It’s 10:33am and I have been up for hours. The morning was bright except for some wisps of mist, but now the sunlight is being obscured by a thick mist and I cannot even see across the podium level gardens.
If it’s this misty, it must be Hong Kong in the throes of spring.
But I feel chipper all the same; it’s the sheer luxury of being alone, to do as I like for the rest of the day until I meet my friends for a celebration. Freedom!
Yes, I have things on my “to do” list, but they can wait a couple of days.
Nowadays I don’t enjoy traveling as much as I used to because of the planning and packing (in my case it is not accessorizing clothes but trying not to leave bits of computer and peripheral cables behind).
But once - like yesterday - I set out my hesitation at leaving the ‘old man’ at home evaporates. It helps to have a pleasant ride to the airport and I did, arriving in good time to check in. The SQ Economy check in at Row 3 was a little busy so we were asked to go to Row 6 (Business).
I met Miss New (her badge said ‘I am New’) who was flummoxed because she could not find my name on her computer. Only when she called a colleague over did I realize what it was about and suggested she flip a few pages; I’m not going to go through the hassle of getting a short term biometric passport (mine is good until 2014) for my abbreviated name.
As there was a screen that asked me to rate the service, I asked Miss New about it - and was duly informed that it was not yet in service or wasn’t working, I can’t remember which.
Same thing with the AED (defibrillator) stations in T3 which had signs that said they were not yet in service. So please don’t have a heart episode or attack when using T3. I only noticed it because the AED station was hard by the Information Counter where I had to go to get a slip of paper that facilitated using the ‘free’ wi-fi.
At least this time I only had to hand over my passport; before this I had to fill in a form. A real pain and I do not know what purpose it fills except to keep the bored Information Counter staff bobbing up and down.
A survey lady collared me “for less than a minute” to ask my opinion about the wi-fi registration and she kept her promise. Enough time for me to say it was a waste of time and no bar to terrorists or whatever. Maybe the government is just being a busybody and helping keep residents employed.
I took my time and got to Gate A12, to find it still closed. There were some personnel there but not the full complement and so early birds sat outside until the gate opened around 12:30p for our 1:30p flight.
Sometimes I fall sleep quickly on flights - usually after I am tired out running errands or cleaning house. But since I was reasonably organized, I was rather surprised to be overcome by sleep even before take-off.
Singapore may not be toxic for me, but it must be stressful because I only woke up to have my meal during which I imagined myself trying to eat in a straight jacket. My elbows were pinned to my sides; on my left by a well built man and on my right by the interior panel of the aircraft.
While I know I am expanding sideways, I am still not quite as portly as some and I wondered how they managed in today’s aircraft where there is a huge difference in seat dimensions, ranging from suites in ultra-first, through various configurations of business to ever tighter economy.
Since economy is the bread and butter of the airline business, you wonder when they will realize that there is a limit to how long they can treat passengers like battery chicken while they waste acreage on big spenders.
I liked it when Valuair, the precursor to Jetstar, came on the scene years ago - their one class seats were rather decent.
Anyway, we arrived on schedule at 5:15p although it seemed as if we were taxiing a long way - I asked the fight attendant if we were taxiing to Shenzen but she didn’t understand me at all! How is it that more often than not the male attendants speak better and are more efficient than some of the females who look as if they were cloned in the airline’s training school?
By 5:57p, I was ensconced in the Airport Express to Hong Kong having waited for luggage and then bought my 30-day return ticket.
That beats T3 perhaps because I usually land at the farthest gate, miss the train and then have to wait ages for luggage (I have this notion that economy class luggage is delayed so that Singaporeans can appreciate traveling First, Business or be a high value frequent traveller).
Also at T3, if you are descending to the car park, you have to contend with the world’s slowest lifts which are programmed to be on another floor! With the vast amount of space Singapore affords the air terminals, why didn’t the architects incorporate escalators that accommodate luggage trolleys?
It’s not as if it’s the first airport or terminal we have ever built.
By 6:22p we arrived in Hong Kong and just before 7p I was at home (luckily most of the traffic was in Central or heading down Stubbs Road)! How I wish Singapore had such seamless and quick public transport.
