I’m sure you already know – Jewel Changi Airport’s Day 1 of previews happened yesterday. And boy, I sure underestimated the size of the crowd. Crowd control was brilliant though, as you can expect from the world’s best airport. While waiting for my photographer pal outside Din Tai Fung, I spotted a group of aunties crowding around a concierge or customer service desk where, apparently, guides to Jewel plus bottles of water were being handed out. You can also grab as many candies as you’d like. The picture above shows you what I got. 
While some people were tempted by the F&B offerings, most people wanted pictures of the Rain Vortex. And as I was with my photog pal, he told me where I should take the picture from if I want the Changi Control Tower to be right in the center. Honestly, I can’t care less. Maybe I’m bochup about these things or I prefer artistic expression. Haha!
Confirm not in the center but doesn’t the control tower look like a rocket about to take off?
And below… people offering up their mobile phones to the Almighty…
I hope their wishes are granted.
*chuckle*
As for food, my ‘battle plan’ for the day was to head down the various levels and avoid the crowd. Anywhere we could find a seat was a good place to eat.
Certainly not A&W. I don’t even want to pretend I haven’t been getting my A&W fix in Malaysia and Batam…
We actually went past KFC, which was ‘full house’ and then noticed there were available tables at Song Fa Bak Kut Teh. Perfect! Even managed to meet an ex-colleague from almost a decade ago! Jeff from AK is currently L&D Manager at Song Fa. How cool is that?
I’d recommend you dine here because Song Fa (this outlet at least) has taken a leaf out of Hai Di Lao’s book. They offer splash-proof cloths to cover your bags (I’m not sure why either? Got flying pieces of pork rib, meh?) And they also have notices on the tables to inform you that you can approach their staff for “a zip lock bag / cloth to protect your personal belongings”. Service was excellent – staff remembered I’d requested for chili padi when placing our order, soup refills were provided without our asking, and they even handed out little sampler cups of some new beverage they’re putting on their menu (I cannot remember the name of the drink though). I think the only little thing I can pick out – if I were to nitpick – is that the server’s thumb did end up in my bowl of soup as she was transferring the bowl from her tray to our table. 
I didn’t mention it though, as I’d thought it was just an honest mistake. So there is a little room for improvement. I guess they’ll do fine, since they’ve Jeff working for them.
Here are some F&B outlets in Jewel that are the ‘FIRST IN SINGAPORE’:
Yun Nans
Yu’s Kitchen
TONITO Latin American Kitchen
Tiger Street Lab
Shang Social
Shake Shack
PINK FISH
Burger & Lobster
Xiao Bin Lou
Elfuego by Collin’s
A&W (*)
JW360
Laderach Chocolatier Suisse
Lavender
I’m so looking forward to dropping by Jewel again soon when, hopefully, the crowd’s abated.
Here’s some carpark information:
Short-term parking at B2M and B2: First 90mins at 4 cents per minute, then $5 for 30mins for subsequent 30 mins or part thereof.
General parking from B3 to B5 is at 4 cents per minute.
Motorcycles and scooters: $1.30 per day (7am to 6.59am on the next day)