I JUST came back from airport heaven once more.
Upon entry, I am immediately impressed. Immigration is a breeze. A slot for my passport, a read, a verification of who I am, a gate opens to another where I set my thumbprint. Then it opens up to already the main airport.
I realize it is hell here in Pinas. Long lines and zealous immigration officers. Too many questions, demanding many answers. I now get why my passport has a chip in it. They do too. We can eliminate them all too if we do it like this.
There were no X-rays, in fact anywhere. We just went through thru Check In.
Here, we scanned again our own passports. All I did was acknowledge the information shown in the monitor. Who I was? Who I was traveling with? Schedule of Departure? How many bags?
Upon doing so, boarding passes are printed with seating. Bag tags are next. We are asked to fix them on our luggage. We asked for some help and they demonstrated it to us but it will be you who will attach it to the bag. A sticker is left as evidence from it. We just deposit the bags and it is gone. No long lines for X-ray and for any check in for boarding passes.
We felt proud doing so. An achievement. It wasn't hard.
While waiting for our flight we are engrossed by the amenities present. I had a free foot massage. Water dispensers everywhere. Toilets aplenty. Free internet. Wi-Fi of course.
A free Skytrain for moving from one terminal to another every four minutes. There are four. A fifth is being made, the largest. It is bigger than terminal two and three combined.
Fresh flowers abound, orchids mostly. Real it is. Gardens everywhere. Free movies and featured sporting events in areas, mostly football, I watched a little of tennis, it was the US Open. Every seat had its own charging station. There were even snooze lounges, it was a silence zone, people slept.
For the active there were walkways that had exhibits. Video games for kids! Free! I even played some virtual football in another area. Juan had a chance to kick a virtual ball before a virtual goalie. Kids are seen coloring and drawing in some corner, adults too. Oh I make the goal!
Once, we checked in, in one of the hotels inside the airport for a few hours. Just to take a shower and rest. I read that they now have shower rooms provided plus a swimming pool! They find ways to make anyone's stay better.
For every fifty dollars worth of purchases from the airport, a traveler gets a chance to become a millionaire. With two hundred, a hundred chances is given. Imagine a Vegas style slot machine. I learned that not a single Singaporean has ever won it. Always a foreigner. Juan wanted to try his luck. A watch worth two fifty it just had to be. I pass.
Food is another thing. There was everything. Eastern to Western fare was there. Franchises from everywhere, there too. I saw a whiskey tasting room in fact. I was just too shy to try. I would if I had another to do me with.
I failed to see a smoking area. I must not have looked for it too. Surely there was but surely too the fumes or smell must have been enveloped. It did smell nice around the whole airport. The gardens help. There was a mist garden, sort of an Amazon themed area. I know it was just to absorb smell and set the right temperature with the mist and waterfalls or rain mainly to suppress smell and sound. Purposeful.
During the day there is always ample lighting, it is designed that way. Less use of electricity. It is very bright. At night there is alternative energy that produces electricity.
Before entering the plane, I see security, X-rays present, enough of the enjoyment. They were rightly over strict. We were required to show our passports and boarding passes, we removed our jackets, asked to bring out any laptop and leave cellphones inside our carried luggage.
I was set aside and asked what was inside my sling bag, a liquid bottle they detected. I checked the monitor and knew it was my Tabasco sauce, I always carry one with me. Another is a small bottle of Cognac, that was OK? They let me have it after I showed it. That was it.
That is the Best in the World. Changi Airport the Singapore Airport. Not here, no way near.
