Leaving hometown

Leaving Kuching

Today I leave Kuching for the journey back to Auckland, with a self-connect at Singapore.  My brother dropped me off at Kuching airport around 0800 after a slow drive during rush hour.

With no food outlets in the international section of the airport (apart from a sandwich stand, I later learnt), I ate before going airside.  The food preparation was a bit slow and I was worried about being late.

I went through immigration 55 mins prior to the flight, and got through security and then the gate just as boarding commenced.  We sat on board for a while, since boarding commenced 45 mins prior to the 0945 departure.  It seems common practice for this route on AirAsia whereas domestic boarding only commences 20 mins prior.

Self-connect in Singapore

Anyway, we closed up a little early then landed in Singapore’s Changi airport from the north today, arriving about 15 mins ahead of the 1115 scheduled time.

I had 7h25 of transit here, arriving at Terminal 4 and departing from Terminal 3.  There was an airside bus facility enabling this but there was a sign requiring AirAsia and Cebu Pacific passengers to clear immigration at Terminal 4 (and then take the street-side free bus instead).

However, when I spoke to the gentleman at the entrance to the transfer facility, he let me through after writing down my details, on to a waiting bus.

The ride felt very long, going through the bowels of the airport buildings driveways and underpasses.  The ride from T4 to T1 then T3 took maybe 20 mins.

I killed some time exploring T3 and T2, enjoying the sunflower and butterfly gardens and also looking for earbuds for a friend (unsuccessfully).

Text continues after this gallery.

I finally settled into a lounge for 3h for some lunch, rest and a shower.  This time I chose the Ambassador lounge instead of the tried-and-proven SATS Lounge.  It was fine but seemed less refined than SATS as it had disposable cups for both hot and cold drinks.  The newish Marhaba Lounge looked much better than the older format one in another terminal, but it looked quite long and narrow.

Changi’s Airport Tax

I used to thank the Singaporean taxpayers and government for giving me such an awesome airport, every time I fly to/from/through Changi International Airport.

But now that the departure tax here is is SGD60 (USD44 or NZD74) per flight with no tier for shorthaul, I’m paying for the beyond worldclass experience.

Nowadays, I choose wisely and make do with modest neighbouring airports which are far cheaper and often have better connections for me (to/from Kuching especially).

In contrast, Johor Bahru and Kuala Lumpur charge SGD3 for domestic, SGD10 for short international flights to ASEAN countries and SGD21 for further afield.

On the other hand, Australian and Fijian airports charge a lot more and have nothing to show for it!

Departing for Auckland

The gate area opened about 90 mins before the departure of my 1840 flight to Auckland.  Staff circulated area with a list of passengers whose documents hadn’t been checked.  They also intercepted people with more than one carry-on, including a musical instrument.

I boarded without any issues.  I had niggly concerns that coming airside-to-airside from T4, I may have upset their passenger reconciliation process or perhaps shown up as not having entered the airside area.

The Air New Zealand B787 closed up on time but there was a 20 min delay to push back, then a 25 min taxi before a 5 min hold before we finally rolled for take-off.

Seated overwing, it was very quiet apart from mechanical noise after take-off and before landing.

Upon the completion of the dinner service, it was only 2130 and a little early to retire for the night.  Despite the tablet of sleeping pill, I didn’t really sleep.