Back in Singapore

Now back in Singapore. Winter has arrived in the UK. When we left on Sunday December 10 the weather was grey and wet. It was a typical winter day. Can’t say I am not glad to leave the wet wintry weather. However, not that I am here in Singapore, I am not too sure I am going to enjoy the heat and the humidity. Anyway I am going to be here for the next two months so I better get used to this weather.

Heathrow on December 10 was a total disgrace. Chaos was everywhere. Owing to the extra security measures at the airport, the queues through security checks were a total shamble. The people who came up with the way passengers were handled should be ashamed of themselves.

All passengers after check-in were told to queue in a holding tent outside the terminal building. The queue formed was around 250 people in length. Then there were the constant calls for people with earlier gate closing time to come forward to join a priority queue. We had 4 hours to spare before our gate closing time, so we were classed as low priority and hence constantly pushed back to the end of the queue. We finally got to the security checks with only minutes to spare before the gate to our flight closes. It took us 4 hours from the time we joined the queue to boarding our flight. It was not the best day for UK with so many frustrated world travelers seeing the ugly side of a very angry and disappointed mob.

The journey from home in UK to home in Singapore took us a total of 24 hours. It was a long day!! The flight was OK. We were in Economy class on this trip so there were no luxuries. BA has never been known for comfort. Food was of the usual airplane variety. BA cabin-crew was OK but one could see that the aircraft has seen better days. The toilet furniture were old and needed repair. One of the toilets had a broken seat and the panel behind had been glued to hide a crack. The seat I was in had a broken headphone socket with sound coming only from one earphone. Well BA is noted for safety and maintenance of its aircrafts. Let’s hope that although the aircrafts are old, they are well maintained.

First day in Singapore, the weather is considerably warmer than that in UK. Looking forward to a trip to JB this Saturday and a few days in KL next week. In January we have booked a few days in Phuket.