After the short flight from DPS, I had to hoof it from Terminal 3 back to Terminal 1…which was around 40 minutes due to the broken down train system and the Changi’s size. It’s also remarkably surreal to walk around Changi early in the morning when hardly any stores are open, with only a few sleep-deprived passengers sauntering around.

I managed to get to transfer desk D and check into my CX flights. Strangely, getting my boarding passes took another 20 minutes, although everything had already been checked in back in DPS. At this point I was just wiped out…the flight was supposed to take off at 0645, and I received my boarding passes at 0015. I walked over to the Dnata Skyview Lounge (also accessible with Priority Pass), which was fairly populated even at that hour. The lovely attendant told me that there was a quiet room in the upper section, but I didn’t find it at first. After wandering around and then sitting in one of the chairs in the lower section, I tried to close my eyes for a few minutes but failed miserably. The attendant saw the difficulty I was having, and escorted me directly to the quiet room that she had previously mentioned…a no-light room in the upper area with a closed glass door. Thanking her quite sleepily, I collapsed on one of the reclined leather chairs and managed to get around 3 hours of sleep. I woke up and groggily made myself a cup of cappuccino and had a wrapped sandwich…honestly, the sandwich was much more appealing than the hot food options, but then again I thought that I would have a nice meal onboard the CX flight to HKG. Overall a decent lounge, but if you are in Changi when it’s open, try the Qantas lounge or the BA lounge…I’m sure they are better.


Escalator to Skyview

The CX bird I’m flying to HKG

At T-15 I walked over to the nearby gate and passed through the efficient security. Boarding commenced almost immediately, and I boarding along with the rest of the J pax (full cabin). The seats were the standard 2x2x2 a330, and not the new 1-2-1. However, considering the flight time of about 4 hours, it wasn’t uncomfortable at all. The cabin was clean, the service was wonderful. The breakfast started with fruit, pastries, hot hong kong style milk tea, and braised beef with noodles as a main. The croissants were one of my favorite parts of the meal. Everything was served by hand except for the main course, which was served by tray. Sorry for the lack of pictures for this segment, as I was so groggy and exhausted that I wasn’t coherent enough to take them.


IFE screen. Plenty of room for a short flight, but definitely not a good bird to fly long-haul

There were a few op-ups in the cabin, and while that has never bothered me (I mean, we are all lucky to fly these cabins, and I always think its wonderful when everyone gets to experience it!), the incessant loud talking from different areas of the cabin (IE 2D to 4A, 3D to 2C, etc) was super annoying. The conversations didn’t hush until we deplaned! Pretty soon we were touching down in HKG.

After deplaning, CX personnel holding my name asked me to wait with her. After just about all the Y pax deplaned, she grabbed one Y passenger and “escorted” us to the transfer area. By “escort” I mean hustled at a speed-walk pace, and getting to the transfer area was something I could’ve easily done myself. Besides, the transit area doesn’t have a priority line for F or J, so all she did was walk down the hall until we got to the transit line /facepalm. This being HKG, tons of other passengers started queuing in the Staff/Cabin Crew line but the security guy didn’t seem to care. Thankfully, the process is still pretty fast, and I was finally in the HKG main terminal.