Ever heard the phrase hurry up and wait? That’s how our long awaited holiday to Malaysia started. Packing the evening before after a work trip that involved two 4:30am rises in three days, I was up again in the wee hours to catch an uber in -2C with a summer weight jacket and woollen leggings both of which I am sure will remain at the bottom of my bag until the journey home. I wasn’t fond of hypothermia to start my holiday, but my whirlwind packing left no room for the usual cull, so I am sure I brought things I won’t use (like three different ways to protect myself from tropical rain.

We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to check our bags to Singapore and grab some breakfast in the Qantas Club only to have a 40 minute delay due to the late arrival of the incoming aircraft – you know it is going to be a problem when this happens with a 7am flight. We walked straight off the flight onto an airside shuttle to the international terminal in Sydney only to wait for five minutes for traffic on the tarmac including the parking of an A380. Once we got to the terminal Border clearance was a breeze – security gates with nothing to remove from our carryon and straight through the smart gates with no issues except for Dan’s hair getting in the way of the biometric cameras. In the end we got to the gate with 20 minutes to spare. Then we waited and waited. Departure originally pushed by about an hour due to another late arrival. When we finally got on board and got settled, they let us know we could be there for hours due to an airport wide air traffic control issue. Soo glad the entertainment system was on – new system with Bluetooth capability for your own headphones – no dongle required. And when I went through and added stuff to my list, I found enough stuff to keep me busy on a RTW trip. Eventually we got underway – after about an hour or so on the tarmac in with an arrival into Singapore three hours later than planned.

They served some snacks as soon as we took off and then the meal was served not long after, probably to ensure scheduling for the staff. Inconveniently the menu wasn’t uploaded, and the announcement system was so quiet I couldn’t hear the options – I chose the chicken – it was roast chicken with vege and gravy so a good choice. It came with focaccia and an ice cream, and a beef, mushroom and thyme pie just before we landed. And in case you’re wondering, uncharacteristically I mainly watched movies – two that I had meant to watch at the cinema – The Bride (always love a Maggie Gylenhall film – she has such a unique voice. This was great (despite the overly overt Me Too movement references – there were some more subtle references throughout that would have been enough, I think.  That said I really enjoyed it, but The Secretary still remains my fave of her films); and The Devil Wears Prada 2 – not as funny or insightful as the original but it did make some on point references about the state of magazines and journalism in general. I chucked in an episode of a doco on the US industry built around preparing people for active armed offender incidents, the first ep of the doco about Ryan Reynolds and co buying Welsh football team Wrexham united and the first ep the latest season of South Park. I finished up with Crazy Rich Asians – that film always puts me in the mood for Singapore.

Immigration clearance in Singapore was a breeze. I filled out the digital arrival card the night before and the cards clearly linked to my passport at the smart gate. I must remember to check if the digital arrival card has kicked in at home this time – I didn’t on Australia’s first attempt at digital arrival in 2021 and got caught with poor internet at Heathrow trying to fill it in before they would let me board.  Then it was through to collect our bags. Found the Skytrain. Changi has to be the best setup airport in the world – by far the best I have been to so far – there are Skytrain links both airside and streetside between all terminals except terminal 4 and you can also walk to the jewel complex from any of the terminals (except 4). Dan has long had the idea that Sydney airport should have repurposed the monorail to do just this). We arrived at Terminal 1 and had decided to stay at the airport overnight before our flight to Penang the following morning. The Crowne Plaza at the airport is 5 Star and looks pretty expensive (around A$450) until you realise that $200 at the other airport hotels is for a six hour layover. The Crowne Plaza is also just around the corner from the Skytrain station and has a pool. The setup, like other hotels in Singapore is external walkways between the rooms with large well airconditioned rooms and airconditioned common spaces. The resort style pool is also outside but surrounded in greenery and with a really interesting layout – off of the main pool it had what were really just small soaking pools with individual decks. Needless to say in the humid heat of a Singapore evening, the pool was the first place that we headed. [If You Were Here – Thompson Twins – one of the first shows I ever remember attending – I think I was about 14 – in love with ska and new wave, I hadn’t been allowed to go to the Madness show the year prior so I think my Dad had by this point just given in. Thompson Twins weren’t my absolute faves but were enough of a star ion my teenage playlist to make me want to go. This was my first moshpit (before they were called that and for a brief moment at the end of the show, I was in possession of Alana Curry’s drumstick, thrown into the crowd until some girl pulled it out from under my foot before I had a chance to retrieve it. The more confident me of today might have confronted her. But alas that is not what happened in 1983 (I think). Oh, and yes, the reason this is on my T-shirt playlist is because it is the final song in Sixteen Candles. Still one of the funniest teen films of its era.

Refreshed, we headed to Jewel for dinner and also to buy a new travel charger. I have two that are almost identical – one of which failed on a holiday in 2023. Which one do you think I brought? (yes, yes, I just should have thrown it away before). The Jewel complex is a great big ring with a six or seven storey waterfall in the centre and links to the terminals on the outside, The landside SkyTrain between terminals two and three also runs through it. When we arrived, there were loads of people heading towards the waterfall – turned out it was for a nightly light show on the waterfall with projections of birds and stuff. We stopped and looked for a short while but were a bit tired for the throng of humanity (even in the aircon) so headed off on our two-part mission.  We found an electronic shop and bought it at a higher price than I would have had to pay in the Don Quixote store we found later) but I felt much more relieved that I had it. With that in my possession, I was happy to backtrack to the Gundam store and take a photo of Dan with the big robot out the front. And for him to take a look inside. On the second part of our mission found a random café in the mall selling Malay cuisine and ordered some beers and a couple of dishes – a mixed chicken and beef satay plate and Beef Rendang Nasi Lemak. The flavours were good, but they were obviously trying to get people out the door and didn’t heat it properly so it was nowhere as good as it could have been.  There was a Shake Shack downstairs – I haven’t been to Shake Shack in close to a decade, but we thought we could do much better in Singapore. Even though the food was cold at the café, I thin k we were probably right. Don’t get me wring I love a burger and shake but when you have the wealth of Asian food at your fingertips in Singapore… A swim, some food and my digital dilemma sorted it was time for some sleep.