A Day in Singapore

Our flight from LA to Singapore took about 17 hours. It was a long one. We slept, ate a couple meals, watched some shows and movies, read, and talked. The time moved along just fine, but we're all glad the return flight to LA will be a bit shorter.

We were also in the dark for a long time. We left our home in Orange County in the dark, left LAX in the dark, and flew all night in the dark. We arrived in Singapore around 7:30am; the sun had only recently come up.

It felt SO good to get off the plane. Once inside the Singapore airport, we found baggage storage and dropped our bags. The kind man at the storage counter informed us that we'd be flying out of Terminal 2 later, and that we'd have to pick up our bags at his storage locker in Terminal 1 and then make our way to Terminal 2. He offered that we could place our bags in storage in Terminal 2, but it was more of a hassle because Terminal 2 has to open all of the bags, inspect what's in there, etc, etc. So, we decided to keep our bags in Terminal 1 and just deal with the transition to Terminal 2 later. 

We then breezed through immigration on the way out of the airport (everything is so high-tech here!) and made our way to the taxi stand. We asked our taxi driver where we could find some breakfast and she said she'd take us to Chinatown -- mostly because stores and stalls were open there. I guess Singapore sleeps in on Saturdays? At this point, it was 8:30am.

Once in Chinatown, our taxi driver pointed us to a food market. We walked in, walked around, and were mesmerized by all the different food and drinks. It was so much to take in. We left the market and started walking up and down the streets of Chinatown. We found one little eatery where we grabbed some breakfast and coffee (mmm, coffee...cue angels singing). While there, Tim realized he had left his iPad on the plane. So, what did we do after breakfast? We found a nearby Starbucks where Tim could access WiFi and issue a lost item ticket with Singapore Airlines. Boom.

After leaving Starbucks, we walked around some more...but it was getting hot. We popped into a couple of stores just to get a feel for the food and goods for sale. 

Around 11:30am, we decided to grab a taxi and head back to the airport. We wanted to leave plenty of time to connect with Singapore Airlines' lost and found team.

Since our bags were in Terminal 1, we asked to be dropped off there. Inside Terminal 1, we scrounged around a bit before we found an airport rep and asked him where we could find Singapore Airlines' lost and found. He told us to head to Terminal 2. But since we were already in Terminal 1, we decided to grab our bags before heading to Terminal 2. Except when we tried to go through security, we were stopped and told we had to head to Terminal 2, as that was where our flight was departing.

Ok. 

We jumped onto the Sky Train and headed for Terminal 2. After a little walk, we found another airport rep who scanned Tim's passport and boarding pass and gave him a ticket to head into baggage claim. From there, Tim could connect with the lost and found team.

The kids and I waited behind while Tim met up with Singapore Airlines and discussed his lost iPad. The good news was that his iPad had been located. The bad news was that he couldn't get it. He was told he'd have to retrieve it at our gate.

Ok.

We headed back upstairs and straight to the departure line to scan our passports and boarding passes. But we were blocked. We were told we couldn't use the boarding passes on the Singapore Airlines app -- they weren't working for some reason. Instead, we had to double back and go print our boarding passes. By this time, our anxiety was rising. We thought we had alllll this time back at the Singapore airport to handle lost and found, grab our bags, get to the right terminal...and we were watching the clock tick on by with all the back and forth.

But this story ends well, folks. We were able to print our boarding passes, get back in line, scan our passes and passports successfully, and get into Terminal 2 without any issues. Then we hoofed it over to Terminal 1, collected our bags, and then hoofed it right back to Terminal 2. After two miles of walking inside the Singapore airport (I'm sure of it), we landed at our gate. Interestingly enough, our gate only "opened" an hour before our flight. When the gate opened, we made our way through an entranceway that funneled us through x-ray machines. All of us and our bags were scanned at the gate. 

Now, do you think Tim got his iPad back? If you said yes, you are correct. As we walked down the jetway to our waiting plane, we saw a policeman. Tim had been instructed to ask him for his iPad, and the policeman delivered.

Cambodia, here we come!

Outside the food market in Chinatown.

At breakfast.

Loved these colorful windows. Also, love those kids on the swing.

Eating some beef jerky on the go.

Stalls for days!

Chinatown was beautiful and colorful and energetic and the perfect place to stretch our legs on our layover.