Lost in transit: How not to spend 24 hours at Singapore’s Changi Airport

I blame my children.

Here I was all snuggled up in business class on a Singapore Airlines lost and found flight between Frankfurt and Singapore when reality suddenly hit.Singapore Airlines lost property

I was totally, utterly relaxed.

It could be something to do with the week touring Germany, the cognac I was drinking, or the movie I was about to watch, or maybe, just maybe, it was not having one of my (lovely) boys yelling “hey, dad” every few minutes.

But in this new Zen-like state I found I could not sleep, and instead spent the 12-hour flight watching movies, reading international newspapers, and enjoying a few more beverages

By the time the flight landed in Singapore I felt as if if had gone a round with Mike Tyson, or at least watched one of his movie cameos. Changi Airport lost and found
Changi International Airport lost and found
At Changi Airport I said goodbye to my newly made friends as they made their connections, while I contemplated the next 24 hours hours before my Christchurch-bound flight. Changi Airport lost Property

Luckily I had a 12-hour booking at a transit hotel to catch-up on some much needed ZZZZZZZZZs.

The windowless room was perfect for sleep, buy my brain says no while my body says ‘impersonate a zombie and walk around the airport’.

Welcome to my 24-hours at Changi Airport.

Of course smart travellers would have left the airport and be enjoying a free tour of Singapore, but I got there too late.

But hey, I can deal with this. The airport is the 17th busiest in the world and used by more than 58million passengers in 2016.

Changi has three terminals (a fourth, T4, is due to open this year) and so I set out to explore them all.

First stop is the butterfly garden in T3: and it’s that wave of tropical heat and bright native colours that smack you out of your tiredness.

But the real stars are the hundreds of butterflies delighting adults and children alike. Just beautiful, now it’s time for a drink.

Fortunately I’m spoilt for choice. But rather than prop myself up in one of the many bars and restaurants I decide to head to the SilverKris lounge at T2.

Rather than take the Skytrain I decide to walk, or at least do the appearance of the running man while riding on the inter-terminal travellators.

At the airport lounge I stock up on newspapers and have a beer to prepare myself for that dreaded pastime: shopping.

In my hot little hand is a note containing a loving request from my wife; three bottles of top shelf liqueurs.

I catch a movie (two hours gone), read two newspapers (an hour gone), and once again do the running man on a travellator (five minutes)

With only 19 hours to my flight I contemplate going to the boarding lounge.

And with my eyes now looking like they’ll get charged excess baggage on the flight back home I head back to the transit hotel with ZZZZZZZZZs once again on my mind.

Eight-hours later I emerge refreshed to tackle Changi once again.

And that includes going down the world’s tallest slide in an airport, walking through the sunflower garden, and watching planes from all over the globe while I swim lengths at a rooftop swimming pool in rented swimming trunks.

A free squirt of aftershave from a duty free shop later, and a loop on the SkyTrain and I am back in the SilverKris lounge with just hours to kill.

With a cognac in hand I think that a life in transit is really no life at all.

I pick up the phone and call home.

The writer travelled courtesy of Singapore Airlines.