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Posted: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 1:34 am
by JR8
aster wrote:Was flying through WRO lately on a domestic flight to WAW, and in the lounge there was this typical airline/airport-typish, very industry-like magazine with an article about Changi and how it's the #1 airport in the world for all the various reasons.

Have to say I agree with this assessment - Changi is a joy to use and the best airport to have as your home hub. :) Only place in the world where from the moment I opened the taxi door to the time I passed through passport control (including normal check-in with luggage before that) my watch only registered 4 minutes passing.... :)
Did you go and find a place to have a couple of bevvies with your mates before flying off?

No, thought not.

Posted: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 2:51 am
by aster
At Changi? I have lounge access so I get all the free booze I want at Changi. Plus I can bring in a guest each time. :)

Then there's the Fairprice place one or two levels below, where before you pass through passport control you can buy some beers and take them through with you. Luckily Changi only does the final security check at the gate so this is not a problem.

Posted: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 3:42 am
by JR8
aster wrote:At Changi? I have lounge access so I get all the free booze I want at Changi. Plus I can bring in a guest each time. :)

No, I mean streetside

Then there's the Fairprice place one or two levels below, where before you pass through passport control you can buy some beers and take them through with you. Luckily Changi only does the final security check at the gate so this is not a problem.

Classy. You can sit in 'one of the top airports in the world' having a beer out of a bag :)

p.s. Last time you were down at NTUC did you note the old-bag KTV hookers hanging around outside....


Posted: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:48 am
by ScoobyDoes
aster wrote: Have to say I agree with this assessment - Changi is a joy to use and the best airport to have as your home hub. :) Only place in the world where from the moment I opened the taxi door to the time I passed through passport control (including normal check-in with luggage before that) my watch only registered 4 minutes passing.... :)

As a 'home' airport I think I preferred KUL. Okay, the train thing from immigration to the international gates was a bit of a pain but once there you were right in the centre atrium, didn't need to walk from here to Bradford and didn't bump into anyone. It was bright, clean and wide open. Security at the gate also was okay.

It helped having an Expatriate Work Permit (with Gold Card) so I could basically just walk right through immigration, a quick look at the photo and no stamp required..... we even had our own channel. The only problem is if we travelled with luggage, minimum 40min from landing.

As a 'home' airport HKG is also good. With the ID card it generally takes just 20-30sec to pass immigration and the luggage comes through reasonably quickly.

Posted: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:23 pm
by aster
JR8 wrote:No, I mean streetside

Classy. You can sit in 'one of the top airports in the world' having a beer out of a bag :)

p.s. Last time you were down at NTUC did you note the old-bag KTV hookers hanging around outside....
Streetside I don't think they sell booze, which is a bit of a pain. That's where the Fairprice comes in handy though.

I've never actually brought beer from there past passport control, but I have bought duty free stuff that never made it onto the plane. :) Doesn't happen nowadays as I've had lounge access for a number of years now...

Don't think I recall any KTV ladies at the airport... ;)

Posted: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 1:55 am
by JR8
aster wrote: Streetside I don't think they sell booze, which is a bit of a pain. That's where the Fairprice comes in handy though.

Things change fast in SG it is hard to keep track of what is what. (They seem to have redone large swatches of internal unit partitions in Raffles City mall. Talk about disorientating! (for example Handburger is now almost open plan to the surrounding units which it wasn't before)).

There used to be a trad-style pub on the street-side at one of the main terminals. It was called Bentley's I think, and was on the mezzanine floor above check in. Useful when your whole kampong insist on turning up each time for a 250 people 3 hour mass weep/send-off session. You could just leave them to it, and hook up again with your missus air-side. Then that was consumed within reconstruction for maybe a year... don't know if it ever re-opened.

Now as you say I think it's only convenience stores. Either Cheers, or NTUC (I wasn't kidding about the KTV aunties by the way! lol). There's a 7/11 air-side in the budget terminal, and a Cheers on level three of the terminal SIA fly out of (2?).


I've never actually brought beer from there past passport control, but I have bought duty free stuff that never made it onto the plane. :)

I did on my most recent trip, but in mitigation I did have a long lay-over and am blowed if I'm paying $20 for a 187ml glass of house wine in some scuzzy sports type bar!

You have to watch then what with the x-ray at the gate. I have had them check that the sealed duty free bags were still sealed. I think I've probably also gone the consume-pre-flight route as well :) (notice how all the wine comes in corked bottles?)

Posted: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 2:46 am
by aster
Funny that you mentioned Raffles Mall, because to me that's the most disorientating place of them all! Especially when you're in the area with all those restaurants. :)

At Changi there seems to be a deliberate lack of booze streetside, normally even Coffee Club has beer but not the one at T3. :) I assume the Crystal Jade restaurant streetside is also "dry."

In terms of minimarts there is a 7-11 airside in T3, you take the escalator up to where all the food joints are and somewhere at the end you'll find it. Same with T2 (or is it T1?), escalator up to where the food places are and there's a 7-11 there.

Cheers is definitely at arrivals, I think it's at T2 as you mentioned?

$20 for a small bottle of wine is very steep, I'd just get something in the duty-free stores and consume it on the spot. Seems to be ok to do this, a friend of mine and I had a nice bottle of wine this way sitting next to some uniformed officers and nothing seemed out of place.

Posted: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 3:51 am
by JR8
aster wrote:Funny that you mentioned Raffles Mall, because to me that's the most disorientating place of them all! Especially when you're in the area with all those restaurants. :)

Yes agreed. And just when I thought I had some sort of bearings down there they've changed it all lol.

At Changi there seems to be a deliberate lack of booze streetside, normally even Coffee Club has beer but not the one at T3. :) I assume the Crystal Jade restaurant streetside is also "dry."

I agree, in that I think it is deliberate. It would be hard to accidentally design a 'worlds best airport' with no bar street-side

Beer etc in Coffee Club, er not that I've noticed! In fact as earlier suggested street-side bar convenience stores is entirely halal during normal hours.
Crystal Jade.... yep probably. Just it isn't open at 6am or 11pm!


In terms of minimarts there is a 7-11 airside in T3, you take the escalator up to where all the food joints are and somewhere at the end you'll find it. Same with T2 (or is it T1?), escalator up to where the food places are and there's a 7-11 there.

Cheers is definitely at arrivals, I think it's at T2 as you mentioned?

$20 for a small bottle of wine is very steep,

Yeah I was in transit from Sulawesi to Tioman. Walked into this place looked at the drinks list and was staggered to see a small glass of wine at $20. The jolly waitress strolled up and said 'Yes sir, how may I help you?', to which I replied '$20 for a glass of wine, you must be joking!', and walked out.


I'd just get something in the duty-free stores and consume it on the spot. Seems to be ok to do this, a friend of mine and I had a nice bottle of wine this way sitting next to some uniformed officers and nothing seemed out of place.

I'm sure it is not disallowed to do this, but I don't think they like it. Plus, re my earlier comment have you noticed how 99% of duty free bottles are with corks (and obviously you won't have a corkscrew - as they aren't allowed.)

Buying a decent bottle from duty free and enjoying it pre-flight sounds like a lovely plan. Just not one the airport authorities share with you! :)


Posted: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 5:06 am
by x9200
There is a CS at T2.
http://www.changiairport.com/shopping-a ... ld-storage
I was there last time in April and it was as per normal.

The full list:
http://www.changiairport.com/shopping-a ... p=&search=

I see Sakae Sushi on the list and they normally serve some limited choice of beer but have not dined there (public side) for ages.

Posted: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 9:41 am
by JR8
x9200 wrote:There is a CS at T2.
http://www.changiairport.com/shopping-a ... ld-storage
I was there last time in April and it was as per normal.

The full list:
http://www.changiairport.com/shopping-a ... p=&search=

I see Sakae Sushi on the list and they normally serve some limited choice of beer but have not dined there (public side) for ages.
Interesting to see it all listed out like that, and I had no idea there was a Cold Storage there.... I wonder where it is hidden :)
There is no NTUC on the list. Maybe CS became NTUC? Hmmm...

Posted: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 10:25 am
by sundaymorningstaple
NTUC Fairprice is in the basement of T1. Cold Storage is in T2.

Posted: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 10:30 am
by sundaymorningstaple
NTUC Fairprice is in the basement of T1 and also in T3. Cold Storage is in T2.

http://www.changiairport.com/shopping-a ... p=&search=

Posted: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 2:59 pm
by bgd
When T3 first opened there was a Harrys street-side. Didn't last long. Lack of street-side bars may have more to do with financial return rather than policy. At T3 anyway, place is always empty.

Posted: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 4:30 pm
by ScoobyDoes
bgd wrote:When T3 first opened there was a Harrys street-side. Didn't last long. Lack of street-side bars may have more to do with financial return rather than policy. At T3 anyway, place is always empty.

It was so far out of the way nobody even knew it was there.