Going to Dunham Massey was my opportunity to see the Fallow deer at one of the National Trust properties, where the deer are in a sanctuary, so kept as wild as possible within the grounds of the Estate.
Although they are relatively close to the families visiting, the deer are out of bounds, as are any activities that might encourage the deer to seek human food or be fed leaves. So there are areas within the park that are for picnics and of course several options for something yummy, like Rum & Raisin ice-cream cone.
The house stands proudly looking over the deer park with a long driveway to herald guests arrivals. The house is available to go into, but today, we were concentrating on the grounds so that Alex could stretch his legs.
I would like to return to visit the house, which also served as a hospital during WWI and also call into the town of Dunham, in which all the buildings have been owned by the same family for 500 years, which allows the village to be kept as untouched by modern life as possible.
The red dots are the route we walked in clockwise direction
Leaving the carpark, we passed through the visitor centre and headed alongside the canal that passes alongside the house. It would be lovely to have a lake alongside the house.
I thought the weather was not going to clear up for our visit. However, despite the sky being pretty cloudy, it stayed dry while we were there. Which was good, as there wasn’t any shelter once we started the walk. Alongside the canal was a very old tree, believed to be over 500 years old, still alive and growing.
We walked past the house and then started our hike. It is all pretty flat paths around the property, which is good. It isn’t as grand looking as the house at Lyme Park, from the outside.
It didn’t take long to find some of the deer, who were resting under the trees alongside the path. They are beautiful young male Fallow deer and Alex was interested in seeing them.
Although there was a fair amount of dead leaves on the ground, the trees are still green. I can imagine how pretty it will look as Autumn comes around. Nat has booked us in to visit at Christmas time, when hopefully there might be some snow, but also the park will be lit with Christmas lights. It looks like it will be beautiful. Here’s the link if you are interested.
The female deer were quite a bit harder to spot as they lay in the long grass. It was generally their twitching ears or tails that caught our attention.
Alex liked that there were several animals carved out of tree stumps that were all about his height.
As we walked around the meadows we saw more of the deer and also where the effort to control the bracken was being undertaken by bruising it, allowing other plants to grow. I didn’t know what that meant, but it appears it is a process that is done regularly to damage the stalks of the bracken, making them weaker and also weakening the system of roots and rhizomes underground. They even have small machines that can be pulled by a tractor that will apply the pressure needed. Bracken is very hard to control, because the strength of the plant is underground, so just chopping off the leaves won’t stop it. It looks like they are doing a pretty good job here in the deer park.
It was pretty walking around the perimeter of the park. We passed a lot of other families out for the afternoon. Lots of people with their dogs, on leads, which was a requirement to protect the deer.
As we started to head back towards the house, the suggestion of an ice-cream was a really welcome one. The stables had been converted into an upstairs restaurant and a very busy ice-cream shop.
My Rum & Raisin single scoop ice-cream was very nice and the Dutch chocolate one was enjoyed by Alex with help from Nat. It was a lovely treat for our littlest hiker who had done so well on our long walk.
Our little champion (blurred on purpose) with Dunham Massey in the background
I’ve never been much of a cook, although I did like getting into the kitchen to make a nice meal. I think the most satisfying part was sitting down to dinner with John and having him really enjoy what I had cooked.
John liked simple meals. He liked to feel like he had eaten a proper meal and that he wasn’t going to feel hungry later. He loved eating the typical “meat and two veggies” type meal, especially if there was gravy and he could mop it up with a slice of bread. He didn’t like spicy food, so no Indian or Asian, other than Chinese food, but then that was really only meat and veg in a different kind of gravy.
When Nat invited me to come and live with her, Mark and Alex after John passed away, she said she would help broaden my range of tastes for food and I am happy to say between her and Mark, the process has begun. So I thought I would share one of the recipes that Nat makes, that I liked the first time I tried it.
Israeli Lamb & Orzo ( Risoni in Australia) one pan meal.
I had never heard of Orzo or Risoni pasta before. It is a wheat pasta that looks very much like rice. The body of the meal is a lovely mix of lamb mince, tomato sauce, carrot, herbs and topped with feta cheese. It smells amazing when it is cooking and tastes really nice. I think even John would like it, although he might have passed on the crumbled feta cheese.
Here we go:
Time to make it is approx 40 minutes of you are cooking for 2 and 45 if for 4
Use a large wide based frying pan with lid for cooking
Ingredient list (for 2) – double the quantities if making this for 4
250g lamb mince – or can be pork mince
1 large carrot
1 sachet of concentrated tomato paste (32g)
500ml of chicken stock – using stock cubes dissolved in boiling water or heat to boiling pre-made stock prior to adding
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
5g finely chopped parsley
30g Greek feta cheese crumbled
150g Orzo (Risoni) pasta
1 garlic clove – peeled and finely chopped
1 onion
30g pine nuts
Olive Oil for cooking
salt and pepper to taste
Method:
Peel and finely chop the onion. Peel and finely chop the carrot. Heat the dry pan over a medium heat. Note don’t use oil yet. Once hot, add the pine nuts to the pan and cook for 2 -3 mins or until toasted and golden. Keep a careful eye on them so they don’t burn. Once cooked, remove them from the pan and put them aside for later.
Put the pan back on the medium heat and add a small amount of Olive Oil. Once hot, add the chopped carrot and onion with a pinch of salt and cook for 3-4 mins until they begin to soften.
Add the lamb (or pork) mince and the cinnamon to the pan and cook for 4 minutes or until cooked, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Add the chopped garlic, tomato paste and dried oregano and cook for about 1 minute stirring.
Add in the boiling chicken stock, Orzo/Risoni Pasta and a pinch of salt and pepper. Increase the head to medium-high and cook, covered for 12-14 minutes or until the Orzo/Risoni pasta is tender. Stir half way through cook to prevent the Orzo/Risoni pasta from sticking. That’s your one pan Lamb/Pork and Orzo done.
Serve in bowls, garnished with the chopped parsley, toasted pine nuts and crumbled fetta.
Today was a big day for me, here in Manchester. We picked up my car, a Skoda Karoq from the dealer. I have wheels.
I can sit in the driver’s seat, but can’t drive her.
Introducing my car. She is a 2019 Karoq Sportsline with only 9000 miles or 14,400 km on the clock. She has only had one owner and so is in very good condition. She is automatic transmission, which will be great for not having to change gear in traffic. Because of COVID lockdowns in 2020, she wasn’t driven much and she is very comfortable.
I have the keys
BUT, I can’t drive her until 12.01am on Sunday 19th!
What??? I know that sounds crazy doesn’t it.
I have been driving in Australia, since I was 18. John taught me to drive 41 years ago and I’ve been driving ever since. I have a clean driving record. I’ve never been in an accident – my fault or anyone else’s. I have also have a rating 1 for insurance with a no-claims-bonus.
My Australian driving licence is good for me to drive internationally., although I have moved here permanently, I don’t have to change my licence to a UK one for up to 12 months.
However, for the car insurance, that is required to be had, many of the insurance companies, including the one Stockport Skoda deal with, won’t provide insurance to anyone to doesn’t hold either a Full or Provisional UK/EU (European Union) licence.
So, I couldn’t take my car for a test drive, under the insurance for test drives. Today, I couldn’t drive my car off the dealer lot and I couldn’t drive it back home to Gorton. Thank goodness, my daughter, Nat has a full UK licence and was here help me.
Nat happily took us for a test drive on Thursday last week and she again drove the car today for the journey home. Nat was able to tell me how lovely the car was to drive. How comfortable the sporty bucket seats are and how the seat has a warmer in it. For me, it was about how easy it is to get in and out of the seats, leg room, and how big the boot is.
As an experienced driver, I felt confident that Nat would look after me and my need for a good car. I was able to organise insurance for me to drive my car from Sunday 19th with a company that is comfortable insuring holders of non-British licences. The insurer is called Marshmellow. Sounds dodgy doesn’t it. Well, unusual names for insurers isn’t rare. There was another company who quoted for me called Elephant.
I elected to get insurance from 19th September, because if I had said I wanted insurance straight away, the premium would be higher. The dealer said try getting a quote for after 4 days of having the car, as they can provide complimentary insurance for 4 days for Nat driving the car. I did and also put Nat onto the insurance, so she will be able to drive the car too if she needs.
Now I have wheels I will be able to build my confidence in the Manchester traffic and with a car seat in the back, soon will be able to have Alex with me. Here he is giving her the stamp of approval.
So this is my beautiful car.
Keith who sold me my car
Plenty of boot space with electronic open and close
If you live in a first-world country, there is a pretty good chance that at least once a week you venture into a shop to buy groceries.
If you live in Australia, your major chain stores Coles, Woolworths or Aldi. If you have a social conscience, you might elect to snub the big chains and head over to your local independent Foodland or IGA store.
Over here in the England there are a number of different supermarkets, some of which I have visited previously on holidays to England. Locally here in Gorton, there is an Aldi store and it is just like the one in Noarlunga where I used to shop. The range on offer is pretty much the same, their own branded items and the weekly Special Buys in the middle of the store.
Closer to us is a big Tesco Express. It is an everything store – from clothing, homewares, toys, alcohol, a pharmacy, petrol station and food. So although there are a number of small convenience shops around as well as a small market centre, a pharmacy, and some discount shops, I would guess most people in Gorton very likely head into Tesco to shop.
There are also quite a few of the convenience stores that are also “Off-Licence”, meaning they sell booze for consumption away from the shop. I guess they replace the drive through bottle shops that you can find next to pubs in Australia.
My home guide, Nat, says there isn’t any need to shop anywhere else, as Tesco has everything and I think she is right.
I thought it would be interesting to share a quick comparison between the prices at Tesco of some everyday items and how their price converts to Aussie dollars. At the moment, I am still doing the maths in my head to try and convert and see whether it is worth buying something I don’t really need.
So, when I took myself for a walk to Tesco, which is a pleasant 15 minute walk along Hyde Road. I thought it might be interesting to blog about it. Google Maps helped with picking the quickest route, although it is not difficult to find with out a map. I am leaving from Tannery Way, which is where I am living now. and Hyde Road is the major road I will be walking along.
Along the way to Hyde Road I crossed over the Gore Brook, which runs from the reservoir behind the lovely open area of Debdale Park (more about the Park in another blog to come). Once on Hyde Road, I passed the Gorton Butterfly Garden, where plants are grown specifically to attract butterflies (although I didn’t see any visiting).
The Gore Brook. The Butterfly Garden is behind the grey fence on the right
I continued along Hyde Road, a busy road carrying traffic through the suburbs of Manchester, seeing the Wagon & Horses Pub and the historic Brookfield Church. In a brief lull in the traffic, I managed to get clear photos of the pub and church.
Nat told me that the reason that pubs have unusual names and a picture for their logo, is that in times past, when not many could read, they could identify the pub by the picture. So the Wagon & Horses has a picture of a wagon cart being drawn by large horses.
On my side of Hyde Road are The Lord Nelson Pub and The Plough Pub. No one needs to go thirsty here in Gorton, as pubs seem to be everywhere and not always on main roads, and alcohol is available at the Off License shops and Tesco. I am not much of a drinker, so I am not sure how many of them I will go inside of. But they are interesting to look at and find out about.
Past the drinking holes, is the Tesco petrol station. Here the price of petrol was £1.34 per litre. Currently the exchange rate from English Pounds to Australian Dollar is £1 = $1.87, so a litre of petrol would be $2.51 Australian – ouch!
The houses along this area of Hyde Road are called Terraced. They are a set of homes all connected. Most have little garden area out the front and some are above shops. Unlike Adelaide, there are very few single storey homes or bungalows. Most have at least two levels and these ones have three. They may also contain rooms or flats that people live in, rather than being a single family home.
Terraced houses across from Tesco
In the carpark is the market building which has a variety shops in it. There is also a Subway cafe and a 2nd hand goods store. I thought I would have a look into the Gorton Market as Nat wasn’t sure what was in there. Outside small stalls of second hand clothes and goods were set up. They were attracting some interest.
inside the market were a variety of stores, a couple of cafés and fresh produce stalls.
At the butcher shop, the meat was priced per pound (lb) weight or per kilogram, which I found interesting. 1 pound weight is just under 500g or half a kilogram.
For a conversion – the diced chicken would be $12.34 per kilogram and the Best Back Bacon would be $18.68 per kilogram.
Apart from selling raw meat, they also sold hot food, like roasted chicken. I bought some nuggets and found a seat in their small eating area to eat them. I was opposite a shoe shop.
After my snack, I headed over to Tesco to look at some of the items and their costs. Here’s my list and what they would cost in Australian dollars.
Box of 50 Earl Grey Tea bags £1.50 or $2.81
Packet of Chocolate Cup Cake mix £1.50 or $2.81
Packet of Chicken Gravy granules £0.70 or $1.31
1kg Plain flour £0.60 or $1.12
2L milk £1.09 or $2.04
Tin of milo £2.00 or $3.74
Small bottle honey in squeeze bottle £1.80 or $3.37
Tin tuna small £0.79 or $1.48
Tin sweetcorn £0.45 or $0.84
Packet of breadcrumbs £0.80 or $1.50
Tub sour cream £1.15 or $2.15
1kg Pack of chicken breast fillets £5.03 or $9.41
Bulk pack of pork belly steaks £2.19 or $4.10
Pork loin steaks £4.50 or $8.42
Packet 8 pork sausages £2.30 or $4.30
Family pack lasagna £3.50 or $6.55
500gm tub Flora Margarine £3.30 or $6.17
10 eggs £1.75 or $3.27. Interestingly you can’t buy a dozen eggs in Tesco, unless you buy two small 6 packs. Eggs as standard come in 10 or 15 packs. What happened to dozens?
1kg Sweet potatoes £0.89 or $1.66
Stick of garlic bread £0.32 or $0.60
1kg onions £0.85 or $1.59
0.63kg bananas @ 0.73/kg £0.44 or $0.82
Cucumber £0.43 or $0.80
I packed my shopping into my Tesco carrier bag using a cashier, rather than the self serve machines. I showed my receipt to the door security man, who was briefly checking whether the receipt matched the type of items bought. Nat said that it was due to people shop lifting expensive items and scanning and paying for an apple instead of their 60 inch tv.
Here in Gorton, Manchester the temperature today is going to be 28 degrees, which is uncomfortably warm because the house is designed for cold weather. No air-conditioning and double paned windows means the air movement is hardly happening.
Nat is ready to start her exam for her Law degree. She is doing it online, so I want to keep the house quiet for her and decided that a morning walk would be nice.
I wanted to check out the old church across Hyde Road and have a look in the church yard. The church appears to be closed up and not in use.
According to the website for the Gorton Unitarians, this is their Brookfield Church and due to Covid-19, there are no services happening there at the moment. Possibly in December they may recommence.
The Gorton (the suburb of Manchester I now live in) Heritage Trail states that the current church was built in 1871 and replaced another church which was built in 1703. A stone from the original church can still be seen, in the lower meadow behind the current church, although I didn’t see it.
Once inside the gate, I wandered through the grounds, looking at family histories marked on the headstones. Most were surrounded by tall grass and weeds and in need of care. Only the large mausoleum was standing proudly away from the weeds.
Here is the resting place of the church’s benefactor and Gorton’s first member of parliament, Richard Peacock.
I came across a circular stone in the grass marking the location of Gorton Schools 1865. Which would make it on the grounds of the original church prior to Bloomfield being built.
The dappled light on this beautiful morning made the graveyard more serene. A quiet resting place.
There is also a memorial to those in the church congregation who served during World War 1 and 2.
A tiny old building stands in the corner of the church yard. Perhaps it was a Sunday school or the home of the minister. Its roof is in need of repair and ivy has taken over the brickwork. But you can see that it had character.
There are many more historical sites around where I now live. From pretty old pubs to a monastery. I am hoping to get out and explore when I can and share with you what is around my new home in Gorton, Manchester and the UK.
Some of you will be unlucky enough to be afflicted with snoring or live with someone who is. Sound asleep, you don’t have any idea you are shaking the roof beams and keeping others awake during the night.
It doesn’t seem to matter what sleeping position you have, on your side, on your back or sitting up. If you fall into a deep sleep, you often snore. Even the nudge from your partner to partially wake you will only result in a temporary sound check and you may quieten down a little, but once you are back to deeper sleep, it is likely your snoring will resume.
I unfortunately am a snorer. Poor John had to put up with it and I became very self conscious of dozing in public – eg on a long haul flight or bus trip, because I might snore.
But hidden within those snores could be a medical condition that is not good for you – Sleep Apnoea. And that’s what I have too.
So what is Sleep Apnoea and how do you know if you have it? Sleep apnoea is when you stop breathing, hold your breath and then restart. That may be common when changing positions during sleep, temporarily holding your breath. But for those of us who suffer from obstructive sleep apnoea, the most common type, our airways relax and become narrow and we stopping breathing. We snore loudly and make gasping or choking sounds. We can also wake frequently. That can lead to us being tired all the time and places stress on our hearts and makes us at a higher risk for strokes. They say it is linked to age and weight (oh no not another thing to have to lose weight for).
Your partner might be able to tell you if you stop breathing during the night, if you have one. If you live alone, then you can’t tell, but could suspect something is going on. The real diagnosis can be made by a sleep specialist, who will monitor you during the night and be able to determine how often you stop breathing. Or if you are lucky, that you don’t stop breathing.
I had that test done. Not the most pleasant thing, to be wired up with monitors that check exactly what happens when I fall asleep. My results said I had Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnoea and the monitors recorded that on average I stopped breathing 39 times an hour. Wow!
That’s how I came to having a CPAP machine beside my bed for the last 7 years. My CPAP – Continuous Positive Airway Pressure – machine delivers a constant and steady air pressure through a mask that sits under my nostrils. The air delivered through the mask holds my airways open stopping it collapsing and narrowing. The sleep clinic set it up for me so it delivers exactly the amount of air pressure I need, the air is warmed as it passes through the tube to the mask to 27 degrees and a water reservoir keeps the air at 4% humidity. The machine is quiet and not much bigger than an alarm clock.
So why this post, it sounds like everything is working out for me? With my mask on, I don’t snore and I don’t stop breathing.
It is because it ticks me off to see tv shows and movies poke fun at people who use a CPAP machine. In a sitcom, if you want to have a gawky or obese character generate even more laughs, it seems adding in that they wear a CPAP mask – a big one, when going to bed is the way to do it.
In tv land, dorky Pjs, a stuffed toy and a CPAP mask don’t make for a sexy bed mate more a loser at love and relationships. If you google CPAP machines in tv and movies you can find a listing of where they make a cameo appearance. For example Leonard Hofstadter in the massively popular Big Bang Theory has one and his lines indicated his acknowledgment that sleep apnoea can kill.
Spreading negatives about a medical device that can help, that implies something about you if you need one, is cruel and crazy. People get so much of their information about the world through popular media and we know how damaging that can be, especially for body image. Each time I see the use of a CPAP machine and mask come up in a show, my heckles go up. (most recently in Last Man On Earth show). Please don’t poke fun and possibly turn people away from having their sleep a healthier one.
And if you or your partner snore and you are feeling tired all the time, please talk to your doctor and see if it could be possible you have sleep apnoea.
On a side note – with COVID-19, it has been found that a CPAP machine can be effective in managing the effects the virus has on a person. Where as previously they may have been struggling to breath alone and they needed care in an ICU in hospital where they would be sedated, have a tube placed down their throat straight into their lungs (intubation) and a ventilator would take over their breathing function, now it has been trialed to use a CPAP machine instead, as it is not invasive, doesn’t require sedation and is able to be used at home. So much better than intubation and using a ventilator which can have very poor outcomes for the patient.
So don’t knock the CPAP machine or its user, please. It is a tool that can be used to save lives and doesn’t say anything about the person who is using it, other than they care about their health.
Since arriving in Manchester on Wednesday, we have been blessed with warm weather, very much like Spring or Autumn temperatures in Adelaide. It has been a bit cloudy in the morning but mostly clearing up to be blue sky and a gentle breeze. My type of weather, and what is lovely is it is late summer here. So much nicer than the late summer last year in Adelaide where the temperature reached 36 degrees and then did not get below 27 overnight. I never like the summer heat in the 40 years I lived in Adelaide.
With the good weather and Natasha taking a break from her exam studies, Mark drove us out to Heaton Park. It is about a 20 minute drive from my new home in Gorton and is on the northern side of Manchester city.
I remember the ice-cream vans from when I was a child in the UK
If you are interested in finding out about Heaton Park, here is the link to information from Manchester City Council, Heaton Park | Manchester City Council
The park is massive. It is filled with open fields, woodlands, tree climb walks, walking paths, an adventure playground, a boating lake, a golf course and historical buildings. There was even a small pop-up fun fair and an animal visiting centre. I loved how there is so much open space here. We went after lunch for a few hours, joining a lot of families. Alex spent some time in the big pusher, nicknamed “The Beast”. It is the type of pusher that can handle rough paths, across the grass and even through the stream (creek).
According to the mobile phone health App, I managed over 10,000 steps and that included uphill and downhill. So lots of exercise at a nice pace. I left Mark to chase after Alex. He loves to run. He puts his little hands out in the direction he wants to go and then he runs. He can reach a good pace too, so he has to be accompanied all the time. He doesn’t understand about waiting for Nanna to catch up, sorry kid I can’t run. He also doesn’t turn and run back when asked – if he is following his hands, he just keeps going.
We parked in the South Carpark and walked into the woodlands, to be greeted by tram tracks. They have a small trolleybus type of Tram that travels along taking families for a ride.
This is next to the lake, where people can hire a Swan boat for self-propelling around the water. On the banks there are geese, lots of them. They know exactly where to be for people to feed them. Many of them are Canada Goose – they are the ones with the black necks and some are Greylag Goose, the more uniform coloured ones.
Our next stop was the adventure playground, where Alex spent most of his time crossing the wooden bridge – our little Indiana Jones. The Beast was occupied by my bear Snow, who preferred it to being in the luggage carrier under the seat. Alex sort of wanted to go down the slide, but as there were bigger kids on there, he preferred to be away from them on the bridge.
One of my “Tick the list” items to see is a squirrel. I only just found out that the grey ones are the dominant ones. They are considered pests, as they were introduced and have taken over the habitat and food supply from the Red squirrel. Mark remembered where he had seen a lot of squirrels, so we headed up and sure enough, there they were.
We discovered that there were carvings of animals in fallen tree trunks, which was pretty clever. There were lovely wooded areas and streams. This park is a treasure for Manchester families.
Our next stop was the Animal Centre. It was free to enter, which was good, as there weren’t a lot of animals, mostly birds. There were some pigs, a couple of goats and an alpaca (or maybe it was a llama). There were runner ducks, chickens on a tractor and a few peacocks. So pretty much a walk through and out the other side.
The Animal Centre is in the courtyard of the administration centre in The Stables, which also houses a café.
We headed over to one of the fields where a fair had been set up with rides for kids. There were a couple of food stalls, so we decided to get sausage hotdogs and sit under a tree for a picnic. It was a lovely spot for people watching both at the fairgrounds, but also walking around. What was really lovely was to see that there were a lot of multigenerational family groups with kids, their parents and also at least one grandparent. It was lovely that Alex now has that and love that I have it too.
Once lunch was over, we walked to Heaton Hall and its Orangery. Along the front of this is a wall with a drop down one side. The wall is called a Ha Ha, and it is designed to keep the landowner’s cows from coming up onto the manicured lawns. Now it is a very cool wall to walk along, especially if you are 2.
The garden outside the Orangery was filled with beautiful bright Begonias. So much colour and large flowers. It was stunning.
The Temple was our next stop. It isn’t actually a temple, more a lookout from the highest point in Manchester. While Alex and Mark walked around the building structure, I took in the view. From up here, Nat pointed out Manchester city – the cranes on the buildings being the clearest landmark.
Back down the hill and Alex decided that he wanted to reclimb the hill and it was Nat’s turn to accompany him. I thought he might turn around and run back down the hill, but luckily he took it at a much safer pace.
We continued our walk, starting to make our way back to the carpark via the boating lake and the tram stop. We fed our bread to the Canada Goose on the bank of the lake and then as it was almost 4.30 pm, time for the last tram ride of the day, we walked along the path that was beside the track. We were able to see the tram as it made its way through the trees.
It had been a fantastic afternoon. I really enjoyed being with Alex, Nat and Mark. So it was suggested that we get a pub tea on the way home. We stopped in at the Premier Inn Brewers Fayre Stable Gate restaurant. That was nice too, although, I suspect we were actually at the end of the lunch service, rather than the start of dinner, as they were running out of soft drinks from the help yourself dispenser and the carvery was pretty low on options.
It was however a nice way to end a fantastic afternoon.
This one could also be entitled “The Truly Extravagant Business Class”.
Time slowly ticked around in the Changi Airport Terminal 3 for me and my fellow transit passengers. I did end up getting a snack from the cart in the big transit lounge and got to spend some of the Singaporean money I was carrying with me.
The “other” transit lounge
Healthy food wasn’t available – so a Snickers Bar and a small Cadbury’s Milk Chocolate bar was taken back to the correct Transit lounge. I didn’t end up ordering food from the Hudson’s stand, which would have come from the open and inaccessible restaurants in the airport. Instead I ordered two tiny serves of the chicken pasta again. At least in the box there was a couple of tiny pieces of broccoli, so I had some veggies (the closest thing to healthy on offer).
Dinner the same as lunch in the transit lounge
The loudspeaker was very busy calling for passengers for each of the flights leaving for other parts of the world. Flights were off to Moscow, Berlin, Tokyo and Los Angeles. They also called out for the missing passenger with the warning that they flight was preparing for departure. In the restricted world of international travel, you really wouldn’t want to miss your flight.
Just before 1 am, they called for passengers on my flight SQ052 to Manchester. They insisted on providing me with some more of the VIP service, by taking me via wheelchair to the gate. I have no idea what the gate number was or any details of the flight as I didn’t see any information boards on the way. I just had to trust that my helper knew where I was supposed to be and I wasn’t going to end up in Moscow.
There were about 8 other guests who must have had VIP service too, as they were already at the gate. I suspect they have may have been in the other transit lounge. While I waited quite a few more passengers arrived.
The departure gate. The other walking passengers are yet to arrive.
I asked one of the cabin crew later how many of us there were and there are 11 in Business and 63 in Economy – so by today’s numbers, quite a few of us.
I was boarded pretty quickly and had a separate entrance to the people in Economy. Once inside, I could see that this plane was a step up from the business class for the Adelaide to Singapore flight. The seating pods are as big as 2 economy seats and they have a fold-down bed, complete with linen.
We are all aboard. But plenty of seats available.
Again the cabin crew were amazing and they fell in love with Fin straight away. It is lovely that stuffed toys are so universal. One of the hostesses said she has a Build-a-Bear Monkey that she loves. They were very keen to take our photo, which was fine by Fin and me.
No shortage of space for Fin and me.
It didn’t take long to get everyone on board and then to start the back out from the gate. The flight left on time at 1.30 am. There wasn’t much to see out of the window because it was dark as soon as we reached up into the sky. My seat is almost opposite the right engine. Please carry us safely.
Fin made sure he wore his mask for the flight.
I checked out the map for our journey and was a bit worried that it appeared we were going to be flying over Afghanistan and Kabul. For history, with the moving of US and other international troops out of the country, the Taliban has taken over again. The airport is currently a war zone.
We appear to be going to fly over Kabul Afghanistan.
Luckily, during a chat with one of the hostesses, I learned that the flight path had been changed and we would not be going anywhere near there. It would mean the flight is a little longer but really won’t make that much difference.
Supper came about pretty quickly and for airline food, it was very nicely presented and my crusted fish was nicely cooked. The white table cloth was placed over my tray table and again I had proper crockery and cutlery. The fish was accompanied by julienne carrots, broccoli and potatoes with a white sauce on it. There was a slice of garlic bread and a warm bread roll. For entrée was a small prawn cocktail with a very thin slice of cucumber, some Edamame (soy beans) and red quinoa. The dessert was a lemon butter cate with lavender cream. Very nice.
Food is enjoyable and nicely presented.
I sat up for a while with the map slowly scrolling through the journey. The 3D map had a setting so you can see where you are going, where you are, the view from above and the view as if from the front of the plane. It is a shame that it doesn’t have the real view.
When one of the hostesses wanted to know if I would like to have the bed made up, that sounded like a good idea. It is pretty early in the morning Australian and Singapore time and somehow I need to be able to turn my hours around. That’s when things got extravagant!
If I liked, I could have a bed made up in the seating pod behind me. That sounded good. The back of the chair folds down and out, filling the seating space with a mattress of sorts, on which a fitted sheet is placed, two pillows and a quilted blanket.
It was a little like sleeping on a Japanese mattress, a bit hard under the shoulder and hips, but I slept for about 3 hours before my knees started to ache and woke me up. With osteoarthritis in both knees, I get quite still and uncomfortable if I sit for a while or lay with my knees bent. I needed to get up and stretch. So I visited the galley where two of the cabin crew were on duty. Such nice young people.
They said that having 11 of us was quite good, as previously they have had 1 passenger and even none. I asked them what they do if they don’t have anyone to look after and they said they talk to each other. By the end of the flight they know all about each other’s families, likes and dislikes. One of the hostesses said she is married and her husband is in Singapore. She has 3 or 4 flights per month and returns to Malaysia where she can stay with her parents. If she was to return to Singapore to be with her husband, she would need to quarantine for 14 days at her own expense. But she said she is very thankful that she still has her job as so many other airlines have stopped flying and the cabin crews lost their jobs. Because Singapore Airlines is part of the Star Alliance Group of airline companies, they are carrying passengers for the other airlines, so along with freight, the airline is still able to fly.
I asked her about breaks during the flights for the crew, she said that she had just come back from her break. I asked her about where their break area is, she said near the back of the plane, upstairs. It is a very small area with a tiny bunk in it. I complimented on how lovely she looked considering she had just got up. She said, powder and lots of practice. The female cabin crew are beautifully dressed and look after themselves, while most of the passengers on long haul flights look like tired bedraggled hobos by the time they reach their destination. I am hoping that having a bed to sleep in and room to stretch out, I will be presentable.
As a more senior looking member of the crew came into the galley she turned her attention to him and I wandered back to my bed. Peeping out the window, were appeared to be over land as I could see sections of lit up roads which appeared to be leading to street grids, perhaps housing. I didn’t turn on the map to see where we were, as the cabin was dark and I didn’t want to disturb the other passengers. I settled down for some more sleep.
The sharp right turn takes us back on the flight path, up long side the Red Sea (minus a visit to Afghanistan airspace).Flying above Greece
Once I awoke again, it was 5 am Manchester time. I actually felt quite refreshed and not tired anymore. So with a couple of hours to go, the offer of a glass of apple juice sounded good and an early breakfast. Again the food was pretty good and nicely presented. This morning scrambled eggs with cheese, cubed potatoes, mushrooms and small breakfast sausages. There was a small croissant, cupcake, sliced fruit and a yoghurt. I opened the window blind to reveal the morning sunshine.
Mmmm breakfast
Because my laptop is Wi-Fi enabled, I was able to access Facebook and send a message of Good Morning. So many kilometers above the earth and I can connect with friends. The world might be separated by closed boarders, but the internet, email, Facebook, messenger keep us all connected.
So there is only an hour until we reach Manchester. The next phase of my life journey awaits. Thanks Singapore Airlines for making the journey a good one.
Fin likes to see where we are travelling over too.
Fin loved cloud watching
We are nearly there
With almost no planes or passengers, ground staff are not at all busy. So I went through my own version of International Border Security (minus the camera crew). I was taken aside and all my bags and cases were opened, emptied and checked. Not a single bad thing in sights, except the bags of Jaffas, Tiny Teddy biscuits, Twisties and Cheese and Bacon Snack biscuits. But as they are gifts for my family to munch on (the things they can’t buy in Manchester), I was allowed to keep them. The security staff were lovely and friendly and very apologetic for having to empty my bags and attempt to re-stuff them.
Once released. This gorgeous girl, my daughter Natasha was here to meet me.
The International Arrivals hall and my wonderful daughter Natasha. I am here
Singapore’s Changi Airport is massive and known as the best airport in the world. There are three terminals linked by automated trains that take the just landed passengers to departures and luggage collection. Changi is a beautiful airport, especially if you like tropical plants. Today my flight landed in Terminal 3 early afternoon, Singapore time.
However in the time of COVID, things are very different. John and I came to Changi Airport both on the way to and the way home from the UK in May 2019, when Alex was tiny. I remember a beautiful airport, with plants everywhere that passengers were gathering I remember large koi fish in ponds and a butterfly garden in the passenger lounge. There were also walls of exotic tropical plants. None of that is currently accessible to transiting passengers.
The incredible garden complex of Jewel, which I would have loved to have seen. and the day trips to see the sights of Singapore are also not accessible to transiting passengers. In the time of COVID, it is about keeping us all separate from anyone who is coming or going from Singapore. Transiting passengers are not allowed to mix with anyone else in the airport. Plus of course, masks are mandatory while in the airport, unless you are eating or drinking.
It was raining as we started to came into land, which made interesting patterns across the window. The low cloud made for misty photos.
Because I am travelling with the rolling walker and my osteoarthritis plays up when I sit for any length of time, I have MAAS – the Meet And Assist Service from airport staff. I knew I would have to wait until the plane had been emptied before I would get off the plane. That was to give the baggage handlers time to bring the walker back up to the plane door for me to use. That gave one of the hostesses time to have her photo taken with Fin and me.
I received a bright green ribbon on my right wrist that designates me as a transiting passenger. The only place I am going to be allowed to be is the transit area of Terminal 3. There is a premium waiting area, which Business class passengers can access, or there is the economy hall. In truth, there isn’t a lot of creature comforts in either, but the economy does have a lighter feel to it, even if they are lacking comfy chairs for waiting.
I was taken from the plane door to the concourse area in a wheelchair, although I didn’t really need it. Once there, my assistant ushered me my cabin luggage to a golf buggy cart and we headed through the empty corridors to the transit areas.
The ride through the empty corridors was pretty cool.
Boy did the view look different. So many waiting areas, that would have been packed with passengers waiting for their flights were closed up with their chairs wrapped in clear plastic. I expressed surprise at this. My helper said it had been like that for a year and a half. Such a change.
The gates were deserted and the chairs were wrapped in plastic
Corridors empty. Escalators empty. Moving walkways stationery and blocked off. No one walking along trying to work out where they were meant to be.
It didn’t take long to reach the transit lounge and with my boarding pass, I was allowed in. My helper said someone would be back to help me when it was time to board my next flight, which is the one to Manchester. He decided that my hand luggage was too much for me to manage on my own, so he gave me a wheelchair for my bags. That was nice of him. Especially as John’s ashes are quite heavy.
Inside the premium transit lounge, there are a variety of seats available, including some recliners for snoozing in.
The Premium Transit Lounge. The Singapore Airlines Silver Kris lounge is not accessible to transiting passengers
There are not many in the transit lounge. My fellow female traveller is here, but I am not sure if the guys from the flight are. Most are young men, except the one guy who decided that to watch his video on his phone, he would not wear headphones and he needed to have the sound up, despite having the phone quite close to his face. I just wanted to tell him to turn down the volume or find a member of staff to make him do that. But there isn’t anyone around. We are alone, except for one female staff member who is checking eligibility to enter this area and one who seems to live behind a set of wall dividers and is taking care of food orders.
Luckily, my noisy friend decided to stop watching his movie and get some sleep – snoring instead.
Food and drinks in the lounge are complimentary. To order, scan the QR code and select what you want. Then the lady behind the dividers will make your order up in the tiniest food boxes I’ve ever seen. The options are very limited. But the chicken pasta was ok, along with a cup of tea and a cracker biscuit. It was a microwave job, not really Business Class Lounge quality.
Lunch
When I went out to find the toilets, which are out in the Economy transit lounge, their food options are more varied and are made by restaurants, taking around 45 minutes to be delivered and costing a fair bit. There is also a snack cart full of junk food. I will explore options for dinner, although I will get supper on the flight to Manchester. When I located the toilets, I was taken back to our last holiday in Japan.
The Transit Lounge for Economy Passengers. It looked more inviting than the premium lounge.
There is a bidet built into the toilet. In Japan, these are the norm. I always thought it would be pretty cool to have one, especially with a seat warmer. I’ll leave it at that.
With 10 hours to waste in the transit lounge, sleeping for some of the time seemed like a good way to not watch the clock and the slow passage of the hours. So I planted Fin and me on one of the recliners. Put my hoodie hood on and with my mask on, partly blocking the light from the windows, was able to close my eyes and get some sleep. I don’t know how long I slept, but I woke up to find that the number of people in the lounge had reduced. There were now only three of us.
As I write this, it is dark outside (9.15 pm Singapore time) and the numbers have grown again, there are now about 18 of us. They all come in pretty much together, just as confused as I was about how things work in this transit lounge.
Thankfully, there are chargers in here, so I have recharged my phone and laptop.
So that has been my introduction to Singapore Changi Terminal 3 Premium Transit Lounge.
The last vision I have of Australia is when I woke up and lifted the window blind to see Cape Leveque disappearing below us. Thanks for being my and John’s home.
I won’t miss the very hot, dry summers. I won’t miss that the countryside only stays green for a few short months, turning straw-coloured as Summer approaches. I am looking forward to seeing greenness like I see all the time in the British TV shows I have been watching with Pam and Gordon for the last 3 weeks.
Our journey to Singapore would now be flying over the ocean between Australia and South East Asia.
Opening the window blind a few times I saw the beautiful clouds.
Whenever we flew previously, John always had the window seat. He loved to see the clouds, plus it allowed him to rest against the side of the cabin during the flight. Often sleeping with Bear cuddled up to him. Now it was me and Fin, so I was looking at the clouds for John.
I don’t know if you believe in signs from the other side, I do. When I opened the window blind at one stage, thinking about the clouds I was going to see that I knew John would enjoy, the cloud formation was a bear. Not a teddy, but an animal bear. I think that was my Chief Grey Bear, letting me know I hadn’t left him in Australia, he was travelling with me. You might remember me mentioning that John’s nickname was Chief Grey Bear. It is clear to me the snout, ears and neck of the bear and it looks like it is smiling. It made me smile too. Just as quickly as it was there, it was gone. But I have the photo to prove I wasn’t imagining it.
The cloud in the left picture is the one I think looks like a bear, my Chief Grey Bear.
Before long we were beginning to head into Singapore and the cabin crew were preparing for landing.
The 6 hour flight had gone quite quickly. Now I had 10 hours of sitting around Changi Airport, waiting for my next flight. But it is only me I have to worry about, so I am sure I can find things to occupy myself with.
Time to put the laptop away and prepare for landing too.
Life is a Journey 