每天给娃打卡，每天成长一点点。
全球最佳机场- 新加坡樟宜机场 The Best Airport in the world
This is the best airport in the world.
Now, I've flown all over the globe and I usually want to get out of the airport as quickly as possible.
So to test the title, I spent a day at Singapore's Changi airport which was just crowned the world's best for the 12th time.
And we do not even have a flight.
You want to land on me?
I toured the gardens, the $1.3 billion dollar lifestyle hub and the rooftop pool.
If airports are filled with people trying to go somewhere else, why did this tiny island nation spend so much money to build this place?
And what's it really like to spend a layover here?
A lot of the good stuff at Changi is airside, meaning you need to book a flight to see it.
But the Jewel is landside.
So you can visit the giant doughnut-shaped shopping mall without having a plane ticket and there are no gates here.
It sits between the control tower and Terminal 1.
It took four years to build and was funded with private investments.
If you're airside, the train between Terminal 2 and 3 cuts right through the dome.
After three reports on this, this one terminal in my lifetime as a reporter, finally get to see it.
Here it goes.
It's like the best roller coaster I've ever been on.
That doesn't even look real.
It looks like all the pictures.
But if you're a landside and you don't have a plane ticket, you can still visit the Jewel.
You can enter through a footbridge from Terminal 3 ticketing.
There are ten floors to Jewel, five below ground and five above.
In the middle sits the rain vortex at 130 ft tall.
It's the tallest indoor waterfall in the world.
It runs 24/7, using mostly recycled rainwater.
At night, the waterfall is a canvas for a 360° light show.
The city of Singapore is known for its gardens.
So the airport captured that theme inside Jewel with this tiered vegetation and 99% of these plants are real.
You would never believe that planes are taking off on the other side of this.
Canopy Park sits at the top of the dome and costs about $6.
The mirror and hedge mazes cost a bit extra.
You can change the gate to block off other people when they come around next time.
I feel like I'm in Harry Potter right now.
Oh my God. I made it. I got so lost
These sky nets tower overhead and you can pay an extra $13 to bounce on them.
Oh my God. The elephant is my favorite. He's so cute.
I'm not on fire.
These are the Foggy Bowls, and apparently, they're a hit among the little kids, which I am one of those.
A hit among me as well.
But my favorite part, this glass bottom bridge that hangs 75 ft above the ground.
We got media passes for the day to tour everything airside, starting with the hotel right by the gates.
A third of passengers transit through Changi.
So they don't leave the airport, which means that amenities here, airside and hotels like the transit hotel are really important to keep people here.
So this room is right on the transit side.
So your view means overlooking the tarmac. Flights taking off.
Rooms this size cost about $330 a night.
But even if you're not staying in the hotel, the 24 hour gym and the pool are open to the public.
We're just going to wait for the Skytrain.
If you want to plug your phone in here, you got to do some cycling.
I don't know how much more charge I want, actually.
Nice little workout before your plane.
Also airside, a free butterfly garden.
Oh my God. It's so toasty.
There's about 1000 butterflies in here ranging 40 different species and we're at an airport.
They're teasing me.
I just want a pet one.
And I loved this coy pond.
Are you camera shy?
You're coming in hot, man.
I don't know what I did.
And if you've got a longer layover, you can catch a flick.
There's even a movie theater and it's free.
It runs 24/7, and I think right now the second Venom film is playing.
There's of course, tons of high-end shops from Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga and Fendi.
I think I've seen like four Guccis so far today.
In 2022, the airport made about $120 million dollars from shopping alone.
I feel like it's just as much as an airport as it is a giant really fancy mall.
And to continue the luxury vibes, private lounges for business and first travelers dot the airport.
But since I wasn't flying today, I went straight for the food.
This is Singapore Food Street in Terminal 3.
And there's a Subway at the entrance. Oh my God, that cracks me up.
There was also a Burger King on the other end.
This food street is supposed to emulate a traditional 1960s hawker market with all theic Singaporean dishes to match.
Three minutes? Ok, perfect. Yeah.
And with plates under $10 it's a more affordable food option than other restaurants in the airport.
Thank you so much.
The biggest bowl of soup I've ever seen.
So we've got some soup dumplings.
We've got Laksa, some minced pork soup, chicken and rice and chicken satay.
Can I double-dip? We're just gonna do it.
This is one of Changi's newer terminals but the rest of the airport isn't that old.
Construction started in 1981. At first, it had just one terminal and one runway.
Singapore sits at the tip of the Malay Peninsula, making it a gateway connecting the west to the rest of Asia.
Over the following decades, traffic increased.
By 2007, the airport had over a 400% jump in passengers, and Changi launched Terminal 3.
The fourth terminal came in 2017, and then two years later, the airport opened the $1.3 billion dollars Jewel.
By that time, the airport had already snagged the title of best in the world ten times.
But when COVID-19 cases surged, Changi shut down and the airport had to halt construction on the new Terminal 5.
For the next two years, it lost out to Hamad International Airport in the Skytrax award because Qatar had looser COVID travel restrictions.
But in 2020, Changi came roaring back with four times the passengers as 2021, and 35% increase in revenue.
In 2023, it reclaimed the Skytrax title and Changi hopes to stay on top by beating out Seoul Tokyo and Hong Kong in international flight traffic, starting with the resumed construction on the $10 billion Terminal 5.
But why has this tiny country of Singapore invested so much into an airport?
Well, there are three reasons.
First, the airport is a big money maker.
Just about six million people live in Singapore.
But the airport hosts between 30 and 70 million travelers in a typical year.
That brings in a lot of money.
Over 1/10 of the country's GDP comes from air transport.
The industry also supports 375,000 jobs on the island.
Number two, all the new infrastructure in soon-to-be Terminal 5 will add 50 million passengers onto Changi's capacity, bringing in more flights and revenue.
And three, the airport has to reflect the promise of luxury set by its city and its main airline, Singapore Airlines.
And that luxury has started a trend in Asia for the biggest fanciest airports in the world.
Qatar, South Korea and Japan have all invested billions in their airports to create luxury travel escapes, effectively locking more utilitarian North American airports out of the top rankings.
So after ten hours in Changi without a flight to catch, my final thought at this airport: Yes, airport to your bucket list.
#新加坡樟宜机场#
tiered adj.…层的;分层的;阶梯式的 layover n. 中途停留;中途停顿
airside n.登机区 Landside n. (航站楼区）开放区
roller coaster n.(游乐场的)过山车;不断变化的局势 vortex n.涡流;涡旋
canvas n.帆布;(帆布)画布;油画; amenity n.便利设施;生活福利设施;
tarmac n.停机坪 coy adj.害羞的，腼腆的 catch a flick 看场电影
Venom n.(毒蛇、蜘蛛等分泌的)毒液;恶毒;怨恨 vibe n.气氛;感应;环境
emulate vt.仿效, 模仿 hawker n. 沿街叫卖者;小贩
minced meat 肉末〈俗语〉；肉糜; satay n.沙茶酱烤肉，沙茶酱烤鱼
Peninsula n.半岛 snag v.抓住 utilitarian adj.实用的;功利的
bucket list 遗愿清单，人生愿望清单;
新加坡樟宜机场的文化特色
新加坡樟宜机场内设有许多颇具文化内涵的雕塑与建筑，比如：
（1）羽之灵：羽之灵是指位于T4航站楼内的三只飞鸟结构的雕塑，其造型为一只鸟在地面上栖息，而另两只在空中翱翔，象征着天与地之间、梦与现实之间的连接。
（2）仙人掌花园：仙人掌花园位于Tl航站楼过境区域，园内种有100余种仙人掌，以及其他来自业、非、美洲干旱地区的旱生植物。
（3）传统文化区：传统文化区的灵感来源于旧式新加坡土生华人的商铺，其外立面、内部设计和装潢均融入了新加坡文化，展现十九世纪80年代到二十世纪50年代店屋建筑的演变。
新加坡樟宜机场，有着世界第一机场的殊荣，拥有全世界最大的室内瀑布，全世界唯一有森林、瀑布还有小火车的机场。以下是网友整理的隐藏游玩攻略，足够大家玩上一整天～
.☑雨漩涡（瀑布）
高达40米的室内瀑布，也是破纪录啦。走进星耀樟宜就会看见它，白天在阳光下晶莹耀眼，晚上的水舞灯光秀更是梦幻。
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雨漩涡有好几个适合的拍摄机位，每个楼层都能拍到不一样的角度。如果想拍到人物跟瀑布的合照，建议在二楼的观景台，高度和视野都刚刚好。
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☑天悬桥Canopy Bridge
悬浮的玻璃桥，就在瀑布顶端的旁边，可以走上去近距离欣赏雨漩涡。
▫门票：8新币。
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☑天空之网Sky Nets
悬空在森林谷上方，高25米，长度50米，可以走在网上从高空欣赏雨漩涡和森林谷，还有一个弹跳网，跳起来离地数米，超好玩～
▫门票：步行网15新币，蹦跳网22新币。
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☑树篱迷宫Hedge Maze
满眼绿色的迷宫，行走其中心情非常舒畅，还有一个可以俯瞰迷宫全景的楼梯。
▫门票：12新币。
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☑镜子迷宫Mirror Maze
魔幻的镜子世界，走进去仿佛置身光怪陆离的外星球。
▫门票：15新币。
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☑探索滑梯Discovery Slides
超现实主义风格的炫酷滑梯，大人小朋友都能玩。
▫门票：5新币。
