changi

Changi Airport Terminal 4 Open House & Sneak Preview

Changi Airport Terminal 4 is now ready to greet the world. Yay! When I first heard that T4 will hold an open house for the public between Aug 7 – 20, I quickly booked the tour. Due to overwhelming response (as I’ve expected), the site was down several times but fortunately, we managed to secure a slot on Aug 9 – which is our National Day holiday.  🙂

Before I bring you for a sneak peek into the newly-built terminal, here are some fun facts about T4 that you should know.

Changi Airport Terminal 4
This greenwall facade, draped with 16,000 plants, greets visitors as they approach Terminal 4’s departure kerbside. (Photo: Changi Airport’s Facebook Page)

Fun Facts about Changi Airport Terminal 4

1. T4 occupies about 225,000m2. It is about half the size of Terminal 3 but has a capacity that is two-thirds.

2. T4 redefines passengers’ travel experience with fast and seamless travel (FAST) initiatives. This self-service process of check-in, bag-drop, departure immigration as well as boarding at T4 will be fully-automated (most interesting part – will share about it later).

3. T4 is a flagship terminal for innovation, new technology and new operations concepts. Passengers will continue to enjoy the facilities, amenities, dining and F&B offerings at Changi Airport with notable improvements to productivity and operational efficiency.

4. The centerpiece of T4, Petalclouds, is a grand-scale kinetic sculpture. It consists of six structures suspended 200m across the Central Galleria and it can be seen from the Departure Check-in Hall, Transit Area and Arrival Hall. Its movement is synchronised to animated lighting and music too.

5. Nine airlines will operate about 800 flights a week to over 20 destinations, and serve about eight million passengers a year at T4. As of now, the confirmed ones are Cathay Pacific, Korean Air, Vietnam Airlines, Air Asia, Cebu Pacific and Spring Airlines.

Now, I’m sure you’ve been wowed by these impressive facts about the new T4. Can’t wait to see more? Come, let’s go!  😀

Changi Airport Terminal 4 Overview

Changi Airport Terminal 4
A high ceiling with no interior columns in the departure hall gives travellers a clear line of sight. (Photo: Changi Airport’s Facebook Page)

The first thing I noticed about T4 departure hall is its high ceiling with virtually no interior columns. Thus, the entryway is open, spacious and clean – which I like very much. There’s also plenty of natural lights from the unique petal-shaped skylights. It’s a totally different ‘feel’ as compared to the other 3 terminals.

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Fun Times at Canopy Playground, Changi Airport T1

Canopy Playground

I discovered this hidden gem at Changi Airport Terminal 1 from one of my favourite mommy blogs. Located at the Viewing Mall at Level 3, Canopy is the first forest-themed indoor playground in the newly-renovated Terminal 1.

If you’re a fan of Changi Airport (just like us!), you have to check this out. The indoor playground comes with play structures that are designed to be safe and fun.

Canopy Playground

Little Edison was busy bouncing on the trampoline, went down the tunnel slide next and climbed up the structures again. The sequence repeated itself for half an hour, but it did not tire him at all. It’s truly a delight to him, even though it’s not as huge as those at the Polliwogs.

Canopy Playground
I’m inside!

Edison @ Canopy Playground
I’m outside!

Parents can supervise their kids in the playground, or take a break and do some plane spotting at the Viewing Area while waiting for the kids to play.

As a standard practice for all indoor playgrounds, parents and children must wear socks before they enter the play area. Socks are available for sale at the counter for $2 each.

Admission is free with a minimum spend of $30 for Changi Rewards member and $50 for non-member (for 30 minutes). Else, you just need to pay $6 for 30 minutes of play time.

Canopy Playground

Edison - Oct 2012

If you’re a regular at Changi Airport, do check out this place and give your kids some bouncy good time. If you’ve been here, let me know if you like the place. I like to hear from you! 🙂

Canopy Playground
  • Venue: Viewing Mall, Level 3, Terminal 1
  • Business Hours: 10.30am to 10.30pm daily
  • Fees: $6 for every 30 minutes play time
  • Age limit is from 18 months to 12 years. Height limit is up to 1.45m.

 

Let’s Go to the Safari at Changi!

If you ask me, what is the best family-friendly place in Singapore, with lots of dining options, activities for the kids and ample car park lots that you hardly need to wait, I would say it’s the Changi Airport.

The airport management team never fails to bring fun and laughter to the children every time they make a visit to the airport. Especially during the school holidays, there are special events and activities to occupy the kids.

Last December, they had the bouncy castle – I blogged about it here. They also made a giant inflatable playground during the June school holiday last year, read it here. Best of all, the admission is free and they guarantee heaps of fun for the kids.

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This June holiday, the Changi airport brings us to the Safari of South Africa. This event features a Safari Play Area (like a mini Polliwogs) and Safari Animal Rides for the kids.

Admission is free, but a minimum spending of $20 (or $15 for Changi Rewards members) in a single same-day receipt from any Changi Airport outlet is required. Each redemption admits one entry to either the Safari Play Area OR Animal Rides.

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This is the redemption booth. Bring your receipts here to redeem entry to the Safari Play Area or Animal Rides. If you choose the Safari Play Area, you’ll be given a ticket with a stated time slot on it. The tickets are issued on a first-come, first served basis. There is a chart showing the next available time slot next to the redemption booth.

If you choose the Animal Rides, you need to queue at the entrance of the Animal Rides area for your turn (no ticket will be issued). The waiting time is very much shorter for the Animal Rides.

We had two receipts, so we redeemed an animal ride as well as an entry to the Safari Play Area for Little Edison. The waiting time for the Safari Play Area was 30 minutes, so we let him play with the animal ride first.

He chose a lion.

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After the animal ride and toilet break, it was almost time for the Safari Play Time. The kids were given a short briefing on the safety precautions before they are admitted to the play area. There is a slide, ball pit, climbing structures, swing and a trampoline. Three staffs are stationed in the play area to ensure safety of the kids. Each play session is limited to 12 children with a play time of 10 to 15 minutes.

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Little Edison had great fun at both play areas. We’ll probably go there again this weekend before the event ends on 24 June.

If you haven’t been to the airport this June holiday, let’s do it this weekend and I’m pretty sure your kids will have great fun at the event.

Click HERE for more information.

Date: 26 May (Sat) – 24 June 2012 (Sun)

Time: 12pm – 10pm daily

Venue: Terminal 3, Level 2, Departure Check-in Row 11

 

Bouncy Good Time at Changi!

This is a rather outdated post. I meant to post it in early Dec, but I was tied-up with so many works and appointments. Today is the day when I’m feeling most free in December. I cleared all my office works this afternoon and I’ll be off now till 3 Jan 2012. Yippee!

The bouncy castle was back at Changi Airport Terminal 3 early this month. It was our boy’s favourite, definitely! We bring him to the airport for dinner on weekends whenever we can. After dinner, he will look forward to a bouncy good time at this giant inflatable castle.

Safety briefing by the airport staff before the play

Side view of the bouncy castle

This bouncy castle is well-patronized by a lot of children. Admission is free for Changi Rewards card members. Otherwise, you just need to present a receipt of any amount at the counter. Play time is limited to ten minutes for a group of about 20 children. Several airport staffs are stationed here to ensure safety of the children.

This month, there are a lot of Christmas promotions at Changi Airport. I must say that I’m very impressed with their marketing team and staffs for organizing all the events, activities, sales and promotions that have attracted an overwhelming amount of visitors to the airport.

My favourite promotion this month is the Angry Bird plush toy collectibles. From 1 Dec till 31 Jan, visitors can redeem a different plush toy every week with $50 spend by VISA (or $80 by other means) in the Public Area. I’m going to collect them all definitely.

V quips that our shelves are mostly full with other plush toys that I bought. He simply couldn’t understand why these Angry Bird plush toys are so attractive to me. And his next project will be finding a place for me to put these Angry Bird plush toys. I got seven of them so far!

I got 7 of them now – 3 Red, 2 Yellow and 2 Green…

Last but not least, we’ve hit our target of 4000 Changi Rewards points this year (that is equivalent to $4000 dollar spent at Changi this year). With this, we can redeem $200 Changi Airport dollar vouchers. Hopefully, the rewards point will continue in year 2012 as it’s definitely the most rewarding way to shop and dine in the airport.

Before I end my post today, I’d like to wish you and your family a MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

SingKids Playsystem at Changi Airport

Have you been to the SingKids Playsystem? It’s the latest child-friendly facility in Changi Airport Terminal 3. Admission to this facility is payable ($18 per hour for peak days and $18 for two hours for off-peak days) and a ticket admits one parent or guardian and a child.

Every time when we’re near the Playsystem, we have to take an alternative route to divert our boy’s attention away from it. Otherwise, I can guarantee you that he will dash in that direction. And I hate to say NO to him.

Last weekend, we went to Changi T3 for dinner. After that, we walked to Mini Toon to get some presents for the coming Teacher’s Day. Before we realized it, our boy saw the Playsystem. He jumped with joy and he asked me “Mama, can I play?”

We allowed him to play for an hour.

Set in a bright and cheerfully decorated environment, the facility has movable rides, jumping inflatable play area, air balls pool etc. It’s divided into two sections; however, the whole area is considered quite small as compared to other indoor playgrounds like The Polliwogs. It’s quite safe too, if you ask me.

Our boy sure had great FUN. He named this a SUPER-DUPER playground.

Here are some pictures to share.

Rain or shine, this place definitely promises great fun and exciting play time for the kids. And a good bonding time for families too!

P/S: I heard that the Playsystem is available at VivoCity too. Have you been there? Do you like the place? How do you find the rates? I love to hear from you.

Useful Info:

  • Location: Changi Airport Terminal 3 Basement 2
  • Operating Hours: 11.00am – 11.00pm
  • Rates: $18 per hour on peak days (Fri to Sun) and $18 for two hours on off-peak days (Mon to Thurs)
  • Others: Need to wear socks in the play area. Socks are sold for $2 per pair for adults and also children.