An Orchid Garden and a Butterfly Park in the World’s Best Airport

It’s worth visiting Singapore if only for its airport. It isn’t a  problem if your connection is late and you are stuck there for a couple of hours because you can’t have a better time even in a luxury hotel.

The last time I liked airports was in my teenage years, during my first flights when everything was new to me. Through the huge glass windows I watched spellbound at the sparkly white planes and the tiny matchbox-like vehicles bustling around them, going back and forth carrying fuel, food supplies and luggage.

Waiting for the perfect one

At the old Ferihegy terminal in Budapest there were no jet bridges, passengers always had to take a bus  to the plane. When I travelled somewhere, most times the bus was driven by my father. He was a driver at the airport and when his only daughter was flying he put on his uniform even if that was his day off. He was the one sending me off at boarding and the one greeting me on arrival.

My initial enthusiasm gave way quickly to apathy and eventually to actual loathing. When it wasn’t interesting to watch the planes any more, I tried to kill time at the terminal, but for a perpetual motion machine Gemini, like myself, it wasn’t easy. The shops and restaurants were expensive, there was nothing to see, the chairs weren’t designed for comfortable reading, if you could find one at all and the claustrophobic feeling, the bleak environment, and the cold artificial lighting were all annoying.

Sometimes I entertained myself by designing the perfect airport in my head. I dreamt of exciting, affordable restaurants, foosball tables, cinemas, Internet terminals, beanbag chairs, surrounded by colourful magazines and entertaining sights. But reality was just as disappointing in the small, dusty waiting areas in Africa as in the huge shiny terminals of the developed world. I was convinced that airport designers could certainly never have spent long hours between flights at an airport as they had no clue how to construct a good one. Eventually I resigned myself to airport waiting times being one of the worst parts of travelling. Then a miracle happened!

The world’s best airport

While travelling to Papua New Guinea, I had to spend a few hours in Singapore in transit. As we got off the plane we were walking on colourful, soft carpets. Right away I spotted rows of Internet terminals with dozens of people around them. It was obvious that these were free computers because they were so busy. I relaxed. If there was Internet, there was everything. I wouldn’t be bored for the next few hours. I hadn’t  known yet that I would barely have time for it all.

I recalled reading that there were interesting things here from an orchid garden to a cinema. So the first thing I did was to get some brochures to discover the possibilities. Just looking through them took some time. I started wondering if my six hours in the airport would be enough time.

I could have gone to the city, since the airport offered free sightseeing to transit passengers, but having already been to Singapore before, and not having seen the world’s best airport, I stayed. I attached my cell phone to a charger in a purpose-built lockable cubbyhole and started to look around.

Prayer rooms for the religious

The terminal has loads of plants inside and I also visited three wonderful gardens: the fern garden, the orchid garden and the butterfly park. When I got hungry, I strolled through the terminal and peeked into the places offering food. Usually restaurants in terminals are way too expensive, but not here: this time my problem was which affordable international cuisine I should pick. I chose my favourite, the Singaporean laksa soup, which was excellent in the small airport food bar.

I used the Internet for a bit which was free for 15 minutes sessions, but this wasn’t a problem since you can sign in for 15 min as many times as you want. There were numerous computers and free Wi-Fi as well as wired connections for laptops. There were even machines placed lower so children can play on them.

The availability of showers and massages are now a given at most airports. There are cinema rooms and large television screens in the waiting areas. But I haven’t seen anywhere else where TVs are set up for couples and families where they can choose their own programs.

Children have their own play corner and drawing tables as well as woodblock rubbing stations, where by placing a blank sheet of paper over the woodblock and rubbing the crayons over it, they get a beautiful picture featuring a Singapore icon. The older kids can play free computer games to fill their time.

There is no shortage of shops. Not only luxury chains with horrifying prices were present but also regular, ordinary shops that anyone could afford.

Perfect for relaxation as well

Not everyone is a busy bee like me. Lots of people just want to sit around with their cup of coffee. They could listen to a pianist playing excellent live music, in an area made homey by plants and a bubbling water fountain. Prayer rooms and meditation areas await the religiously minded and if someone just wants to relax they can spread out on comfortable sofa beds of which there are many so you don’t have to hunt for them.

I was impressed how every basic service was thought through and perfected in detail. Those who, like me, like to travel alone must have encountered the problem of trying to squeeze into a toilet stall with luggage not wanting to leave it unattended. At Singapore airport all stalls are wide enough to push even a small luggage trolley inside which are of course free and plentiful. There are many small but attentive details. For instance, in every restroom there is a sign indicating how far it is to the next toilet block. So if by any chance there are too many people in line, you always know how many minutes it takes to reach the next one and in which direction you need to head.

The rubbish bins tell you what and where

Consumer satisfaction is clearly of importance for the airport because they ask our opinion on several services, like the restrooms, on touchscreen monitors. All you have to do is pick one of the five options going from a smiley to a sad face. The design of the recycling bins is exemplary, you don’t have to try to figure out what goes where, as the shape of the bins make it obvious.

Of course none of this hoopla would be worthwhile without the people who work there. In Asia it’s mostly a given that people are very friendly but the employees of Changi airport almost blanket the traveller with kindness. From the girls at the information desk to the restaurant waiters, everyone was friendly, smiling and polite.

After travelling around Papua New Guinea I had a sudden surreal wish to be at the airport again. On the plane heading to Singapore we excitedly planned with the fellow passengers how everyone was going to spend their transit hours. Not an easy decision, but fortunately  the airport’s homepage helped us with suggestions for various activities.

Luckily we had six hours at the airport (I never thought that someone in their right mind would be happy about this) and by now I knew my way around my favourite armchairs and food outlets. But not even two 6-hour jaunts were enough to try everything. Still to be discovered were the outdoor pool or the massage parlours where a 15-minute foot massage is free for everyone.

There is only one danger: you can easily get too preoccupied with activities and it slips your mind that you are in fact at an airport and sooner or later your time will be up.