March 22, 2019 – Singapore
Today we started the slow cruise into Singapore at about 8 am. The port is the second busiest in the world. Half of the world’s supply of crude oil comes through this port. As we came in we saw ships waiting to sail into the port.
Ian spoke on the ships loudspeakers as we pulled in describing different sights. Any time Ian speaks, the crew has muffins out on the decks. Singapore muffins this time.
We docked about 10 am and were ready for what we knew would be a long day.
Quite a maze through the customs area. They are very cautious about who they let in here. After they scanned our passports, they took digital thumbprints to run through Interpol. One of the agents explained that many people try to get into Singapore because their strict immigration policies allow them to go to other countries once they are here.
One of the signs here read “Death for drug traffickers”.
The customs area led into a large station with shops and transportation. There was a subway station here. We bought two day tourist passes for $16 each and proceeded to our first stop.
75% of the people in Singapore are Chinese, 15% Malays, 7% Indian. Singapore is one of the four Asian Tigers. Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. These are high income economies.
Chinatown is large like San Francisco but very different. Not as much emphasis on teas or selling butchered meat or fish on the street.
We weren’t in there for 5 minutes and Terri was already shopping for clothes and other things. Instinctively the store owners knew what would keep me there.
After one beer we wondered into a men’s clothing shop. Another beer was offered and I was being measured for a custom tux, 2 suits and a custom shirt. Danny assured me that we could pick these up tomorrow before we boarded the ship. All aboard was 5:30. Miss that and we would have to fly to Sri Lanka.
Next stop was lunch at a Chinese restaurant. This was the food arcade.
Back Tony’s at 2pm for a quick fitting then off to Raffles Hotel. We passed by the Buddha Tooth Temple which contains a tooth from Buddha on the way.
The Raffles Hotel was established in 1887 and was named after British statesman Sir Thomas Raffles, the founder of Singapore. The hotel is currently closed for renovation and will reopen sometime this year.
The attraction for us is the famous Long Bar and the famous drink. The Singapore Sling.
There was a line outside the door. Maybe a 20 minute wait to get in. We sat at the bar for about 30 mins. Little India was next. We headed to the nearest subway station.
We browsed the shops and admired the architecture. We had to stop in to see Danny one more time at 4:30. Of course another beer was offered and accepted.
Along the way we managed to capture some of the city.
This is the Marina Sands Hotel. We have a tour of parts of it tonight. The top is meant to look like a ship. It is complete with trees, restaurants and swimming pools.
We met Danny back at the shop and then headed out for our tour. Not much time for dinner. The tour began at the Gardens by the Bay Park nest to the Hotel. Here we were to see a light and sound show.
These man made “trees” have vegetation growing up the sides and eventually will be completely covered. The show was spectacular. The opening number was John Williams Jurassic Park Theme and finished with the Great Gate of Kiev by Modest Mussorgsky. Following the show we went to the top of the hotel.
Great views of the city here. The hotel was massive and had shopping mall with all high end shops, casino, and an actual river with boats that ran through it.
Following the hotel visit we boarded a boat for a tour on the Singapore River. Originally a saltwater river separating Singapore and Malaysia, it is now a fresh water reservoir supplying Singapore with water.
The tour ended at Clarke Quay. A hotspot on A Friday night for live music, eats, and people watching.
We grabbed a subway from here and headed back to the ship. Long but fun day!…