March 30
Auckland to Singapore
Take off was on time, just about midnight and we flew through the night with a few bumps and nothing else to report. The food was OK, the wine not as good as it used to be and the service more than adequate. Flying with Air New Zealand is comfortable, if any flight can be, and boring in that there's seldom anything to complain about.
We landed half an hour early at the far end of the airport, resulting in a long walk along the travelators to Immigration. I passed through without incident, collected my bags and found a lift to take me to the departures floor.
The Cathay Pacific self-service bag drop required the assistance of a nice lady. Everything worked reasonably quickly. I was still about three kg below weight and my electronic boarding pass worked. There was a small queue at Immigration and my hip set off the alarm at security but I was soon through to the other side, less than an hour after the wheels hit the tarmac.
The smart restaurant I often frequent was just opening so I treated myself to a good dim sum breakfast.
I should have remembered that the fried dumplings are very difficult to eat but I didn't scatter too much around. They all tasted good.
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From then on it was a matter of wandering, playing on the wi fi and exploring the huge terminal. The boarding gate finally appeared on the screens so I made my way there and had a rest. Only two hours to go!
The time eventually passed and I joined the long queue to board. No organisation here. Just everyone line up and wait. I thought that my seat in Row 58 would be near the back but it was nowhere near. There must be nearly 80 rows. Being largely full and with lots of children aboard, it wasn't a quiet flight. It was comfortable enough, the food was OK and we arrived slightly early. No problems at all.
We came into Terminal 1, the old one, so that there were longer queues than usual at Immigration, perhaps 20 minutes. My bags arrived promptly, however, and I immediately found a taxi to take me to the hotel. All very efficient.
Check in took a while as they couldn't find a room for me. They did offer me a smoking room, which I strongly rejected, and they eventually found a twin bedded one on the 17th floor, away from the traffic noise. It overlooked the Fire Station, but who's picky! I unpacked, showered, played with the TV (no sound) and the wi fi (free). Reception promised to send someone to mend the TV.
Outside, it was hot, with a warm breeze making things even worse. Round the corner from the hotel used to be a row of cheap shops, takeaways etc. Many of these have been "gentrified". The next block, which used to have some good cheap restaurants and a bakery, has been rebuilt and now houses posh shops, a fountain and a theatre. Where are mean folk like me supposed to eat?Right: There used to be cheap cafes here |
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I crossed the road to the station to find a money machine and realised that my UK ATM card was in my room safe. I used my New Zealand one but that failed - I hope. I didn't get any money. I used it in another machine and that was OK. I have enough cash for this evening. I tried to check the state of my Singapore travel card but that was in the safe as well. Not a good start.
I walked past the Cathedral, beautiful but unphotographable, through the IT mall and into my usual sanctuary, the Sidewalk café.
This has been reorganised so that the beer comes from the opposite side to before but it is still very cheap. I don't think it was as cold as I remember but that might be an old man's memory playing tricks. The good news is that the food court opens at 7 am so that's the breakfast problem sorted.
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I made a vain search in the IT mall for a couple of things - they don't seem to do Windows phones here - but then gave up and found a seat in the fake hawkers' stall. This was a bit plasticy but the food was excellent. A prawn based soup, roti with curry sauce and mutton satay. It was washed down with iced longan tea, not exciting but refreshing.