Fiji to Singapore

Slept pretty well, though maybe the poolside beer helped a little with that? I did, of course, wake up early & not really get back to sleep, but that seems to be a thing with travel days.
Packing up didn’t take long; I’ve almost got a system for flying days, which is mostly “meds & anything with a battery goes in the carry-on (packable) bag, anything else goes in checked luggage, and the passport wallet goes around my neck”.

Hotel Airport Shuttle again. I was happy to walk, because it’s not far, but they were right there as I was checking out, & even waited for me.
I paid amore attention on the drive back, and my wandering around the airport the last time I was here took me to almost across the road from the hotel – There’s a curving covered walkway that stretches from the International Terminal towards the road, and maybe leads to a bus stop?
While waiting for check-in to open, someone doing a survey on remote working ( something to do with a Fijian Government Ministry & the Asian Development Bank ) asked some questions about remote working. They’re apparently hitting the airport during the day, then the tourist areas in the evening, finding out about Digital Nomads & Remote Workers.

Chatted with the surveyor afterwards, and I get the idea that they’re at least interested in what would bring such folks to Fiji. It’s apparently bigger in Bali, but Bali is cheaper & has better internet. I can see the appeal; Fiji is nicer than a lot of places I’ve remote worked from.

I did online check-in, and have a digital boarding pass, so once it opened I got to skip the immediately huge line & go through the bag drop lane, where they scanned my passport & printed a boarding pass anyway. I don’t understand their system, but if online check-in gets me past that line, I’m all for it.

Still no idea what the difference between green & red Approved Cabin Baggage tags is. It’s not hard/soft case, but it might be weight, or maybe the agent’s impression of how big or awkward it is? Kind of an easy “gate check this one if there’s a problem” indicator.

I get the idea that some folks at the airport aren’t morning people; The general vibe at 9am was less cheerful & relaxed and more disinterested & unenthusiastic, though … still chill about it. Still, I got a breakfast, and got through airport security without any problems.

It’s fun, or at least fun to me, that walking through the gate at Nadi doesn’t take you to one of those plane tubeway bridge things, but instead out onto a wide covered elevated walkway, which you walk along to get to the airbridge/plane.

I paid for an aisle seat for this one; Don’t see the point of a window seat over the ocean, and the extra room of the aisle is better than a wall to lean against while not sleeping. That said, I think I drifted off a few times before we got moving. The window seat guy is going with that option, & slept most of the flight.

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It was an OK flight? I’m not the most relaxed flyer at the best of times, and these aren’t those, so I had some moments of having to push down the “What If” thoughts that I’d messed up the visa situation in some way, or hadn’t understood, and was flying to a trip that wouldn’t happen. Mostly kept those in check.

The various dreadful things didn’t happen. Or at least haven’t happened yet?

Arrival and visitor permit was entirely automated; Scan the passport in the machine, go through, and they emailed the thing to me, something I only noticed while waiting for my bag & idly wondering if what looked like land-side was really just another piece of airside before customs. Nope, just wandered on out.

Navigated the metro without incident, thankfully, because I was very tired by then. Hardest parts were finding the recommended exit from the station, and then finding the hotel/hostel lobby amid a sea of much more garish signage. (I had the street number, so I doubled back & went by number after I overshot)

Check-in was by kiosk, and I’ve got my own capsule, a locker, a shoe locker, … It’s nice for a hostel, odd for a hotel.