10th December Singapore-Bangkok- Helsinki-London

Getting through Changi airport, arriving and departing was unbelievably easy, due, I suspect to the fact that we were a family with a wheelchair (it comes in handy sometimes!) In fact, on our arrival the airport personel could not do enough for us. We had a speedy navigation of customs and were outside the airport with the airport helper flagging down a taxi in record time.

We stayed at Changi Village Hotel, not far from the airport, as it is advertised as being wheelchair accessible and will store luggage after you check out until you return to catch your next flight. As far as accessibility goes, the room and the access to it we had no problems with. The only part of the hotel that was not accessible was the dining room. Fortunately Neil is able to haul a wheelchair with a person in it up stairs without too much trouble (depending on the number of stairs), but I certainly could not have managed it, and anyone on their own would be eating in the lobby! It became evident on our travels that while much of the western world is paying lip service to making things easier for people with disabilities, sometimes they haven't thought the whole thing through.

The area around Changi Village Hotel is interesting in that you can eat authentic asian cuisine along with the local population without feeling like a tourist. We shared the outdoor food area a couple of times while watching the soccer on tv (not much choice, really), had nice cheap Indian fare and were the only non-asians there. Good for the kids to experience. Only a couple of kerbs and steps to negotiate as well.

To get to and from Orchard Road we used taxis and trains. Taxis would take y0u no matter how bulky the baggage, and the trains, while very accessible, did not always have accessible stations. Here again the chair had to be pulled up a couple of steps. (On a number of occasions on our trip we actually put the chair on an escalator - not to be condoned, but it certainly saved a lot of grief in the long run).

Orchard Road shops were not particularly easy to access. Sometimes there were elevators, but they were often hidden. Some places just had steps and we avoided many of those. It did not stop Richie enjoying his one day in Singapore, however, as the most important shop, HMV, had 3 accessible floors!

We would have liked to have spent a bit more time in Singapore and gone to the zoo and cultural places, but we were on a strict schedule, so this time the one day had to do us. We went back to the hotel, collected our bags and took a shuttle to the airport to await out flight to Helsinki, leaving at 10.30pm.