Singapore is one of those places in the world that is a country as well as a capital city. In 2012, the population was 4,658,000 people, and could be less now, since the cost of living is extremely high, we have been told. And it is also densely populated, since the area is only 269 square miles. The population is diverse with folks that speak Chinese, Malay, Tamil, and English, which might be a second language here.
In our humble opinion, Southeast Asia has no better country/city as Singapore. It has its own separate mind set, strict enforced laws, and relebtless urban sprawl. Everything “costs” here – shopping, fabulous food, and a total mix of Indian, Malay, and Chinese cultures.
The best time to visit is February through October, which is considered the dry season. Things to do are museums, temples, monuments, day and night zoos, churches, gardens, Sentosa Island, and little bit of India and Chinatown. You’ll find the most innovative shopping malls underground, as well as the most modern highend malls you have ever imagined. And that just breaks the surface.
The Amsterdam sailed into the harbor around 7am, with scenic sailing commentary by Barbara H. Darn, we slept in, and missed the Singapore rolls once again. We were docked at Marina Bay Cruise Center , not the most convenient pier compared to Harbourfront, but we are still happy to be here. More difficult to access the city, there was a shuttle offered for the next two days, which would take folks to the Millenia Walk Shopping Center and back. It was about a twenty minute ride, depending on traffic.
Of course, there were 15 tours offered here for 3 to 8 ¾ hour excursions for $70 to $200. They would take in the major sites such as the Gardens by the Bay, a 250 acre park. Next to this new park, is the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and observation deck that sits 650 feet above the ground. To us, it looks like the top of an ironing board.
Shorter tours went to the Singapore River with a riverboat ride and a trishaw ride too. Brenda, our sweet tablemate, did that and had a super good time. She had driven through Chinatown, and Little India, and saw the Hindu temple there. Then boarded the boat on the Singapore River at Clarke Quay. This river has 150 years of commercial activity, starting with it being an obscure fishing village to a great seaport.
Another tour took guests to the Singapore Flyer, the world’s tallest observation wheel at 541 feet tall. It is 90 feet taller than the London Eye wheel. They passed famous sites of the Merlion fountain, the 1928 Fullerton Hotel, and colonial government buildings on the way.
Four excursions went off at night to the Night Safari Zoo, a night out in Singapore, Marina Bay and Gardens, and a different garden tour with a stop for Singapore Sling, that special drink that was developed at the Raffles Hotel. Except we are not sure the famous hotel is open to the public yet, as they are in the process of re-modeling. Have been for last two years, as we recall. Years ago, we tried one of these sweet drinks, paying about $17 Singapore dollars for one. ($1.30 Singapore equals $1 USD). We heard that the drink may be going for double that now.
We have gone on most every tour here, so for us, we love to ride the MRT, and do the town on our own. Going off of the ship is a trip in itself. It is necessary to keep your passport with you, and show it to the officials in the terminal. They stamp the landing card, then you go down the escalator to the xray check. This is one of the few places that checks bags going in and coming back. By the way, we forgot to mention that another ship was in port. It was the Sapphire Princess, who was in the process of debarking guests and taking on new ones. We did hear later that it was a mess getting off of the ship this morning, as the Princess folks crowded all exits.
Guess we missed all that excitement by getting off after 10am. We did, however, get stuck in a line that stopped moving at the xray checkpoint, because one lady had something suspicious in her large suitcase. The screener thought the item resembled a bullet. Maybe it was a lipstick. She signaled two security fellows to search her bag. When they found the culprit, the line started up again, and we passed all checks with no problems. Like we stated, they are strict here.
Outside the checkpoints, we did notice some people were getting wifi. Asking Ray, a friend, how the speed was, he said good. Perhaps we will try this tomorrow, and see what can be downloaded better, without using up our minutes.
Finally out of the terminal, we went through the covered area of buses and taxis, and out to the covered walkway that led to the MRT at Marina South Pier, the end of the red line. You cannot purchase the 2 day Singapore Tourist Pass there, but you can buy a ticket that will get you to a Translink Ticket Office that does. For us, we decided to ride to Harbourfront , connecting to the purple line at Dhoby Ghaut south. The price to get there? Try $1.90S ($1.46USD), which can be bought in the ticket machine. There are 16 stations where you can buy the 1 to 3 day passes, but we chose one where we knew exactly where the office was located.
That was the start of going down under to ride the trains all day. At Harbourfront, we lined up with several HAL guests we recognized, doing the same thing. The price was the same as last year, 2 day almost unlimited travel for $16S plus a $10S deposit, which will be refundable tomorrow. That is equal to $12.31 USD each to ride anywhere in the massive system for two days. Yes, taxis are incredibly inexpensive here, but with the number of sites we wanted to see, the MRT is the only way to go. That is, if you can walk, and walk a lot.
Our first stop was at Chinatown, where the original Chinese population lived. Now it is a bustling multi-cultural area, full of cafes and stores. You can find tremendous bargains here. We like to walk through their cafeteria-style eating venues, the many shops in the People’s Park Mall, and the personal services like barbers, beauticians, and fortune-tellers. By the way, this is where you can exchange money at dozens of small places. Taking loads of photos, we continued on our way.
Going back down like moles, we navigated to Little India, home to dozens of shops selling spices, snacks, beautiful saris, glittering jewelry, brassware, and trinkets galore. This stop was plagued with re-construction over the last several years. It is finally finished, and cleaned up nicely. Bargains for Indian-style clothing can be found here, so one of us did purchase another dressy top. Having a nice collection of saris at home, we were good, and only looked this time. There is no India this year on the itinerary, unless you took an overland out of Sri Lanka for four or five days. Once again, with all the photos we needed, we off to the MRT, stopping to walk through the wet market along the way. Lamb, pork, chicken, and a huge variety of fish are chopped right in front of the buyers, and put in plastic bags. Everything is completely fresh. A bit smelly, but not bad. Not one insect in sight either. Strolling through the produce section brought aromas of cilantro, a most pleasing smell compared to the meats and fish.
From Little India, we rode to the Botanic Gardens on the blue line. By now the trains were filling up with locals, many of them school-aged kids. They have been out of school for a break, and ride the trains like we were. Signs on the trains remind the younger generation to give up their seats to the elderly, but we seldom saw that happen. They did move to another seat to provide side-by-side seats for the two of us, however. Which was nice. Perhaps we did not appear “too elderly”, we hope.
The Singapore Botanic Gardens is old, established in 1859, a recent addition to UNESCO’s World Heritage Site. This spacious garden has the separate National Orchid Garden that features more than 2000 hybrid, as well as 1000 species of orchids. We think we saw even more than that. The cost to enter is a mere $1S for seniors (77 cents USD). What a deal, although since last year, a chunk of this garden has been destroyed to make way for a new display. That included the Cool House, and the tiered Mist Houses with the bromiliads and cool mountain species. This rebuilt will not be completed until the summer of 2019.
Of course, we took thousands of pictures here, before heading back to the info center to enjoy ice cold lemon/honey ice teas from a vending machine. We had covered most of the meandering paths from one end of the park to the other. The good thing is that it never did rain, but that was also a bad thing. This is the first time ever, that we saw park workers hand-watering all of the park growth. Not just the roots, but the foliage. It was so hot that the leaves of some of the species were curling and burning from the intense temperatures. We almost wished the workers could hose us off as well.
Time to head back down, we went in search of lunch. That was to be found by taking the blue line back to the red line to Orchard. That’s where we go to the Hard Rock Café, a short walk through the Ion Mall and exited through Wheelock Place. A bit more info than you need, but it helps us remember how to get there next time we come.
By now, it was after 4pm, but they were still serving anything you wanted. That turned out to be lots of Coke Zero (not beer, too expensive) and a shared plate of nachos. Our waiter wisely suggested not to get the “big” order ($25), but the smaller version. It was just right, and allowed us enough room to have a shared slice of mud pie. So good, but even better being able to sit and relax before our journey continued. Stopping in the café’s shop, we found two Singapore t-shirts to buy before leaving.
Usually our last stop would have been Clarke Quay, but it was getting late, and one of us was exhausted from the heat and humidity. Time to go home. It was a straight shot from the red line to go back to Marina South Pier and the ship. There would be more time tomorrow to take in several sites, since we were not leaving until after 9:30pm. Super.
Cooling off in our room for a while, we remembered that a plate of truffles had been delivered last night after we dined in Sel de Mer. A recipe card from Rudi S. had also been left for us as a souvenir of the dinner. Perfect snack before dinner, right?
At 6:30pm, the Piano Bar entertainer, Jamm, performed Under the Stars on the Seaview deck aft. We had no clue this was promoted with a champagne/canape $25. Special, with reserved seats on deck nine overlooking the pool. It had not been advertised in the daily newsletter at all. Susie and Woody had attended, and said they really enjoyed it. Better than ever.
There were only five of us at dinner tonight, then later joined by Susie and Woody, who appeared with a lovely gift of a silky top she found while in Chinatown. It had peacocks on it, and decided that would be appropriate since we have some for pets at home. She’s right. Also, she had worked on painting Easter cards in her signature design, and gifted us with another one. We really think she is on a possible new career with her excellent artwork. All of us had stories to share as always. We missed Barb as she had gone to dinner with three buddies at the Marina Bay Sands observation deck. Peter W, the long-time friend of Barb’s and purser on the ship, wanted to go there, since he plans on retiring after this world cruise. He has always looked at this unusual icon, but never made it to the top. Doing it at night would be remembered forever.
“Hitting the Hay” was never so good. Ready for another marathon day tomorrow.
Bill & Mary Ann
Amsterdam docked at Marina Bay Cruise Terminal
The Sapphire Princess was docked across from us
Sapphire wins….she is bigger
View of the city from Marina Bay Cruise Terminal
The looong walk to the MRT
Covered for shade and sun
