{"id":622,"date":"2025-02-25T15:44:22","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T14:44:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/?p=622"},"modified":"2025-02-26T15:53:23","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T14:53:23","slug":"day-37-singapore-fling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travel.thatmanmatt.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/25\/day-37-singapore-fling\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 37: Singapore Fling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After another early start I was ridiculously early to the airport in Siem Reap for a short flight to Singapore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relatively few people on the flight, maybe 40% full. Somehow I\u2019d landed first row, 1F so was on and off ahead of the crowd. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Terminal 4 at Singapore\u2019s Changi airport is designed for low-cost airlines but has the look of a modern, high-class terminal. Even something as mundane as the baggage retrieval conveyors are a nice place to be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The other novelty on entering Singapore is that (having completed your pre-arrival information online) you can swan through an automated immigration gate, never having to be interrogated by border agents. The downside is that you don\u2019t get a stamp in your passport. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Jewel<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A cursory glance at Changi airport\u2019s website will quickly make obvious that it\u2019s not just an airport, it\u2019s a destination. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What this effectively means is that nestled between Terminals 1, 2 and 3 is a huge luxury shopping centre, and the centrepiece of the centre is the Rain Vortex. As \u201cthe world\u2019s tallest indoor waterfall\u201d, up to about 40,000 litres of water per minute fall from the glass ceiling to the basement level. It\u2019s undeniably impressive, but not something I spent much more than 10 minutes gawking at. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What I actually found more compelling was the Forest Valley areas, where thousands of shrubs and trees climb terraces around the waterfall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The rest of the affair is rather pedestrian, just a luxury mall wrapping the fancy waterfall and gardens, and a few pricey tourist attractions mainly aimed at kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hotel Indigo<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Finding a half-decent, reasonably-priced hotel with a window is not easy in Singapore. Only through a clever combination of my employer\u2019s corporate code and being an IHG member did I settle on the Hotel Indigo Singapore Katong<\/em>. It\u2019s really nice, and that membership thing got me a room upgrade, that looks out over the city from the floor-to-ceiling windows in the bathroom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gardens By The Bay<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Another of Singapore\u2019s top tourist attractions, I took a look in the evening after dinner. Again, there are paid attractions to visit, but wandering around is free and I was just in time for the twice a nightly \u201cGarden Rhapsody\u201d which was a medley of opera classics booming while the huge metal trees (designed as ventilation for other buildings) swim in LEDs. It\u2019s ever so slightly on the wrong side of classy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Still, there\u2019s more to see there so I\u2019ll try to get back in the daytime and have a proper mooch about. <\/p>\n

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After another early start I was ridiculously early to the airport in Siem Reap for a short flight to Singapore. Relatively few people on the flight, maybe 40% full. Somehow I\u2019d landed first row, 1F so was on and off ahead of the crowd. Terminal 4 at Singapore\u2019s Changi airport is designed for low-cost airlines […]<\/p>\n

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