I like late afternoon flights, you get the whole day to sort out things, which worked out well for me, had not packed a single thing and around 11am started and was sorted by midday. Around 2:30pm our Maxi taxi arrived, luggage loaded and off to Mum’s place – it has only been 33yrs since I last flew with Mum/Dad on the same flight!! It was not planned but we were on the same flights to Mumbai!

Whilst there I had a funny feeling that one of my doors at home was not properly locked, asked the taxi to drive back home to recheck – whilst doors were all locked, I found the air conditioning still running !!! Am I glad we went back, second time check and home locked, now it was off to the airport! ( if you ever have that feeling of something being missed, always better to recheck – my lesson learnt).

Airport checkin was normal, queues were not much at all and soon we were through immigration.

Dutyfree shopping done for mum and Nita, now for a quick bite and then off to gates. Flight was delayed by 30 mins :(! No other hiccups, we were soon in the air – next stop Singapore for 7.5 hr layover !!!

The Singapore airlines service is super, Nita’s meal had under cooked lentils! We informed the steward and she ensured the issue was rectified, another option was presented and the manager was also there to ensure things were all ok – they were super attentive to our needs – 5 stars for that👍.

Landed in Singapore just after midnight local time. Now to kill time – this is hard for the guys but seems easy got ladies, simply head to the duty free shops 😬

Mum and Dad headed to the business lounge to relax, we tried to explore the terminal a bit more.

Unfortunately most of the shops closed around 1am, tried to get to the JEWEl, a super feature in the airport with waterfalls and things, sadly that was closed at that hour ☹️.

Next found a good lounge location and got some much needed rest. Nita located a couple of OSIM foot massage machines – these were god sent and soo good, turned out these were everywhere in the terminal, to revive the millions of sore feet walking through Changi.

The hours ticked off quicker than I had anticipated and soon it was time to head to the gates for the next flight.

Enroute to the gates, came across a large pair of wings – very similar to the wings in Maleficent – time to pose!!

Posing done, boarded the flight and we were in the air again.

Arrived at Mumbai on time, getting off the plane, we could smell India – it has a very distinctive smell 👍. Now for the very very long walk from the gates to immigration.

No issues at immigration or customs, and was pleased to see the sign at customs explicitly warning passengers to report any activity of bribe demands !

Here we split with mum & dad, they were off to Navsari, whilst we were staying in Mumbai for a few days before meeting up in Navsari.

Got a prepaid AC taxi to Novotel Juhu organised from within the terminal, this is much better than walking outside and being bombarded with all the taxi drivers. Much more organised and so much cheaper than getting a hotel pickup (lesson learnt from last experience).

Tip: Rather than paying 2000+ INR for hotel organised pickup, a prepaid Taxi will set you back a mere 300 INR.

Mumbai roads – amazing organised kaos, things just keep moving.

Got to the hotel but check in process was slow :(, finally got the room keys and we were settled in.

First stop lunch at our fav from the last trip – Tea Villa Cafe, short walk from Novotel and the most amazing food.

Following that, I organised a SIM card for Nita, that was a fairly quick process, just need to make sure you have your passport and visa documents. 1200 INR got us 28 days of talk, text, 1.5gb of data daily plus additional 12gb – let’s see how we go through that in the next two weeks.

Sim sorted, next stop was Myrah day spa. Time to let go of all that tiredness from the long travels. This place was amazing, highly highly recommended.

Finished around 6pm, off to the hotel and then we headed to Hakassan, another fav from our last trip, that time I could not eat due to my throat allergic problems, no problems this time around.

We ordered the Spicy soup, Dim Sum, Hakka noddles & Duck Stir fry, all tasted amazing!!

It had been a very looong day, time to hit the bed, tomorrow Nita starts her shopping spree 😱😨