[2052] Last flight to Singapore
Almost 3 months into 2020, and guess what, the year is turning to be a big mess for the whole world.
The covid-19 has wrecked havoc with travel plans, family plans and all sorts of other plans, such that we realised it's better to make no plans for the year at all.
We were going to come to SG in March and return to Kobe to meet with the hb in end May but due to the crazy sudden turn of events, SQ has cancelled all flights in April, potentially May, and the new Stay Home Notice by the Singapore government, I decided to cancel the June plans and just stay put in sg. After the new border controls was announced in mid March, luckily I went to renew my resident's card asap because I did not realise I had to move my flight to that week's sunday. My original itinerary was cancelled, then my rebooking was cancelled again, and I was praying my last flight out of Osaka wasn't going to be cancelled again. (I woke up everyday checking my email for SQ alerts to make sure everything was ok..) And from a 2 month trip I now had to pack for a 8 month trip for 3 people. Of course I can just pack very light and rewash the clothes, but 8 months, I don't want to be on a 5 t-shirt rotation for the whole period..
It was a mad rush to get things ready. The final booking of the new tickets were made on Thursday for a Sunday flight, 3 days later, and I was glad I already cancelled bb's remaining enrichment classes and anything pending for the rest of the year 2 days ago. Online check in notification came and I checked with relief. But ... still 2 days to go.. what if they cancelled the flight anyway... packed and packed - end up with 3 suitcases, 1 duffel = 77kg. and a stroller. Wheeeee....
Fast forward to Sunday.. we slowly ate lunch (last bit of food from the fridge finally used up in a big pot of Japanese curry) then headed out at about 1.30pm for a 4.55pm flight. The limousine bus to the airport was almost empty and the airport was like the emptiest I had ever seen. BUT.. the SQ checkin line had a queue. Surprisingly, there were people who actually came for holiday despite our school closures and stay home warnings. Sheesh.. A group of Malaysian tourists were having some sort of argument with the counter staff and holding up the rest of the queue, something along the lines of they are not going to Singapore, but there were no transit flight to Malaysia so basically they can't check in. They insisted they were going to reach Malaysia somehow by train but the current border laws were they would have to serve the SHN if they enter SG.. I wonder if they actually know about it. They were still arguing with the staff after we completed our check in.
Spent the last half hour before going to board at the St Marc cafe. Everyone tried to sit a few tables apart (easy to do since the place was so empty). All the restaurants were very empty. I hope they are still in operation when I return. Ended up we were the last passengers to board because sb was throwing some big tantrum and I had to half drag half carry her to the shuttle. The duty free shops were totally devoid of shoppers. It was quite eerie to be honest.
After we boarded, sb fell asleep almost immediately. The kids' meals were served super early, maybe due to the covid-19 changes to their service. Perhaps to reduce contact, they gave a bottle of mineral water at the start and then minimal walking around by the stewardesses after. They came around once or twice with drinks but that was all. Everyone donned masks.
It felt like a very long flight. There was no movies that appealed to me, I ended up watching Frozen 2 and Miss Congeniality and some Fresh Off the Boat and Friends episodes. They should make more mobile games offline playable! I realised I had nothing to really play except Candy Crush. Tried to read a book but just felt very restless overall. Bb watched movies and played the inflight games while sb watched some offline videos on the ipad for the remainder of the flight.
Finally after about 6.5hours we landed at Changi. Big feeling of relief in me. Luckily sb was awake and excited to go, so bb held her hand and tried to walk her as fast as we could, as far away from other groups as possible. Temperature screening was just a walk past thing, did not see anyone get caught or stopped. The immigration area was very surprising. I had expected strict checks but it was quite a messy situation to be honest. There were long tables with 2 officers behind each holding the SHN forms, but with the bulk of the people entering the country being Singaporeans and PRs, the lines were concentrated at the Singaporeans/PR table. Where there were quite alot of people, total contrast to Kansai airport. Shows the number of people who actually went on holiday during the March holidays still. Sb decided now was the time to dash around wildly after the long flight sitting down. Bb helped to chase her around while I tried to fill up the forms away from the crowds. After passing the form to an officer who confirmed our flight number and departure city, he just told us that someone will be calling you, and when I asked when, he shrugged and gave me a sticker to take to cross immigration.
After clearing immigration, had to drag a very uncooperative sb to the luggage belt. We finally got all 77kg (3 luggages and a duffel) out but the stroller was missing. No staff was in sight and sb was still dashing around. argh. I also was in abit of trouble of being unable to get all the luggage out of the arrival gate myself. (bb was trying to get sb to stop dashing and leave). Finally, a staff member showed up and pointed me to a bulky cargo area to retrieve my stroller. It was impossible to control a stroller with one hand and 3 large suitcases with another I discovered. Sb still being uncooperative, bb tried to drag her, I told bb ok, u push the stroller, and I just gave up and told sb to follow her sister which somehow she did when she saw my parents at the gate, and I somehow managed to get 3 luggages out the door at last... was already perspiring madly from the face mask and the effort by then.
Could have collapsed outside for a bit but I guess I just wanted to get home asap. Forgot to buy some food home, I felt super angry when I saw the guy from myanmar having enjoyed a bakkutteh before his SHN. In the end I ate some instant noodles when I got home, while the parents helped to get the kids cleaned up and ready for bed.
Freedom in 14 days..
The covid-19 has wrecked havoc with travel plans, family plans and all sorts of other plans, such that we realised it's better to make no plans for the year at all.
We were going to come to SG in March and return to Kobe to meet with the hb in end May but due to the crazy sudden turn of events, SQ has cancelled all flights in April, potentially May, and the new Stay Home Notice by the Singapore government, I decided to cancel the June plans and just stay put in sg. After the new border controls was announced in mid March, luckily I went to renew my resident's card asap because I did not realise I had to move my flight to that week's sunday. My original itinerary was cancelled, then my rebooking was cancelled again, and I was praying my last flight out of Osaka wasn't going to be cancelled again. (I woke up everyday checking my email for SQ alerts to make sure everything was ok..) And from a 2 month trip I now had to pack for a 8 month trip for 3 people. Of course I can just pack very light and rewash the clothes, but 8 months, I don't want to be on a 5 t-shirt rotation for the whole period..
It was a mad rush to get things ready. The final booking of the new tickets were made on Thursday for a Sunday flight, 3 days later, and I was glad I already cancelled bb's remaining enrichment classes and anything pending for the rest of the year 2 days ago. Online check in notification came and I checked with relief. But ... still 2 days to go.. what if they cancelled the flight anyway... packed and packed - end up with 3 suitcases, 1 duffel = 77kg. and a stroller. Wheeeee....
Fast forward to Sunday.. we slowly ate lunch (last bit of food from the fridge finally used up in a big pot of Japanese curry) then headed out at about 1.30pm for a 4.55pm flight. The limousine bus to the airport was almost empty and the airport was like the emptiest I had ever seen. BUT.. the SQ checkin line had a queue. Surprisingly, there were people who actually came for holiday despite our school closures and stay home warnings. Sheesh.. A group of Malaysian tourists were having some sort of argument with the counter staff and holding up the rest of the queue, something along the lines of they are not going to Singapore, but there were no transit flight to Malaysia so basically they can't check in. They insisted they were going to reach Malaysia somehow by train but the current border laws were they would have to serve the SHN if they enter SG.. I wonder if they actually know about it. They were still arguing with the staff after we completed our check in.
Spent the last half hour before going to board at the St Marc cafe. Everyone tried to sit a few tables apart (easy to do since the place was so empty). All the restaurants were very empty. I hope they are still in operation when I return. Ended up we were the last passengers to board because sb was throwing some big tantrum and I had to half drag half carry her to the shuttle. The duty free shops were totally devoid of shoppers. It was quite eerie to be honest.
After we boarded, sb fell asleep almost immediately. The kids' meals were served super early, maybe due to the covid-19 changes to their service. Perhaps to reduce contact, they gave a bottle of mineral water at the start and then minimal walking around by the stewardesses after. They came around once or twice with drinks but that was all. Everyone donned masks.
It felt like a very long flight. There was no movies that appealed to me, I ended up watching Frozen 2 and Miss Congeniality and some Fresh Off the Boat and Friends episodes. They should make more mobile games offline playable! I realised I had nothing to really play except Candy Crush. Tried to read a book but just felt very restless overall. Bb watched movies and played the inflight games while sb watched some offline videos on the ipad for the remainder of the flight.
Finally after about 6.5hours we landed at Changi. Big feeling of relief in me. Luckily sb was awake and excited to go, so bb held her hand and tried to walk her as fast as we could, as far away from other groups as possible. Temperature screening was just a walk past thing, did not see anyone get caught or stopped. The immigration area was very surprising. I had expected strict checks but it was quite a messy situation to be honest. There were long tables with 2 officers behind each holding the SHN forms, but with the bulk of the people entering the country being Singaporeans and PRs, the lines were concentrated at the Singaporeans/PR table. Where there were quite alot of people, total contrast to Kansai airport. Shows the number of people who actually went on holiday during the March holidays still. Sb decided now was the time to dash around wildly after the long flight sitting down. Bb helped to chase her around while I tried to fill up the forms away from the crowds. After passing the form to an officer who confirmed our flight number and departure city, he just told us that someone will be calling you, and when I asked when, he shrugged and gave me a sticker to take to cross immigration.
After clearing immigration, had to drag a very uncooperative sb to the luggage belt. We finally got all 77kg (3 luggages and a duffel) out but the stroller was missing. No staff was in sight and sb was still dashing around. argh. I also was in abit of trouble of being unable to get all the luggage out of the arrival gate myself. (bb was trying to get sb to stop dashing and leave). Finally, a staff member showed up and pointed me to a bulky cargo area to retrieve my stroller. It was impossible to control a stroller with one hand and 3 large suitcases with another I discovered. Sb still being uncooperative, bb tried to drag her, I told bb ok, u push the stroller, and I just gave up and told sb to follow her sister which somehow she did when she saw my parents at the gate, and I somehow managed to get 3 luggages out the door at last... was already perspiring madly from the face mask and the effort by then.
Could have collapsed outside for a bit but I guess I just wanted to get home asap. Forgot to buy some food home, I felt super angry when I saw the guy from myanmar having enjoyed a bakkutteh before his SHN. In the end I ate some instant noodles when I got home, while the parents helped to get the kids cleaned up and ready for bed.
Freedom in 14 days..
- booboogal scribbled @ 6:36 pm
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