Singapore 2010: Changi International Airport (Budget Terminal)

Changi Budget Terminal is where arriving guests to Singapore are landed if they're flying in via a budget airline, which Cebu Pacific is. 

 The Budget Terminal is one of the wings in the expansive Changi International Airport, the other wings being Terminals 1, 2 & 3.

 

 

The only thing budget with this terminal is the name.  Truly world-class.

Changi International Airport or CIA is the most awarded airport winning 340 awards since its opening in 1981.  If there's a template for a perfect airport, hands down CIA is it.

Initially, i felt slighted that CIA discriminates budget travellers to land in their budget terminal, since other countries do not practice such.  But the only thing that is budget here is the name, the service and amenities are all world-class, it can even rival the best main terminals of most countries' airports.  No wonder CIA has won all those awards, surely they didn't disappoint.

 

The overview map of the Changi International Airport.  At left is the Budget Terminal.

 

CIA's website is also very informative (www.changiairport.com), few concerns are left unanswered by their website.   

CIA is considered a tourist spot all by itself, and some even spend their off days here to enjoy the different amenities the airport has to offer.  Some of the unique features of this airport for travellers are:

1. Gardens - CIA offers different gardens for nature lovers, Butterfly Garden, Cactus Garden, Sunflower Garden, Koi Ponds, Fern Garden and Fragrant Garden.

2. Shower, fitness & spa services.

3. Free use of swimming pool and jacuzzi

4. Free bus tour around the city for transfer passengers with 5 hours to spare

5. Napping centers

6. Children's playgrounds for bored kids

7. Entertainment Deck (movie theatre, xbox/ps3, jamstudio, music are, mtv booth)

8. Free movie

9. Aviation Gallery

10. Interactive Art installation

11. Prayer rooms

12. The Slide@T3 (world's tallest slide in an airport)

13. Medical Services

14. Transit Hotel

15. Robotic Flower

Arriving at 11:00am, a shuttle bus brought us from the budget terminal to Terminal 2. this was the longest airport shuttle bus ride i've taken, that tells you how expansive this aiport is. The transfer to Terminal 2 took almost 10 minutes.

 

Terminal 2 has numerous dining establishments to choose from, i was looking for Crystal Jade Restaurant for us to have lunch in but for some reason we couldn't locate it and my travelmates were getting hungry and tired with every step.  Hungry because note, budget airlines do not serve complimentary snacks during the flight to help lessen costs and therefore help us get those budget fares in return.

Though i mentioned that there were numerous dining options in CIA, we still ended up in a McDonald's chain, we needed to eat now and fast and McDonald's was already at arm's length so fastfood it is.  But i promise to never let this incident happen again. 

 

It turned out the manager was a Filipino so ordering was quite a breeze, this will be the first of many instances that an establishment in Singapore had Filipino crews.  And i found them in the most bizarre and unexpected places, talk about Filipinos being able to adjust to any place you put them in.

After the insignificant lunch, we had our dollars changed to the local currency (S$1=Php34) and then proceeded to visit the Singapore Visitor Centre at Terminal 2.  If you haven't planned out your trip before getting here, then visiting SVC would be a good idea before heading  out to conquer the city.  Here you can find various helpful items from tourist maps and discount coupons for participating establishments.

 

 

Then we visited a transport service company near the exit gate to hire a shuttle bus to transport us to Robertson Quay Hotel.  We chose the mini-van that can accomodate 11 persons over a 7-seater van for the same rate of S$50 or Php1,700.  A very good decision since it was really comfortable for everybody including the kids.

 

 The whole ride took about 45 minutes and along the way were scenic views of East Coast Park, Singapore Flyer and Marina Bay Sands.

 

 

 

Singapore 2010: 5 Days 4 Nights Itinerary

The Singapore Skyline as viewed from the SkyPark of Marina Bay Sands

Going to Singapore, i prepared a very packed itinerary.  However, as with any previous itineraries, there were many that were scratched along the way due to considerations for rest for my folks, kids and wife so maybe a 3rd visit to Singapore could be in the works.

Here is the complete travel itinerary for our 5 Days 4 Nights itinerary in Singapore:

Day 1:
- arrived at Changi Airport
- Robertson Quay Hotel
- Marina Bay Sands (Hotel Lobby, The Shoppes, SkyPark)
- Jumbo Seafood Restaurant (The Riverwalk branch)
- Clarke Quay Night Walk

Day 2:
- Festive Hotel
- Universal Studios Singapore
- Discovery Food Court
- Alkaff Bridge (by Pacita Abad)
- Sri Mariamman Temple
- Chinatown
- Chinatown Food Street
- Merlion at Night

Day 3:
- Singapore Flyer
- Ion Orchard
- Food Opera Foodcourt
- Marina Mandarin Hotel
- Promenade
- Makansutra (Glutton's Bay)
- Suntec Fountain (Laser Show)

Day 4:
- Rucksack Inn
- Bugis Street
- Marina Barrage
- Orchard Road at Night
- Food Republic @ Wisma Atria

Day 5:
- Breakfast @ Ya Kun Toast
- Singapore River Walk
- Merlion Park
- Raffles Place
- Little India
- Budget Terminal @ Changi Airport

Oh man, i only realize now how many attractions i missed.  River cruise should have been a must, and so should have the cable ride.  East Coast Park would have been great if not for the distance to the city and the limited transport options, which is also the same case for the Peranakan Houses. Here are the other sites that we missed and hopefully next time i won't miss so much from an itinerary. 

What We Missed:
- River Cruise
- Lau Pa Sat
- Maxwell Food Centre
- Arab Street / Sultan Mosque
- Buddha Tooth Relic Temple
- Trishaw Ride
- Sentosa Beach
- Cable Car Ride
- Singapore Zoo
- Science Discovery Centre
- Fuk Ta Chi Museum
- Peranakan Houses
- Raffles Hotel
- East Coast Park

Singapore 2010: Planning The Trip

Lakbay Asia's first featured destination is Singapore.

Singapore is a city-state in Southeast Asia located at the southern tip of Malaysia.  It is a very modern city and is considered one of the top 5 financial centres in the world, the others being New York, London, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

The name Singapore was derived from its Malay name "Singapura" which literally means Lion City.  The national symbol for this island-country is the Merlion, an imaginary creature with the head of a lion and body of a fish.

The Singapore Skyline and Marina Bay Sands (left) as viewed from the Singapore Flyer capsule

This trip was special since: it was our first trip abroad with mom & dad, it was our kids' first trip abroad, it was the first time my mom was celebrating her birthday in another country and lastly it was the first and i guess last time that we'll be celebrating 10/10/10 (october 10, 2010) anywhere in our lifetime. I'd be flabbergasted if i'd still be around to blog about October 10, 2110, much more if you were still around to read about it too.

Our travel date was October 6-10 but as early as July we've already booked our airfare tickets with Cebu Pacific. In hindsight i think we should have waited for a promo fare since Cebu Pacific always do come up with different promotions even weeks leading to your chosen dates.

We were also able to book with Agoda for our accomodations and i found their service top-notch. Revisions to bookings were handled professionally and effortlessly with not much hassle to customer.

I accidentally stumbled upon www.onemap.sg and i found it very useful (especially if used in partnership with www.sbstransit.com) as it gave me an idea on how far destinations were to each other, that way i was able to plan out whether to take buses or taxis between destinations.

Listed below are the rest of the websites that i used and found useful for the planning stage of our trip to Singapore:
Tourism Board - www.yoursingapore.com
Road Maps - www.onemap.sg
Bus Transport - www.sbstransit.com
Airline Tickets - www.cebupacificair.com
Hotel Accomodations - www.agoda.com
Marina Bay Sands - www.marinabaysands.com
Universal Studios Singapore - www.rwsentosa.com
Hostel World - www.hostelworld.com
Rucksack Inn (accomodation) - www.rucksackinn.com
Singapore Flyer - www.singaporeflyer.com
Bugis Street Shopping - www.bugis-street.com
Duck Tours - www.ducktours.com.sg
Sentosa Island - www.sentosa.com.sg
Photo References - www.flickr.com

As early as 2003, i've already been taking advantage of the power of the internet in planning out my trips. To maximize your trip, i suggest that you really plan it out so that unnecessary waste of money and time can be avoided. And in this time and age, internet is the king. Hope the links mentioned above will be of great help in planning your next Singapore trip.

Lakbay Asia: Welcome

Hi guys. If you stumbled upon this site by accident, i apologize if this is not where you were expecting to be directed to. But since you're here, let me welcome you just the same to my blogsite - Lakbay Asia.

Lakbay in Filipino means "travel", this blog therefore translates to "Travel Asia".

Although my love for my country, Philippines is deep-seated and undeniable, this however doesn't mean i limit myself to travel only in my own backyard so to speak.

St. Augustine once said: “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” I therefore add: "Those who only travel in their own country reads only one chapter, and boy this book has a lot of chapters."

So welcome to my blogsite, feel comfortable and hope you enjoy my adventures around Asia as much as i enjoyed experiencing them.

Here's Asia as seen through my eyes.

Leaning coconut trees of Boracay Island, Philippines.