ACL-IJCNLP 2009 Blog

Changi Terminal 3

It’s apt to write about Changi Airport when I’m actually at Changi Airport now waiting comfortably in a cafe for another 3 hours to my flight (and have been waiting for 2 hours). I thought of writing a single article about Changi Airport, but realized that it would be either too superficial or too lengthy. So I’ll try splitting them for now.

So right now let’s discuss the arrivals at Changi. So here is my experience this morning arriving at Changi Airport (disclaimer: this is partly a personal experience; yours might vary ). When I arrived at Terminal 1, I was greeted by the familiarity of the surroundings. Yeah, after 2 unfamiliar airports (it was my first time in Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport—where I was transiting twice—and Københavns Lufthavne), I feel at home.

Well, for you guys, you’d probably greeted by a scene of Singaporeans speaking in a language that is like English, but not quite English. That is what commonly described here as Singlish, an English-based creole used by many Singaporeans (including yours truly when speaking with Singaporean friends). The wikipedia article even mentioned this as a first language for most Singaporean. Since, the ACL-IJCNLP conference is focusing on language, I’m hoping to get my linguist friend to post on Singlish soon (provided she has the time).

Anyway, back to the experience, once you exit the gate, just follow the signs for Arrivals. You’ll soon arrive at passport control. You’ll get into the rather long queue (but usually quick-moving) indicated by ‘All Passports’ sign [unless you're a Singapore resident, in which case, you'll go to the 'other', much shorter queue]. Remember to grab the entry form to Singapore, usually offered by the airline stewardess (or grab it at the desk near the passport control), and fill them out before getting on to the queue.

Once past the passport control, you may want to take some time at the DFS shop if you love liqueur. Singapore grants duty-free concession of 1 litre of spirits, 1 litre of wine, and 1 litre of beer.

Singapore Visitors Centre @ Changi T3

Afterwards, check out the overhead LCD screens that lets you know which belt your baggage is at (and wait patiently; usually no longer than a few minutes). Now come the customs. As usual, there would be two channels, the red and green channel. Go to the red one if you have goods to declare (dutiable/taxable goods, controlled/restricted items, prohibited items—we’ll get to this later); otherwise go to the green one.

Once you exited the restricted area, you may want to check out the Singapore Visitors Centre (at the same level as arrivals in all 3 terminals; they’re pretty noticeable) as mentioned in a previous post.

Click here to read more… [transport information; prohibited goods]