matthandy

Our flight wasn’t scheduled to take off until 7pm so we had a few hours to kill in the morning so decided to visit China Town.

At 4pm, having packed everything up, we assembled outside the Mandarin Marina for our fleet of taxis to arrive. It turns out that someone had made a mistake and there was one less seat available then required, but we managed to squeeze in. The ride to the airport was pretty straightforward, only taking around 30 minutes.

Flight: SQ948
Carrier: Singapore Airlines
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200
Scheduled Departure time: 19:00
Duration: 2h 30m
Scheduled Arrival time: 21:30 (local)
Routing: Singapore (SIN) T2 – Denpasar, Bali (DPS)
Class: Economy
Seat: 33A – (seat plan)

We arrived at Terminal 2 to find it not very busy at all. Not too surprising for a Tuesday afternoon. We checked in and secured the seats that we’d previously chosen online. Boarding passes in hand, we were quickly through immigration and into the large expanse that is Terminal 2 (security is at the gate).

After visiting the duty free shop to pick up some vodka (alcohol in Bali is expensive) I decided to split from the group and take a wander around.

Terminal 2 is huge and almost every inch of floor space is taken up by shops and restaurants.


Terminal 2 shopping


A comfy TV area


Open seating area


More shops

Regular visitors will know that Singapore Airport offers a wide variety of amenities to travellers including a rooftop swimming pool. There wasn’t time to visit this time around though.

Although having travelled through Singapore Airport only last year, I hadn’t been to Terminal 3 so decided to take the Skytrain and get some photos.


Terminal 3 Shopping Area

Compared to Terminal 2, Terminal 3 was a lot more modern and brighter. I preferred it. I’d be travelling from here on the return leg in a couple of weeks time.

There was about an hour left before the scheduled push back so went back over to Terminal 2 and to gate F34, where our 777-200 was waiting for us.



Some of SQ’s fleet waiting at Terminal 2


Our ride to Bali


Close up of this 777-200

I met up with the group at the gate and very shortly after the gate opened and we went through the security check. Our boarding passes were checked and we were handed the immigration and customs forms for Bali.

Boarding took place very soon after through two air bridges. This was a two class service and business class passengers had use of their own air bridge, attached to door 1L. Economy class passengers boarded through door 2L. Upon boarding it was clear that this aircraft was of the older variety.


Leg room shot

Unlike SQ’s longer range 777’s, this aircraft did not contain the new economy product. Despite this, the seat was still very comfortable, and AVOD IFE was on offer, despite the short duration of this flight.


Looking down the cabin on this 777-200


Down the back


Rear pair of seats at the back of this aircraft

The flight didn’t seem too full at only 30 minutes after boarding had started the doors were closed. Hot towels were handed out by the crew. The Captain came over the PA and announced a short flight time of 2 hours and 15 minutes. After a quick taxi and take off we were in the air.

No menus were handed out but a full dinner service was on offer. Dinner was served very quickly after take off, perhaps 20 minutes into the flight. The options were spicy beef with rice or chicken noodles.


Beef curry with rice

The meal was really good and included a roll, water and tiramisu ice cream. Dinner was cleared about 40 minutes later so I decided to go for a wander around the cabin. On this aircraft, the economy cabins stretch all the way from door 2 to the back of the aircraft, with business between doors 1 and 2. The flight wasn’t particularly full at about 40% in Y.

At this point we hit some turbulence so I made my way back to my seat near the front of the aircraft, almost falling over along the way!

We hit the top of descent at around 20.45 and started making our way down to Bali. The descent was very calm, with a clear night sky revealing almost nothing. It was difficult to get my bearings and I had no idea how high we were or what we were flying over. Soon, the sea came into view and we made a smooth landing, touching down early as promised at 21.15.

Now, while the flight was good, we had the Indonesian immigration process ahead of us. My Mum had warned us beforehand so we were well prepared.

For Bali, there is a ‘visa on arrival’ process for British Passport holders. However, unlike other countries, there is a fee, to be paid on arrival. Frustratingly, this can only be paid in US dollars, so unprepared visitors would have been in for a bit of a surprise. We were fully prepared though and had our $25 ready. Firstly, we queued to pay for a our visa and were given a receipt to show that we’d paid the correct amount. Then, we had to queue up at the actual immigration desk and handed in our immigration form. At this point, the visa is issued which takes up a full page in your passport. It can only be used once, so as soon as it is issued it effectively expires. I can imagine that this could get quite annoying for regular visitors. Imagine having to give up a whole page in your passport every time you entered the country.

After getting my visa it was then further checked at the next desk. After all of these checks, we were out into the baggage reclaim area. Here, there were a large number of porters that will, without asking, remove the bags from the conveyor and stand by them waiting for you to arrive. However, a polite ‘no’ soon fends them off. After this, it’s through customs, with all bags being scanned and then out into the arrival area. We went to the taxi booth and sorted out a couple of taxi’s to take us to the Bali Hyatt in Sanur which was approximately 30 minutes ride away.

Verdict

I love Singapore Airport, it has to be one of the best airports in the world. There is so much to see and do and although I didn’t have too much time for this, I still enjoyed my brief stay.

The flight was good, very quick, and possibly the shortest flight that I’ve had on a long haul aircraft. The food was excellent and really filled me up. Very satisfactory.

The immigration process on arrival is not particularly easy or welcoming but it wasn’t as bad as I’d expected. It wouldn’t stop me going to Bali again.

To follow

- The Bali Hyatt
- The Ylang Ylang Private Villa
- The return flights back to London