Our trip from the United States to Kuala Lumpur went as follows:
Leaving: 15 August 2012
Arriving: 17 August 2012
Bemidji, MN to Minneapolis, MN
5:25am-6:25am Flight time: ~1 hr Layover: ~2.5 hrs
Minneapolis, MN to Chicago, IL
9:00am-10:21am Flight time: ~1 hr Layover: ~3.5 hrs
Chicago, IL to Tokyo, Japan
12:53pm-2:00pm Flight time: ~12 hrs Layover: ~2 hrs
Tokyo, Japan to Singapore
4:00pm-11:55pm Flight time: ~7hrs Layover: ~13 hrs
Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
12:50pm-1:45pm Flight time: ~1hr Arrival (Thanks be to God!)
We were under the understanding that the flight from Chicago to Tokyo was a 20 hour flight. When we boarded the plane and were told that it was only a 12 hour flight, we were overjoyed. One of the highlights of our plane voyage was arriving at the Singapore airport. We had a long layover so that we would not be arriving in Kuala Lumpur (KL) in the middle of the night for our supervisors to come pick us up (first impressions are important! ^_^). We had tried to book a room in one of the three transit hotels, but there was not room when we tried before our flight. When we arrived and found our way to the hotel in the terminal we would be taking off from in the morning, we were delighted to find that there was a room available that had a communal shower/bathrooms for around $80 US for eight hours. We gladly settled down for some sleep in a real bed. After trying to sleep on an airplane, this was a blissful moment.
Upon waking up in the morning, we found out that the Singapore airport is amazing. The night before, I was too tired to try and soak anything in, so I missed much of the beauty of the airport upon arrival. However, we had time to explore this treasure trove of an airport (that sounds strange, but it is the truth). Among the many different gardens interspersed throughout the airport (yes, I said MANY), we went to a garden called the "Sunflower Garden." This was the first place we went to after checking out of our room. We were not sure if this was a lounge, coffee shop, or, in fact, a garden. When we arrived, we were amazed that there was an outdoor, rooftop, sunflower garden. Here is a photo:
As we explored further, the Singapore airport is one of the most technologically advanced, eco-friendly, options for "free" services airport that I have ever been to. There were 4 or 5 main gardens spread around 3 terminals (one a pond with coy fish and palms, one a cacti garden, and others). There were also other small garden areas with trees and flowers interspersed throughout. There were many free internet areas with computers provided. There was an E-post card station which was essentially a web-cam that would take your picture in the airport and send it to someone's email address. There were also multiple free foot massaging machines along the walk to the specific terminal gates. Also, there was a free movie theater area which had a large screen and was constantly playing movies. Plus, there was an area where you could play Xbox (it was provided), PC, and (I think) PS3. This is not even mentioning the shops, food options, and other architectural beauty to be found. It was a paradise at the tail end of our journey. If you are ever in this neck of the woods, check out the Singapore Airport. The US has so much to learn from Singapore in this regard.
Our flight from Singapore to KL was uneventful, just a little late. We arrived and met our supervisors, Thomas and Augustin, and our new friend Brian. That about sums up the trip to KL.
God Bless,
Zach
No comments:
Post a Comment