From the Sublime to Heathrow

21 March 2008

I am constantly amazed at the progress (and in some cases "regress") that we have seen in our lifetime. As I write this we are comfortably seated in an aircraft, travelling at around 1000km per hour, over the Andaman Sea. The outside temperature is -32C and we have just under 9,500km to fly to London. So here we are, computer set up, describing it to you. And, assuming you check the blog, you will be reading about it a few hours after we reach London.

Security at Singapore is much more intense than at Melbourne, but even so we moved through it quickly. From the time we joined the queue at the departure lounge to the time the plane actually took off, was about 30 minutes. Although it looked as if the flight was going to be very crowded, we were given seats in the middle section; one on the aisle and one next to it. Well our luck was pretty good! The two seats next to us were empty and Bruce moving with a speed that clearly belied his years grabbed the aisle seat on the other side, thus putting Virginia on one aisle and himself on the other. Nobody, of course, would want the two middle seats so we had a very nice group of four seats all to ourselves.

This morning we went out to breakfast at 7.30 and were out of the hotel at 8.00 which gave us time to do a little bit of shopping; aftershave for Bruce and perfume for Virginia. Our small purchases seemed just that when the woman in front of us bought over $2,000 worth of make-up and assorted other gear. We wondered how she was going to get that into wherever she was going without paying pretty hefty duty.

The surprising thing was how quickly we cleared everything when we finally arrived in London an hour late due to headwinds of over 150km an hour. Usually I stand in the long queue while Virginia whizzes through the UK passport line. This time I joined her and we were through very quickly. There's a lesson in that! I sometimes think that as far as Heathrow is concerned it is "if you are not UK, stay away." Still the EU line moves pretty quickly. Overall, Heathrow has a lot to learn from Changi. In Singapore the airport is clean, there are people movers of all sorts to help you, an intelligent and articulate staff and lots to see and do. There are even free movies twenty-four hours a day although why anyone would want to watch movies in the terminal after having probably watched them on the plane I do not know. But I digress. To compare the airports is comparing the sublime to the ridiculous. In Singapore you feel as if you are welcome, valued and appreciated. The word is s-e-r-v-i-c-e; something that is still unfamiliar to the staff at Heathrow.

Anyway, we got from Heathrow to Paddington on the Heathrow Express. It now costs about 17 pounds for a one way trip, but it is worth it, taking only fifteen minutes into the city. At Paddington we, of course, saw our old friend, Paddington Bear and said hello before getting a taxi to our hotel which, although within walking distance, seemed too far after the trip.

We went out for dinner and although we tried to stay awake, we turned out the lights and were asleep by 7.30pm.