For some reason, my mind had it that my flight to Mumbai was at 12:30am so I made it back to the airport at around 10:30 pm. It wasn’t until then that I realized it’d be quite a long time until we’d depart. On weekends, SQ 422 leaves at 2:30am and arrives close to 5am in Mumbai. I don’t think I’ve ever arrived to India at a normal time.
There are plenty of worse places to sit out a long airport stay than Changi airport, with or without lounge access. All the cool stuff is in T3, but India and Southeast Asia flights all depart T2, so I was relegated to the older terminal on this itinerary. In fact, I didn’t know if I could have gone to T3 … I imagine so, but didn’t question it until close to boarding time, way too late to go visit another terminal. It’s alright though, I’m scheduled to visit T3 again later this year in SQ Y, and with no *G status for the time-being, will just have the slum it out in the world’s best airport. Although I'm crossing my fingers on a potential status-match ...
But tonight I’m in J, so like a good business class passenger I kept to the lounge. A shower in a rather mediocre shower room was refreshing, while the food selection was satisfactory. I forgot to take a picture in my tired state. My mind was too focused on the breaking news on CNN that US had plans to merge with AA.
T2 SKL. Business to the left, First to the right.
Can't get enough of this table!
Noooooooooo!
After a while, it was apparent that the only two departures remaining were mine to BOM and SQ 406 to DEL. Both have departures past 2am on the weekends, which I can’t say for any other flight that departs T2. Since the SKLs are for only Singapore Airlines pax, the lounge was full of passengers heading to the subcontinent on either of these flights. Already, I was being reintroduced to the motherland.
With eyes drooping, I tried to get some shut-eye in the far corner of the lounge, devoid of any other passengers. This worked for about 10 minutes until a group of Delhi-ites joined the seats near me and started speaking loudly in Hindi. I asked them in their native tongue to keep it down, but got dirty looks instead.
So I moved to the other side of the lounge, where I was soon joined by a family of 6, including 3 playfully excited and loud children. Needless to say, I got up as soon as possible (and prayed they were on the DEL flight and not the BOM one).
After a quick dose of caffeine via the coffee machine, I decided to whip out my computer and check/respond to emails before being disconnected for lord knows how long. The business center in the SKL is right near the entrance – some of the stations have computers in them, while others are simply desk areas for work. I took one of the latter and was actually productive for 15 minutes, until getting distracted by a gentleman behind me who was blasting Indian Premier League cricket video highlights at full volume.
Seriously, dude?? I tried to ask him to lower the volume, which he would do momentarily before raising it again a short while later. When his child joined him and began playing internet games at similar volume, I packed up my things and left the lounge and joined the peaceful serenity of an empty Terminal 2.
I made a visit to the duty-free store right below the lounge to get some chocolates for my family in India (and to get rid of the remaining Singaporean dollars I had). By then, it was 1:00am, and the two India flights were assigned F gates in the high 50s, about 15 minutes walk away. Frankly, I don’t blame SQ for sticking us at the end of the terminal. The behavior in the SKL shows we’re a loud bunch.
T2
Indoor gardens and koi ponds. Non-lounge serenity.
I made the walk to gate F58 and was greeted by a long line for security check. It took about 10 minutes in line, but I was quickly let in and took a seat toward the gate, surrounded by all sorts of folks with green boarding passes denoting Economy.
One thing I love to do when I’m on my own is people-watch, and with the amount of people in the gate area, that was an easy task to do. While mostly Indians, there was a diverse array of folks around. Next to me was a young couple with a kid not older than 3-years-old. They were filling out the immigration cards and talking to their child in their native Marathi tongue, asking him if he was excited to go on the plane but also telling him to keep quiet when he shouted answers. Across were a couple of older Indian grandmothers, adoring the young couple’s child, mentioning that they each had grandchildren his age. On the other side was a group of three Australians, all excited to visit India for the first time on a volunteering trip. It’s surreal to think that I’d share a airborne vessel with these people for the next 5+ hours, yet would probably not see them due to a curtain separating our seating areas. They all seemed to have interesting stories, stories I’d never probably get to know deeply, yet knew only barely due to being outside the confines of a lounge. It’s easy to get jaded with all this premium class travel … sometimes a seat amongst the masses can be just as invigorating.
Oh what's that? Business class is boarding? Out of my way, everyone!
