Bae’s World Travel Guide _ New Zealand Episode 2

If you’re new here, go read New Zealand Episode 1 before this one!

1. The Duty-Free Shop Before New Zealand

After finishing all the New Zealand trip preparations from Part 1,
we wrapped up the wedding
and headed straight to the airport.

To be honest,
a wedding completely destroys your sense of time and memory.

I barely remember anything,
but somehow…
it ended well.

(The Whiteveil in Seocho.
I’ll make a separate post about it later.)

More than anything,
I think I was desperate to heal my body and soul
after endless overtime at work.

At that point,
travel was the only thing keeping me alive.

At Incheon Airport,
we grabbed a light Korean meal
and picked up the items we ordered from the online duty-free shop.

Then I looked at what my wife bought.

Two practical bags.
46 packs of arginine.
Perfume.
And a few other things.

Honestly?

That arginine carried us through the trip.

I had never bought anything from a duty-free shop before.

So naturally,
I didn’t have the app,
the membership,
or even the slightest interest in it.

Honestly,
I feel like most Korean men are probably the same as me.

And if not…

Maybe I should start paying a little more attention.

Anyway,
once the time came,
we boarded Singapore Airlines.

And wow…

They gave us pillows.
Blankets.
Actual comfort.

For the first time,
airplane seats felt slightly less like punishment.

2. Layover in Singapore Before New Zealand

The flight to Singapore took about 6 and a half hours.

Using the airline headphones,
I finally watched F1 and Dune: Part Two.

I remember watching movies on the plane when I went to Shanghai too,
but honestly…

Movies just hit differently on airplanes.

Oh right.
They also served an in-flight meal.

Inside was chicken steak and rice.

I did take photos…
but only before opening the lid.

The second I opened it,
I inhaled the entire meal.

So the only food photo left
was my wife’s leftovers.

(Still feels weird calling my girlfriend “my wife.”)

I thought the meal was amazing,
but my wife’s stomach wasn’t feeling great.

She even left the fish-shaped ice cream dessert they gave us.

That had literally never happened before.

After a little sleep,
I woke up…

and we had arrived in Singapore.

Korea: -11°C
Singapore: 31°C 😄

We had about 5 and a half hours before the next flight,
so the moment we landed,
I started peeling off all the layered winter clothes.

Changed clothes.
Walked around the airport like tourists with unlimited stamina.

And the first thing we did?

Buy Dubai chocolate.

40,000 won.
For chocolate.

(My wife has a serious sweet tooth.
I absolutely do not.)

3. Visiting Jewel Changi at Singapore Airport

Next,
we went to see Jewel Changi,
which everyone says is a must-visit when you’re in Singapore Changi Airport.

We headed over to Terminal 1,
filled out the immigration form,
and went through.

(“Quick and easy,” they said.
It still took me about 10 minutes on the app. 😅)

And wow…

The sound of the waterfall was insanely loud,
and the whole place was way bigger than I expected.

Honestly,
going through immigration again was a little annoying.

But if you skip it,
you’ll definitely regret it later. 🥹

Totally worth it.

Traveling with minimal luggage made everything easier,
and we could use the remaining time much more efficiently.

At this rate,
I feel like I could write an entire series
just about the Singapore layover alone.

So I’ll save that as a side story,
and next time…

We’re finally getting to the actual New Zealand content.

Anyway,
that’s it for now!