The Ultimate Kuala Lumpur-Singapore Vacation Leave: The Amazing Changi International Airport

This is the thirteenth part of our 6-days-5-nights Ultimate KL-Singapore Vacation Leave.

First glimpse of Changi Airport

Changi International Airport is probably the best airport we've ever been to. Granted, we haven't been to many places, but comparing it to HK or KL airport, Singapore is on the top of our list. It's not just an airport, it's like a many carnival or mall wherein you can do a lot of things, best part is, most of it is for free. And another great thing about this airport, it has free internet! Anyway, Changi Airport has 3 terminals all connected to each other by the Skytrain. This service is open from 5:00am to 2:30 am, and it takes only approximately 4 minutes to travel between terminals, with an average waiting time of 2 minutes. Amazing! Just follow the signs leading you to the Skytrain, you won't miss it. You can also transfer between terminals by foot, specifically by inter-terminal travellators located throughout the Departure Transit areas, but, why would you when you have the very convenient Skytrain at your beck and call hahaha. But, if you find yourself at Changi Airport between 2:30am to 5:00am when the Skytrain is closed, you can opt to take the free shuttle bus service which operates between these hours at 15 minutes interval. Here are the boarding and alighting points for the shuttle bus service:

• Terminal 1: Departure Check-in Hall, Level 2, Door 5
• Terminal 2: Arrival Hall, Level 1, Door 2
• Terminal 3: Departure Check-in Hall, Level 2, Door 8

And for your convenience, here's a downloadable map showing where the Skytrain, walkalators, and shuttle bus services are located, just click on the pic to get a clearer and better picture

Our flight to Singapore from Kuala Lumpur was a bit uneventful. The flight took about an hour and it was a very smooth ride. We arrived at Changi Airport Terminal 1 at around 1:40pm and went through immigration without any hitch. In one of the exits from the immigration, you could see a lot of maps of different places in Singapore, it's for free, so don't forget to take as many as you want, it is very helpful! As I've said previously, Changi Airport has 3 terminals, and if you have the time to spare, try to explore each and every one of these terminals as there are a lot of facilities, services, attractions, etc in each terminals. We had a bit of a time to spare so we tried to explore as best as we could. I'll try to enumerate in this blog the services and attractions seen per terminal, but in reality, we weren't able to explore all because the airport is just too big for just an hour or 2 of exploring! Maybe next time though.

The convenient Skytrain

We hope NAIA would have these trains (wishful thinking)

First off, Terminal 1. The famous attractions seen in this terminal are the following:

• The Cactus Garden
  This garden features more than 100 species of cacti and arid plants from the deserts and dry areas of Asia, Africa and America. There is also a bar within the garden where you can just sit back, relax, and drink while waiting for your flight. It is located at the Departure Transit Lounge, Level 3, Transit Area.


• Kinetic Rain
  It is located at the Departure Check-in Hall, Public Area. It features 1,216 bronze droplets which forms 16 different shapes in a slow, fluid movement.


• Piazza Garden
  This garden features seasonal and thematic plant displays throughout the seasons. It is seen at the Departure Transit Lounge, Level 2, Transit Area


• Sculptural Tree Garden
  It features three tree-like sculptures clad with a collage of foliage, and around it, there is a raised walkways which you can walk to to view the tree closer and better. It is located at Departure Transit Lounge, Level 2, Transit Area


• Swimming Pool with Jacuzzi
  It is located at Aerotel Airport Transit Hotel and it features a rooftop pool, plus a jacuzzi with bar and shower facilities. It costs 17SGD per person and operates from 6:00am to 12:00midnight. If you are a guest in the transit hotel, these facilities are free.


• The Social Tree
  It a 9 meter tall interactive installation wherein you can share or store your photos or videos on this memory capsule-like thing. You can attach your photos or videos in the touch-screen photo booths around the "tree". It is located at Central Piazza, right after immigration counters, Transit Area.


• Water Lily Garden
  This garden features, well, water lilies in a natural aquatic garden environment. Located at Departure Transit Lounge Level 2, Transit Area.

These are just the unique attraction in this terminal. All terminals also features pay lounges, free rest areas where you can sleep, convenience stores, baggage storage, money changers, spa services, computers where you can use their free internet, and so much more!

Once you get tired of Terminal 1 (which is highly unlikely), take the Skytrain to transfer to Terminal 2 and continue your exploration there. The famous attractions seen in this terminal are the following:

• Enchanted Garden
  It is an interactive garden that comes to life with sight and sound while you walk through the garden. Motion sensors trigger sounds of nature and blooming flowers, with various sparkling lights. This is located at Departure Transit Lounge, Level 2, Transit Area.


• Entertainment Deck
  Now this, we really looked for this during our departure from Singapore and it did not disappoint! It has Xbox 360/Playstation 3 and Kinect stations, there's a movie theater, and an MTV booth. What! It is located at Departure Transit Lounge, next to the Sunflower Garden, Level 3, Transit Area.


• Orchid Garden
  The Orchid Garden features more than 700 orchids of 30 species grouped by their various colours and shapes, representing the 4 elements of nature – Earth, Water, Fire and Air. It is located at Departure Transit Lounge, Level 2, Transit Area.





Orchid Garden
• Movie Theatre
  It's for free! And it's an actual movie theatre. It is located at both Terminal 2 and 3 and is open for 24 hours.


• Xperience Zone
  If a movie theatre is not enough, nor is a gaming room, there's also this area. It has large TV screens with plush seats where you can watch the latest sport events, get creative with the e-Postcard booth and share it with your friends and family via email.





Xperience Zone



Comfy lounge chair all around!
• Sunflower Garden
  The garden features several varieties of sunflowers grown in Changi Airport's very own nursery. Located at Departure Transit Lounge, Level 3, Transit Area.

Terminal 2 is also where the train to the City is located, we will go back to that later on.

Terminal 2

Next and final Terminal is the Terminal 3. What we noticed about terminal 3 is it is were a lot of various sculptures and art thingies are located. Compared to Terminal 1 and 2, these terminal has a lot of art works all around. I won't be going into specifics for each sculptures, but nevertheless, they are beautiful and very picture-worthy. Anyway, here are the famous attractions found in Terminal 3:

• Butterfly Garden
  It houses about 1,000 tropical butterflies from as many as 40 species during the different seasons of the year. Educational corners and individual enclosures let you witness the breeding and feeding of butterflies at close range. It is located at Departure Transit Lounge, Level 2 & 3, Transit Area.


• TV Lounge
  Just because we weren't contented with the Movie Theatre or the gaming area, we just have to have a TV Lounge to top it all off. Located at Departure Transit Lounge, Level 2, Transit Area.


• The Slide @ T3
  This is dubbed as the world's tallest slide found inside an airport. It is 12 meters high or 4 storeys tall. You can ride this slide for every 10SGD spent at Changi Airport in a single same day receipt and a maximum of 10 rides per receipt can be redeemed on the same day. It is located at the Arrival Hall, Level 1, Public Area ad is open from 12:00pm to 10:30pm daily.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are still a lot of attractions and sites to visit all around Changi Airport. For us, I think you have to spend at least half a day to visit them all. Unfortunately, we only had 2 hours to go around and then we needed to go to Bugis to check-in our hotel. So, back to regular programming!

Going to the city from the airport is actually quite easy. But first, do not forget to buy the famous "EZ Link Card". It will make your public transport in Singapore a whole lot easier. You can use this in all of their trains and buses, you can just reload it, or in Singapore term, "top up" in the various train stations and other convenience store. Very very easy and very convenient to use.

Reloading Machine for the EZ Link Card

Very easy to use, and it has english translation so yehey!

Now once you've got all the essentials you need and you're done exploring the Changi Airport, head over to Terminal 2 using the Skytrain or just walk to Terminal 2 and follow the signs that says "Train to City" because that's where you're headed. Go down the very long escalator, tap your EZ Link Card, and go through the gates to the train station headed to the city. Take the East West Line (Green Line) of Changi Airport and the after 2 stops, alight at the Tanah Merah Station and board the train going WEST bound. Be careful, because the other line will bring you to the end of Pasir Ris, that's not where the city is obviously haha. From the Tanah Merah Station, Bugis Station is just 8 stations away. So just relax, take in the view of Singapore, and just enjoy the ride. The train line of Singapore is one of the easiest to understand, and of course, one of the nicest looking trains. It's spacious, it's clean, and it's quiet. While riding the train, you would notice that there are areas where there will suddenly be some baricades of walls blocking your view. These are the residential areas of Singapore and the wall is there to keep the white walkers away, nah kidding, it's to keep their privacy. Very very cool. Also, one thing we noticed, if the station would be alighting in a mall area, it would be underground. If you would be alighting in a residential area, the station would be above ground. Just a few reflections we had while riding the train hahaha.

Signs are all over the airport so you won't get lost, probably haha.

The long escalator going down the train to the city

Signs are also seen in the trains, take the East West Line going to Tanah Merah

The train station in the airport, very busy

Inside the train. Very spacious so you won't have any problem bringing your luggage aboard

Once at Tanah Merah Station, look for the sign that says going towards Joo Koon. This is where you will alight to get to Bugis Station

Other ways to go to the city from Changi Airport:

• Public Bus
  If you opt to take the bus service, take the bus 36/36A to go the city. The first bus arrives at 6:00am and the last trip leaves just before 12:00 midnight. The fare costs around 2.50SGD and the ride takes about an hour. The bus stops are conveniently located in the basement bus buys of all the 3 terminals. If you have an EZ Link Card, you can use it here, but if you don't have the card, be sure to prepare the exact fare because no change will be given.


• Taxi
  If you have the money to spare and just want to relax all the way to your hotel, take the taxis. Taxi stands are available at all Arrival levels of the three terminals. The ride to the city takes about 30 minutes and would cost you around 20SGD to 40SGD. It is a meter fare but there are additional Airport surcharges for trips coming from the airport. If you take the taxi from 5:00pm to midnight, there is a 5SGD airport surcharge, in other times, there is a 3SGD surcharge. Surcharge are also higher during peak hours and midnight.

After about 30minutes or probably less, we finally arrived at Bugis. Read on for our first Singapore mishap that involves our hotel, and a really strong pouring rain. Up next!