Day 2 – Sunday September 15 2024

The super king bed was most welcome and I had a normal sleep despite the head cold that still persists with both of us. Wow what a difference a good sleep makes. No longer feeling like a sleep deprived mum, we quickly got ready and went to breakfast.

It was a little disappointing for a Crowne Plaza, the price and Singapore. Just meh. Not bad, but not up to standard or insta worthy. I did enjoy an Asian style breakfast, and Vern an English.

Changi Airport is an amazing destination on its own. Modern Asia and advertisement of Singapore branding. We love the vibe and are impressed by its sheer scale.

Check in went smoothly and we enjoyed window browsing the perfumes and testing the creams before boarding and leaving nicely on time.

We are flying non-Boeing craft all the way, due to our concerns regarding safety records. This one was a A380 and we had managed to get seats near the exit window with a bit of extra leg room for a bit of extra $$$. Worth it I think.

Service and food were very good again. The longer flight 12.5hrs went smoothly and we were pleased not to be on the Russian side of the Black Sea. I kept a look for missiles though…

We landed on time 3:30pm local time to a mild 20 degrees, and the weather looks absolutely lovely for the next few days. We had lovely views from the plane over the city and it brought back memories of the 5 days we spent here in 2015. This time it is just the one day in London before heading off to see family.

We declared a few things in customs, hoping not to get stopped for the soil from Mum and Dads grave, or his wine that I have brought ‘home’. I had also brought raw honey (commercial) for the Aunty and Uncle and they were fine with that. Relief all around, first stop after customs was a sim for data for the iPad, and then finding our way to T4, from T2 where our hotel for the next two nights is.

Again, everything went nice and smoothly. We were tired, but just normal tired from being in a plane so long, and the next ‘time’ adjustment. Whilst it was only early evening, I think there is a 6hr difference between London and Singapore, and again 4 hours between Singapore and NZ . Suffice to say it felt like about midnight.

We grabbed a simple meal downstairs and mentally blocked the exchange rate. OMG only .46cents to the British Pound. So more than double. Our meals of chicken Caesar salad and fish and chips and two ciders at happy hour rate came to 63 GBP or around $130 NZD. Is what it is, albeit painful.

We retired early after a delicious shower and stretched out once again unravelling the stiffness of travel.