Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: Far East 2009
Swiss to Singapore
I had a full morning at my disposal before needing to return to
Suvarnabhumi, and I was determined to make the most of it. But first
things first : a delicious Eggs Benedict breakfast in the Club
Lounge
What a lovely way to start the day! Soon after that, I was ready to
get going. I'd quickly designed a little programme that again
involved only walking and public transport, but I felt unsure about
how practical it would be to fit it all into the available time. I
rode the Skytrain a few stops to Victory Monument and began walking
in the direction of the river. The walk took me past the King's
residence, but the compound was so heavily protected that it wasn't
possible to see anything. I soon came across Wat Benchamabophit,
better known to tourists as the Marble Temple, and decided to pay it
a visit. While not as intricate as the examples that I'd visited
the previous day, it was certainly a beautiful place and well worth
spending some time to look around. I then continued my walk past the
National Assembly building and finally reached the river at Thewet
Pier, from where I was able to return to base by the thoroughly
familiar method of river boat followed by Skytrain, realising that I
was comfortably on-schedule after all.
Back at the IC, I had a shower, grabbed some lunch and packed. I
checked out in the Club Lounge and picked up my transfer back to the
airport. Check-in for my Swiss flight proved to be easy. Again to my
complete surprise, I was allocated a Thai Airways representative who
escorted me to the Royal First Lounge, arranging to pick me up again
at 1550, i.e. half an hour before my scheduled departure time. The
lounge was one of the best I've ever experienced, my sole criticism
being that there were too many small flies around for my liking!
Three of them ended up having a swim in my Champagne!
True to her word, the Thai Airways rep arrived on time and, to my
astonishment and bemusement, took me by electric buggy towards the
gate, constantly tooting and yelling "Excuse me!" to get people out
of the way. I forced myself to stop grinning and tried to look
important.
As the flight was delayed by around 30 minutes, however, she took me
to another Thai Lounge, from where I was finally escorted to the
gate. I never once had to think about where I was or where I needed
to be!
(Link to flight log in side panel)
Changi once again proved to be super-efficient, although it seemed to be far busier than on my two visits in 2004. Having met at the baggage reclaim belt, Kristian and I were able to share a taxi to the InterContinental.