We are back in Singapore, an incredible city. Located at the tip of the Malay peninsula, Singapore is the world’s only island city – state. It was established in 1819 for the East India Company by Sir Stamford Raffles, after whom the famed hotel is named. For detailed history of Singapore, go to this link on my website from 2013 and 2014. Here you will find detailed information about the history of Singapore.
http://worldquest2013.blogspot.com/search?q=Singapore+
http://worldsojourn2014.blogspot.com/search?q=Singapore+
Since we were not going to arrive in Singapore until around noon, some activities were scheduled for the morning. There was a craft show, including knitting. Most of my knitters showed up to display what they’ve made. Unfortunately, the turnout for viewing was quite light. I think it is because people who were leaving the ship were packing as they had to have their bags ready to be picked up later in the day. Others were anticipating our arrival and wanted to be ready to go as soon as the ship was cleared by immigration. I was really proud of our beginners who actually have stuck with it and plan to continue knitting.
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| The knitting group |
We were among the first group to get off the ship, and this was quite an adventure. The terminal was approximately 3/4 of a mile until we reached immigration. When it was our turn to show our passports, Michael and Duncan and Melinda who we are traveling with, went through with no problem. They were doing all kinds of things with my passport, trying to get my fingerprints, and take an eye scan. Singapore doesn’t fool around! All of a sudden an officer comes to me and says come with me. And I’m thinking what in the hell! So they do the whole thing all over again (in the back room 😳) and once again, they can’t get fingerprints from me. When I went to get my global entry pass, the same thing happened. Apparently, I’ve worn my fingerprints off. So we finally get through immigration which took about half an hour because of the crowd. We found ourselves in a shopping center that is adjacent to Malaysia’s largest mall. To get to the point where the buses were parked was another quarter-mile. So before we even started the excursion, we had already walked 1 mile. We were on our way to Chinatown for dim sum lunch. The subway in Singapore is air-conditioned and very clean. There’s no shoving of crowds like in some other Asian countries. To get through the turnstile, you have to give a credit card. Having an Apple Watch is very convenient as you just double click and the card pops up. And I cannot believe that Michael did not know that you could do that! He was actually thrilled when he found out how it worked. So you scan before you get in and then you scan when you leave. No juggling for a credit card.
The Chinatown stop drops you off right in the heart of junk shops galore. Here you can pick up all kinds of stuff that you don’t need for cheap. Mostly tourist type stuff. We did not shop as we were going for lunch. And we remembered how to get there without having to consult Google for directions. The four of us had lunch and this time instead of having ladies come around with carts loaded with the dim sum, they now have robots to deliver your food! It may be more efficient for the restaurant and save money, but the ambience is not the same. It’s very cold. It was fun experimenting with different things we had never eaten before. We enjoyed Duncan and Melinda‘s company as well.
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| The robot |
After lunch, we parted ways as Duncan and Melinda wanted to do one thing and we wanted to go back to the mall to pick up a few things. We decided not to go back to the ship as it was such a long walk. And then we would have to deal with immigration again. So we were searching for a place to sit as I was really tired and in pain and did not feel like shopping. You know, the pain must be bad if I had no interest in shopping. This whole mall has no place to sit. So we went back to where you enter immigration and there they had those horrible plastic seats. But it was better than nothing.
It was time to meet up for our evening excursion, which I was escorting. Michael was on the excursion with me. So we get there and there is mass confusion as we were told we were going to leave at one time but we wound up leaving at 6:30. So we had another hour to kill. Knowing that we weren’t going to have dinner, we stopped at a hamburger place and had a chicken sandwich which happened to be delicious. Another walk out to the buses. Singapore sure doesn’t make it easy.
The excursion was to see the nightlights of Singapore. On the way to our excursion to pick up our boat, we saw some beautiful architecture. Old colonial buildings from the 1800s were still in use or being renovated. We passed by a massive renovation of the old train station building that will be used for commercial interests.
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| The old colonial police station |
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| Old colonial buildings |
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| Fullerton Hotel |
We had an excellent guide for a change. We were headed to the Clarke quay area to pick up a boat. There were a lot of restaurants in this area and music. This was the happening place apparently. They had a bungee jump that looked like a lot of fun, but nobody was willing to do something like that. The boats are really cute. We are on a body of water that was created to save rain, and in fact is the drinking water for the city. We were so very fortunate that the weather was absolutely perfect. We’ve been to Singapore several times, and the humidity has been off the charts making it so uncomfortable. But tonight, it was beautiful with a gentle breeze, and the humidity was pretty low, as well as the temperature for Singapore.
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| Boat ride |
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| Helix bridge |
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| Symbol of Singapore |
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| Marina. Sands hotel complex |
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| Suntec City |
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| Lion Fish |
After the boat ride, we stopped to see the lion/fish statue. This is in tribute to the founding of the original Singapore. The lion is the symbol of Singapore. The fish part was in recognition of the original Singapore. And while we were there, across the River was a laser light show at the Marina Sands Hotel.
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| Marina Sands Hotel light show |
To finish the night off in style, we headed to the famous Raffles Hotel, which houses the famous Long Bar where the Singapore Sling drink was invented. Raffles Hotel is one of the few remaining great 19th century hotels in the world; it was declared a national monument by the Singapore government. And, of course, there was a bag of peanuts on each table. You do not have to be neat to eat peanuts as you just throw the debris on the floor. There was a machine that mixes 18 drinks at a time. WOW! Everyone was given a drink, and everyone was happy. And then we had to deal with the long trek back to the ship.
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| Inside courtyard |
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| The Long Bar |
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| The Singapore Sling |
