April 4
Singapore to Hong Kong
As usual, I set my alarm clock but never used it as I woke an hour early. This gave me plenty of time to finish packing and check out. Just before 07.00 I looked out of the front door of the hotel, decided that it was far too hot to carry my bags to the station and summoned a taxi. The roads were very quiet so we reached Changi in about 15 minutes for the princely sum of about $17.
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My electronic boarding pass couldn't be accessed easily as wi fi access was a bit of a process, so the nice lady checked me in and gave me a paper boarding pass. Much easier. If there are orchids all over the terminal, this must be Singapore. They really are a glorious way to decorate an airport. Breakfast was dim sum in a posh restaurant but was still reasonably cheap. I had an explore, found a money shop and changed my excess Singapore Dollars into Hong Kong ones. |
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The gate was quite close by Changi standards so I found a seat there and waited for things to happen. We took off on time, landed slightly early and everything was reasonably smooth and reasonably comfortable. A nice lady even hung my jacket for me, not something I'm used to in Economy Class. Most remarkable of all, Cathay Pacific offered the first series of "Are you being served", including the pilot episode which I had never seen.
Passing through the airport took a while. There was a long walk and then the baby train to a ten minute queue at Immigration and then another 15 minutes waiting for my bag.
I located the airport-hotel bus counter easily enough but discovered that the fare had risen to $150 and I had a 25 minute wait. All in all, it took about two hours from touch down to hotel. I will have to investigate something more efficient on the way home.
Right: It's a long way into the city by bus |
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I found my room, dumped my valuables in the safe, hung a things in the wardrobe and embarked on a shopping trip.
I suspected that drawer handles and jewellery boxes might be found on Lockhart Road. I had asked the bell boy but he hadn't a clue. I found lots of baths, taps, tiles and enough building products to stock a warehouse. Nothing that I wanted, however. The handles and knobs that I did find were identical to what I could find in any hardware store in the UK or New Zealand.
I did find a shop selling safes and jewellery boxes. Unfortunately, the boxes were all made in Korea, looked lovely and cost a fortune. I will have to consult some of the pretty girls on the hotel reception desk.
As I was walking, the skies got increasingly heavy and I decided that rain was imminent. As soon as I saw a likely shop, I entered and bought a folding umbrella for about £1.50. Can't be bad at that price.
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The IT Centre sold me a very big USB stick, which should take all of the year's photos without a problem. This was a few pounds cheaper than I could have got it in the UK. When I looked at phone cases, however, I did find some, which I hadn't managed in Singapore. The prices, however, were alarming. The price of a plastic one here was about the same as a good leather one on Amazon in the UK.
When I left the IT Centre, it was starting to rain. Once I was sitting happily in the pub, the thunder and lightning began, briefly, and heavy rain fell for a few minutes. I remained dry in the pub while my inside got wet. When I left the pub, my new umbrella came into its own. The downpour had stopped but it was still distinctly damp.
Sabah was quite quiet and I was given a table right under the counter. This meant I couldn't watch the chef performing with his roti swinging and kopi pouring. My beef rendang with morning glory and belacan was good and I had a long chat with the maitre 'd, a nice lady who spends half of the year with her daughters in Canada. I even had a kopi but couldn't watch it being poured. The cost was about £30, six times what I had been paying in Singapore.
I walked back to the hotel in the drizzle, left my umbrella in the shower and tried to take photos from the window. Both the view and the reflections were amazing.