The not fun start of my travels part 1

Its the same old nonsense. Every. Single. Time. I. Get. On. A. Plane I say to myself “why?  You hate flying, you hate waiting round airports and all the faffing about that goes with it. Why do you do it?”

And yet here I am again. Six hours into a boring 52 hours of travel and wondering why!  This trip is had better be worth it!  I know it will. 

My adventure started a bit earlier than 4:15am when my dutiful Uber collected me, my 3 kilo on board backpack and my 10kilo check in  luggage. 

I checked in on-line last night and expected to just print a bag tag at the airport and be on my way. Alas the stars thought otherwise. The place was bedlam with queues of people waiting in line for assistance from staff as some aspect of their check-in was not working properly. For some reason, in my case, my bag tag only had me going to Singapore even tho I fly through to Istanbul. It took waiting in a long queue (one of many) and two helpful but bewildered staff members to figure out what the story was and get me a new bag tag.  Frustrating but sorted. I hope my bag and I arrive at the same destination at the same time. 

Looking at my tiny bags I was in awe at the amount of luggage some people saddle themselves with and so pleased I have ditched the wheelie and gone for a shoulder strap duffel which is still quite empty and easy to carry. I remember trying to get my wheelie duffel up the steps at train stations in India and so pleased my friend Anne inspired me to downsize.  Thanks Anne. 

Leg one complete and I took advantage of the last of the fresh NZ air I am likely to breath and walked the green line to the International Terminal ready to grab some currency as I go through. 

Dumb idea that was as the Travelex counters were all closed. They only operate through certain hours on rotating days. As you do! Tough poops if you are there on the wrong day. Just as well I always carry ‘just in case’ USD. 

But there is always a highlight!  That came in the form of the crispiest, tastiest bacon to accompany my eggs for breakfast. Airports aren’t generally known for edible food but here was a welcome exception. I could hear the crackle as it popped in my mouth and that smoky bacon taste lingered for ages. It was about that time that I thought a gin would be an appropriate accompaniment but I quickly thought better of it.

Medication swallowed, compression stockings donned I go to the gate and wait then realised that somewhere along the line I had lost a boarding pass!  Really?  Yes really?  Easily fixed and a new one was printed for me but it reminded me of another time, about 50 years ago when I ‘lost’ the boarding pass and it was a huge palaver to get a new one. Technology has made it so easy. 

Now I am on board flight no 2. I have pre-selected my aisle seat (with an empty seat next to it) and applied for an upgrade in the hope that my lousy $ offer would get me one. 

Needless to say my lousy $offer did not get me an upgrade and I settled into my seat with some person that must have recently had a garlic laced meal sitting right next to me!!  

The flight was delayed taking off, just long enough for me to work out a strategy with the couple over the aisle from me. I’m writing this now stretched across three seats in the centre bank of seats. 

An ok lunch devoured, my sav blanc safely in my digestive system and I am ready for my first nap. 12 noon and I hope it gets me through for a few hours. 

It did and I landed safely at Singapore Changi airport to join the thousands of fellow travellers. 

I made a beeline for Terminal 1 and walked for 20 minutes till I got there. All just to go buy my favourite pastry , a layered mix of flour, yeast, a bit of water then butter, sugar, more butter, more sugar again and again.  Even inside the terminal it is sticky hot and by the time I arrived at the shop perspiration was dripping off me.   There was an advantage to that as it meant that  when I was told they did not have any Kouign Amman and a tear rolled down my cheek it would not have been discernible amongst the other liquid also meandering through the creases of my face. 

One of my favourite airport pastimes is people watching. There’s always something to have a giggle about. Right now I’m having a coffee and watching a young lady sitting opposite. Wearing her active gear that is so tight and leaving little to the imagination I wonder how her underwear has not dissected her vertically. But thats not why I am laughing.   She arrived with her wheelie bag, a balenciaga shopping bag (as you do)  and handbag which she placed on the floor. From there she takes out some wipes and thoroughly wipes down the seat and the table. Fair enough. But then she takes the handbag off the carpeted floor and puts it on the surface she has just meticulously wiped down.  

A nice wee fun diversion for me while I fill in the next 10 hours to my next flight. 

With nothing better to do I stashed my carry on, exited through departures (where I had to complete ARRIVAL documentation) and made my way to JEWEL, the Jewel in Changi’s crown. 

Jewel is a massive 6+ storey building that houses restaurants, food halls, designer shops, arcade and other amusement games plus the worlds tallest indoor waterfall set within an indoor rainforest.   Although within the airport complex it is set landside so has become the shopping mall/amusement park by travellers and locals alike. I was blown away by it all last time I visited. 

This time the magic was still there but I found the sheer volume of people and their associated noise just too much. The place was crawling with shreiking kids and did my head in. However, after a lot of walking and thought I chose a latin american restaurant to provide my dinner. The main reason I went there was that it had the shortest queue which would usually put me off but I was in no mood to stand in a long line with shreiking kids. 

Sitting in the restaurant with my back to the fountain I only got a glimpse of the sound and light show that kicked off at 9:00pm. If I had known I would have stood in line with squillions if others to take my video. It was spectacular. 

BUT not as spectacular as my dinner. Lightly battered and fried soft shell crab, squid and prawns sitting atop a mound of soft unctuous rice flavoured with tomato, lime and coriander. I melted with the first mouthful and savoured each one after that. Yum, yum, yum. 

So I wasn’t too worried about missing the lightshow which seems was a major attraction as by the time I left the restaurant the crowds had thinned out and the insanity had abated making it easy to slowly make my way back to the airport, through immigration and airside once more.  

I am now hanging out in a secluded part of the airport desperately trying to keep my eyes open in fear that a nap now might hinder that much needed sleep I am going to have as soon as we take off.   One more 12 hour flight, a 10 hour layover where I change airports from the Asian side of Istanbul to the European side - about 80k.   From there I fly to Baku arriving at about 3:00am so hoping to go straight to bed when I arrive.