Singapore July 2022 - Getting There

When I was booking this trip, the agent recommended that I get to the airport at least 3 hours before the departure time, as the current Covid mess, means new security measures which may slow down things to a crawl.

So, after doing battle with Sydney traffic, I arrive at the airport a little over 3 hours before the flight, expecting to take time to get through the new measures, I venture in.

Except the reality was the exact opposite, with the security checks taking no more than 15 minutes, with most of that being the take your laptop out of the case from the security persons.

Other than that, it was a totally uneventful trip through the airport, just the usual laughing at the prices of everything, along the lines of how they can get away with that. And yes, the flight was late, something to do with the late arrival of the plane.

But this being Singapore airlines, the flight may have left late, but arrived basically on time, the pilot must have really put his foot down.

With this being a red eye flight, that arrives at Changi at some very early hour of the morning, not that, that's a problem for me.

Even at that time of the morning, the Changi experience was just as I remembered from the previous trips, going through customs and immigration was super-efficient and totally painless.

Unlike previous trips where the hotel of choice was the "Marina Mandarin", this time various old friends suggested the Carlton as being just as good and cheaper.

So, while in the taxi from the airport, the driver was talking about the hotel, and said it was good, if one of the older ones.

Arriving, the lobby was very plush, with the check-in experience being as expected efficient and totally painless.

As for the room, this was one of their basic ones, with my initial thoughts being, it's small, but very well laid out, plenty of storage, and the essential good free Wi-Fi.

One thing to note, there is no clock on the nightstand, which after decades traveling is more than a little baffling, but not a problem, as these days that's what a phone is for.

Another thing I noticed is there is no mini-bar, but there is a mini-fridge, which is something not often encountered over decades of traveling.

Again, not a problem and saves some money, as we all know how expensive anything from those mini bars is.

As for the comments from the taxi driver, sure it's older, but ticks all the boxes. And for those who are interested in more of my thoughts on this hotel, I decided to write up a detailed review which can be found here.

Time for sleep as it's just hit 2am.

Daily Stats: 12,680 steps. 10.1km