Double “WOW”
What a beautiful, clean city – flower gardens all along the roadsides leading from the ship to the centre of the city -- interesting high rises – no litter, no graffiti. There are severe fines for littering and chewing gum ! ! ! ! The penalty for having drugs is DEATH. They are really serious here about their laws ! ! Needless to say, for the most part they are obeyed. The crime rate is only about 1%. More about that later.
My plan for Singapore had been to tag around with Mary and Jim, but they know the city having visited it before and they were heading for the bird sanctuary. I joined my friend Shirley and planned to go and see the sights of the city using the hop on, hop off bus. As we were going ashore we were joined by 2 other ladies, Claire and Carmen and Paul one of the dance hosts. A lot of cab drivers were in the departure area trying to attract customers. We found one who had a van, who was willing to take us on a 2 hour tour for 100 Singapore dollars – approximately$80. U.S. so off we went The driver spoke perfect English and he was an excellent tour guide. He took us to all the places that the “Highlights of Singapore” tour from the ship would have brought us (and we would have had to spend at least $50. U.S. each – so we really got a bargain.) He stopped at all the places of interest so that we could get out and take pictures.
First we stopped at the Merlion,the symbol of Singapore – “singa” means lion and “pore” means city. The statue has a lion’s head but a mermaid’s body. It was difficult to get a good picture because of all the people milling about and wanting their picture taken with the statue.
We made stops at China Town, Little India and the Arab Quarter, to visit the mosque and temple and of course for the usual souvenir hunting. We also stopped to take a picture of the largest ferris wheel in the world. I had a really good picture of it, but I inadvertently deleted it. Here is a picture of an interesting building:
The part of the building above the 3 towers is in the shape of a ship. It houses a casino and has a huge infinity pool. The three towers are not rectangular – they are concave- larger at the top and bottom. This city is full of interesting modern architecture.
We drove by the Raffles Hotel, a huge, beautiful old structure where the drink “Singapore Sling” was invented. We didn’t stop for one, but those who did, said it cost them close to $30. for one drink. I chose to try one at the bar aboard our ship for $7.50. Not a bad drink ! ! ! !
Our guide has promised us a two hour tour, but he made it last about two and a half, so we gave him a nice tip. We were back aboard ship in time for lunch. Shirley and I went out to the adjacent mall to do some shopping afterwards. Any mall close to where the ships dock is bound to be expensive, so we didn’t splurge. I had to have a refill done on my finger nails and that was the extent of my expenditures.
Some of the passengers went ashore to experience Singapore by night, but Shirley and I opted to stay aboard and dance the evening away instead.
Now for a bit more about crime in this city. Our cab driver had told us that the only crime prevalent here is the theft of credit cards. One woman from the ship had a bad experience. It was a woman who was using a walker. She had her purse stolen. It contained money, her passport containing the visas she needs to enter certain countries and other identification as well as her credit cards. I think she had the purse in a basket attached to the walker. She must have been busy looking at something when it was taken and she never noticed when it happened. What a terrible experience ! ! ! The only bright side to this story is that she was not injured in the incident.
Now back to my own adventures: I finally was able to find and purchase a pair of dancing shoes. When I left home, I said that I was going to dance the soles off the pair I brought with me. I was beginning to believe that this was going to come true. One of the other ladies who loves to dance, found a department store in Chinatown which sells them and she gave us the address, so on day 2 of our stay here, three of us took a cab and went on a shopping expedition. There were a lot of shoes to choose from, but I was only able to find one pair that I liked that fit well. They only cost $40. U.S. a pair. At that price I would have purchased at least 2 pairs – they cost over $100. at home. The department store was large and had good prices. I was wishing that I had known about it the day before when I would have had time to brows and shop. As it was, we were a bit pressed for time. The store only opened at 11 a.m. and we had to be back aboard ship at 1 p.m.
Needless to say, I danced the night away in my new shoes which are really comfortable.
Today is March 15th. Tomorrow, all the Canadians aboard have been invited by the captain to attend an “O Canada Party” in the Crow’s Nest, Sports Deck 9, between 7 and 8 p.m. I suppose there will be hors d’oeuvres galore and the champagne will flow freely. There are quite a few Canadians on board. Five of us at our dinner table come from Ontario. After the Captain’s party, the 5 of us and the 2 American women who eat with us will go to the Pinnacle Restaurant for dinner. The Pinnacle is the most elegant place to eat aboard the ship. It also costs extra to go there but we all decided that for once we should try it together. One thing is for sure, it won’t be as noisy there as it is in the main dining room, because the Pinnacle only seats 60 people, while the regular dining room is huge and covers 2 levels. If all the tables are filled, the noise level sometimes makes it difficult to hear people with a soft voice speak, and the 2 American ladies do not speak very loudly.
On March 17th, we will have our 12th Formal Dinner. The theme for the evening is “St. Patrick’s Day”. I plan to wear my sleeveless, empire style black dress with the green and zircon Fifth Avenue Jewellery I brought with me.
Here are a couple of pictures from other formal dinners taken by the ship photographer:
On Friday, March 18th we will arrive at Kochi, in India. I will be going with Mary and Jim on a trip to the Taj Mahal. We will leave the ship that morning, do some sight seeing in Kochi, then fly to Delhi, where we will spend the night at the Taj Palace Hotel. On the 19th, after a sight seeing tour of Delhi, we will be driven to Agra where we will be staying at the ITC Mughal Sheraton. Our tour includes a visit to the Taj Mahal at sunset on the 19th and an early morning visit to the site at sunrise on the 20th. That same day, we will return by plane and train to get aboard the ship late in the evening at Bombay, India. Ill have a lot to tell you after my return. Bye for now.
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