I had a pleasant overnight flight on Cathay Pacific from San Francisco to Hong Kong: decent seats, decent service, decent food (three choices for dinner, two choices for breakfast, listed on a menu in both English and Chinese). The flight's length didn't bother me.
I took some pictures en route.
Because of my direction of travel, I witnessed no sunrises or sunsets from the plane. It was dark all the way to Hong Kong. As we descended into Hong Kong, the sky turned the pale gray that hints of the forthcoming dawn. The sun rose as I went through security in HK, so I got to see Hong Kong in the distance in early morning light.
On my short flight from Hong Kong to Singapore, they fed me once again.
Singapore's airport, Changi, is a marvel other airports should emulate. It has free internet and even free computer kiosks. The shops, I'm told, have price caps that disallow them from charging anything above the going retail rate one can find elsewhere in Singapore. I'm also told the government's tourism bureau provides free tours of the city for people with long single-day layovers. But best of all, the visitor's booth provides only government-printed brochures on a variety of topics, and they're all very well done. Maps for walking tours in interesting neighborhoods. A large booklet introducing Singaporean cuisine and particular dishes and where to find good examples of them. General booklets on the island on places to eat, things to see, activities to do, and more. Unlike travel elsewhere, I didn't have to sort through brochures produced by random businesses or attractions touting their possibly tourist-trap destinations, all filled with additional advertisements for whoever else payed the brochure-designing company the most.
I caught the subway to the station closest to my hotel, then took a taxi the rest of the way. (I didn't want to get lost wandering with my luggage in the heat after such a long plane flight.)
Once settled, I ventured out for dinner, taking these pictures of my excursion. I found my way to Orchard Road, Singapore's main shopping street and its countless five story shopping malls. (Yes, there are so many I lost count.) I'd return to explore the area another day; I was mainly looking for food. Eventually, I found a dingy food court filed with locals and ate there.
I returned to my hotel and was in bed by nine or ten p.m., a reasonable time for having changed so many time zones.
Singapore: July 18-19: Arriving
Posted by mark at Monday, May 18, 2009
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