As the world slowly works toward recovering from the Covid-19 outbreak, there are many things many of us are looking forward to doing again: seeing friends, eating at restaurants, not having to wear a mask every time we leave the house, just to name a few.

And thankfully, with the announcement of Singapore entering Phase 2 on at 11:59pm on Thursday, Jun. 18, some of these things are going to be a reality very, very soon (although wearing masks will still be mandatory).

But one experience that sadly won’t likely be coming back for most of us "non-essential travellers" anytime soon is flying.

While the aviation industry is very slowly starting to gear up again for essential business travellers, as countries gradually reopen, leisure travel doesn’t look like it’ll be coming back anytime soon.

In line with this, Singapore Airlines, Scoot, and SilkAir have all announced enhanced safety measures to keep passengers and crew safe amid the still-ongoing pandemic.

I, regrettably, am not among this privileged group of essential travellers, and so decided to deal with my flight withdrawal symptoms (inspired by this ex-SQ stewardess, and also marginally possibly, weekend boredom) by recreating some of the Singapore Airlines-class experiences at home:

1. The hot towel

You know that feeling when you board the plane and get settled into your seat, and the flight attendant comes by with a tray of hot towels?

At the risk of sounding dramatic, there are (to me, at least) precious few better feelings in the world than preparing myself for a long flight by draping the steaming towel over my face for a few seconds.

So why not do the same at home, as a way to ease into a long day?

It was simple enough — I just prepared some hot water, a small towel, and a bowl.

And voilà, I had my very own airplane pre-takeoff hot towel, minus the airplane and takeoff.

2. Disconnecting from technology

One of the more frustrating, but also gratifying, parts of flying is airplane mode — being forced to disconnect from all of the messages and apps that usually take up most of my mental space.

Because let’s be honest — I’m far too cheap to be willing to pay for in-flight Wi-Fi.

And although in the moment, it may seem annoying to not be able to text my friends back or to update my Instagram story with the classic "look at the view from my plane window" photo, it’s nice to take a break and just spend some time away from my phone screen.

But now, as most of us are staying inside these days, access to our phones and internet can feel limitless. Which also means we may or may not be actively thinking about how we can disconnect once in a while.

So to channel my flight nostalgia, I tried putting my phone in airplane mode and keeping it to one side.

I spent time instead reading a book (I hate to admit, but it’s been a while since I’ve done that), playing board games, and looking out the window.

And while I admit that the view of the HDB blocks around me is not necessarily as exciting as watching the clouds float by from a plane window, the experience of taking time away from constant notifications and distracting apps was a nice reminder of the flight experience.

3. In-flight snacks

Here’s a part of flying I always look forward to: the snacks.

Once we’ve been in the air for a couple hours, I usually start getting a bit hungry. The sad fact of the matter for me, though, is that my body doesn’t handle hot airplane food too well.

What I always enjoy, though, are the snacks that come with and in between meals, like the little packets of nuts, cheese, fruits, and best of all, on Singapore Airlines especially, the mini Häagen-Dazs!

While I thankfully have access to much more food in my home than I would during a flight, making myself some plane snacks sounded like a fun way to hark back to the days of flying.

So I looked through my fridge and pantry, and grabbed a couple slices of cheddar jack cheese, some Meiji crackers, and a tub of Häagen-Dazs ice cream to make this recreation.

The cheese and crackers were impeccable (I mean, when isn’t cheese delicious?), and I practised a lot of self-control to keep myself from eating the whole tub of ice cream at once.

4. Binge-watching movies

I’ve found that one of the few times I don’t have to feel guilty watching movie after movie after movie is when I’m on a flight.

During this safe distancing period when we’ve all been staying at home, some of us may have felt a lot of pressure to use all this extra time on our hands "productively".

But hey, remember it’s also important to spend time relaxing, and not to let ourselves feel guilty for doing so.

So, in honour of the four movies in a row I watched on my flight back from the U.S. last year, I decided to spend a day watching whatever movies I wanted, without feeling bad about not doing other, more "productive" things.

And honestly, it felt so good, I might have to have another fake flight movie marathon again soon.

5. Flipping through in-flight magazines

But when the snacks are gone, the interesting movies have been exhausted, and it's too dark to look out the window anymore, I often find myself absentmindedly flipping through the catalogues in the seatback pocket.

In case my aforementioned too-cheap-to-pay-a-couple-dollars-for-inflight-wifi habits weren’t enough of a clue, I am not usually inclined to buy from the catalogues.

But, and I know this may sound weird, but I genuinely do appreciate the experience of mindlessly flipping through them to see what they have in store, because they often have really interesting items that I wouldn’t normally seek out.

Here’s something you might not expect either: reading an in-flight magazine, as it turns out, isn’t something that has to be limited to the in-flight experience.

To re-enact this particular activity, I headed over to KrisShop.com.

If that sounds familiar to you, that might be because KrisShop is the in-flight catalogue for Singapore Airlines.

While it has been announced that inflight shopping is suspended on SQ flights, KrisShop’s e-commerce site allows you to browse from the comfort of your own home, without even flying.

And delivery is simple — you can either get the items delivered straight to your doorstep, or you can pre-order online and get them delivered to your flight (if you’re one of the lucky ones who gets to fly soon).

And while, as I mentioned, I might not normally be inclined toward buying things from in-flight catalogues, I was glad to see items that could be really useful right now.

It was also helpful to know that I can use my KrisFlyer miles to offset the cost of the items — especially those that are expiring, with nowhere to redeem them for anytime soon, sadly.

For example, this electric barbecue grill, which would be perfect for having some DIY at-home Korean BBQ (since it’s not possible to go out for KBBQ right now), is available for either S$121 or 15,125 KrisFlyer miles.

And even if I do end up spending money on the items on KrisShop, I can actually earn miles from those purchases, which can be used for future flights (which I continue to eagerly await) or to offset yet other future purchases on KrisShop.com.

Not only is there a wide range of items offered on the website, there is also an ongoing mid-year sale until June 30, with deals of up to 60 per cent off on more than 400 items!

From this Laneige lipstick trio on sale for S$45 (usually S$75) …

… to an infrared contactless thermometer for S$81 …

… to a stainless steel straw set from local social enterprise The Art Faculty, for S$11.21.

There are even adorable options that kids will love, such as this Singapore Airlines-exclusive stuffed polar bear by Jellycat.

And parents will love the price, as it is selling for 50 per cent off, for only S$19.50 (usual price S$39).

Similarly, this limited edition Hello Kitty: The Singapore Girl box set is on sale for only S$34, 60 per cent off of its usual price of S$85.

While taking to the skies may not be a reality for many of us anytime soon, perhaps these little things can help us reminisce the days when we could, at least until we have the privilege of travelling by air to our dream destinations once more.

This sponsored article by KrisShop gave the author a great excuse to watch Despicable Me a fifth time.

Top photos by Jane Zhang.