Changi Airport On the Way Home

April 7 - Changi Airport   Our comfortable return Singapore Airlines flight from Cambodia to Singapore was on time without a hitch. Our EWA flight to Taipei wasn't scheduled to depart until 1 PM the next day. So we had booked a sleeping module in youtelAIR at the Airport. The hotel is located on the 4th floor of Jewel near "Lobby 5."  I think "Lobby" means elevator bank.  Jewel is a multi story, maybe 10 stories, shopping mall.

Changi is no ordinary airport and Jewel is no ordinary mall. It is a destination onto itself so we were happy to have our layover. Like everything Singaporean the airport is bright and spotless. 

Jewel resides at the center of the airport and at the center of Jewel, the Rain Vortex Waterfall amazes travelers and locals alike.  Many stores  and attractions in the mall cater to kids.  I almost got run over by a three-year old in a little electric powered dinosaur car!  We walked all over and still missed a lot. We never ventured below the valley floor. A+K, young videographers from Austin, Texas recently rushed about trying to get it all in during their layover but couldn't fit it all in either. Check out their outstanding video: A+K Video.

 Rain Vortex Waterfall

                Rain Vortex Waterfall - Behind the Scenes

Lobster Rolls and Wheat Beer for Lunch

Shiseido Forest Trail

                                          

                                      Light Show at Night

 Light Show Video Clip

NYT articles written in 2019 before the pandemic provide more description of this amazing airport.   NYT Article 1   NYT Article 2

More on Jewel     

Singapore - Day Four Garden Rhapsody

 Garden Rhapsody 

After fueling up on noodles and, of course, resting up at Amoy, we returned to the Supertree Grove to find it packed with people. We managed to squeeze into a choice spot in front of the Supertree Observatory and just under the OBBC Skyway. 

Photos cannot do the show justice so check out my YouTube videos linked below. 

Supertees Video 2 Minutes

Supertrees Video 8 Minutes

Singapore Day Four - Gardens by the Bay & Floral Fantasy

 Singapore  Day Four - Gardens by the Bay & Floral Fantasy       

We woke to thunder claps and rain. Singaporeans sprouted umbrellas. We ditched our ponchos in favor of rain jackets and our Aussie hats and head back to the Gardens by the Bay, this time to visit Floral Fantasy.  Smaller by far than Cloud Forest or Flower Dome it was still worth a visit especially on a rainy morning. Not many signs point to Floral Fantasy but it is located near the entrance to the tunnel that leads to the Bayfront MRT Station. 

Outside stands a giant cat made of trash.  Inside, along with all the floral arrangements we watched poison dart frogs isolated in a glass case (the frogs I mean.) A waterfall that is more like a water curtain had the appearance of rain falling inside harder than the drizzle outside.   

We walked into the gardens to see Planet at ground level but didn't venture further afield. I know there is a lot we missed.  I wouldn't mind coming back and doing it all over again! 

Dragon Flies

A few MRT stops with a change of lines delivered us to the other side of Marina Bay and the Singapore River for a short walk to the Asian Civilizations Museum. 

 

Pottery Found in Ship Wreck Form a Wave

We decided to try noodles from one of many vendors just outside the Amoy. The menu from which to select noodles, broth, and extras is online as well as payment.  We needed help to figure it out.  My choice of skinny rice noodles proved challenging as the slippery noodles slipped through the chop sticks effortlessly but I preserved and downed them all.  It was tasty!   

Singapore Day Three - Night Safari

 Night Safari   

I decided to take a tour for the Night Safari rather than purchase tickets myself and ride the MRT and connecting bus because I wasn't sure we wouldn't be scheduled for tram ride soo late that we couldn't catch the return bus.   

So after our morning at the Gardens By the Bay and a short rest at Amoy, we walked a few blocks to our pickup point for the Night Safari. 

Anyway, we joined a host of other tourists to queue up for the tram ride.  The narrated tram ride took us by many animals but it was really way to dark for photos especially from a moving tram. 

After the tram ride, there was time for a short walk on one of the trails and a show featuring, of course, animals.    

I was able to extract the photos below from videos we took. For better photos and information about the Night Safari, check out the links below.

              Review by Kate    More Tips    Even More Tips

 

Singapore Day Three - Cloud Forest

Cloud Forest with Avatar the Experience  

Set at Cloud Forest with its iconic vision of waterfalls, spiraling walkways and a unique architectural glass greenhouse, Avatar: The  Experience invites guests to connect with the alien world of Pandora, its bioluminescent environments, mystical creatures, flora, and the captivating culture of its indigenous people, the Na’vi. -    https://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/en/things-to-do/calendar-of-events/cloud-forest-featuring-avatar-the-experience.html 

Exiting the Flower Dome, we found our way to the second conservatory in the Gardens by the Bay, the Cloud Forest.  I don't remember, but I guess we did ascend Cloud Mountain via elevator to walk down circling the mountain several times on the way.  

Na'vi, the Indigenous People of Pandora

Way Up High in the Cloud Forest

Supertrees Viewed from Cloud Forest

Somehow, we managed to find the long way back to the Bayfront MRT station. After resting for a while back at the Amoy, we ventured out for the Night Safari.