Had the same options again for breakfast but decided on a different running route afterwards. There's a small park across from the hotel where an MRT station will soon be, then a bit larger September 23 park right next to it. I thought I could run laps of both together, but after the amount of time it took to cross the road between them the first time I had to settle for one park. With a bit of creative lapping I managed to make a loop of about 1.5 kilometres but it was still quite boring.
I'd been having lots of trouble getting my Garmin watch USB to connect and sync for most of the trip, but it just managed to hold on to the end. After that run was finally over it was back to the hotel and pack the last few things, then wait a couple of hours to check-out and head to the airport.
The flight departure at 4:15pm was not the best with a hotel checkout at 12pm, but there was limited options that would connect to the next Singapore Airlines flight. I managed to download BBC Match Of The Day to watch at the airport, faster than 20 megabytes per second so it was over before I knew it.
I decided to check-out from the hotel a bit before 12pm as I'd read contrasting reviews of how slow the airport queues could be. The Grab trip was over in about half the time as it took to arrive, so I was at a deserted airport not long after 12pm with check-in not until 1pm. Instead of watching the Saturday MOTD I just listened to a podcast and rested until a few people started getting in line.
I had premium economy at Singapore but this flight didn't have it, so I was in the regular economy line. The Singapore Airlines check-in desks were quick, but the outbound customs line was super slow again. It was another lucky dip to try and pick a good row, but this time they all seem to be about equal, yet it still took nearly 30 minutes to process at most about 20 people ahead of me.
After a quick security check I was done with all the procedures and had about 1.5 hours to spare. I had a look at the restaurants, and as mentioned online most were strangely charging in US dollars - although credit card would have worked too of course. I only got a drink from one rare place that was still taking VND too, and soon we were off to Singapore about on time.
On board the plane there was an older woman who sounded really sick sitting next to the window, but I was a few seats aways in the middle section. Thankfully the two Japanese woman sitting next to hear asked the staff for a mask and politely handed it to her. Probably only the Japanese politeness could get away with that without offending, but I was also thankful for their effort.
Nothing much else interesting happened for the 2 hour flight, when we arrived some panicked guy started barging through the aisles to leave the aircraft because he said he was late. I'm not sure how he could be late since we arrived early, but it was funny that in his rush he forgot his overhead bag and had to go all the way back and forward a second time.
I thought the 1-2 hours between flights at Singapore would be plenty, but by the time I changed terminals on the link train, went to the toilet, had some food, and walked to the gate it was almost open. This time I boarded quick with premium economy, but then the dreaded high-vis maintenance guys were walking down the other aisle of the plane towards the back. I don't know what was wrong but the delay was less than 30 minutes and we made that up during the flight.
Again nothing much happened on the flight except a guy with a loud cough every 1-2 minutes was right across the aisle from me. I got a little bit of sleep but like usual struggled to get comfortable.
Landing in Melbourne I must have made record time though security, the luggage arrived as soon as I'd make a toilet stop, and the great paper form hand-in line was quick too. In total it probably all took about 20 minutes, which is how it should be all the time, rather than by exception. Sadly the Skybus hit a lot of traffic on the toll road, and the slow train home stopping at all stations added the usual amount of extra time to complete the journey.
Steps = 17,323 with 12km running
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