Today we would be leaving on our second overseas holiday for 2023. This time we'll be going to Finland, Iceland, Scotland, France and Jordan. On the way there, we'll stop over in Singapore and on the way back we'll stop over in Malaysia.
For the first leg to Singapore, we booked to fly with Qantas and the plane was due to leave Sydney airport at 11:55am. Originally, we'd booked in economy but later we successfully applied to upgrade to premium economy - once again by using my Qantas Frequent Flyer points.
I'd booked a Silver Service taxi to pick us up at 8:15am so we could get to the airport by about 9am - three hours before the flight. I set my alarm for 6am so I could have breakfast and finalise packing before that.
Milo looked nervous about the bags. Where were they going this time and how long would they be away? Are they taking me with them?
I was nervous about being able to close my bag because it had so much in it. We had to take warm clothes for Iceland and cool clothes for Singapore, Jordan and Malaysia plus in between clothes for Finland, Scotland and France
It was a good run to the airport - perhaps not too surprising for a Saturday morning. What was surprising was the large number of people in fluoro vests directing cars arriving at the departure level.
Because we were flying premium economy, we were allowed to go to the check-in counter rather than having to do the check-in at one of the machines. There was only a short queue at the counter. So far so good.
When Suzy put her bag on the conveyor, it was just under 23kg. When she then put mine on, she noticed that the zipper had burst and things were falling out of it.
The lady at the check-in initially suggested we get it wrapped in plastic. Alternatively she suggested we buy a new bag at the Samsonite shop down the corridor. We thought this was a better option because we needed to have a functioning bag for the next six weeks. So she suspended our check-in process until we sorted it out.
Suzy pushed the offending bag to the shop while I shuffled along behind. The sales assistant found an identical bag but suggested a hard case instead. Initially I thought the hard case would be too heavy but she assured us it was quite light. What's more, it had a slightly higher capacity and so would do a better job of fitting in everything I was taking.
So I kneeled on the shop floor and threw everything from the broken bag into the new one. Then we headed back to the check-in counter to finish the process with the same check-in lady. My bag weighed about 24kg.
By the time we got to the departure gate, it was about 9:30. There was only a short queue at the customs machine and a short queue at security.
When we got to the Qantas Lounge, Suzy showed her entry pass. The lady said I didn't need to show mine because I was a member of the Qantas Club which was a surprise to me but I wasn't going to argue. It did show that we didn't need to spend an hour on the phone to Qantas yesterday trying to get me an access pass.
By the time we sat down in the lounge, we felt that we needed a stiff drink to recover from the events at the airport so far but we managed to avoid doing so because it was only about 10am.
There was a message on my phone from Qantas saying there was a technical fault with our flight and there might be limited inflight entertainment.
At about 11:15am, the display said "go to gate". When we got to the gate, there was a very long queue of people lined up already.
After a while, there was an announcement of a delay because of cleaning and catering running late. Then there was another announcement about technical issues. At this point there was a big collective sigh and everyone abandoned the queue to sit down or go for a walk.
When they called us again, people lined up only to be told eventually there was another delay and then another. Premium economy would be the last to board because the cleaners were still working on the upper deck.
The aircraft was an A380 - a very big plane that carried lots of passengers. Business class and premium economy were located on the upper deck. Luckily we didn't need to climb up stairs to get there because a separate air bridge took us straight up to that level.
The premium economy cabin was located behind business class. We had good seats - one on the window and one on the aisle side by side. By the time we sat down, it was 12:45pm.
After departing the terminal, the plane taxied out into Botany Bay before taking off northwards at about 1:20pm - more than an hour late, I was hoping to get some photos from my window seat but it was hard because we were over the wing. It was a warm sunny day with little cloud.
Perhaps because it was school holidays, there were quite a few young children on the flight. Some would have been pre-schoolers. It must have been an adventure for them. One excited little boy kept on calling out "look out the window Mummy" or "Mummy we're up in the air".
They served us lunch at about 2:30pm. I'm sure it would have been a lot better than downstairs in economy. The food was presented in a tray with cloth napkins and real cutlery. I had a delicious chicken dish and Suzy had lamb shark. It was accompanied by Greek salad, bread, rice crackers and cheese, cake for dessert and Lindt chocolate balls. The flight attendant topped up my glass of Shiraz a couple of times.
The entertainment system was working - so their technicians had been successful in rebooting the system while were were queued up in the terminal earlier. We watched a very funny movie called Mafia Momma.
We landed in Singapore at about 6:40pm Singapore time which would have been 8:40pm Sydney time. The pilot had managed to catch up time so we landed at about the scheduled time. There wasn't much of a view while landing because of the cloud.
Singapore's customs system is quite sophisticated. You need to complete an arrivals card online three days before the flight which is automatically matched with your passport number on arrival.
However the system is very slow at the airport. You go to two separate machines one after another that take a long time and often don't work. I eventually got through but Suzy was directed to the counter where they processed her manually the old way.
Baggage collection was also slow. I was relieved when my new bag turned up on the carousel but we were even more relieved when Suzy's bag arrived because it was just about the last bag to appear.
While we were waiting, our mobile phones sprang into life with heaps of messages - mainly about the AFL grand final. There were plenty of very happy Collingwood supporters.
Downstairs, there was a long winding queue for taxis. Our taxi left by 8pm and reached our hotel, Orchard Rendezvous Hotel, at about 8:25pm. Most of the way, we travelled on motorways.
Our room was on level 14 with a good view over the city ahead and the hotel pool below. The room is quite spacious with a king bed, work desk, carpet, fridge, wardrobe, safe, comfy chair and side table, tea and coffee making, small balcony. The bathroom has a walk-in shower. Wifi speed about 20Mb/s down and 16 up.
The hotel restaurant and room service had both closed at 8pm and so for dinner we went to an open-air Mexican restaurant just outside the entrance to the hotel. We shared a chicken fajita.
It was warm (28C) and humid (70%). The area was busy with cars and pedestrians. The buildings around us were brightly lit including huge electronic advertising screens.
From previous visits to Singapore, we were aware that alcohol is very expensive in Singapore. My glass of CabSav costed $SIN17 which would be about $A20.
We were in bed by 10:30pm Singapore time (after midnight Sydney time).
