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Switzerland is a landlocked country in central Europe and bordered by Italy to the South, France to the West, Germany to the North, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the East. The country is a federal republic, and composed of 26 cantons, with Bern as its federal capital. Similar to Singapore, there are four official languages in Switzerland, namely German, French, Italian and Romansh.
Business trip at a glance
Country: Switzerland Confederation
Period: 25 Mar to 26 Sep 2010
Flight timings:
25 Mar: SQ 346, SIN-ZRH, ETD 0110 ETA 0720
26 Sep: SQ 345, ZRH-SIN, ETD 1200 ETA 0605 (27 Sep)
Accommodation:
Company's Apartment at Rue de la Dîme, Neuchâtel (25 Mar to 26 Sep)
Currency exchange rate: CHF 1.00 = SGD 1.32 (Mar '10 period)
Changi Airport
No review needed as this was not my first time departing from Terminal 3 of Changi Airport. The IATA code for this airport is SIN.
SilverKris Lounge
- After immigration clearance, I proceeded straight to the SilverKris Lounge (left photo below); reason was to complete a write-up using my personal laptop. Seats were comfortable that I could fall asleep on (right photo below). As for the ambience, it was rather quiet in the lounge. I suspected it could due to lesser departing flights at around 10 pm.
The buffet area inside the lounge had a wide spread of food (left photo below). Probably felt hungry, I took some fried beehoon as my supper (right photo below). Taste was satisfactory for this local dish.
Zürich Airport, or Flughafen Zürich in German, is the largest international airport in Switzerland, and is located 13-km north of downtown Zurich. The IATA code for this airport is ZRH.
Getting out from Airport
- The ground-side terminal complex named Airport Center comprises several buildings, and includes airline check-in areas, a shopping mall, a railway station, car parks, and a bus and tram terminal. Zürich Flughafen railway station is just beneath this terminal which offers convenience to passengers.
The Airport Center (left photo below) is connected directly from the Departure Hall. Passengers just need to proceed down to the respective platform using the escalators (right photo below) when it is close to the train departure time.
As it was my first time in Switzerland, I went to the ticket counter to purchase my train ticket instead of buying through the ticket machines. The friendly counter staff even printed out the next available train timing to Neuchâtel and associated platform number for me (photo below).
- It was easy to navigate in Zürich Airport as it had clear signages. Check-in row for Singapore Airlines was located at the far end in the Departure Hall. After immigration clearance, passengers could continue their shopping in the Airside Center located inside the Zürich Airport (left photo below).
Departure Gate was at Terminal E which is a stand-alone satellite terminal separated by a runway from the Airside Center. This required passengers to board a Skymetro train (right photo below) which takes about 3-minutes to the terminal. During the short journey, recorded voice of Heidi and sounds of Switzerland, such as cows mooing and cowbell ringing, were played.
Went to the Panorama Lounge at Terminal E for a rest (left photo below). The buffet area inside this lounge was rather limited with food, thus only took some sandwiches before the long flight back (right photo below).
Flight was arranged by the company therefore could not choose flight timing or airline. Journey for this non-stop flight was about 13-hours, and two meals were served during the flight. The IATA code for this airline is SQ.
Singapore to Zurich flight
- Business Class seat was upgraded for this flight which was different from the business class I took many years ago. The seat can be converted to a fully-flat bed with blanket and pillows (left photo below). Being an amateur in business class, I just requested air-stewardess to help me lay out the bed. Also, the KrisWorld control device was improved with more functions (right photo below).
For inflight Supper Meal, cajun chicken salad was served as a starter (left photo below), and for the main I selected spaghetti carbonara (right photo below). This was followed by cheese and fruits (bottom left photo) and cup of hot tea (bottom right photo) as finale.
For inflight Breakfast Meal, fruit platter (left photo below) and croissant (right photo below) were served as prelude, followed by a bowl of cereals as starter (bottom left photo). For the main, I selected wok fried egg noodles (bottom right photo).
Prior to landing in Zürich Airport, stunning view of snow-capped mountains could be seen from the flight (photos below).
- The route between Singapore and Zurich was changed using A380 aircraft in May 2010. The Business Class seat in this aircraft was much wider and therefore more space to turn during sleep (left photo below). As the aircraft was double-decked, it provided a longer route for me to stretch during flight by walking from Business to Economy, and back (right photo below).
For inflight Lunch Meal, I requested for a cup of green tea (left photo below) first. The national dish of Singapore, satay, was served as prelude (right photo below). Followed by parma ham salad as starter (bottom left photo). For the main, I selected stir-fried beef with rice (bottom right photo).
Dessert came with strawberry ice-cream (left photo below) and some fruits (right photo below) as finale.
In-between meals, passengers can grab some light bites, such as nuts, chips, biscuits and fruits, freely from the snack bar (left photo below). For me I requested instant noodles instead, and to my amazement it was served in a fancy presentation (right photo below).
For inflight Breakfast Meal, fruit platter and croissant were served as prelude (left photo below). This was followed a bowl of cereals as starter (right photo below). For the main, I selected Thai style beef kway teow (bottom left photo). Lastly I requested a cup of hot coffee to wake me up from the long flight (bottom right photo).
Transportation
Transport Tickets
Swiss Pass
- For tourists on short term visit, there is Swiss Pass where it cost between CHF 240 to CHF 760 for 3 to 15 days. It offers unlimited travel on public transportations and free admissions to over 500 museums, or up to 50% discount on mountain excursions.
SBB Half-fare Travel card
- For visitors with longer than a month, then the choice would be the half-fare travel card. It offers half-price for all SBB transportation such as railways, boats and trams. Do note that the half-fare travel card is valid for one year.
In addition, I also got a monthly pass for me to travel in Neuchâtel within zones 10 and 11 (photos below).
Swiss Federal Railways
Swiss Federal Railways, or Schweizerische Bundesbahnen (SBB) in German, Chemins de fer fédéraux suisses (CFF) in French or Ferrovie federali svizzere (FFS) in Italian, is the national railway company of Switzerland. It is commonly referred as abbreviation: SBB CFF FFS.
Following are the points of Swiss railways based on my observations:
- There is no pre-assignment of seats, all passengers can choose where to sit freely.
- There are two classes of seats in Swiss railways: First class (left photo below) and Second class (right photo below). Main difference is just the seats in first class are bigger and more comfortable. To me, the second class seats are equally good.
- It is an etiquette to remain quiet, especially on first class. Otherwise, you might invite unwelcome stares from other passengers.
- Train doors are able to soundproof the noise outside the train. From one of my experiences encountered; the church bells were ringing from a church besides a train station, but once the train doors were closed, I could not hear any sound from the bell.
- Train conductors do perform random spot checks; usually one would encounter during a long journey.
- Coffee can be bought on train at CHF 3.90, and sometimes two pieces of biscuits may be provided.
- The best way to view scenic Switzerland is by train. Mountain scenes or serene lakes can be sighted without leaving the train seat.
The photos below were taken on my last day of training period to Zurich Airport: the energy-boosting coffee purchased on board (left photo below) and the imposing sunrise view over Lake Neuchâtel (right photo below).
Ticket machine is located at every bus stop where tickets can be bought at last minute (left photo below). Bus interior design is contemporary and modern, and to my opinion is better than some buses operating in Singapore (right photo below).
Bus in Switzerland always on time as they follow a strict schedule, and it is common for the bus to wait for one or two minutes before departing to another stop.
Accommodation
The accommodation at Rue de la Dîme, Neuchâtel was allocated by the Swiss company where three colleagues communal in an apartment. Male colleagues were assigned to the first floor apartment while female colleagues were assigned to the ground floor apartment of the same layout.
Common living room (left photo below), bathrooms and kitchen (right photo below) were shared among three of us.
However, each of us got our own bedroom. A queen-size bed (left photo below) and a large wardrobe (right photo below) were provided in my room.
After staying for a few days, I decided to shift my desk closer to the window (left photo below) where I had a good view of the greenery while working on my desk. It was many months later that my desk became cluttered and disorganized (right photo below).
My room indeed had a better scenic view compared to the other two rooms where the panorama of the neighboring houses and Jura mountains could be seen. It was even awesome to observe the changing seasons during my stay, from Spring to early Summer (photo below).
Breakfast and Lunch were taken in the Swiss company. There were free-flow of coffee or tea, and it was their coffee that got me addicted. Coffee beans were freshly ground once the button was selected on the automated coffee machine. Every working morning had become the time that I got my first "caffeine injection", and this habit had even continued during my weekends.
Company Lunch
- Typically it cost between CHF 6 to CHF 8 for a main dish, and there was change of menu every week. Pastries were prepared everyday in the early morning and had became a must towards the later part of my training period. The pastries usually cost between CHF 2 to CHF 4.
Here were some of the lunch meals I had during my training period: beef burger with frites (left photo below), Swiss version of duck noodles and apple pie (right photo below), sliced beef with frites and apple pie (bottom left photo), and strawberry puff (bottom right photo).
Once every month, the Swiss company would conduct a 'Town Hall' meeting during lunch time at the cafeteria, and free lunch was provided to everyone. During Summer, the company would even cater barbeque food where the aroma would seep through into the offices and made us hungry before lunch time. Here were some of the free lunches that I benefited (photos below). 
- Dinner was taken at the food eatery 'Houky' in Neuchâtel old town during the early part of my training period. To combat the high cost of living in Switzerland, some of our colleagues then decided to carry out homemade cooking where we got our groceries from supermarkets every wednesday or thursday.
Towards the end of my training I decided to prepare my own pasta with ingredients bought from supermarkets and meatballs from Ikea (photos below).
Interesting Observations:
- Innovative banners spotted along the bus stop and train station, where I got a better understanding on the acronym "UBS" (left photo below) and the term "Swiss made" (right photo below) from a famous fast-food restaurant.
- Campaigns (left photo below) and sale of pistols (right photo below) seemed be a common sight in Switzerland.
- Flags of other countries found hanging at the balconies of Neuchâtel residents together with the Swiss flags during World Cup session (left photo below). In contradictory, the National Emblems (Control of Display) Act in Singapore states that displaying any flag or national emblem that is not of Singapore in public is considered an offence.
- Dumped bicycle found in River Reuss at Luzern (right photo below). On the flip side, it showed how clean and clear the rivers were in Switzerland.
- It was not uncommon to see dogs on board the trains (photos below). They were extremely obedient and stayed close to their owners throughout the journey.
- Switzerland is a pet-friendly country. Pets just need a pass to go onboard public transport (left photo below). Owners can leave their pets in these lockers temporarily (right photo below) outside the shopping mall while going for shopping.
- There are two associated plug types: types C and J used in Switzerland. Plug type C has two round pins while plug type J has three round pins. It was novel to see three Type J plugs arranged in circular compact orientation (left photo below); not only save space but it is aesthetic as well. Do note that Switzerland operates on a 230V supply voltage and 50Hz.
- Extra keys for French accents spotted on my colleague's keyboard (right photo below). These special characters are cédille: ç, aigu: é, circonflexe: â ê î ô û, grave: à è ù, and tréma: ë ï ü.
- Switzerland may be an expensive country but there are things that were much cheaper than Singapore, such as the Evian bottled mineral water (left photo below) and 500 grams of fresh strawberries (right photo below).
Some useful links:
- My Switzerland:
https://www.myswitzerland.com/ - Switzerland Travel Centre:
https://switzerlandtravelcentre.com/ - Swiss Info:
https://www.swissinfo.ch/ - Switzerland - Wikitravel:
https://wikitravel.org/en/Switzerland