To most visitors, Changi equals Singapore Airport, but Changi is the eastern part of mainland Singapore, or officially a planning area. This planning area houses many other cool things: a beach, a Navy Museum and some.

Airport

Aviation Geek or not, one might have heard of Changi Airport. The airport itself is a major Asian aviation hub with some 67 million passengers annually. It has 4 terminals spanning over an area of 25km² and a fifth terminal in the works.

I’m sure the airport has some pretty swanky areas, but it is really nice for everyone: organised, clean, holistic, just like Singapore itself.

Jewel Changi

This is actually an entertainment and retail complex. Or in plain English: a shopping centre. Its main attraction is the Rain Vortex, the tallest indoor waterfall in the world.

The Jewel makes it possible to come and spend a day at the airport without any intention to fly. The shops and restaurants are aplenty. They are the usual ones found in other Singaporean shopping centres, but one attraction makes a difference.

The Changi Experience Studio.

Changi Experience Studio is a showcase of the past, present and the future of the airport. It does have and entrance fee, but once we splashed it was well worth every Singaporean dollar.

It has a nice representation of the history of the Singaporean aviation and the switch from the Paya Lebar Airport (1955- 1981) to the current one. Paya Lebar is now a military airport and has actually a really nice Air Force Museum next to it. More of that in another post.

The museum is a really nice combination of audiovisual elements, educational content and statistics wrapped into an engaging concept. Good for kids and grown-ups.

There was a spinning game where one pedals against an airplane. Now, I am not a competitive person by nature … but I did have to give it a go and set an All Time Best for the records.

One of the activities was a game where you collect luggage trolleys and another one where you manage a taxi queue.

Life’s a beach

The northern part of Changi comprises of the Changi Beach and Changi Village.

The beach is really good for planespotting as airplanes approaching from north descend over the beach.

The beach as a beach for swimming is not that spectacular: There are pebbles that make walking a bit uncomfortable.

But what is great in Singapore as general applies to this beach too: Free, Clean, graffiti-free public toilets and showers and a vending machine that accepts a credit card. An absolute bliss.

I cycled around the Changi airport on a cyclepath which in Singapore are called Park Connect Network (PCN) and I did not need to worry about finding a toilet, refilling a water bottle or buying an energy drink.

These public facilities serve cyclists, joggers and beachgoers alike.

Little Island Brewing Co.

All that plane spotting and swimming made us hungry. On our way to the beach I spotted a local brewery and insisted that we lunch there.

The brewery served nice food and a substantial selection of draft beers. Since we had things to do and places to go to I only had one IPA with the food.

Their beer labels are well cool.

The Navy Museum

On a 5 kilometre straight on the Eastern flank is the Singapore Navy Museum. I know the length, as I cycled every metre of it on my personal Tour de Changi cycle ride. Which was nice.

One day the rest of the family was planning to visit a beach or go to the centre and I wanted to do something else.

After a really good visit to the Singapore Air Force Museum and well impressed with the standard of Singaporean museums, I decided to have a Celine Dion Moment and pay a visit to the Navy Museum all by myself.

The smaller one is, the more prepared one needs to be

This museum – like the Air Force Museum – really frames the geopolitical space of Singapore.

I do see parallels between Singapore and Finland: A small – rather in size than population – young nation, surrounded by greater powers, often having her past and present carved by external influences. Both dependent on maritime trade, undersea cables and important alliances.

It was really refreshing and impressing to see the level of sobriety and how that was communicated to the museum visitors and the general public.

Friends you choose

Neighbours (and relatives) you are given, but friends you get to choose: there was a great emphasis on international co-operation and Singapore’s involvement in both peacekeeping missions and natural disaster relief.

Although the museum was by the sea and next to an actual naval base there were no ships on show. Outside of the museum there were plenty of naval cannons and I noticed many of them were by the Swedish manufacturer Bofors.

One could say the location is a little periferic, but there is a bus connection and with the affordable Singaporean taxis it’s well within reach. All in all, a very good museum and well worth a visit.

Ferries to Indonesia

At the south end of Changi is the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal that caters for the travellers to the islands of Batan and Bintan in Indonesia. We spent a few days in Bintan and a ferry took us across the strait in a little over an hour. More on that in a future post.