I had the chance to visit the preview of Jewel Changi Airport yesterday and it was an elaborate experience. There are no right words to perfectly articulate the design, building structure, traffic flow and integration of all terminals to Jewel.
Before Jewel, no airport can even come close to what Singapore’s Changi can offer to its million travellers. It has always been the number one airport. Now you can argue about this point before the Jewel was constructed. As it has always have the highest standards of service and amenities — competing with Changi to be on the number one spot is tough. But the presence of Jewel now makes it doubly harder for other airports to outrank them. Quite impossibly to restructure an old airport and redirect all those traffic flow of people from one terminal to another. It proves to be a complex concept in logistics and especially design just thinking about it. Having said that, it brings inspiration to everyone of us living here. I am giving credits to the Israeli architect and team who conceptualised Jewel from ground to what it is now.
Singapore has always been extra when it comes to innovation, efficiency and maintaining high standards of service. This is primarily brought by the expectation of their citizens plus the working population believing that they deserve better. If the people have so much high expectations to their government’s performance then nothing is impossible.
Jewel is a ten-storey building with more than 250 shops to choose from. These shops come from mid-range to high-end as it also showcase the local products from local companies in Singapore. When it comes to high-end or luxury shopping, Jewel does not disappoint. There is no need to go to a specific place to get your usual dose of high-end brands when travelling. If you have very little time to spare before your next connecting flight, you can still shop to your heart’s content.
For foodies — Jewel has a lot to offer. If you have been to Singapore multiple times, you’d probably know by now that this city has innumerable food and drinks — of different kinds. Also, a slew of desserts station from other countries like Hong Kong, Taipei, Japan and South Korea are present. Any cuisine is available for everyone to enjoy — not to mention the picky eaters will always be left satisfied in a day or two. I guarantee that they will find the food that resonates with them. 🙂
For Pokemon fans, the first shop is opened in Jewel too. Catch your favorite Pokemon characters from this store, try not to break your bank for this as the plush toys are all adorable and irresistible. Who would know Pokemon, Pikachu, Snorlax and friends would be so popular here? If you love to collect plush toys then you need to visit Pokemon center. Prepare to queue for more than an hour though.
Head over to the world’s largest indoor waterfall located inside Jewel. It is the main feature of the airport and will definitely leave you mesmerised and in awe of its structure. The indoor temperature is kept at 23 degrees celsius as this is a requirement for the living plants inside to thrive together with natural sunlight that is coming from the dome. The dome uses natural sunlight all throughout the day and it was constructed with the intention to be at its best standards for green living. When the rain vortex area is packed with people you may begin to notice that the cold temperature from inside can’t keep up with the heat. However, due to the speed and drizzle of water from Rain Vortex it makes the experience feels cooler and comfortable! Try to stay for more than 15 minutes in the area to actually experience this and see for yourself. The humidity that you feel upon entering the Jewel until getting to Rain Vortex area will not be as bothersome anymore.
Well what I can say? I was floored with a lot of eateries everywhere on this floor. OMG it’s overwhelming at least to me. Basement 2 is also where the Rain Vortex cylinder is located — this cylinder is the one that catches the water falling from the dome’s rooftop then goes through this cylinder and eventually to basement 3 where the water will be controlled and recycled. Basement 2 is so much busier with a lot of people dealing with food queues and attraction of the cylinder! The cylinder with the mixture of water and lights from inside changes its colour from time to time thus rendering awesome and cinematic photos for all the visitors!
Aside from Basement 2, there are slew of restaurants on every floor. There is the famous Shake Shack located at the main entrance of Jewel. You will not miss it! Again, prepare to queue for an hour or more and try their Singapore local desserts specially curated for Singapore.
Honestly it will take you more than 3 to 4 hours to actually roam all the shops and review the products of these companies. I have mentioned that they offer local products and international products and brands all in one roof. If you are a local, you can get all your local supplies of food to bring to your love ones overseas. You wouldn’t have to worry about not getting enough Irvin’s for everyone. In fact, Jewel has the largest Irvins shop in Singapore. It’s an open concept shop and spaciously yellow!
If you plan to stopover and spend a day in the city, allot at least 4 hours to experience Jewel alone. That is on top of your extra 3 or 2 hours before check-in time. Now if you have long layover time say 12 hours or more — not a problem. It’s going to be productive for you and fun as well. Shopping is not only what Jewel can offer there are Parks inside to let you recuperate and relax while drowning out the crowd. I say 24 hours layover will not be a problem to many — make it intentional to have longer layovers here!
Also, there’s a brand new hotel cabins inside Jewel called Yotel. It has 125 cabins for resting and sleeping! From the looks of it, it is swanky! 🙂
As you have reached the end of this article, that means you are as intrigued as other millions of people in the world to visit Singapore. I don’t blame you. I can only support your wishes to come — so come sooner!!!
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