Oct. 31: Singapore

Ships Waiting to Dock in Singapore


Up early today to watch the process of docking in Singapore with the pilot coming on board and the tugs meeting us to smoothly slide us into the bulk head. This is the busiest port so far and was like eye candy after the port in Chennai. Singapore looked freshly scrubbed, tropical, and thoroughly modern. Weather was warm and humid.



Orchid Gardens in Singapore

Our first trip in Singapore was a city orientation tour. First stop was the botanical gardens and a trip through the orchid gardens. It was jaw dropping beautiful. There were over 100 different species of orchids in the gardens some that even had a wonderful smell, some quire large and others that were very small and in all colors. Unfortunately on these city tours you only get a little time at each stop. Next stop was a whirlwind visit to the highest point in Singapore were the statue of the Merlion is located (A Merlion is half mermaid and half lion), and then on to the Indian and Christian sections of the city. Our trip guide pointed out a couple of the more famous hotels in the city – the Marine Bay Sands and Raffles. The Marine Bay Sands is newly opened and is reported to be the most costly hotel in the world to build. It consists of 3 towers linked together at the 57th floor by one structure that resembles a boat. This top section had a swimming pool that is set up so that there is no visible sides and looks as though you could swim off the edge of the building an onto the street some 600 feet below you.

Raffles Hotel - Singapore



Merlion in Singapore

Raffles is the most famous hotel in Singapore and is named after Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore. It has been the place to stay in this part of the world for the rich and famous for over 100 years. It is also the where the Singapore Sling drink was invented.

Julie and Raffle's Doorman

This evening Julie and I took different paths. Julie went to the Singapore zoo for a night safari. It is Halloween tonight and the zoo has a special event to view the nocturnal animals and let the kids show off their costumes. Along with a fine dinner, Julie found a large, rectangular fish tank filled with hundreds of small fish. For $10 one could put their feet in the tank and let the fish go to work to exfoliating them. She could not resist and forked over the $10. The experience felt prickly similar to when your foot falls asleep and then begins to wake up. Her feet were covered with fish making them look like she had fish slippers. It was very invigorating.


I and 2 other Life Long Leaners went to dinner for a boy’s night out. This area is famous for its chili crab and the black pepper crab. We had dinner on the beach in the restaurant where the black pepper crab was created. We tried both the chili and the black pepper crabs washed down with a couple bottles of cold white wine. It was everything it was advertised to be.