Thursday, December 17, 2020

Singapore - To Stay 10-12Dec20 Changi Cove Staycation

Changi Cove
Staycation 10-12Dec
3D2N
Total SGD253/night
*The walk to where the rooms are located*
Changi Cove is located very close to an entry point of Changi Board Walk and a short drive away from the bustling Changi Village eatery and Changi Beach.
Click here for ABBA location of Changi Cove 351 Cranwell Rd, Singapore 509866 of Changi Cove
*View from the 5th floor overlooking Changi Coast Line*
*Changi Cove's Iconic White Oak Tree.*
Positives
- Location is pretty good for the Changi-centric activities and being among nature.
- Free Parking
- Wifi fast and decent
- Rooms are decent sized with strong water pressure in the bathrooms. At least for the same price it was bigger than Oasia Hotel Downstown. Click here for 3D2N Staycation Itenary.

Negatives
- No Swimming Pool! The lack of a pool wasn't clear on various travel booking websites/pictures. One needs to take a shuttle bus to partnered Civil Service Club (1hr swim limit) to get your soak on.
- Very basic Breakfast.
- To get to the rooms requires a lift and short walk transfer as rooms are located in a separate building. Vice-versa to go out.

For the asking price, due Covid and holiday period, honestly everything else was booked out. One could probably gotten a better location or hotel elsewhere. Its not an unpleasant stay but could have been so much more. Would look to other options for a Changi centric location.

Day 1 Thur
- Jurassic Mile
- Lunch at Hub and Spoke
- Dinner at Coach Inn at Changi Sailing Club
- Walk part of Changi Coastal board walk
- Jurassic Mile Xmas Special - So nice you see it twice
 
Day2 Fri
- Breakfast at Hotel
- Board Walk part2
- Changi Beach Fun
- Lunch at Previously Lots
- Dinner at Jewel Beauty in a Pot
- Snow and Light Show at OCBC Vortex

- Lights and more snow at Canopy Park at Jewel.
Day3 Sat
- Checkout
- Pasir Ris Park (Fishing pond) and Lunch
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Singapore - To Do/Eat 10Dec20 Jurrasic Mile, Hub and Spoke

Jurassic Mile
Nearest Parking is T4 Car park 4A Ground Floor.
Its a short 250m walk or less from there.

Click here for Jurassic Mile
Jurassic Mile is excellent for both day and night visits! Each offers a completely different vibe. Day more natural look, while the night a little more campy but still loads of fun.

After an incident of a random golf ball hitting a passerby, an overhead safety netting has since been installed. Though it takes a bit away from the dinosaurs,the overhead canopy does offers an opportunity for additional festive lighting, shade and decoration opportunities.

Note that it is a relatively narrow shared path for cyclist and pedestrians. It does get crowded especially near photo spots.






ABBATips for Dino Mile
- Suggested times to visit are early morning where the facade provides perfect shading and of course evening times (though expect larger crowds).
- Nearest Parking is T4 Car park 4A Ground Floor. Its a short 250m walk or less from there.
- Dinosaurs to note are the Hologram Dinosaur and the tall Brontosaurus which marks the start/end of the Dino Mile
- Water Top up point is available on the ground floor of the car park 4A.
Click here for Jurassic Mile

Suggested itenary
- Start from Hub/Spoke cafe (Located T2 South side carpark).
- Parking is available and from there one can rent bicycles and cycle 2km to the Jurassic mile and onward to east coast via the park connector.
- Hub and Spoke for Lunch and even a shower for a token fee.
- Bike Rentals are available at shop beside Hub and Spoke

Hub and Spoke
(Follow the brown signs to Hub and Spoke at T2 South side car park)


Will glimpse past the food portion as its more for its unique location and suiting the actiity at Jurassic Mile.

Food is alright. Their asian dishes were generally better than their western ones. Gula Melaka Coffee was really nice and all airport staff rock a 10% discount. Picture of ID is sufficient for the discount. Food is average but what's really unique is with the small little garden and layout, one wouldn't think you're at an international airport. Excellent place to relax, recharge and even refresh.
In-door sitting is limited.

Well done Singapore Changi! Together with Jewel, who'd ever imagine that an international airport such as Changi would have that many go to attractions to explore.

The festive additions to the Dino Mile are a nice touch and worth to check out before the season is over!
Click here for Jurassic Mile

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Singapore - To Do 10Dec20 (Changi Board Walk)

Changi Board Walk
(Approx 1km in total length from end to end)
Dinner at Coachman Inn followed by Changi Boardwalk
We had a 'sunset' dinner at Coachman Inn  due to logistics and close proximity to the board walk

The boardwalk in generally is very relaxing and offers scenic walk especially during the golden hours of dawn and dusk. (Note the way the curving coastline, only the Sunet and Kelong Walk offers a view of the setting Sun)

The route is easily accessible from multiple entry points and gives one the opportunity to enjoy the Singapore coastline. Enjoyable expereince which would have otherwise been overlooked with this relatively out of the way location.
 Coachman Inn
The view offered far out-values what was served.

The western offering standards stood somewhere between a home cooked meal and canteen western food-stall aunty's. Slightly overcooked, under-seasoned and the sides didn't inspire. Perhaps their Asian offerings would be a better medium to enjoy a meal whilst watching the sunset. Will not return for a meal.

Only thing going for this place is the easy access parking, a meal with view, followed by an entry point to the Board Walk.
Click here for ABBA location of Changi Board Walk
Click here for ABBA location of Coachman Inn
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Saturday, December 5, 2020

Singapore - To Do 05Dec2020 Yishun Park and Pond

Yishun Park and Pond
A pretty rustic park. A nice windy circuit among the Dipterocarp Arboretum, a species of tall tree which dominate most of Asian Rain Forests.
The playgrounds look very well used and is a nice throw back to simpler times. Sufficient for kids play.
The lookout to the Pond was pretty pleasant but was a little too open for more wild life to find sanctuary. Pretty pleasant stroll from end to end in amongts the tall trees.

The highlight is actually ending the stroll over at Yishun Hawker Center and having Ah Tan Wings (Epic Har Cheong Kai Chicken Rice) and Munchi Delights (Amazing Min Jiang Kueh) located opposite. There are loads of other great eats here and the multi story car park is located within the same building. Large open spaces and plenty of seating.
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Friday, December 4, 2020

Aviation Read - Skill Fade and mitigation tools

Disclaimer! This is NOT an opinion piece, but rather a collection of various readings and clippings which serve to spur further exploration in the topic. These are not full articles but simply excerpts from the bulk of reading material that is available.  As much citation and references were taken with regards to the topic. Legitimacy and accuracy of the clippings are read at your own discretion.
Click here for More Aviation Reads

Skill Fade
Aviators are not exempt from the specter of skill fade. Currency and recency requirements, can vary widely from regulator to regulator, by type of employment and by the classification of the pilot license held.

An airline pilot might be subject to semi annual training and testing whereas a business aviation pilot holding the same category of license might only require training on an annual basis and a proficiency check every second year.

It is also important to realize that, whilst a pilot might meet both currency and recency requirements, this does not necessarily ensure proficiency in all areas.
(Click here for Airmanship Model by Tony Kern)

Critical skills and knowledge can fade between mandatory training and testing sessions due to inactivity, lack of individual effort or simply through lack of exposure to certain events or areas of operation.

Proficiency can also fade due to over-reliance on automation, (Click here for another good read of automation Children of the Magenta.) aging, inactivity due to recovery from an illness or injury, infrequent opportunities to fly due to type of employment or role within the organization, or due to a overall reduction in flying hours.

The COVID 19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on pilot skill fade due to fleet and flying hour reductions, furloughs and redundancies. Although enacted to help reduce COVID spread, the NAA extension of currency expiry dates and suspension of recency requirements, authorized in some jurisdictions, have potentially exacerbated this impact.

There are a number of factors that affect skill fade. These include:
  • Retention interval - The ability to remember information is proportional to its frequency of use. In essence, the longer the period of non-use, the greater the probability of decay.

  • Overlearning - Overlearning refers to the amount of extra training beyond the point needed to reach competency. Overlearning has the potential to induce complacency and increase the association between stimulus and response.

  • Training methodology - The type of training and testing methodology will affect knowledge retention.

  • Task type - The degree of skill fade associated with a given type of task will vary from individual to individual. Some people are more capable of performing tasks that require physical strength, coordination or dexterity, while others excel at problem solving or decision-making.

  • Conditions of retrieval - Skill retention is partially dependent upon the conditions and environment of training. If these are significantly different from the workplace situation, skill retention will suffer. However, if the setting for learning and testing mirrors the workplace, skill retention will be enhanced.

  • Individual ability - High ability individuals, in general, will show less skill fade than their less able peers.
 
Mitigation Strategies

Research has indicated that individuals with long held skills and knowledge were better able to retain their skills during periods of disuse when they:

  • kept in touch with their peers
  • stayed aware of developments in their profession
  • had a high level of learning and proficiency at the start of the furlough period

Thou high tech simulators may not be readily available, there are however, low tech solutions.

- A regular study of the AFM to review aircraft systems and procedures
- Utilising flash cards to reinforce limitations and memory items

- Use of a "paper trainer", consisting of wall mounted cockpit panel diagrams and the corresponding aircraft checklists, to practicing flows, checklist responses and cockpit procedures, can all contribute to significantly reducing the rate of skill fade during a hiatus from flying.
Click here for More Aviation Reads

 
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