Trevor & Jonathans Cruise & Trip to the Far East and Australia 2016

Day 87 - Thursday August 4th 2016 - Singapore to Hanoi, Vietnam

Jonathan woke up first. Yep, you read that correctly the first time

Why were we both still awake so early? We had managed a really good night’s sleep and now even that had caught up on us. Don’t worry, small miracles did not last, Trev still got up and made the coffee and then it was pack the bags one more time and take in some more of Singapore before we had to check out of the hotel at 1200.

Trev tried the Vietnamese Airlines site one more time to see if we could sort out our checking in and set allocation dramas but no, it kept crashing out again so it would have to be left now until we got to Changi Airport.

We left the hotel and headed off on the MTR to City Hall, a stop in the older part of Singapore and near the famous Raffles Hotel. I say this is one of the older part as this is where the old white cathedral sits, the original cricket pavilion and field from when the British occupied Singapore is here and a

host of other colonial styles low rise buildings. Their backdrop is of the new Singapore, the shiny glass towers that circle overhead.

We were looking for coffee and we found Starbucks so nipped in there for a coffee and breakfast savoury to keep us going, still feeling full from last night to be honest.

We walked down to the waterfront esplanade and the theatre area as it is called. Singapore has an amazing choice of venues for such a small place and the Armadillo building that is more of a concert hall is quite spectacular. You can guess that it looks like an Armadillo all spiky on its outer skin, just a stunning piece of architecture.

Next we were down by the water itself, looking back over to The Marina Bay Sands Hotel where we had stayed some weeks ago, swimming in the pool at the top, it just felt so long ago, a different lifetime, a different holiday but it isn’t.

I’m sure we’ve said this before the last time we were here in Singapore so I apologise if I’m repeating myself but the place really is spotless. It just all feels so new and glossy and clean, especially around the waterfront as much of the area is relatively new, built on reclaimed land from the sea.

We found ourselves in another shopping centre, it was about 10:15 in the morning and everything was shut and was not due to open until 11:00, Jonathans shopping lust was raising its naughty little head again and something was burning a hole up there, he needed to be satisfied.

We found ourselves via our continued walking in the convention centre, a huge place of halls looking for a shop that seemingly either did not exist or we were in completely the wrong place. A really over friendly and helpful security guard came to our aid saying that we were the third set of tourists she had had to help already today.

Eventually we found (with her help) the place that we were looking for (or I should be honest and say I was looking for, poor Trev) but once again it was all closed and not opening until 11:00 (ridiculous hours when I was awake early).

To try and kill some more time we headed off to yet another Starbucks and ate again, don’t really know why, I think the displays seduced us? The moment the clock struck 11:00 though I was in that shop trying and buying a pair of jeans that would now stop burning that hole in my head and life would be complete.

With my shopping mission complete it was now a brisk walk back to the MTR station and ultimately back to the hotel for our 12:00 check out time. We made it with fifteen minutes to spare, grabbed the bags (shoved the jeans in) and checked out.

It was now get to the airport time so back to the MTR station and the green line all the way to Changi.

We returned our tourist MTR day cards back to the ticket office to get the $20 deposit back and walked to terminal 3 to check into our flight.

The desks were already open and no one was in the business class queue so after a quick explanation of our check in and seating dilemmas the check in girl sorted us our right the way through to Heathrow in a matter of seconds. This was great news obviously but I’m still mad about all those phone calls but now is not the time, we got what we wanted, seats next to each other.

Singapore airport is bizzare in that its different to any other airport we have ever been through in the world. The reason? You don’t go through security until you get to your gate for boarding. Yep that’s right, you clear customs, get your passport stamped and that’s it.

Now Changi airport is huge, it has a pool you can use and it even has a butterfly park you can visit. We didn’t though use either of them instead it was a look around the duty free shops and this time it was not me buying anything. Trevor treated himself to a posh bottle of Whisky (singleton Scottish single malt) and we bought his brother Martin some cigarettes. With shopping over (I did look but nothing caught my eye) we went to the lounge and once again ate to much of the free food on offer (we both have a problem with food, we just can’t seem to say no).

Two hours passed quite quickly in the lounge, we kept looking at each other with really sad expressions though knowing that this really was the end of this adventure. It’s a real double edged sword though this travel thing. Let’s face it Trev an I aren’t getting any younger and sometimes, just sometimes we really just fancy our own bed, are own armchair and sofa and the comforts that a home gives you. The other side of that though is that travelling enriches you, it forces you up and out and makes you do things, that’s what we will miss.

We boarded the plane, she’s a bit of an old girl put perfectly fine although Trev was convinced he could feel the springs of the chair underneath his bottom. It’s only a two hour and fifty minute flight to Hanoi from Singapore so this really is a hop skip and a jump. Still, we were served a full four course meal on tablecloths and had all the towels and free champagne when you board so no complaints really.

Trev (despite the springs in the chair) even managed to fall asleep for an hour, snoring away, oblivious to the turbulence we were travelling through. Jonathan? he wrote more blogs virtually all the way to Hanoi, trying to catch up on our final days, not that they have been particularly exciting, more about getting ready to go back and face real life once more.

We didn’t really have a great memory of Hanoi airport from the last time we had been here but that was the domestic departure terminal. I have to say that the International Terminal is a totally different affair, all modern and well fitted out yet strangely quiet. They only seem to manage about one flight per hour from here based on the departure boards. The airport itself has all your normal duty free stuff and then quite a few Vietnamese tat shops and a tonne of eating options from burgers to Pho, all the bases are covered. We retreated to the lounge after exploring the airport.

Finally having a nice gin and tonic after what seems like an age was a lovely feeling. Don’t really know why we didn’t buy a bottle for the van but we didn’t.

We have quite a long wait here in Hanoi for our next flight, it’s not supposed to leave until 01:20 so it’s actually tomorrow. We just needed to stay awake and find things to occupy us.