I'd like to take you on a little journey with me, and I will show you how I woke up this morning in Singapore and found my way to the majestic Kingdom of Cambodia. As I've mentioned a number of times in this blog, I have real sleep issues, but somehow the schedule I needed to keep to ensure I was up on time for my flight this morning seemed to whip my sleep into shape.
I have a very old-school alarm clock with a little hammer inside two bells, and it is very loud. I am guaranteed to wake up when I set it, so I brought it on this trip as my secret weapon. I was up at 5:30am and out of the hotel by 6:30am. As the Crowne Plaza is basically in Changi Airport, I didn't have far to go.
I caught a connecting shuttle to Terminal 2 and proceeded with the necessary steps to make sure I had everything to board the flight. After that was all taken care of, I was faced with a dilemma. I've established with you that I am not sorry about spending my money on a business class ticket, even when it sends me broke, but using the lounge is another thing. For some reason, I don't like business class lounges. I think it's almost a snub to everyone else who can't access them.
I'd never been to the Singapore Airlines Business Class Lounge, so I thought I would go and at least check it out. I was greeted by a number of staff who stood in front of a beautiful Christmas tree you can see below.
I've noticed that the word "Kris" has a lot to do with Singapore Airlines' identity, and I just asked ChatGPT what it means. It told me the term "Kris" refers to a traditional Southeast Asian dagger, which is a cultural symbol in the region. It then went on to say that Kris is incorporated into Singapore Airlines' branding to reflect its "Asian heritage, elegance, and commitment to exceptional service."
The lounge was nice. There were large, comfortable chairs set up facing each other in blocks. There was also a large food service section.
I actually did something I shouldn't have while I was in this lounge today. I sat in a section of chairs and decided to get something to eat. There was a lady who looked nice sitting diagonally opposite me, and somehow I got the feeling to trust in the mob and leave my carry-on luggage unattended while I went to get some food. When I returned to my seat, nothing seemed to have changed, but I can't help but kick myself for that because literally anything could have happened. A lesson well learned.
Below, you can see some of the seating and the little lamps in between the chairs, and below that, you can see some of the food area. I couldn't get a good shot because I didn't want anyone to think I was taking a photo of them, but I think you get the idea. There was so much food and lots to drink. I just had a sandwich and an orange juice.
It’s in this lounge that I felt a sense of arrogance and superiority from other travellers. Yes, it is comfortable and convenient, but I find the lounge to be more pretentious than actually flying business class itself.
I couldn’t take the elitist vibes I was getting in the lounge, so I decided to go and wait at the gate. On the way, I saw some beautiful mosaicked orchids nestled amongst a gorgeous koi pond. Below, you can see one of the orchids and the koi pond from a floor above them. Then you can see some of the mosaic detail and the koi pond from the same level.
When I made it to the gate, there was a whole group of people sitting in average-sized chairs meant for the masses. Some were sitting on the floor, and they were all waiting to be let in by immigration to sit in the lounge and wait for the flight. I managed to get a seat, and interestingly, I felt a million times more comfortable sitting with these people than I did with the people in the SilverKris Lounge.
After we all cleared immigration, we were given access to the lounge. I took these two photos to compare it with the business class lounge. The first photo is of the general sitting area, and the second photo is of the water fountain—the only food or drink available in this lounge.
As a business class customer, I was given the option to board first, and I have to admit that is something I do like about the service. Business class from Singapore to Siem Reap was very different from business class from Adelaide to Singapore. It was more like the business class from Adelaide to Sydney or Melbourne—not that I ever fly business for those routes, but I have seen the people up the front.
I snuck this photo of the row next to me.
I think I dozed off a little during the flight because it seemed to go so quickly. We made it to Siem Reap with no dramas, and after I cleared immigration, I went to wait for my bag. I had this awful feeling that it wouldn’t be on the conveyor belt, but it was. The label that Mum, Rebecca, and Maureen thought said "heavy" on the bag actually said "priority," so this is another thing I like about business class—they obviously take extra care with your luggage.
My travel agent had booked a transfer for me to the hotel, the Borei Angkor. To be honest, at first, I was a little apprehensive about the person who might be picking me up. I figured maybe they got my information from somewhere else, or they might dangerous—all sorts of things went through my head. But when I walked out of the entrance to the waiting sea of people, I saw a man holding a sign with my name on it, and I knew he was a nice man.
Below, you can see a photo of the sign at the airport that I took while I was waiting for Thy to bring the car around.
From the airport to the hotel was around a 50-minute drive, so I got chatting to the driver, Thy. My initial assessment of him was right—he was a nice man. He was married with two children in their mid to late teens. We talked about the King of Cambodia and how he didn’t have any power; that was all on the Prime Minister. He said the Prime Minister had been in office for 40-odd years and was now handing it over to his son. Thy then remarked that people want to see change. He went on to say, “It's called corruption.”
Driving through the semi-rural area to the hotel, I remembered that Cambodia really is a third-world country. It reminds me so much of Tanzania, with all the street food and little shops set up on the road. I told Thy I was writing a fictional book based in Cambodia and wanted to see everything. He said he could drive me to see everything and would charge $80 US a day, sometimes more if we were traveling longer distances.
I thought to myself, I need a driver, this guy is nice, and he happens to be in the right place at the right time from his perspective because I can give him lots of business. $80 a day seemed reasonable, and I already felt comfortable with him, so I decided I would go and see the city with him tomorrow. As I got out of the car and tipped him $15 US, we exchanged details, and I told him I would call him later.
The hotel is on a large property, and as you walk in, you are greeted by an enormous Christmas decoration.
They take quite a while to check you in, but after that, a really nice, beautiful young Cambodian woman showed me around the hotel. It has a shop, beauty salon, restaurant, and pool area. It’s lovely. I would say the hotel is a four, maybe five-star hotel.
She then took me to my floor, which is level 4. It is advertised as the Privilege Floor, but they didn’t say much about it when I was checking in. I think it has extra amenities—there was a cocktail lounge I noticed on the way.
After the woman led me to my room, she left, but she lingered just a little bit, which I thought was weird. Then I went about looking at the room. Below, you can see the twin beds for Maiki and me, and there is a decent bathroom as well.
As I was getting myself sorted out, I realised that I had forgotten to tip the girl who had brought me to my room. I decided to go down to reception to see her and give her the tip myself. I tipped her $5, but I’m not sure I’m getting the tips right. A room service guy has been here twice, and I’ve tipped him $5 each time, but I don’t want to set a standard if that’s too high.
I am also going to run out of money pretty quickly if I’m tipping that much every time they do something. I called the front desk, which is different from reception, and asked how much people usually tip here. I don’t think she understood me. I asked Mum, and she said one or two dollars, so I’m going to bring it down a notch.
They actually don’t understand English very well at all here, but I don’t mind. I think that’s all part of the fun of travelling.
