Cruise Bound

Sarah here today.  Up until the plane flight, Alan had had about 6 hours sleep in 48 hours so the old boy needs his rest.

We were picked up, late, by the limo this morning.  He had confused the two addresses; having our street name but Dad's house number. In any event, we arrived at the airport with still 2 hours before our Singapore Airlines flight.  Even though we had checked in at home, we were still required to queue for some time.  They need to take a look at Qantas because, as many of you would know from our trip to Singapore last year, online check in with Qantas had our bags dropped and browsing the shops within a few minutes.

As we queued up for economy, I was trying to get Dad's attention who had accidentally joined the queue for first class instead of business.  A Singapore Airlines employee saw me, asked if everything was okay and I explained what was happening.  She then ushered us out of the economy queue, moved Dad to business class queue and said we could all check in together.  Not only was this faster, but it got us priority baggage plus express passes for immigration and screening; many of the benefits of flying business class without the added cost.

Dad then set off for the business class lounge while Alan and I opted for McDonald's.

Soon we were boarded and in our lovely two only seats row. Singapore Airlines is very nice; comfortable and a bit more room than on other airlines.

Alan was asleep before we even took off.  I watched, on take off, his blanket disappear into the row behind us, never to be seen again.

I managed to amuse myself with the entertainment system, mainly trying to work out how to use the silly thing, before our breakfast of scrambled eggs, ham plus fruit, a pastry and yogurt arrived. Alan managed to stay awake long enough to get some food and then he was back to napping.

I watched a few movies and had a small nap myself.  After a little snack of peanuts, lunch arrived of fish in a white wine sauce. Have to say, very impressed with Singapore Airlines food.

We arrived 20 minutes early and were through immigration in five minutes, unlike last year when it took us an hour each time. An interesting tidbit that Alan noticed last night and which the immigration agent noticed in Singapore, is that we had our passports stamped by them exactly a year ago today, which was when we transited back through Singapore on our way home from Malaysia.

A quick cab ride and we arrived at the hotel. It's lovely and new. However the room is tiny (with a double and a single bed) and the bathroom is microscopic.  It's only for one night so who really cares.

View from our room

Alan suffering from a headache, had a lie down while Dad and I watched the women's golf being played in Singapore. After Alan surfaced, we went to the Merlion and, unlike last year, was not covered in scaffolding and the fountain was running.  From here, too, Dad was able to see the Marina Bay Sands; quite an impressive site.

We then travelled the 5 minutes by taxi to Clarke Quay (although Alan reckons it would have been a 5 minute walk or 3 minute swim) and had dinner at an outdoor Thai place.  We'd only been sitting there for less than 5 minutes and the rain came so we were moved to another undercover table.  A few minutes there and we were moved again to make way for a large party.  Each move was an upgrade and this time we were right on the river.  The food was okay but the parade of boats up and down the river was interesting to see.

Now 9pm back in the room (which is midnight at home) and I think it will be an early night for all of us.   Tomorrow we get on the cruise.