Day 25 - Thursday 23 March - Heathrow -> Singapore

---

Well, all of our problems seem to come to the surface at Heathrow.

After a lovely breakfast we tried to get the lift down to the Heathrow transfer trains - the lift wouldn’t work. So we found another lift that did work, only to find that the train platforms were closed and a bunch of security men standing around chatting, taking the time to briefly tell us the transfer train wasn’t working. I had the temerity to say “well how do you get to Terminal 2?” And they said the Piccadilly line, underground. So we turned and muttered a few choice words about Heathrow. One of the security guys must have realised we were strangers in a strange place and followed us, asking if we knew the way. We said we had no idea so he took us to the lift for the underground.

Then of course my oyster card wouldn’t work. You only need one with a zero or more balance to do the free terminal transfer. I didn’t tap off when we got to terminal 4 last night because the gates were open, so now it had a negative balance, and wouldn’t work. One of the officious men took my card and returned to tell me where I’d been last night with the card and that now it had a negative balance because I hadn’t tapped off. He asked me my name so he could ring the terminal 2 man to let me through, and he used his magic wand to let me in.



So on the train a Londoner asked if this was the Elizabeth line, and I told him no, it was the line upstairs, but he could get off at terminal 2 and change lines. Then an English lady asked if the train went to Piccadilly. I pointed her to the map on the wall where Piccadilly was clearly marked. Then we arrived at Terminal 2 and found where to check in our luggage. Hallelujah.

Security - where Tom has to do the ninja job of collecting all of our devices and carryon luggage while I get patted down and xrayed. But today they kept Tom’s carryon so they could search it and wipe it over for drugs. Then we made the slow 15km (so it seemed - it was a 20 min journey for the fit and able) to the Singapore Airlines lounge. And some bubbles. At 9am - may deaden the pain in my Achilles heel. And the Baileys on ice may cure Terminal Tom, an aggressive super stressed version who makes an appearance in airport terminals.

we eventually boarded our flight and had the best leg of our flight yet - the Airbus A380 is so much bigger, so much nicer, than those poky little ones we flew over in.

---