It was meant to be a leisurely start to both the morning and the trip. Our flight wasn’t until 6.40pm from Heathrow, so we had agreed that we would be in the car by 11.45am to allow for a bit of contingency.
Or so I thought.
What actually transpired was that Karen had somehow got it into her head that the flight wasn’t until around 9pm and that therefore leaving at about midday would be more than early enough. As a result, we were working to entirely different timetables — a recurring theme.
I realised around 11am that Karen appeared to be nowhere near ready. When I mentioned this, there was quite a panic and a great deal of commotion — and, naturally, it was entirely my fault. The panic itself only succeeded in delaying us even further.
11.45am came and went. So did 12pm. By 12.10pm, however, we were finally on the move, with Karen bemoaning the fact that I had undoubtedly caused her to forget something.
Just before Thetford, I realised that in the chaos it was actually me who had forgotten to pack our toothbrush charger after cleaning my teeth. I had explicitly said I would do so. Karen, being the famously easy-going type, didn’t react at all. She simply observed that it wouldn’t matter if, after paying many thousands of pounds to resolve her dental issues, they all returned once the toothbrush ran out of charge while we were away.
A plan was required. Could I buy one at Heathrow? Or perhaps even in Singapore? In the end, I decided that Sainsbury’s in Thetford was the safest option. I bought an entirely new toothbrush, complete with charger. I will either naughtily return it after the trip or, more likely, keep it — as the battery in mine is starting to fail anyway. A clear case of turning a mistake into an “upgrade”.
The rest of the journey was uneventful, and we arrived at Sunny’s house only slightly later than planned. He was his usual jovial self as he drove us to Terminal 5.
Check-in was straightforward, and our Club World tickets gave us access to the priority security queue, which we sailed through with minimal fuss.
Rather than use the main Terminal 5 Business lounge, I had read that the Club World lounge at T5B was exactly the same but usually empty, as most people didn’t seem to know about it. This information proved to be entirely correct, and we had our pick of seating areas.
We started sensibly with a nice cup of tea before moving on to the bubbles. There was a reasonable selection of food and, to my particular delight, small but hot and delicious sausage rolls. I went back for seconds. And then thirds. For research purposes.
Time passed quickly, and we were pleased to discover that we were already in the correct sub-terminal for our gate, meaning a very easy walk. Boarding was delayed slightly, as the plane was apparently in the wrong part of the airport — always reassuring.
Despite being in Club World, the cabin layout still required us to turn right, which felt mildly disappointing and frankly unnecessary in having all the common people in economy walk past us.
We settled into our little cupboards. I decided to watch the final Downton Abbey film, which was somewhat ironic given that I’ve never seen a single episode or any of the previous films. I actually quite enjoyed it, admiring the script and how carefully chosen words were made to count. I only wish I could be quite so thoughtful and clever — or have that many costume changes.
While the service in Club World was perfectly fine, the food was very poor and a marked step down from what you would expect if you had paid thousands for the seat (which obviously we hadn’t). Admittedly, my own faddiness meant I disliked all of the main meal choices and opted to go without, but no effort was made to offer an alternative. Karen, seated in the row behind me, was told that her choice of both starter and main were unavailable — a bold but poor approach to menu planning.
My starter of fresh salmon arrived as a mush mixed with avocado — which, as everyone knows, is simply green cardboard with good PR.
Jumping ahead to breakfast: although they managed to ‘find’ us both a full English, neither of us found it edible. The sausages and bacon were almost black, and the scrambled eggs were so solid it was difficult to get a fork into them. British Airways, this really wasn’t good enough.
That said, I did manage a few hours’ sleep on the lie-flat bed. It was cosy and almost comfortable. Karen said she struggled to find a good position with her hip, although she was snoring quite contentedly when I got up to visit the toilet during the night — clearly someone was also comfortable.
After a late take-off, we landed ten minutes ahead of schedule.
Changi Airport was clean, efficient and well laid out. There was no queue at immigration, although we waited a while for the baggage carousels to decide whether they were going to work that day.
It was then a short walk to the taxi rank, where again there was no queue, and we were soon on our way to the Momentum Hotel Alexandra. The journey took around 30 minutes and cost £40. The temperature was a warm 30°C, although it was cloudy — a gentle introduction rather than a full tropical assault.
I had booked the hotel through Luxury Escapes, and, on paper, it appeared to be something of a bargain. It was a little further out than we would ideally have liked, but we hoped the four-star rating — along with the included ‘extras’ — would make up for that.
Our room was on the Club level on the 19th floor. It was bijou but perfectly formed. We settled in and made ourselves a welcome cup of tea. Although it was now 6pm local time, our bodies had absolutely no idea what day, time, or continent it was.
We decided to visit the Club Lounge, one of the perks of our booking. We were greeted by name by the hostess and shown to our seats. All food and drink were complimentary. We both tried the Cabernet, after which I sampled the 24-hour cooked beef cheeks with truffled mash potato. They were excellent, and I helped myself to more. Karen, feeling a little out of sorts with the jet lag, opted for pizza, followed by cheese and biscuits — a perfectly sensible combination.
From our window seats, we watched the sun set and the lights of Singapore flicker on below us. The hostess was very helpful, explaining which shuttles, buses and trains to take to reach various destinations — information that we would definitely remember later. Possibly.
We weren’t entirely sure whether this counted as the end of the travel day or day one of the trip, thanks to the time difference.
By 8.30pm we were back in our room, and by 9pm Karen was snoring very ladylike in bed.
We had made it to Singapore. After a good night’s sleep, the adventures could finally begin.
