Day 1-2: 18 Hours in the Air + Night 1 in Singapore

December 20-21, 2024

And we're off! After we left our post at the lounge, we headed to our gate and boarded for the longest direct flight in the world. The boarding process was extremely smooth and quick, owing largely to the fact that the plane was only operating at half-capacity (due to the length of the flight) and that Singapore Airlines is an incredibly efficient operation. Emily and I were seated next to each other in the middle of the plane in gigantic reclining seats that we would later learn could be converted to fully lie-flat beds! More on that later.

While we waited to take off, we got settled in and got acquainted with our setups, which included a gigantic TV with touchscreen remote, a nook where we could put our feet up, a secret pocket with noise cancelling headphones and a water bottle, a pillow, blanket, slippers, and ample charging ports! Before we took off, we were served fresh orange juice and offered champagne, which I (Max) happily accepted.

Takeoff sort of caught us by surprise as we couldn't see any windows, but our humongous A350-900 Airbus lifted up smoothly and we were on our way.

I had downloaded an app called "Timeshifter" to help us beat jet lag, and the app suggested we basically fall asleep immediately for the first 9 hours of the flight. We obviously did not do this, but we beat jet lag in our own way, opting to sleep a few hours on and off throughout the flight so as not to miss meal times and to still be tired at a normal bedtime when we landed.

Speaking of the meals, there were two full service meal periods, one shortly after takeoff and one soon before landing. Each meal consisted of three courses that, by airplane food standards, were pretty good! We both got the ramen for our first meal and the seafood mac for our second, which I liked but Emily, not so much.

With around 5 hours remaining in the flight, we asked for our seats to be converted into beds to try to get some more comfortable sleep. As soon as our beds were prepared, we experienced the only turbulence of the entire flight, which really cut into naptime! But we are so grateful that we even had the option to turn the seats into beds and were luckily able to sleep for much of the remaining flight when the turbulence settled down.

Finally, after 18 hours and a cumulative 4-5 hours of sleep each, we touched down in Singapore and the land portion of the honeymoon was officially underway! The Singapore airport is not only pristine, which we will soon realize is the entire country of Singapore, but it's also extremely quiet (unlike the NYC area airports), efficient, and essentially a mall. We didn't really get to explore much, but we got our bags from baggage claim quite easily and were ready to head to the hotel.

We used the Grab app, which is essentially Uber, to call a car to our hotel, but the car was too small for our big suitcases so only one fit in the trunk while the other rode shotgun for the drive to our hotel, the Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore.

When we got to the hotel, the staff whisked our bags away and gave us a tour of the facilities. We didn't have a ton of time to settle in as we had our first dinner reservation that night, but the view from our room was stunning. It sort of felt like the view was being projected onto a screen rather than an actual view of the city.

The hotel called us a taxi to our dinner at Candlenut, which was a short drive away. Candlenut has one Michelin star and specializes in Peranakan cuisine, which is a blend of Chinese and Malaysian. We opted for the a la carte menu as opposed to the prix fixe because our lack of sleep was starting to hit us, but we had an amazing meal of Ngoh Hiang, which was sort of like a savory spring roll but the wrapper is fried beancurd skin, a Wing Bean Salad, Blue Swimmer Crab Curry, and Ikan Bakar, which is charcoal grilled spiced local red snapper.

While we were waiting for the appetizers to come, the staff of the restaurant that wasn't working that night set up in the entryway to sing Christmas carols! They were dressed up in matching choir outfits and sang beautifully through a few classics (perhaps a few too many by the end).

As dinner was winding down, we were growing increasingly tired and ready to get to bed. We called for a Grab to take us back to the hotel and we both fell asleep in it in our failed attempt to ward off jet lag until 11 pm.

While it was an extremely long travel day, it was about as smooth as it could get and we were so excited to finally be on the other side of the world to celebrate our wedding and be on our honeymoon!

Can't wait to keep blogging through the trip and keeping you all posted on our travels and adventures!

Love,

Max & Em