Droplets

Droplets always make good blips, so this artwork at Changi airport departure lounge seemed like an attractive blip opportunity. More than 600 shiny copper droplets, each attached to a cable and individually computer controlled. The droplets were independently raised and lowered to perform a ballet of shapes and patterns. A stunning piece of mesmerizing active art, very popular with the crowds. Quite a combination of art and engineering.

to Bandung - part 1

Where to start! These epic journeys always seem to come with tail of woe and this one is but no means an exception. You would think that after twenty years of jet setting that I would have ironed out the little wrinkles, but I never seem to learn.

My son, John, drove me to the airport and that was about the only thing that went right. This first leg of the transport is probably the most stressful part of the journey, as you are inevitably relying on someone else, public transport or worse still, a taxi. Questions float through your mind, 'will the service run on time', 'will the taxi even bother to turn up', breakdowns, flat tires and heavy traffic are also uncontrollable possibilities.

I always add an hour to my planned journey, so for international flights I always add an hour to my journey. Better an extra hour sitting by the check-in desk than spending that hour fretting at home. All those reality shows depicting life in the airport, showing all those idiots ranting and raving because the check-in desk closed half an hour before the flight.

The plan was to fly one-way to Singapore, a major connection hub in Asia and then book the next available short haul flight to Bandung. The first problem was that the check-in would not allow me to board the flight without a ticket out of Singapore. This problem does not usually arise as I usually have a return ticket.

The extra hour came in handy as I now had to use the airport internet and book a ticket from Singapore to Bandung. Unfortunately, the Bandung flights were full so I had to book through to Jakarta, so that went well! This was the first time I had ever booked a flight online, so you can imagine my stress levels. There was no printer, so I emailed the ticket to the Emirates desk and they printed it out for me, very helpful people.

I enjoy flying Emirates, the price is right, the service is top notch and the food is always good too. The leg room is slightly better than many airlines and all the equipment works. With a cheeky smile, I even managed to snag an extra dish of chicken redang from the gorgeous attendant.

The flight arrived in Singapore 8:30pm and I now had to wait until 7:30am to check-in at the Malaysian airlines desk. What seemed like a reasonable plan, turned out to be a disaster, I should have booked through to Jakarta in the first place, it would have been $200 cheaper and saved me a day. Fortunately, I had anticipated a night on the departure lounge floor and had a sleeping bag and an inflatable pillow.

To be continued.

Dave