Sunday, February 24, 2008

Singapore Airshow 2008

Back from the Singapore Airshow and got to say that I am truly disappointed with it. Sigh.... Sad to say that I still prefer Asian Aerospace 2 years ago. Continue reading to understand why I am so disappointed.

Reached Pasir ris @ 9.30am to see a long queue for the shuttle bus. How long is the queue? Well jz say it is long enough to queue from Pasir ris to Tampines. That long! Yet the buses that were zooming pass us were not even packed, the seats were all taken but then there is still a lot of standing room!

So seeing the queue that we decided to take a cab down instead. It was a good decision and money well spent as I think if we waited for the shuttle bus we would have totally missed the aerial display which is the only highlight of the day! Along the way, saw a long stretch of empty buses. Wonder what are they waiting for when there is a long queue at Pasir ris? Hmm....

Reached the super ulu Changi Exhibition Centre. Have a smooth entry and security check. Wow the place is super big and EMPTY! Plus the sun is out in full force and there is no shelter. Since we reached there like 11am, decided to break up and walked around. Saw a few Singapore Army big guns and vehicles, then Singapore Air Force planes and helicopter, U.S. Air Force planes as well. Well I dun care about the rest. To me, the thing I wanna to see is Airbus A380! Got to see it up close but cannot go in and visit. You can only go in and visit A380 when you are the president and MP. So call all the big shots. Sigh..... Sian! A380 is the only reason I am there, so close yet so far.

Time for the aerial show! The black knights did not disappoint us with exciting stunts but then whatever planes that appeared after that kept doing the same thing that we got bored! Then A380 appeared, a giant elephant on the ground but a graceful swan in the air. Spent 2 hours in the hottest sun! It is the ONLY thing worth for the Airshow.

The exhibition hall is the one with air con, so most of the crowd would spend more time inside than outside. Inside is basically trade display but there is not much of variety there. Then funny thing is people are in there to collect freebies anything from posters, bags to lanyard and pens. OMG! It is really funny when I walked past one booth to see people queueing up for recycled plastic bag! OMG! Cheapos! What is the use of collect so many things when reached home most likely these things will be thrown away as well

There were a lot of drinks stall inside but they are also selling drinks at rocket high prices! One bottle of no brand mineral water was selling at $2 each. Crazy! SO can u imagine the prices for other drinks and food? Hmm......

Then we decided to head home but nearly fainted again when we saw the queue for the shuttle bus again. It is a long enough as it snaked from the outside of the exhibition hall to the inside of the exhibition area. Decided to pay $5 for a shuttle bus out to City Hall and within 15 mins we are in the bus. However there are a lot of queues to different places yet there are not barricades and signage to guide people to the correct queue. Every one is confused but lucky for us, we got in the right queue and quickly got onto the bus. It is was a $5 well spent!

Overall, the airshow is not worth the money or the time! It was so DISAPPOINTING. So much hyper then there is nothing much to offer! There is nothing much to see and it looks like army or air force open house (which are free of charge by the way!). The logistic for the show is also very messy with no defined queues or signage. The events company really sucks big time! No more next time for me.

So total amount spent is $15 for the ticket, $4 for the cab, $5 for the bus ride and $10 on the drinks, addes up to a grand total of $34. OMG!

Next time I will go and have a picnic at Changi Point while watching the air show for free then!

The only happy thing that came out of it is I got a very nice and even tan. Wahahaha!

A "tired and burnt" Polarbear

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