Well the day finally arrived, and after a good night's sleep, both mum & I were up fairly early to double check (actually let's make that triple check) that we had everything packed for our big adventure.
We drove over to Joscelyn's place (she's looking after my car while I'm away) so we then headed over to Toombul for a coffee and a bit of a catchup before heading out to the airport.
I had already checked us in via the internet yesterday afternoon, so that meant we totally avoided any queue's at the airport. And I can't believe this happened, but somehow my suitcase managed to weigh more than mum's. I think mine came in just under 19kgs, while mum's was 18.6kg. Must be pay-back for all the grief I gave her about the thousands of shirts she packed... After we'd checked in our baggage we sat around with Jos for awhile and grabbed some lunch before the start of the real adventure.
Descending the escalator to the departure lounge... We we're quickly processed by the security checks (no special 'explosives' screening this time around - much to mum's disappointment). Then it was off through Immigration (all new experiences for mum) and mum got her first ever stamp in her passport. Now Australian residents don't normally get a stamp these days due to everything being stored on computer, but we asked the lady to stamp our passports and she willing did so. So a big shout-out to Trish for that tip..
It was really, really quiet at Brisbane International. Maybe it's a sign of the GEC, or we just hit it at a quiet time. We had a bit of a look around the duty free shops, but didn't purchase anything. I'll be getting my alcohol when I arrive back in the country. I also was able to get the GST back on my new camera which was an added bonus. That's $55 I'll be able to put to good use else where.
Then it was time to wait in the lounge at Gate 83... Time passed pretty quickly and before we knew it the time had come to board our flight. As we were sitting in Row 60 we were amongst the first to board.
On board we were in the window aisle with a seating configuration of 2 seats, which meant we only had each other to climb over. Of course the first thing I did was check out the movies and much to my excitement, "Twilight" was on the list... So that was me all set for the first few hours. I gave mum a few quick lessons with the in-flight entertainment unit and set her up to watch "Slumdog Millionaire".
Mum's special meals arrived ages before my meals, but that was ok. Our first meal was apparently "lunch" even though it was served at about 3:30pm in the afternoon.
Not one to be known to wait for things, I even had my first "Singapore Sling" while on board. It wasn't quite the same as drinking it in the Long Bar @ Raffles (and yes it was served in a plastic cup), but it was something that needed to be done.
After watching her movie, mum (with my help) discovered the games that were part of the in-flight entertainment. Well wasn't she in heaven. She was playing "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire", "In-Flight Trivia" and then Casino Slots. She did pretty good on the slots, even though it was 'virtual money'. Playing the maximum bet of $3, she got a jackpot of $3000. If only it were real...
I then watched "Bride Wars" and two episodes of Doctor Who. A light refreshment was severed a few hours out from Singapore. I chose the Chicken & Leak pie and it was delicious. Of course, I was excited that I got to spend the flight with some of my favourite Cullen boys & The Doctor. (BTW - I understand that this may make no sense to some of you, so don't worry.)
We finally arrived in Singapore around 8:30pm. Of course, given we were the first ones on the plane, it meant that we were then the last ones off, but there's nothing much you can do about that so we just waited and eventually got off. We arrived into Terminal 3 of Changi International and once again I was surprised at how quiet it was. As we approached Immigration, we were screened for N1H1 (aka Swine Flu), but thankfully we passed.
After getting that all important stamp in the passport we collected our luggage. Then we had to decide if we went through the RED or GREEN channel. Given mum is basically a travelling pharmacy with all her medications, we proceeded to the RED channel (which was indicated if you had medications), but a lady quickly came over and had a look and then said we were fine to proceed. As we got out of the sterile area, we were met be Denis carrying a sign for Ms Kayleen Power & Mrs Patricia Power. I'd organised a private transfer before we left and it turned out to be a brilliant move on my part (if I do say so myself). Our car turned out to be a luxury Mercedes with leather seats and I know mum was very excited about this. Our driver, Denis was very nice and pointed out many things along the way, and as we were his last pick up of the evening, he made sure he drove past Raffles so we could see it at night. It was just beautiful.
We arrived at our hotel - the Novotel Clarke Quay at around 10ish. It 's right on Clarke Quay and our room had a great view of the Quay. We could see the Singapore Flyer from our Window as well as the lights from Clarke Quay below. The room was very nice, 2 beds (larger than King Singles, but not quite Queen Bed size).
We didn't stay up too late to admire the view, instead at around 11ish, we hit the bed for a good nights sleep...
We drove over to Joscelyn's place (she's looking after my car while I'm away) so we then headed over to Toombul for a coffee and a bit of a catchup before heading out to the airport.
I had already checked us in via the internet yesterday afternoon, so that meant we totally avoided any queue's at the airport. And I can't believe this happened, but somehow my suitcase managed to weigh more than mum's. I think mine came in just under 19kgs, while mum's was 18.6kg. Must be pay-back for all the grief I gave her about the thousands of shirts she packed... After we'd checked in our baggage we sat around with Jos for awhile and grabbed some lunch before the start of the real adventure.
Descending the escalator to the departure lounge... We we're quickly processed by the security checks (no special 'explosives' screening this time around - much to mum's disappointment). Then it was off through Immigration (all new experiences for mum) and mum got her first ever stamp in her passport. Now Australian residents don't normally get a stamp these days due to everything being stored on computer, but we asked the lady to stamp our passports and she willing did so. So a big shout-out to Trish for that tip..
It was really, really quiet at Brisbane International. Maybe it's a sign of the GEC, or we just hit it at a quiet time. We had a bit of a look around the duty free shops, but didn't purchase anything. I'll be getting my alcohol when I arrive back in the country. I also was able to get the GST back on my new camera which was an added bonus. That's $55 I'll be able to put to good use else where.
Then it was time to wait in the lounge at Gate 83... Time passed pretty quickly and before we knew it the time had come to board our flight. As we were sitting in Row 60 we were amongst the first to board.
On board we were in the window aisle with a seating configuration of 2 seats, which meant we only had each other to climb over. Of course the first thing I did was check out the movies and much to my excitement, "Twilight" was on the list... So that was me all set for the first few hours. I gave mum a few quick lessons with the in-flight entertainment unit and set her up to watch "Slumdog Millionaire".
Mum's special meals arrived ages before my meals, but that was ok. Our first meal was apparently "lunch" even though it was served at about 3:30pm in the afternoon.
Not one to be known to wait for things, I even had my first "Singapore Sling" while on board. It wasn't quite the same as drinking it in the Long Bar @ Raffles (and yes it was served in a plastic cup), but it was something that needed to be done.
 |
| Who needs anything else - a Singapore Sling while watching Twilight. |
I then watched "Bride Wars" and two episodes of Doctor Who. A light refreshment was severed a few hours out from Singapore. I chose the Chicken & Leak pie and it was delicious. Of course, I was excited that I got to spend the flight with some of my favourite Cullen boys & The Doctor. (BTW - I understand that this may make no sense to some of you, so don't worry.)
We finally arrived in Singapore around 8:30pm. Of course, given we were the first ones on the plane, it meant that we were then the last ones off, but there's nothing much you can do about that so we just waited and eventually got off. We arrived into Terminal 3 of Changi International and once again I was surprised at how quiet it was. As we approached Immigration, we were screened for N1H1 (aka Swine Flu), but thankfully we passed.
After getting that all important stamp in the passport we collected our luggage. Then we had to decide if we went through the RED or GREEN channel. Given mum is basically a travelling pharmacy with all her medications, we proceeded to the RED channel (which was indicated if you had medications), but a lady quickly came over and had a look and then said we were fine to proceed. As we got out of the sterile area, we were met be Denis carrying a sign for Ms Kayleen Power & Mrs Patricia Power. I'd organised a private transfer before we left and it turned out to be a brilliant move on my part (if I do say so myself). Our car turned out to be a luxury Mercedes with leather seats and I know mum was very excited about this. Our driver, Denis was very nice and pointed out many things along the way, and as we were his last pick up of the evening, he made sure he drove past Raffles so we could see it at night. It was just beautiful.
We arrived at our hotel - the Novotel Clarke Quay at around 10ish. It 's right on Clarke Quay and our room had a great view of the Quay. We could see the Singapore Flyer from our Window as well as the lights from Clarke Quay below. The room was very nice, 2 beds (larger than King Singles, but not quite Queen Bed size).
We didn't stay up too late to admire the view, instead at around 11ish, we hit the bed for a good nights sleep...
(For the rest of my Day 1 photos - click here.)Flight details:
Singapore Air SQ 236(Aircraft - Airbus A330)
Great service and the food was lovely.
So u got mum playing the casino on the plane. Gee wiz. are you trying to corrupt her. Thats the last time she will be going os with u.
ReplyDeleteVery funny little bro. You should've seen her eyes light up when she saw the Casino games...
ReplyDelete