Singapore’s Changi Airport has been ranked the world’s best for seven years in a row now.
But just because it’s at the top, doesn’t mean it’s staying comfortable.
It’s called Jewel, it’s a nearly $1.3 billion dollar project which connects
three of the four terminals at Singapore’s Changi Airport.
It aims to increase the number of passengers coming to Singapore for both visits and stopovers.
It’s even being dubbed a destination for the locals, too.
And maybe that’s not so crazy, considering it also boasts its own movie theater and grocery store.
But if you come to this airport for just a layover, well, you will need to clear immigration to enter this dome.
Unless...
Say you have a stopover at the airport, but you don’t want to go through immigration?
Well, this train allows you to hop onboard and go right through the Jewel
so you can experience it without actually getting off.
By riding on one of these trains, you can experience Jewel, without technically ever entering Singapore.
So what exactly is this place, which feels like an airport, a tourist attraction,
and a gigantic mall, all combined into one?
Jewel builds on Singapore’s goal of being a "City in a Garden."
Here are the three elements that make Jewel unique.
Number one, the HSBC Rain Vortex.
This is where the water originates, it goes down through this funnel which then creates the vortex.
The total length of the waterfall is more than 130 feet,
making it the largest indoor waterfall in the world.
Jewel is comprised of five floors above ground and five floors below ground.
I’m standing two floors below ground right now and this is actually the base of the waterfall,
which goes inside the glass. And the glass, you can even touch the glass.
The Shiseido Forest, which is sort of meant to feel like you’re going on an actual hike.
It spans across five levels and is nearly 100 feet from the bottom to the top.
There’s about 60,000 trees, plants and shrubs.
And there are actual signs that refer to it as a trail.
Many studies were conducted to ensure the plants and flowers
will survive the right temperature, humidity and sun exposure.
To build this forest they’ve imported trees from the U.S., China and Australia.
And if you walk up to the top of the forest, you get to what this area is known as, Canopy Park.
Don’t worry, you can also take the escalator.
Here, you can walk the entire perimeter of Jewel and see more views of the rain vortex,
along with inter-terminal airport trains passing by.
It’s also home to different gardens, activities and more restaurants.
Singapore’s Changi ranks number seven in the world in terms of international passenger volume.
But it wants to climb the ranks by increasing the number of people coming through the airport.
That’s one of the reasons for this endeavor.
Singapore’s spot on the map puts it within a 7-hour flight
of some of the world’s biggest populations, including China, India and Indonesia.
Construction of Jewel broke ground at the end of 2014, and it was finished in less than five years.
Once this bridge behind me opens up, you’re going to be able to look at your feet
and see right through because, well, it’s made of glass.
Not recommended if you’re afraid of heights.
Overall, we wanted to create a multi-faceted project
that would capture tourism minds here and just attract more people.
That’s Jewel Changi Airport’s CEO Jean Hung.
What’s good for our travelers is that if you are kicked out of your hotel in the morning,
but your flight is at night, you can come to Jewel, check in your bag
and enjoy the facilities that you see around you before you go onto your flight.
Even though there are plenty of homages to Singapore, much of the inspiration is global.
We went around the world because we wanted to create a memorable garden
and so we got inspiration from Highline, we went to the Huntington Gardens in LA
and visited various famous gardens that are world- renowned and tried to learn a little bit from the best.
In an effort to be energy efficient, the air conditioning actually comes from the ground, through vents like this.
The idea behind this is to save energy by only cooling areas where people actually are,
rather than the entire dome.
But, while Jewel might seem like a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon,
what’s it like to be here if you’re running to catch a flight or you just landed after a long journey?
You have a 7-hour stopover what’s your first impression of this experience?
Fast and simple, pretty straight forward.
So, you just landed, what do you think so far?
It's really amazing.
You’re about to fly out, did you come early just to see it?
Yeah, actually I have about 30 minutes until I need to run, so I’m going to rush.
One passenger told me the area was hard to maneuver with their luggage.
But Jewel has a baggage storage service too.
Passengers can pay around $10 to 20 to store luggage for up to 24 hours.
And that’s not all.
Traditionally passengers have only been allowed to drop off their luggage
three hours before their flight, but now that’s changing.
Now, up to 24-hours before most flights, passengers can check in here,
drop off their luggage in these automated machines behind me, and then from there, well,
the airport hopes you’ll go have a nice meal, do some shopping or just explore the sights.
Just seeing the people being overwhelmed by it is something quite emotional for me.
That's Ashith Alva, he was the head of this project.
We’ve created this new icon where the world can see what Singapore offers the world.
This water feature behind me, it looks very simple, it’s just water coming out of nowhere.
But to actually get to this, there were so many studies done, it took almost two years of pure studies.
He said his team actually used a reservoir in Los Angeles to do a full-scale mockup of
the waterfall to understand how the water would land, how loud it would be,
and even the specifics of how it would splash in different areas.
Aside from the main attractions under the dome, there’s more than 280 new restaurants and stores here.
There’s more than 80 food and beverage outlets here,
some of which, like this one, are making their debut in Singapore.
Singaporeans in our London restaurants are actually our third biggest customers,
so, it made obvious sense to come to Singapore once the Jewel opportunity was given.
That’s Ben Hedley of U.K. restaurant chain Burger & Lobster, who said the opportunity
at Jewel made them choose Singapore over Hong Kong for its flagship Asian outlet.
Then there’s also New York burger chain, Shake Shack,
making its first mark in Southeast Asia with this location.
Even Starbucks had to find ways to go big.
This Starbucks is now the largest in Singapore and it’s the first with its own four tap nitro bar.
But if all of that outside is too much commotion for you,
you can come and get some shut eye in between flights,
where you can rent a room like this for as little as four hours, which costs around $60.
At night the days end with timed light shows at the Rain Vortex waterfall.
Overall, Jewel is an impressive feat.
It feels like a glimpse of an airport from the future, only it’s open now.
Overall, it kind of feels like I’m in a theme park.
You have this inspirational and exciting music playing in the background
and I’m even standing in what’s referred to as a Splash Zone.
While I’m not sure people will change their travel plans because of Jewel, I do know,
there’s now a higher chance that I’ll be missing my flight.
Hey guys, it's Uptin. Thanks for watching.
I want to know, would you modify your itinerary just to have a layover here at this airport?
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