~Eternal Snow~: Changi Airport Terminal 3 Open House

Long Post + Picture intensive Warning!!!

Being bored in sunny Singapore, I decided to take a ride down to Changi Airport on 18th Nov 2007 to take a look at our latest addition to our "First Class" Airport, Terminal 3. Currently T3 is having an open house for the public from 12th Nov to 9th Dec 2007, so those who might be interested may join the hordes of people in viewing T3.

Can't really say that I enjoyed the visit, nor can I say I was disappointed, somewhere in between. As expected it just looks like... T1/T2, an airport, and the design felt pretty much overused. But truthfully how much difference can one make to an overall proven design of efficiency without affecting it? Just like how our "higher ups" work, overusing a proven design plan, with hardly any room for creativity and tweaking or testing of new systems. But well that's efficiency for you.

Okay ignoring the rant i just did let's get right back to the photos that i took on my visit to T3. All photos were taken using a D70 + Nikkor AF-S DX 18-70mm F3.5 - F4.5G.

A view of T1 during the transit by Skytram from T2 to T3. I did not noticed that there was a connection to T3 on the other side of the MRT station. Silly me. -.-

One of the few eateries that were opened and ready for business.
(Starbucks is next to this shop, but not pictured in photo)

Only shop in operation at the moment.

Another Eatery, the coffee connoisseur.

Noticed how much difference of crowds from one half to another?
But there's nothing on the other side anyway.

It was claimed by Changi Airport that at 4 storeys high, the viewing gallery has a view that would make the control tower staff envious. Apparently they forgot to add that there are nicely placed panels designed to spoil the entire experience of viewing the aircraft's take off and landings.

Some of the people trying to get a proper view of the runway by trying to see at a different angle

View of the entrance (from the 4th storey) once entering the Departure hall.

Another eatery, Dian Xiao Er. It was fully packed apparently. -.-"

People who bought the guided tour tickets waiting for a guide to take them.

I bought the self-guided tickets instead. Screw tours. ^^

Map of T3.

Entrance into Departure hall.

Built-up model of T3.

One half (Left wing based on map orientation) of T3 is
still undergoing major renovation, thus no entry.

This is a much better view of the runway. Too bad it's only for those who are actually taking a flight off this hopeless rock. People were just camping here the whole day watching the aircrafts take-off/land. Couldn't be bothered fighting with them for a good spot to take photos of the take-off/landing, so I took them instead lol.

A pond with a bridge through the mid-point along the viewing area.

One of the "Butterfly Gardens" that they are going to incorporate into the airport. Butterflies in the stomach before take-off anyone?

Another no entry area. Departure Gates entry area.

One of the trivia boards located all around the airport.
Apparently the weirdly positioned panels on the ceilings had a purpose.

More plant decorations in the Immigration hall.

Uniquely designed "Waterfall" just above the conveyor belt system.

A portion of the 300-metres long sandstone art wall in the arrival hall.
Left the restricted zone af this point of time.

It's been a while since I last saw long queues at McDonalds, since the times of Hello Kitty. It seems that there was a 1 for 1 offer for the frappe if you have the coupon which you'll get when you buy a ticket for entry into the restricted area. No way am I going to queue up.

I was done with T3 and ready to go home, but somehow decided to just go to T2's viewing gallery for fun, since I couldn't really enjoy the view at T3 and wanted to make a comparison too. To my surprise the world first A380 was just sitting out there! It didn't really felt big...just looks fat. It's true though, only from T3 that one can view the runway and actually see the aircrafts take-off and land, just that they need to make an improvement of the view and get rid of the panels. Someone actually wrote to The Straits Times to complain about the view in the 20th/21st Nov paper if not wrong.

Sucks to be one of them patrolling the airport. It sucks even more to be doing National Service and doing this, since this isn't their career, and they'll be seeing so many happy faces who are getting off this worthless rock and going on a nice holiday. And yea it's a Sunday also.

And that's the end of the T3 photos. I actually took a total of 178 shots (481MB worth) in a time span of about 4 hours, but majority are rubbish. Still had a hard time choosing which photos to post. I can't imagine when I'll have to sort the photos from my upcoming Japan trip, all 24 day's worth, which i assume might hit about 30GB worth.

I'm still learning how to take good photos, and I'm actually not used to indoor shoots. I'm more of the outdoor photography person. Any tips on how to improve my photography please don't be shy and post in the comments. And would love to learn how to use photoshop to improve the photos. None of the photos have undergone any photo editing besides being resized down.