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KC Sim

Singapore Changi Airport Spotting

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Is the oil depot still burning?!! I was arriving from PVG just past midnight on Monday morning, and could see the fire on approach to Changi. At first I thought a village in JB was on fire, and it was only when the aircraft got nearer that I could see that it was actually an oil depot! The fire was fierce to say the least, with smoke bellowing hundred of meters into the sky. Quite a sight I must say...

Edited by Jonathan Kong

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Nice pix, Hoe Jyh. Did you try zooming out in this position to include fire? Old c/s still better than no c/s IMO which wd have been the case if the weather had not held. Great to see a TG 744 after so long at SIN. TG, now that you have discovered C15, do park there more often.

Edited by Jonathan Kong

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Any temporary change in approaches into and departures out of Changi?

 

Was visiting SATCC yesterday morning and was told that as a result of the fire the runway for arrivals was changed to 20C ahead of the preferred 20R and the latter used for majority of departures - especially during peak arrival periods.

 

Situation had already been reverted to normal however by the end of the visit as fire had been supressed significantly.

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Thanks for sharing, Raymond. Is that the new Citibank corporate jet?

 

PS what lens did you use for this shot? Was this at max zoom setting?

Edited by Jonathan Kong

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24th August 2008

 

Bad weather (storming the whole afternoon right into the night) and I got very bored at home. What to do? i thought why not head out to Changi Airport and I shall use this opportunity to showcase the new T3 to my Malaysian friends. So I braved the rain and took a very slow drive on the expressway with the wipers struggling to cope at full speed....

 

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Depending on where you park in the basement, you will enter the terminal through this level - one of numerous food outlets and a gigantic foodcourt. See that sign that says "tren"? Why couldn't they use "keretapi" instead? Tren pulak?!

 

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Just outside the food court. Looks like I was not the only one who was bored at home. A lot of people do come out here during the weekends just to jalan-jalan.

 

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From the basement air well, you can look up into the mezzanine, arrival and departure levels. Of course you can also see the famous T3 ceiling which is the basis of the present corporate logo for this newest terminal.

 

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Departure concourse. Personally, while others find this artistically pleasing, I find that the patterned floors combined with the louvred ceiling gives my eyes a painful time. I can become kero after a while. I wished they would have left the floors a mono-toned hue...

 

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See what I mean? Much better right? At the far background is the famous GREEN-WALL. The plants there are all real!

 

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Southern end departure airside entrance.

 

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Vicinity of the southern end of departure concourse.

 

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On the way up to the viewing gallery, you will pass the shopping level. Lots of branded shops here but I seriously wonder who the hell would come all the way here for retail therapy?? Not to say the stuff here is cheap...

 

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A peek down into airside from waaaay up there. I can almost touch the ceiling!!!

 

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Ok... here is the so-called viewing mall. View what? Look to the right of the photo and you will see the direction Changi is heading as far as public viewing galleries are concerned. Very disappointed to say the least! Only T1 is left undisturbed but not for long, it will soon be converted to one of this pattern.

 

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If you fly SQ from KL, and the 777 you are on docks at T3, you will arrive into this area which is the arrivals passport control.

 

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Skytrain connecting T3 to the rest of Changi (except Budget Terminal).

 

Ok a visit to Changi is not complete until a visit to the T1 viewing gallery is in order. So that is coming up next.

 

Hope you like the photos of T3.

Edited by Ryan Soh

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Ryan Soh, thanks for taking your time to show us the wonderful Changi T3. :clapping:

Good idea when not spotting, terminal shooting also good. :yahoo:

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Ryan Soh, thanks for taking your time to show us the wonderful Changi T3. :clapping:

Good idea when not spotting, terminal shooting also good. :yahoo:

Ah... but you see, no trip to Changi - especially armed with a camera, is complete without visiting the viewing gallery at the antiquated T1. Without further ado, crappy weather notwithstanding, here goes...

 

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See what I mean? It was pouring cats and dogs. Maybe this was what put out the fire at the depot in Johor? Xiamen Airlines 737-700 is joined by a Cathay 747-400 which just flew in from BKK.

 

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Lots of paging for missing passengers on this Lion Air 737-900ER bound for Jakarta Cenkareng.

 

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Not that we get to see a lot of 727s! Got my juices flowing when I saw this one. Can anyone shed some light on this beauty? Definitely Indonesia registered.

 

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You can never get away from MH at Changi. Eh? Visit Malaysia Year sudah habis ke...?

 

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Long long long!!!! So panjang I didn't know how to fit it all into my screen. Hence, it looks so far away. Cadburi Air (buri... geddit? Geddit? Hehe...) ferries another plane load of MBK bound bargain hunters to the Land of a Thousand Green Curries.

 

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Off to Fuzhou! Little baby Boeing zips off into the rainy weather running after the big sister TG A346... Wait for me!

 

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One more Lion Air joins the party...

 

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Garuda (GA) wannabe. Not too sure if you guys have made it down to Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta Airport but you would see that Lion's (JT) schedule is a mirror of GA's. If you have a GA flight departing for MES, you can be sure there is a JT following it some 5 mins later. Likewise for Bali, Makassar, Manado, Banjarmasin, Solo, Surabaya etc... So it is not surprising, JT flies from SIN to CGK, DPS and SGN - all of which are GA's destinations from here. As they say, imitation is the GREATEST form of flattery!

 

Ok la... That is my contribution (finally) to the Singapore thread. Took me all this while but I guess better late than NEVER!

 

Ciao bello!

Ryan

Edited by Ryan Soh

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P1000075.jpg

One more Lion Air joins the party...

 

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I once saw one Lion 737-900 departing the apron while another one is taxiing into the apron. Saw it together with Nick C. and a few others. Didn't manage to catch a shot though as we saw that when we just arrived at the viewing gallery and none of us have our equipment set up.

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I once saw one Lion 737-900 departing the apron while another one is taxiing into the apron. Saw it together with Nick C. and a few others. Didn't manage to catch a shot though as we saw that when we just arrived at the viewing gallery and none of us have our equipment set up.

 

You talk as if you are there to film an Jerry Bruckheimer epic blockbuster huh? Set up what equipment?? Hahahaha...

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In SIN, many Lion 737-900ER to shoot. I wish KUL will get them soon. :pardon:

All I can see over here is mainly their 737-400 <_>

 

Good shots Ryan Soh even in rainy day. :clapping:

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I once saw one Lion 737-900 departing the apron while another one is taxiing into the apron. Saw it together with Nick C. and a few others. Didn't manage to catch a shot though as we saw that when we just arrived at the viewing gallery and none of us have our equipment set up.

 

You talk as if you are there to film an Jerry Bruckheimer epic blockbuster huh? Set up what equipment?? Hahahaha...

 

Camera "dismantled" in bag mah. No time to take out attach lense and take pics. When we arrived the departing 739 already started taxiing out already.

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24th August Terminal Shooting... Continued

 

Ok... a few months ago, the very first hotel chain to be attached to Changi Airport opened. The Crowne Plaza Hotel is a masterpiece in its own right, seemingly born out of the pages of World's Finest Hotels. Equally artistically pleasing as Terminal 3, this hotel is ultra-chic, ultra-sexy and ultra-avante-garde. It looks more like a setting for an expensive chill out bar than a hotel!

 

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From Terminal 3, this linkway brings you into the hotel. Immediately the dark tones begin to envelope you as you get closer.

 

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The choice of matt and shiny tiles is sheer brilliant in ingenuity. The result is an oxymoronic patterned palette of dark but relaxing ambience.

 

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Upper level.

 

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Upper level. Daylight courtesy of the roof-top garden.

 

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Looking down into the main lobby.

 

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Street level main lobby.

 

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I could sit here all day!

 

 

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Ryan, thanks for showing some interior shots of the hotel. :drinks:

So far, anyone stayed on the higher floors ? What are the rooms that can use for plane spotting ? :pardon:

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All rooms are a standard rate of SGD220.00++ (unless u have the suites, it is a different story). The price doesn't differ whether it is facing the runway, or otherwise.

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All rooms are a standard rate of SGD220.00++ (unless u have the suites, it is a different story). The price doesn't differ whether it is facing the runway, or otherwise.

 

Pricing is comparable to some hotels in town.

Anyone spotted from the room ?

From the outside, it seems some rooms are blocked by the exterior fitting. :blink:

 

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The Crowne Plaza Changi Airport sits on what is a prime location for spotting and photography. But not surprisingly, security demands imposed on them produced what I consider an eye-sore that it completely hideous.

 

- The glass is so heavily tinted that you probably will be challenged to photoshop your digital images

- The patterned grill on the outside of the building is stark white against a very heavily tinted glass facade and reminds me of the kind of window grills that my grandmother's home had in the 1960s

- The passageway to the hotel from T3's departure hall is sterile, uninviting and hardly the warm welcome I felt a hotel should extend to tired businessmen

 

There are many great airport hotels in the world - just look at CDG's Hilton and Sofitel, the Sofitel Athens Airport, Hotel Royal Kanoni at Corfu, the Marroad International Hotel in NRT, the airport hotel at Osaka Itami Airport etc. All we had is this expensive retro-looking box . . . sigh. Let's hope the service makes up for all this.

 

KC Sim

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The Crowne Plaza Changi Airport sits on what is a prime location for spotting and photography. But not surprisingly, security demands imposed on them produced what I consider an eye-sore that it completely hideous.

 

- The glass is so heavily tinted that you probably will be challenged to photoshop your digital images

- The patterned grill on the outside of the building is stark white against a very heavily tinted glass facade and reminds me of the kind of window grills that my grandmother's home had in the 1960s

- The passageway to the hotel from T3's departure hall is sterile, uninviting and hardly the warm welcome I felt a hotel should extend to tired businessmen

 

There are many great airport hotels in the world - just look at CDG's Hilton and Sofitel, the Sofitel Athens Airport, Hotel Royal Kanoni at Corfu, the Marroad International Hotel in NRT, the airport hotel at Osaka Itami Airport etc. All we had is this expensive retro-looking box . . . sigh. Let's hope the service makes up for all this.

 

KC Sim

What is it with Changi and their penchant to keep the public away from gawking at planes? First the destruction of all 3 viewing galleries, and now they do this to Crowne Plaza? So even if I were to get a runway facing room, I wont be able to photograph much? Is that what you are saying?

 

Anyway with regards to the decor, to each his own I guess. I have sat at the bar, lounged at the lobby, poked my head into the restaurant on the 2nd floor... I guess all that is left is for me to get a room there. I like the decor quite a bit actually and it reminds me of a very matured and upmarket Velvet Underground or Alley Bar. Perhaps this is why I find it so relaxing in there.

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Hey guys from SIN, i just wonder why there has already been 3 Sundays that no Jett8 to HKG. Anyone of you have the idea of that?

I have been waiting them for long, but Jett8 don't want to see me :angry:

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Hey Sneeze,

 

This is because Jett8 seemed to have ran into yet another rough patch again lately.

 

Quoted from Jett8's press release on 15th Aug 08.

http://www.jett8airlines.com/news/jett8press150808.pdf

 

"JETT8 AIRLINES CARGO ANNOUNCES THE IMMEDIATE SUSPENSION OF SCHEDULED FLIGHTS TO AND FROM HKG, AMS, MMX, PVG, BLR, MAA AND BOM, UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. THESE FLIGHTS WITH THE RELATIVE CONNECTIVITY ARE AFFECTED BY TEMPORARY LANDING PERMITS AND SLOTS AT CERTAIN STATIONS. HOWEVER SERVICES WILL CONTINUE ON A FULLY CHARTERED BASIS. ANY INCONVENIENCE CAUSED TO ALL OUR VALUED CUSTOMERS AND AGENTS, IS DEEPLY REGRETTED."

 

Hope they recover and start flying scheduled operations again soon! :mellow:

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