Malaysian airports are really inefficient! It made me extremely embarrassed when I was sending off my relative who was in distress as she was unable to use the kiosk to check in and we were running out of time. To make matters worst when I tried to ask for help from the personnel, they were indifferent and asked me to queue up at the manual check in counter which had a long queue and I was positive my relative might miss her flight. What’s the point of having so many kiosk machines but it is non functional and staffs that are useless. While in the queue, a couple from Guang Zhou was curious as to why I am able to converse in mandarin and their curiosity got the best of them resulting in the guy asking me how do I know mandarin? We then exchange a short conversation which comprise of how efficient airports in China are and they have lots of counters etc. The most awkward moment was when the guy remarked that he thinks Malaysian Chinese are very friendly, unlike Singaporean Chinese who tends to be more proud and unfriendly. I was feeling slightly awkward because my relative was a Singaporean Chinese but they were not aware because she carried a Canadian passport. All I could do was just smile and I was glad when the conversation move on to Singaporeans in general are very proud because of their currency is almost catching up with the US dollar. Anyway I was unable to help my relative much and things were sped up by my mother in law who had to break some societal rules. She went immediately to the counter and gave her most charming smile and asked for assistance (with a different staff) and immediately everything was solved.
I saw on YouTube that Singapore’s airport is almost fully automated and there is no need to go through an actual officer checking on documents. I think it is pretty cool and doing my homework online before visiting will definitely help a lot! I have already have a few place that I am planning to visit such as Jewel at Changi since everyone seems to be gushing about the indoor waterfall. I definitely want to see the Merlion this time because the last I went there 12 years ago, I did not have the opportunity to visit that iconic structure. I want to watch the Gardens By The Bay light show and visit the art museum (okay I’m gonna visit anything that is free, like my friend who is earning UK Pounds say “we don’t need to give Singapore more money” which I believe is meant to be a joke). My boss is quite funny, she told me that I don’t have to be a goody two shoes and attend all the event in the conference but instead go have fun visiting Singapore. Except for the workshops almost everything will be available to be viewed on demand and I am sort of contemplating to skip a few of the agenda but then again it’s very hard for me to skip stuff I have anticipated for a few months. I need to remind myself my visit is solely academic! My boss actually asked me to convince my partner to accompany me but as much as I want him to accompany me, I know the circumstances doesn’t allow him to leave his job to spend a few days with me.
Anyway, I really hope that I am not disappointed with my upcoming trip because I have really high expectations.
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