stretch of the coastline of Chile, and parts of the coast of South Africa. The display isn’t especially dramatic – you’re looking at flowers and other plants – but it’s very well laid out, very peaceful, and quite beautiful. We were there for over an hour.

Then it was on the Cloud Forest. This is much more dramatic, although strangely it didn’t take as long to go round. Essentially the dome attempts to recreate and demonstrate the forest conditions on the side of a tropical mountain that’s generally covered in mist or cloud (this being how the plants get their moisture). Apparently in such conditions there are many different species all living within a narrow range of altitude, so they get the right amount of heat, moisture, etc. As you go up the mountain the species present will therefore change. The various species of plants are very sensitive to changes in temperature and moisture, and are therefore leading indicators of climate change. GbtB have had a go at recreating this environment.

When you enter the dome you are faced with an artificial mountain, covered in vegetation. From the top of this there is a waterfall. You can ascend in a lift to the top of the ‘mountain’, and you then proceed along walkways that wrong you back down. Sometimes the walkway is away from the mountain, giving you a distant view, while at other spots you have a close-up view of the plants. All in all, you get an extraordinary view of a wide range of flowers, bushes and trees, in a dramatic environment. At various times the mountain is ‘misted’ – artificially created mist (water vapour) is issued from many outlets uo the mountain and forms a cloud that covers much it for a while. This happened while we were there.

As I said, although we weren’t in there as long it was very dramatic.

Finally we visited the Supertree Grove and walked along the Skyway. This is a walkway that connects two of the trees. It’s not very long – 170mtrs – and you just go up in a lift, walk along, come back, and then descend. However, it gives you great views of the trees and of the surroundings. (The Supertrees are functional, in fact – they exhaust air and operate as coolers for various bits of underground machinery for the domes.)

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Singapore 2022 – Birds!

Posted in Jurong Bird Park, Singapore 2022 on October 15, 2022 | 1 Comment »

We spent most of one day at Jurong Bird Park. This is a large(ish) set of aviaries and free-flying enclosures, plus a theatre area and quite a lot of educational material. It has a genuine research and preservation role as well as providing recreation for Singaporeans and visitors – there are several species in captivity there that are critically endangered in their native habitat. Most of the birds (endangered and otherwise) are Asian and some of the endangered species are actually quite nondescript-looking. But their habitats are under severe threat – it turns out that clearing forests and jungles or draining swamps, even for the best of reasons, results in habitat destruction and species loss.

The park has existed since 1971. When it was created the site was quite some way out of Singapore city, and the current local townships did not then exist. 50 years later Singapore has spread and the Bird Park is surrounded by residential developments on one side and industrial estates on the other. So it’s being relocated, to a site in the middle of the island close to the other wildlife parks (Singapore Zoo, the Night Safari and River Wonders). The relocation was due to have happened in 2020 but of course Covid intervened and work was greatly slowed down. (Possibly, also, Singapore’s desire to do things properly rather than to an arbitrary timetable might have had an impact.) I was hopeful that the move would have happened by the time we went – for a while there were suggestions that it would happen “in the first half of 2022”, but in the event it didn’t. The move is now scheduled for 3 January 2023, which looks arbitrary but is in fact the anniversary of the existing park’s opening date. The new park will be called “Bird Paradise”.

These days the park is only open four days a week (although for the final month or so it will resume seven day opening). It’s a mixture of large aviaries in which birds from various species are exhibited, areas where the relevant birds will stay naturally (e.g. the penguin pool and the flamingo lake), and best of all some huge enclosures that are sealed, i.e. they are covered by very high netting and surrounded by barriers, thus giving the birds a very large area in which to fly freely. These were the best parts of the park, by far – some of the aviaries were very traditional-looking and I’m not sure how good a life the birds in them have. The new Bird Paradise will be much larger than the current park and will feature larger free-flying areas, greater research and conservation facilities, better educational facilities, and where required, e.g. for the birds of prey, better cages/aviaries. I’m sorry that we’ve missed it.

We enjoyed the visit. We were there for over four hours and walked round a significant part of the site. We’re not sure that we saw everything as, while there was an overall circular plan to the park, there were lots of paths that branched off, and we didn’t get down all of them. The best parts were the free-flying enclosures, Waterfall Aviary, Lory Loft and African Treetops. all of these had walkways at various heights, which allowed you get up high into the birds’ environment. In the case of the African Treetops enclosure, many of these were suspended on cables and wobbled a bit… The Lory Loft (Lorys are various species of parrot-like birds, and are very colourful) was exceptionally impressive – flocks of these brightly-coloured birds suddenly taking to the air and whizzing around the enclosure straight past you. The Waterfall Aviary was perhaps less so, but it was very peaceful; and we saw a number of birds there.

We enjoyed the visit, but I’m sure that Bird Paradise, when it opens, will be even more spectacular.

 

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Singapore 2022 – First day or so…

Posted in Singapore, Singapore 2022 on October 14, 2022 | Leave a Comment »

Not too surprisingly we slept like logs on our first night in the hotel. Breakfast was the usual buffet-style, with a huge range of different types of food – some western and several completely different asian styles. These included a couple of curries. Val says there’s lots of stuff laid out that she’d love to eat but not at breakfast, and I agree with her.

After that it was time for some practicalities. We needed to explore the local area and get a pass for the MRT, Singapore’s excellent underground system. On previous visits I’d bought a 3-day Tourist Pass for the MRT. This costs 30 Singapore Dollars (S$) of which S$10 is a deposit for the pass and S$20 is for three days’ of rides. Then it expires and you have to buy another one. You can hand in the first one and get the deposit back or, if you’re buying another one, use it for that one. Then when you leave you’ve got to hand the pass in to get your deposit back, and that’s a problem. The Tourist passes are only sold or refunded from a small number of MRT stations and often at unhelpful hours. To be fair, the station at Changi is one of them, but my recollection is that it’s a goodly walk from the terminals. If you’ve gone to the airport in a taxi then it’s a faff to go to the MRT station just to get your S$10 back (although that might pay for a coffee in the terminal).

All of the above is a long-winded explanation as to why I decided this time to get the pay-as-you-go pass EZ-Link pass instead. This costs S$10 from MRT stations or convenience stores, and of that amount S$5 is the (non-refundable) cost of the pass and S$5 is the initial stored value. Additional value can be added via either cash or cards at any MRT station. So that’s what we did.

Armed with our MRT passes we went for a walk around three sides of Marina Bay. This is the heart of the ‘public’ city and includes a couple of Singapore’s iconic sights (yes, I know, but this time it’s justified) – the Marina Bay Sands development (the hotel towers, the Art/Science Museum, and a mall), and the MerLion (the symbol of Singapore). There’s a walkway round the Bay. So we took the MRT to Bay Front, from where we walked through the ‘Shoppes at Marina Bay’ shopping mall – seriously high-end, with all the luxury brands you can think of. It also has a food court (like all Singapore malls) where we were bold and drank ‘kopi’ – the Singapore version of coffee. Basic kopi (Val’s choice) has coffee, sugar and evaporated milk while kopi-c (my choice) has coffee and condensed milk. It’s not what we normally think of as coffee, but was surprisingly tasty, though sweet. Standard western coffee is available here and there but at about twice the price of kopi. We continued the walk and ended up at the Merlion – the symbol of Singapore. You have to do it once, along with everyone else. For lunch we wimped out and went to Burger King; then we went back to the hotel, explored, and having found the outdoor pool and bar, sat outside drinking sparkling mineral water.

Late in the afternoon we explored a bit locally and visited the ‘Fountain of Wealth’. Visiting it and thinking the right thoughts is supposed to help increase your wealth, but with the prices here I don’t think it’s working….

For dinner that night we explored the local area and found a hawker centre not too far away where we each had a curry – butter chicken and naan. I was going to have chick tikka + naan, but it was ‘off’ – I got the feeling that the only dish that was ‘on’ was the butter chicken. However it was very fresh and  very tasty. Basically this was a small shack (alongside a number of others) serving a limited range of dishes, cooked to order. Wonderful stuff. The meals cost us S$12 each, plus S$4 for a small glass of beer, which we shared (I didn’t know how large the glass would be until I’d got it) – S$28 altogether.

After that we took ourselves to Clarke Quay, a popular spot on the river where we found a bar and had two half-litres of Tiger beer. Readers, they cost S$33 – more than the meal! I suspect that anything on the riverside costs a fortune. Then back to the hotel feeling replete and wanting our sleep.

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Singapore 2022 – Getting There

Posted in Singapore 2022 on October 12, 2022 | 1 Comment »

So back to Singapore, for the first time in three years. Val has never been and I last visited in September 2019. Then of course Covid hit us. Singapore has been especially cautious about re-opening to visitors – indeed, they’ve been very cautious even with their own people, with extended lockdowns (‘Circuit Breakers’) and significant restrictions lasting until early summer this year. But now Singapore is open to visitors. We’re multiply-vaccinated and were raring to go (well, I was) so here we are.

On my previous visits I flew from Manchester with Emirates which meant going via Dubai. This extended the overall journey time  to just over 17 hours from take-off at Manchester to landing at Singapore, with a two to three hour stopover at Dubai.. This time, because of post-covid price changes, flying direct with Singapore Airlines was the cheaper option albeit from Heathrow. Nonetheless we decided that we’d try it and find out how a 13-hour flight feels.

The answer is: not too bad. In fact thanks to the timing – take-off from Heathrow was mid-evening – we were already tired enough to sleep for a few hours during the flight, and thus arrived at Changi airport in Singapore not feeling too bad. The flight took off from Heathrow on time, the tail winds meant that the flight duration was a bit shorter than expected, the in-flight experience was good – comfortable-enough seats, edible food, and good in-flight entertainment – and the aircraft itself, although not new (a Boeing 777 300ER that might have been around 15 years old), was clean and everything that was there, worked. One thing that wasn’t there was a power socket – I’d been counting on having one to recharge the watch and the phone. To make up for that, however, Singapore Airlines’ policy regarding economy seating is quite generous – economy seats are set out 9-across (3-3-3) while most other airlines, including Emirates, have a ten-across (3-4-3) arrangement. So we didn’t feel too cramped, and I am fortunate in fitting into an economy seat quite comfortably. There are advantages to being just 5’7″ (these days) and having short legs…..

We took off from Heathrow at about 9pm and landed at Changi at just after 4:30 local time the following afternoon (the time difference between the UK and Singapore during BST is 7 hours, and they’re ahead of us). We were quickly though immigration. Most of the passengers on our flight, which was full, seemed to be Australians or New Zealanders and were therefore transferring to other flights, so there were not many passengers from the flight actually entering Singapore. We got our bags quickly, found our pre-arranged transfer, and were checking into our hotel shortly around 5:45. So just over an hour from touchdown to the hotel room – pretty good.

We ran round in circles for a while unpacking, then went out for a walk along the side of Marina Bay and then down to the Boat Quay where we found a restaurant for a meal. After that it was back to the hotel, through pouring rain; and sadly I’d forgotten to take my umbrella out with me. I was very wet by the time we got back to the hotel.

 

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