Long layovers, out-of-print magazines and a Winston Churchill biopic (#37)
This edition's a more flight/travel themed one with talk about our layover in London for less than a day, and how my wife got into London without a visa. Enjoy!
Hey folks!
Welcome to Newsletter #37. I hope you had a great week.
I’m back in Canada. It’s back to the other half of the world, and it was a long trip. This time round I flew through London (UK) with my wife and I got myself reacquainted with Britain (again).
This one’s a bit shorter with less news, and a little more aviation themed (given my long weekend of travelling). But I hope you enjoy it!
ICYMI
In case you missed what’s going on, here are some interesting stories that I came across this week.
Nigeria gets a brand new museum to house returning artefacts and to promote its rich heritage.
Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral will be reopening in December, five years after a devastating fire destroyed parts of the building.
Over 300,000 trees will be planted on the island of Montreal in the next few years to increase biodiversity.
Photo of the Week
Some of my own street photography, this time in London.
This one is at a COVID memorial wall right next to the River Thames, and just a short walk across the river from the Houses of Parliament.
Lest we forget the 300K+ people who lost their lives in the UK due to the pandemic. RIP.
Idea of the Week: (Long) Layovers
Definition (Cambridge Dictionary) a short stay at a place in the middle of a trip, especially one by plane:
Example:” “We had a ten-hour layover in London.”
No, actually, this is a true story. Read on.
As you know, Canada is very far from Singapore. For a while there weren’t any direct flights between the two countries. There’s now a non-stop service that goes from Singapore to Vancouver, but that’s extremely expensive and not the best option if you live on the Eastern side of the country (guess what, you’ll still have a layover!)
Hence, long layovers are a thing on my journeys to and from Asia. Sometimes two or three layovers are the norm, and if I’m lucky enough, I do find flights that have just one (stop) layover in either the United States, Asia, or Europe. And I do dig the longer layovers because I can use that time between flights to explore cities1.
Some layovers are not so great if you need a visa to transit or if the layover is long and an overnight one. The latter is the worst - most of the time everything’s closed and you don’t have the chance to explore a new place. Plus - airports are really not great places to sleep.
In our case, laying over in London on our return to Canada was a good option this time because everything was aligned. Our British Airways flight from Singapore arrived in London at 5.30am, and the next one would leave at 4.30pm on the same day. We effectively had an 11 hour layover, and in daylight hours.
Also, remember when I said I had this thing called “passport privilege?”. I’m lucky I have a Singapore passport. But she doesn’t have that privilege as she’s from Vietnam. But this time, as we’re both residents of Canada, she could take advantage of the UK Border Control’s “one day visa” scheme for a layover in London.2
In that sense, we were lucky to have the opportunity to see that city and it was really a relief to see that one day visa being stamped into her passport. No visa fees involved, too!3
Back to the actual idea and execution of a layover in a city. These longer layovers are welcome in my book because we can leave the airport and enjoy the sights and sounds of a city. That removes some stress from the trip, and adds excitement to your journey. Would I relish hanging out in London Heathrow for 11 hours? No, I would not.4
Would I relish exploring the area around Buckingham Palace at 7.30 am, have a British breakfast at Sapori with local cops, walk along the Thames to enjoy the sights of London, and pop into a Tesco’s for some Jaffa Cakes? Yes. So did my wife!
Because, it’s a new place for her that I know that her saving on actually applying for a physical visa would even cover our expenses for the whole day, and taking in that opportunity to soak in new experiences even if it’s just a day - that’s priceless.
And it’s always a joy when you have a long layover with the people you cherish in your life. We met our lovely friend, Anh, who’s a true-blue Londoner who showed us the sights of the city within our layover.
Or in the case of my international friends who’ve been to Singapore for a layover of 10 or more hours, it’s a fantastic opportunity for me to catch up with them if they’re checking out the city for the first, second, third time, etc.
Experiences are different each and every time, and it’s a great opportunity for me to introduce them to new things, and for them to experience that joy of reuniting again.
Are we going to keep doing layovers? Hell yea! (we’re seeing London again in January). So if you have that opportunity to just get out of the space with bad air, expensive sandwiches, and horrible seating, just do it!
Read of the Week: September’s issue of Hemispheres
Hemispheres is the inflight magazine of United Airlines, and it just went out of physical print in September after 32 years. Why?
Because we’re increasingly seeing the world on digital screens now, and not in physical print anymore.
Because it takes some weight off the aircraft and reduces emissions.
Because…who actually reads an inflight magazine? Fun fact: I still do.
Thankfully, I managed to snag a complimentary final copy of United’s inflight magazine for free - bid, requested, confirmed, and delivered in just 1.5 months to my address in Montreal, and this one’s an extra for my collection.
Call me an oldie, but I do like physical inflight magazines, and I like this one too.
And yes, while I can’t say most of these are “intellectual” reads, they do let you peek into a culture of a company, curated selections of things to do, and from time to time, ideas that help you think about the world in a different way.
Screentime This Week: Darkest Hour
In between Singapore - London - Montreal I decided to catch:
Freelance (2023) - action comedy with John Cena and Alison Brie
Argyle (2024) - Apple TV+ action comedy with Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Dua Lipa …and John Cena
Some parts of The Sympathizer (2024)
Darkest Hour (2017) with Gary Oldman and Kristen Scott Thomas
I promise you, I’m not a fan of John Cena or his acting and those movies are cringe at best. Those were out of curiosity and I also really am glad British Airways had the entire The Sympathizer box set for passengers to enjoy.
But what I really did enjoy was Darkest Hour5, a Winston Churchill biopic that brought Gary Oldman (as Churchill) and Kristen Scott Thomas (Clementine Churchill - his wife) together before they starred in Slow Horses. Also starring Lily James (Baby Driver).
I’m a really big fan of Gary Oldman, and I think he did a great job acting as Winston Churchill in this film where he brought to life the statesman’s first weeks as Prime Minister during the Second World War. This was the film that bagged him an Oscar (Best Actor) in 2018.
Most of this is on historical record so no spoilers here: Churchill’s rise to the top was jealously watched by Neville Chamberlain (his predecessor) and Lord Halifax (the man whom many wanted as PM instead of Churchill), who were in favour of appeasement over a prolonged war. Eventually Churchill’s brash but populist style won the day, Britain stayed in the flight, and subsequently won the war with its allies.
In today’s political context and comparing what’s happened in the United States, Oldman’s portrayal of Churchill as a statesman helps bring to life the man whom Britons united behind during a time of crisis. Remember that he formed a unity government with the Labour Party, and he was able to connect and rally citizens to keep fighting.
The orange guy in the United States right now has been compared to Winston Churchill, but I can tell you that’s really a stretch. And yes, again, I am also aware that Churchill is no saint either6.
Nevertheless, Darkest Hour is a great masterpiece in world-leading acting, set design and storytelling, with of course some fictionalisation of events. Catch it where you can find it!
Till then…see you in the next one.
This year, for example, I had a long layover in Chicago for 16 hours, and I could at least stretch my legs. I had one in Taipei this September where I could at least enter the public areas of the airport and explore the viewing decks. Both of us transited in San Francisco and May and we enjoyed our time at the Golden Gate Bridge. I also had the privilege of taking one day layovers in Hong Kong, Zurich, Taipei, and Paris before COVID.
The UK allows non visa-waiver passport travellers holding valid Canadian, US, Australian, New Zealand and EU permanent residence documents, and selected visas from several countries, to transit in the UK visa-free till 2359 hours the following day after you arrive. NOTE: you may still be refused entry depending on the discretion of UK Border Control.
This one day transit visa was a complimentary (discretionary) facility. If we’d to apply for her per transit it would cost £64 each time.
As much as I love flying around, some airports are just terrible for laying over. Heathrow is one of them.
The title of the film refers to a phrase describing the early days of the war.
If you’re curious check out Winston Churchill’s own views in this read here.