Olympiad, here I come!

OOL

Travel used to be exciting. Now it's worse than going to the dentist. But that could be because I have a great dentist :-) Direct flights from Brisbane were too expensive or too inconvenient (via Beijing) or both, so I booked a Scoot flight from the Gold Coast to Singapore and then a direct flight with Singapore Airlines.

OOL aka Coolangatta Airport was unbelievably bad yesterday. I arrived just before 7.30am for a 9am flight. After waiting in line for over an hour to check in it was time for the next queue for the security screening. Laptop out, coins out of pockets, Jacket off etc. Finally through. But this was only the preliminary screening. For international flights it was straight to the next queue and the same procedure all over again.

 An interesting novelty was the "outgoing passenger card". Also they wanted to see my onward booking from Singapore...not that one is needed. By the time we boarded I was already in a foul mood.

SCOOT

This budget carrier was founded by a Kiwi who was a former Singapore Airlines executive. His inspiration must have been Ryan Air. It is nearly as bad. They have a water dispenser but no cups! Bring your own or buy a drink on board if you want water. Unlike Ryan Air, the legroom was acceptable but otherwise they could be twins. 

This young lass was forced to work as a trainee stewardess for the entire flight :-) We did finally arrive and after filling in another form (arrival card) we got off the plane only half an hour late. Singapore customs was friendly and efficient and a nice welcome. Booking a Hotel at the Airport was also easy as was the Taxi to my Hotel the 81. 

Geylang

This seems to be the food area of Singapore, where eating is the national sport. Geylang Road  has nothing but great restaurants sprinkled with the odd Buddist temple

or Hindu statue ( Ganesh)

I am embarrassed to admit how many small meals I had in the few hour before bed. My last one was at a great Muslim Indian 24 hour joint where I will go have breakfast as soon as I finish writing this post.

Anyway, getting hungry :-)

Have a nice day all and stay tuned for Istanbul updates. Also check out the Academy website which will be more chess orientated than this, my personal blog. 

Cheers,

                   Alex.