July 21, 2025: Singapore to Sydney
After 3 nights in Singapore, it was time to head to our next destination – Sydney. We were travelling on a Scoot flight that departed at 9:55 am, so I prebooked an airport transfer via Grab the night before our flight. This was our first experience using the book ahead feature on Grab, and it worked well. Our driver’s information and his ETA were waiting for us on the app when we woke up in the morning.
By 7:15 am, we were ready to check out of the Pan Pacific. We headed down to the lobby with jackets in hand, something that felt a bit odd in steamy Singapore. But wearing our heaviest pants and carrying our jackets ensured that our carry-on bags were under Scoot’s weight limit.
Our driver arrived at the Pan Pacific ahead of schedule, and we were on our way to the airport within minutes of arriving in the hotel lobby. We had no bags to check, so we printed our tickets at a kiosk and head straight for terminal 1 departures. This requires passing through an electronic immigration checkpoint, something that took just a few minutes. The lack of lines was a stark contrast to our usual departure experience at US airports.
By 8 am, we were sitting at the World of Tiger Beer, which we selected because it has a Western style breakfast menu. No matter where we go in the world, D only wants eggs for breakfast. There was a time when I found his adherence to routine endearing. But when routine gets in the way of my breakfast roti, I am not inclined to be generous. After some grumbling on my part, we made our selections: avocado toast for me, eggs for D, and a veggie burger for P. Everything was well-cooked and our bill was reasonable by airport standards. I’m still holding a grudge about the roti.
In Singapore, security screening is conducted at the airport gates. So, after a final bathroom break — essential because there are no bathrooms once you pass through security — we found our gate and joined the line that had already formed for security. Other than some additional screening of the Ziplock containing our sunscreen and bug repellant, it was a painless process. In particular, no one weighed or measured any of our bags. (Your mileage may vary as we did take care to ensure our bags were the correct dimensions and were not overstuffed).
I was a little nervous about taking a long-haul flight on a budget airline. But our Scoot tickets were about $800 US total (including adding on meals), as compared to $700 per person on Singapore Airlines. How bad could Scoot be?
I think that your answer to that question will vary depending on where you live. If, like me, you are used to flying US-based airlines, then you should have no complaints about Scoot. The seat space and comfort were on par with economy on American or Delta. The key difference was the customer service; Scoot offers some.
Scoot does have a few negatives that you might want to weigh if you are considering booking. First is the lack of in-flight entertainment, free or otherwise. Second, meals and snacks are not included; even water has its price. (But, as I mentioned, the overall price including added on meals was quite reasonable). Third, the windows have a dimmer instead of a shade. This was my first time seeing a window dimmer on a plane and I was excited by the novel technology. However, the windows were locked in the dimmed position at certain points in the flight, which might be a negative for folks who like to look out the window.
It was an uneventful flight. When we reached cruising altitude, the cabin crew came through with meal service. Prebooking offered more hot options, but there were also a selection of meals and snacks that you could purchase on board. We had ordered a curried fish dish for D and vegetarian biryani for P and I. The meals each came with a drink and dessert item.
After I ate, I fell fast asleep. By the time I woke up and stretched my stiff neck, we were less than 2 hours from Sydney. We ordered some snacks (milk tea for me and a box of cookies to share), and I cued up an Australian history podcast that I had downloaded. I alternated between listening and reading my book for the rest of the trip.
Flying time between Singapore and Sydney is about 7.5 hours. With the 2-hour time difference, we landed in Sydney at around 7:45 pm. The windows were dimmed during the landing, so we didn’t get to see the view on arrival. On the other hand, it was dark outside, so perhaps there were no views to be had.
Like Singapore, Australia has automated its immigration process. You scan your passport, answer a few questions, and a gate opens to let you into the country. (All of this assumes that you obtained your ETA before arrival). Despite this relatively simple process, we did encounter a snafu. P asked how he should answer the question, “Are you the parent or guardian of [this minor]?” I told him to answer, “no,” reasoning that he was not his own parent. But apparently the questions were set up on the assumption that an adult was answering on behalf of the minor. The “no” meant that P needed to be manually processed through immigration. The line for manual processing was short, so my mistake took us no more than 5 minutes and an apology to rectify.
Once through immigration, we headed to the airport taxi stand. It was about a 30-minute ride from the airport to the Intercontinental. At the hotel, we were quickly checked in by a friendly desk clerk. We dropped our bags, cleaned ourselves up, and came back downstairs for a light dinner at the hotel.
The Intercontinental evolved from a Treasury building constructed in the mid-1800’s. The hotel’s lobby bar, the Treasury, takes full advantage of the historic features of the building. It is surrounded by the old stone arches of the original building. Its lovely atmosphere was mostly lost on us in our exhausted state. Still, we enjoyed our cheese tray, veggie and hummus tray, order of chips, and round of drinks (a wine, a beer, and a soda). After our meal, it was back to our room for an early-ish bedtime. I can’t say that we had made the most of our first day in Sydney but we had — at least — arrived.
Travel Monkeys 