Singapore / 5–8 Sep 2026

The Singapore extension

A volcano in the Sunda Strait ended the trip, and then didn’t. Four extra days of being stuck in Singapore, and what I did with them.

Singapore
5–8 Sep 2026
Unplanned
Krakatau
Four days

Two free days in Singapore: great story. From day three, on my own money: just a bill. Both happened on the same trip, about forty-eight hours apart.

The canal, escalators and glass roof inside the Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands — An air-conditioned afternoon in a city I like anyway, on a day I was supposed to be home.

The flight home went through Singapore. The Singapore–Jakarta leg got cancelled: volcanic ash from Krakatau.

Singapore Airlines put us up at the Royal Plaza on Scotts, with breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets included. For two days this was a gift. Someone else’s hotel, someone else’s meals, and a city I like anyway.

Then the coverage ran out.

5 Sep

The cancellation

A volcano in the Sunda Strait ended the trip, and then didn’t.

6 Sep

The extra day

Checked out at nine, checked back in by lunchtime.

7–8 Sep

Getting home

Three rebookings, and then a Tuesday afternoon flight.

Two free days in Singapore: great story. The days after that: just a bill.
The Singapore extension

5 Sep

A volcano in the Sunda Strait ended the trip, and then didn’t

Out of Sydney in the evening, into Singapore, and straight into the news that the last leg wasn’t happening. The airline handled it well: a hotel on Scotts Road with all three meals included. For two days, a gift.

Busy departure gate at Sydney airport with orange seating and travellers waiting — Leaving Sydney thinking there was one flight left.

Orchard Road at night seen through a car window, lit shopfronts and traffic — Into the city instead of onto a plane. Familiar road, wrong reason to be on it.

Large paella pan of rice with prawns on a hotel buffet line — Someone else paying for dinner makes almost any food taste better.

Copper pot of seafood in a red broth on a hotel buffet counter — The hotel buffet.

6 Sep

Checked out at nine, checked back in by lunchtime

Out of the hotel around nine for Changi, rebooked on a flight around noon. Then: Soekarno-Hatta still closed for the day. Checked back in and made a day out of a day that wasn’t supposed to exist.

Tower block and covered walkway on Orchard Road in the morning — Orchard Road at ten in the morning, on a Sunday I was meant to spend at home.

Bakery display case filled with croissants, danishes and filled pastries — Coffee at Tiong Bahru Bakery. The safe pick when you have no plan and need one now.

Flat white and an iced black coffee on a green terrazzo table — Two coffees on a green table. That was the plan.

Rooftop hotel pool with red umbrellas and empty poolside tables — Back at the hotel by noon, at the pool by one.

Cup of matcha soft serve held up inside a dessert shop — Gelato at Tofu G. If the day is filler, might as well fill it properly.

Tonkatsu set with shredded cabbage, rice, miso soup and pickles — Early dinner at Tonkatsu Ma Maison. Nowhere to be.

Refrigerated display of tarts and cakes in a patisserie — A cheesecake from Olivia to take away, because later was clearly going to need something.

Pistachio tart in an open cake box photographed on a bed at night — Just before one in the morning, in a hotel room. Right time, right place.

7–8 Sep

The part where it stops being a gift

The airline’s coverage ran out. The last two days were on my own money, still stuck in Singapore, waiting for an airport in another country to reopen.

Open kitchen counter at a Japanese yakitori restaurant with cooks working — You start picking places by how long you can sit in them.

Takeaway unagi bento box with rice, pickles and salad on a hotel desk — Takeaway on a hotel desk. Not a meal anybody planned to eat.

Golden custard tart in an open box on a bed at night — The other half of the midnight order. By then the days had no shape.

Three rebookings and a Tuesday afternoon

First the flight home got pushed all the way to the 12th. At that point it felt less like a delay and more like moving here. Then it moved up to the 9th. Then Soekarno-Hatta reopened on the 8th, and Singapore Airlines put me on the 13:10 that afternoon. Home on Tuesday 8 September: four days later than the ticket said, four days earlier than I’d made peace with.

If it happens to you

Take the airline hotel and the buffet, no guilt, and use the free days properly. They’re the only part you’ll remember fondly. Then start counting, because the coverage ends before the chaos does. And don’t plan around the rebooked date. Mine moved three times in three days.

Honest downside

A trip extension you didn’t choose is not a bonus holiday. Two days of it is a story. After that it’s a hotel bill, a laundry problem, and checking every day whether an airport in another country has reopened.