Sydney to Singapore - Anticipation, Excitement and Intrigue

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Summary:


• Sydney to Singapore


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I am finally here at Sydney Airport, Kingsford smith. After checking in I drag myself towards the departure gates of Terminal 1, it was then that I realised that I didn't have any cash for the taxi when I got to Singapore. I roll up to a Travel Lex, the rate that they offer me to buy AUD for Thai Baht and Singapore Dollar is 24 and 1.03 respectively, I look at him in amazement, the rate for Thai Baht vs AUD is 30 to 1 and the rate for SGD to AUD is 1.25 to think that they almost make 20%!i(MISSING)s interesting to say the least. Expensive to say the least, anyway I am going to try my luck in Singapore. I guess worse comes to worse I'll get Craig to pay for the cab and pay him back later.

Waiting to board my flight outside Gate 24 of Terminal 1 at Sydney's International airport in Mascot, I look out through the window and see assortment of flights leave the airport and the melting pot of passengers from different walks of life all preparing to board their respective flights. I pause for a second and glance over at the line of passengers preparing to board a China Southern flight, the predominantly Chinese passengers a number of them which step out of the line to scream the covers off their mobile phones, cause me to wonder what sort of people I will meet along the way.

As I contemplate the journey to come with mixed emotions running through my mind. I am nervous and excited at the same time, it is my first trip travelling solo. I am nervous contemplating the prospect of travel with no tour guides, no partners, just me and the road, a well beaten path at that. It is finally sinking in that I am off on a 36 day journey through mainland South-East Asia. At the same time I am bursting with excitement and anticipation of the Indo-china route has in store for me.

The first stop on my journey will be Singapore, the island city, where I will overnight on my way to Bangkok, Thailand. In Singapore I will visit an old (friend) Craig who has recently moved to Singapore from Hong Kong. In Singapore it will be good to see Craig again and hopefully sample some of the famous Singaporean cuisine.

For the flight I have opted for the no frills option, Scoot, a new(ish) budget carrier based out of Singapore who provide their flights with everything as an option. The base cost for the flight is the flight plus taxes only. This means all you get is the flight and everything else is extra, there is no in-flight entertainment (you can purchase or rent ipads or stream from your laptop at a cost), no meals (extra - but I hear that the meals aren't that great anyway), no beverages, no blankets, pillows or eye masks not even an allowance for checked-in luggage. All of these options which we have come to expect over the years for "international flights" have been stripped away to off the customer a truly cut priced option for travel between Sydney and various locations around South-East Asia (For those interested - a one way flight from Sydney to Bangkok, with an overnight stop over in Singapore and 20kg worth of checked-in luggage cost me $310AUD, the price includes taxes and a number of other fees). To emphasis the degree of "no-frillsness" the buttons to call the flight attendant and the reading light seem to be disabled or simply don't work.

The flight is comfortable but my no means extravagant, all the bare essentials are adequate. The seats are clean the cabin staff are attentive, the flight leaves and arrives on time (relatively, arrived 30mins late in Sydney). There really isn't a lot to complain about but I suppose if you really don't offer much in the first place there isn't much to complain about.

Prior to boarding I had read some horror reviews taking about the poor quality of the planes but there was no evidence of this on the flight that I was on which was a Boeing 777 (TZ 1 - Sydney to Singapore). I must also add that the figure hugging uniforms on some of the air hostesses do help bring a little bit of life to the cabin, the cabin crew. Generally speaking are young but not overly attractive and a mix of male and female flight attendants.

The ride is bumpy to say the least, one of the more turbulent flights that I have been on so far. Of this is no fault of the airline. Maybe testament to the leaps and bounds that aviation has taken no one but me seems to alarmed at the amount of turbulence that we are experiencing.

On the flight there are many brave passengers on this flight that have have made the similar financial decisions to me, flight only thanks (who needs checked in luggage anyway). However three hours into the flight I am freezing. Dammit, I gave in and I bought a blanket I never realised how cold it is on flights, I am in thongs, a singlet and shorts but in the back of my mind I wonder if the air conditioning on this plane has been turned up a notch or two. It does feel awfully cold in here. 12AUD , oh well my first souvenir of the trip an authentic Scoot blanket, who would have thought that we would be paying for airline merchandise.

In saying all this I have opted for flight and bag check-in only so as you can imagine I am going to be really hungry by the time I arrive in Singapore. As I type I recount in my mind the conversation that I had at work with Mandy (my manager) prior to departure about what to eat, Chilli-Crab, Pandan Cake, Devil Rays...Hmmm...Craig reassures me that he'll wait till I arrive so we can grab dinner together, hope you are ready for a big meal Craig!

PS - Once I get myself in order there will be some pictures as well.

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