Singapore- Paris leg
Managed to have a shower at the airport in Singapore which was great. Luckily I must have anticipated wardrobe malfunctions (some oily rice dish ended up on my t shirt to join the coffee stain), as I had a change of clothes with me.
For some baffling reason, if you’re transiting in Singapore, you just get off the plane and are then free to wander around the airport at will. This is in contrast to American airports, where you have to go through the entire immigration process before then going back through security. I suppose this is just the department of homeland security trying to get their mits on everyone’s fingerprints and personal details whenever they can, but it’s a real pain. Mind you, we were surprised to have to go through another x ray check of our carry-on to get into the gate before reboarding our plane just now. This time, Simon got a tiny pair of nail scissors taken off him that he’s taken as carry-on countless times in the past, and our friend got her contact lens solutions confiscated. So I count myself lucky I only had to give up a bottle of Perrier I’d appropriated from the lounge.
The air hostesses seem a bit friendlier this leg, maybe because my friend and I didn’t want any alcohol this time, and we didn’t ask for everything from the amenities menu, just half of it. Maybe also they’re a bit scared of the notoriously short tempered Francophones now on board.
Having said that, I’d be grumpy too if I had to spend 13+ hours with make up, hair, and clothes designed to make me look doll like rather than with comfort or functionality in mind.
Am desperately watching a couple of French films in an attempt to ameliorate my language skills before we land. Wish me luck!