SINGAPORE DAY 1 – MARCH 5

To say we’ve had an incredibly wonderful week visiting four different ports would be an understatement.  There is so much to say so if you’re interested in detail, grab a cup of coffee, relax and hope you enjoy our adventures! 

Whenever I’m asked, “What’s your favorite port?” my answer is always, “Singapore!”  It’s an incredibly clean and safe country for tourists.  I would have no worries walking around at night by myself.  Rules are very strict and enforced, including no eating or drinking on the subway, no gum chewing, no drugs, etc.  Caning and the death penalty are common punishments.  We were also informed that, unlike the United States, where someone can be on death row for 25 years, here things move much more swiftly.  From the information I received on Day 2 from our guide, and what information I received three years ago, taxes are extremely high so to actually be a citizen would be very difficult and very expensive.  

Like any large port and I believe Singapore is the largest in the Far East, there were many, many types of vessels coming into port on the day we arrived.  As we approached, one of our warships, the USS Spruitt was coming in and we saw several military helicopters coming and going.  

Singapore is located off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula between the south China Sea and the Indian Ocean.  Its population is approximately 5.6 million.  It sits one degree north of the Equator, so weather is hot and humid all year round with temperatures ranging between 73 F and 90 F.  English, Malay, Mandarin Chinese and Tamil are the main languages spoken here and the Singapore Dollar (SGD) is the currency.  We received 50 SGD for $39.75, which were easily available on the ship. 

Another huge difference between the United States and Singapore is that Singapore actually wants to know who is entering the country.  We had to complete a Singapore Arrival/Departure Card and meet with Immigration authorities each time we entered AND embarked our ship with our passports.  On arriving, we turned in our Arrival/Departure card, the Immigration person took part of the card, gave us back the other half with our passport.  When we returned, they checked everything again.  The following day, the same routine.  So, here we are a bunch of grey-haired old people coming in to Singapore with a cruise ship – with no doubt whatsoever that we’ll be leaving the country in a day – must comply with these inspections.  As I said before, I have absolutely no problem with any of this – I just wish our country cared as much as other countries do about who is coming into the country. 

The first sign we saw upon exiting the Immigration area, was a warning about gambling.  I guess that’s a very big problem here.  

In 2016, I fell in love with the Gardens by the Bay.  You can check out the website by clicking here.  Aside from my home, and being with family, this is my favorite place in the world.  I think it is spectacular and I was so disappointed last time because we had very limited time in Singapore (no overnight) so we literally ran through the park, catching glimpses of this and that and finding a gift store to buy a magnet.  When I learned that we would be in Singapore overnight on this world cruise, I suggested to Michael that we go to the Gardens by the Bay on our first day and do an excursion the following day.  And that is exactly what we did.  We left the ship around 4 p.m., took a cab that I negotiated for 9 SGD and arrived very soon afterwards.  I hadn’t realized that the park itself is free and open until 2 a.m.  You do have to pay for the Cloud Forest and the Flower Dome (which wasn’t opened the day we were there) as well as the OCBC Skyway that connects the trees.  

 Our first stop was the Cloud Forest which includes a 35-metre (115 ft.) man-made mountain and waterfall, orchids, plants and ferns from the cool-moisty tropical Montane region and lots of sculptures.  Inside the Cloud Forest was a crystal room that re-created the formations you’d find in large caves, such as Carlsbad Caves.  On the ceiling were giant mirrors that reflected images that I thought were very cool. 

We then went to the Supertree Grove where I took the elevator in one of the trees to the Skywalk overhead.  As you all know, Michael hates heights and chose to remain on the ground and take pictures of me walking and I took pictures of him below.  I was able to take a photo of the huge circular park below where we’d eventually sit to watch the light show in the evening.  Admission to the Skywalk was limited to 15 minutes because it was very narrow in some places and they obviously don’t want a huge number of people hanging out – things moved along at a relaxed but efficient pace.  

We had time before the light show began at 7:45 and I wanted to sit the “baby” sculpture depicted on our map of the Gardens.  The “baby” is enormous which you can see from the picture and the gardener to the left of the sculpture.  Amazing.  

We walked back to the Supertree Grove and made ourselves comfortable on the grass, sitting on the poncho we had been given on Komodo Island which Michael still had in his backpack.  It was interesting to note that the announcement for the show was given only in English although other languages are spoken here in Singapore.  I was told a couple of days later from one of our guides that all commercial announcements are made in English. 

To say the light show was spectacular does not describe it sufficiently.  The trees’ lights were synchronized with classical music including Sabre Dance and Lakme’ and the enormity of the trees changing from reds, to purples to greens, to yellows, was incredible.  I will try and post Michael’s video of part of the show but we’ll see how that goes. 

We thought we’d eat at the park but after arriving at “Satay by the Bay” which I was under the impression was a restaurant, we discovered it was an open-air food court with various types of fish, seafood, satays and other Asian type foods.  Knowing our track record on food choices (although we lucked out earlier on the cruise), we decided to go back to the ship.  Having only paid 9 SGD to get to the Gardens, I was confused to hear that it would cost us 30 SGD to go back to the ship.  Always willing to walk way from the deal, I went to the next cab who started to tell us about surcharges based on time and location.  I wasn’t buying any of it, so I approached the next cab only to be recognized by the cab driver who brought us to the Gardens.  (He recognized us; unfortunately, I didn’t recognize him.)  Anyway, he offered to take us back for 20 SGD which we agreed to, having been explained (and later confirmed by others) that there were, in fact, surcharges for times and locations.  (I wouldn’t think 8:30 at night would be a peak time, but what do I know?) 

We arrived back at the terminal, went through the Immigration process once more and grabbed a quick salad before going to bed, and looking forward to our “Safari Breakfast at the Zoo” in the morning. 

MICHAEL’S OBSERVATIONS:   I was looking forward to our return trip to Singapore and was a little disappointed that the weather wasn’t clearer.  It was incredibly hazy so I had to process a lot of the photos in order to bring out detail and image.  By nightfall, as we prepared for the Gardens by the Bay, the weather did clear up and the light show was spectacular.  This light show must be well known because there were thousands of people waiting to enjoy the 15-minute extravaganza light show with music.  It was also fun to watch the bats which were flying around eating insects while we waited for the show to begin.  They weren’t interested in us but were far more interested in feasting on mosquitos.

 After the show, we went to find the “restaurant” and, as Leona has described, it wasn’t a restaurant but rather a food court which was incredibly confusing and noisy.  The noise came not only from the crowds of the people eating but from the vendors selling “satays” which is any type of meat on a skewer.  Thank goodness we weren’t starving so we were able to make our way back to the ship and enjoy a light meal. 

I didn’t find it necessary to visit the Mall located on the first floor of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel which houses some of the most expensive watch companies in the world.  Some of these watches cost upwards of a $1 million.  It’s always fun to visit Singapore.  I just don’t understand how people can afford to live here.  The cost of living must be through the roof. 

If you’re interested in reading about adventures from 2016, you can check them out on our previous blog, teamsalazar2016.blogspot.com – scroll down, click on March, and see the various ports we visited.