The Zuiderdam arrived early this morning to Singapore around 7am, but we were not docked and cleared until closer to 8am. We have gotten used to being at a different spot ever since we got the boot from the Harbourfront pier. These days we dock at Marina Bay South and we were not alone. The Queen Mary II, one of Cunard's large ships was docked across from us. It's possible that they were ending a cruise here, and taking on new guests. We did learn that about 60 new passengers will join this ship today or tomorrow. And 130 guests went home.
Singapore is a small country with only 697 square kilometers. However, it houses 5.8 million people that speak Mandarin, English, Malay and Tamil. It happens to be one of the world's hot-list destinations and also one of our favorite cities to explore. For those out there that adore shopping, you could take up to 6 months to locate all of the stores. Many are topside, but there is a city down under that equals what you find at ground level.
We waited for the tours to go off before we left at 10am. We heard a funny story at breakfast this morning that concerned the mess with the excursion groups. Not only were people making their way to the buses too early, but some guests who were not on tours, were sneaking off with the tour groups to get off earlier. It's no wonder that the staff eventually blew their stacks. We have noticed that sometimes the excursion groups go off before the general clearance is announced.
Today's process was complicated to say the least. We all had to have our room keys, our passports, and the Electronic Singapore Arrival Card ready to present to the immigration booth. Things have changed here since the last time we stopped in Singapore. Now there are banks of kiosks where we scan our passports, do a thumb print, and have our photo scanned to match the passport. Once completed, a glass door opens and we are released. No one asked to see the arrival papers, which basically declares we are healthy. The next stop is xray, where we are checked the same as when we come back.
From here, we walked through the huge parking garage outside the terminal. It leads to a very long covered walkway which took us all the way to the Marina South Pier MRT station. It would have been nice if we could have bought the Singapore Tourist Passes at this station, but they did not sell them here. We had to purchase two $10. (Singapore $) in order to get to a station that sold them. Since we were headed to Harbour Front where these tickets were sold, that ticket got us that far with some left over. There are 15 stations in the system that sell these cards, and tomorrow we will drop them off close to the Marina station and get $10 Singapore refunds on each of our Tourist Cards. In the meantime, we can travel to our heart's delight and probably exceed what we paid for the cards by a lot.
We had to transfer to a different line to access Harbour Front (the purple line), which does involved time and a lot of walking. But we knew exactly where to find the ticket office, and by luck, there was no line there. Normally it is 20 thick. We had a local gal who spoke perfect English and explained how the cards work and where to get our refunds. The price for the two day unlimited card was $29 Singapore dollars each. Tomorrow when we return the cards, we will get S$10 back for each card. From there we walked to the end of the mall where the old cruise terminal was for us a few years ago. We saw that the Silver Shadow was docked there and leaving tomorrow. Ships of that size fit there, where we are too big.
Back on the train, we made our way to Chinatown (purple line), got off, and explored the whole busy area. It was close to lunchtime now, and the food court was filling up with customers. We took a lot of photos of the Chinese food items being cooked at each stand. Some of their specialties are duck parts like tongue, feet, gizzards, hearts, necks and livers. This would be a good place for bargains if we were looking for any. Today was just mainly for pictures.
Job done, we hopped back on the train (still purple line) and went to Little India. This place was really busy with folks buying fresh produce, meat and fish in the huge marketplace. Going up and down every side street, we saw so much that reminded us of shopping in Mumbai. By the way, did we mention how hot it was today? It was well over 90 degrees with a humidity level in the 70% area. Hot and sticky. It pretty much stopped the hawkers from being aggressive with their shop items.
Back to the MRT, we switched to the blue line that took us to the Botanic Garden. This would be the highlight of the day. Walking in the heat of the day might have not been the best idea, but we had no choice….it was now or never. We had brought water with us, but it wasn't near enough. We remembered that in the center of the garden were vending machines with water, sodas, and ice teas in many flavors. These machines only take coins (no paper money) or credit cards. We had no coins, but watched as some locals used their credit cards to buy drinks. OK, we gave it a try by tapping the card, and it worked. Before we left the park we had bought three drinks that way. And they were life-saving in the heat.
Going deeper into the garden, we walked around a pond where we saw a large monitor lizard under a mangrove tree. We had seen two smaller ones when we entered the garden, but this one was big. Thinking it was dead, it finally moved its head….it was simply sleeping in the heat. This pond also had turtles, fish, and some smooth-skinned otters that were reportedly nursing young ones. We searched for them, but they hid successfully.
Then we came upon the jewel of the park- the Orchid Garden, which is world-famous. There is a small charge (S$3 each) to get inside, but well worth it. Five or six years ago, this garden underwent a transformation, redoing the Cool House. That was a dome that mimicked a misty mountain zone with different types of orchids and bromeliads that can handle cool and moist weather. On the way to the new build, we took pictures of every orchid, big and small, along the pathways. Gardeners were watering everything, so we suspect they have not had a lot of rain recently. In the Cool House, we saw parasitic orchids, insect killers, and many types of ferns and trees from all over the world. This was the best place to linger as long as we could because it was so much cooler. Eventually we had to leave, but going back outside was torture. It made it seem ever hotter than it had been.
Continuing up the hillside, we made our way back to the entrance where we went through their shop on the way out. Many years ago, possibly 20, we had bought a Risis necklace and earring set. These are real orchids that have been dipped in nickel and gold to preserve them. It made us happy to see that the price had gone up substantially over the years. The time was getting away from us, so we headed back to the MRT, which was pretty far away it seemed. If we had something that counted our steps, we may have been surprised how far we had walked so far. Sometimes it is better not to know.
Now we had to go a short distance to a different line, the brown line, to access Orchard, the high end area of Singapore. And also the place of the Ion Mall. It is one of the largest in the city and has the most expensive stores that exist. Our destination was lunch at the Hard Rock Café, where we always go to relax for an hour or more. It took us a while to find our way out of the mall until we remembered we had to find Wheelock Place to be at the right exit. It was a good thing there was a concierge in the mall for us to get directions.
Once out in the street on Orchard Road, we knew where to find the café. Climbing their stairs, we were seated at a window table where we ordered a draft beer and one Coke Zero. Adding a plate of cheese nachos with grilled chicken, we were happy campers. Resting up with cold drinks and a little food gave us our second wind to continue on our journey. But before we left, we made a stop in the HRC shop and got two t-shirts. Not expecting it to work, we provided our member number and did receive 20% off.
It sure would have been nice if a hint of a breeze popped up, but it did not. By now, we noticed the heat had taken a toll for one of us, and there was just enough energy to get back to the ship. That was an adventure in itself. Finding our way back into the Ion Mall, we switched to the red line which went back to Marina South Pier, the end of the line. By the time we walked the covered walkway back to the ship, it was 6pm. Needless to say, it was good to be back on the ship with air-conditioning.
Tonight we had been promised that the veal cutlet or veal chop was available for Club Orange. Both of us had Caesar salads and the grilled chops, which were delicious. Tender and tasty, we wish they offered them more often. So far they have appeared once a month. No room for dessert, we opted for a cup of coffee and one scoop of sorbet instead.
There was no live show in the World Stage, but a very good movie we have seen three times, was Crazy Rich Asians. Filmed partly in the Gardens by the Bay, we recognized many areas in the 250 acre park that we had visited on past trips here.
The best show for us had to be the view from our veranda of the Marina Bay Sand Hotel, the one that looks like an ironing board, and the Singapore Flyer, the Ferris wheel that offers spectacular views of the city. Seeing the city all lit up was magical.
Hopefully with a good night's rest, we will be ready for another busy, but shorter, day in Singapore.
Bill & Mary Ann
