Monday, March 14, 2016

Singapore - March 7th

















Good thing I take lots of notes when we’re on an excursion because, otherwise, I’d never remember anything  - it’s been a week since we’ve been in Singapore and I’ve had to review my notes, itinerary and port guide to re-acquaint myself with this great city.  

I think Singapore outshines even Hong Kong with its cleanliness, eclectic architecture and ultra-modern skyscrapers.  

I particularly love taking excursions because I usually learn so much about a place from the tour guide and Bill did not disappoint.  Singapore gained its independence in 1965 and currently has 5.6 million people and adding 20,000 new citizens each year.  It’s an aging population, though, and the government encourages marriages and babies (in that order) and in 2015, there were 35,000 new babies born in Singapore.  

It’s one of the busiest ports in the world with 600 ships arriving and departing each day.  Because it sits one degree north of the Equator, the weather is hot and humid.  There are no farms, or agriculture; no oil, but refineries.  The population is comprised of 77% Chinese, 14% Malay, 9% Indian and the remaining minorities.  

The island is flat so it’s easy to flatten hills and develop the land which is owned by the government.  Land use is divided 20% residential, 20% commercial/industry, 20% cemeteries, 20% infrastructure and 20% recreational. The island is separated into estates which are self-contained with their own landscaping, stores, schools, swimming pools and malls.  The symbol of the island is a “Merlion,” a creature which is half fish and half lion.

Any purchase of land from the government is subject to a 99-year lease so there is no private ownership.  If a building takes two years to construct and you purchase a condominium, for example, you are now buying a 97-year lease.  You must then live in it for five years and then can sell it on the open market, however, once again, that new buyer is now only buying a 92-year lease.  Hi-end residential properties can run 2,000 Singapore Dollars (SGD) per sq. ft.  We exchanged $1.00 US for 1.40 SGD.  

Our excursion included a city drive, Chinatown and the National Orchid Garden.   Our first stop was atop Mt. Faber, which gave us a wonderful view of Sentosa, an island across from the Singapore River with all sorts of activities such as a Casino and a Universal Studios.  The photos I posted on Facebook showed gondolas traveling up to Mt. Faber and I’m not sure, now, if they actually went over to Sentosa or to the river bank.  In any event, it was a gorgeous view.  

We were then driven to the Botanic Gardens but our sightseeing was limited to the National Orchid Garden which has over 1,000 species and 2,000 hybrids of orchids.  No doubt, some of you will receive greeting cards bearing photos of these magnificent flowers once we get them home, cropped and printed. 
 
It was extremely hot and humid and I welcomed the “Cool House” which housed some rare plants and orchids that thrive in cooler climates and we were asked to find a carnivorous plant that was somewhere within the building.  We were all huddled together in the cool confines of the “Cool House,” thankful to be out of sweltering heat, that none of us had the energy or inclination to look for an insect-eating plant.  I think Bill, our guide, took pity on our group of delirious-looking senior citizens that he gave up expecting someone to joyfully say, “here it is!” that he told us where it was. 
After I not-so-enthusiastically oohed and aahed a bit at this natural wonder, Michael and I made our way back out into the smoldering heat, snapped a few more pictures here and there and found ourselves in the air-conditioned gift shop where I, still feeling like a popsicle melting on a bench in the summer, aimlessly walked around until Michael told me to focus and select a magnet for our collection.  

After our huge purchase of 7 SGD, I ambled back to the bus, dragged myself up the steps and plopped myself down into my seat.  We passed the Istana (Presidential Palace), Parliament House, Raffles Hotel (where if we had gotten sun-stroke and lost our minds completely could’ve bought two Singapore Slings  for a mere $64.00), Orchard Street, which rivalled Fifth Avenue and Rodeo Drive for extremely high-end designer shops, and eventually came to Chinatown. 

We could’ve stayed with the group but chose to do more sight-seeing on our own as it was only about 1 in the afternoon and we didn’t need to be back onboard until 5:30 and there is so much we wanted to see.  

We have a wonderful destination lecturer onboard who does a presentation on each port a few days before our arrival and she convinced me that the subway system was easy enough to do on our own.  I wanted very much to go to the top of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, a spot that our friend, Val, in Hong Kong, highly recommended, and to the Gardens by the Bay, I’ll talk about later.  These two spots were easily accessible by subway from Chinatown.  

I went into the Tourist Office and found out where the Blue Line on the MRT was and, immediately after leaving the office, got all mixed up.  No worries, within a few minutes I figured out the correct way and we stopped briefly in the Sri Mariamman Temple, a 19th century Hindu temple, for a look around. 

Deciding that we (or should I say “I”) must be fed, we walked through Chinatown and came upon a crowded (always a good sign) outdoor café and decided, “fine, this will do and the subway entrance is within sight.” We were pleasantly surprised when we found Jessica (our cycling instructor) and Keith and Shirley, our very fine musical duo, “A Touch of Class,” having lunch.  They invited us to sit down and join them and Michael and I shared some spring rolls and fried rice with chicken and shrimp.  (I’m in charge of eating so I usually pick the same things in every restaurant because I don’t think you can really do much damage to rice.) 

During our lunch, Jessica was on the phone with her Mom back in New Zealand and we heard about the terrorist hostage situation in Sydney, Australia.  

Afterwards, we did a little shopping, bought a couple of “year of the monkey” trinkets that will serve as Christmas ornaments, a pair of elephant pants (I love these things – I’ve already bought about 5 pairs) and headed to the subway to go from Chinatown to the Marina Bay station.  It only cost 1.60 SGD to go three stops and we easily navigated the subway station and found the entrance to the Blue Line.  Unlike Hong Kong, Singapore’s turnstiles are for coming and going and you have to be fast.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t fast enough.  Michael got through fine but I tapped my ticket on the electronic eye at the same time a man tapped it on the other side to come out which invalidated my ticket.  Rather than try to recoup my money and get another ticket from the service desk, I decided I could afford 1.60 and just bought another ticket carefully watching, this time, to be sure no one was coming through my turnstile this time.  

Signage was great and the subway car was immaculate.  As a side note, chewing gum is against the law in Singapore and our destination lecturer told us that there are very big fines for eating and drinking and smoking – although those warnings were for the subway because we saw some people smoking, eating and drinking on the streets. 
Three stops from Chinatown (via stops at Telok Ayer and Downtown on the Blue Line) and we were at the Bayfront MRT station within a few minutes.  While in the subway station, there were huge advertisements featuring David Beckham for the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Michael asked me whether he would look like Beckham if he stayed there.  Without waiting for my answer, he said he could stay there for the next year and wouldn’t end up looking like him.  Same goes for the advertisements for Omega watches and George Clooney.  

We easily found our way to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and if you didn’t see our photos on Facebook and if I can’t post them here on the blog, please google this hotel.  It is extraordinary and something the likes of which I’ve never seen in my life. 
From my previous postings, you all know Michael isn’t crazy about heights but he decided to go to the 56th floor with me anyway.  Of course, our picture was taken on the ground floor and by the time we got to the 56th floor, the wonderful photo was already printed and placed in a leather(ette) frame and cover waiting, of course, for our impulsive purchase.  (Really, no regrets.)  

While Michael hugged the wall, I went to the edge and snapped as many pictures as I could of the Gardens by the Bay, the wonderful skyline, and, of course, the Singapore Flyer, a humungous ferris wheel that takes 45 minutes to circle just once!  (I really would’ve loved to ride it but the timing just didn’t permit it.)  Instead, we walked around the hotel a bit, and, again, every designer had a shop.  

I think we managed to walk around just one of the three lobbies because we were heading over to see the Gardens by the Bay, but not until we took photos of Michael in front of Piaget, Constantin Vacheron (he’d never seen a CV store anywhere in the world) and Patek Philippe.  The fourth store in this quadrant was a Van Cleef and Arpel shop.  We couldn’t even imagine who was shopping there or how many watches had to be sold each month just to pay the rent.  But, then again, the most expensive watch in the world, according to Michael’s research, was a platinum Patek Philippe repeater which sold for $700,000.00.  I’m sure our ol’ friend, the Sultan of Brunei, has shopped here on more than one occasion. 

Getting further instructions from a very nice young man at one of the desks in the lobby, we ventured outside (the weather was getting a trifle bit cooler but not by much) and made our way to the Gardens by the Bay.  When I saw this area at the lecture onboard, I knew I had to see it in person and it did not disappoint.  I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.  Again, if you’re not on FB and if I can’t upload my photos here, please google Gardens by the Bay and see what I’m talking about.  For me, it was awesome, breath-taking and just out and out amazing.  

Time was creeping up on us and we were ready to start making our way back to the ship.  Our magnet bought at the Botanic Gardens is very neat and includes the Singapore Flyer, Gardens by the Bay, the Merlion, skyline and the hotel but we wanted to purchase a Christmas ornament as well.  The gift shop didn’t have any but we bought a magnet of the trees and Michael will convert it into an ornament when we get home.

When we got to the taxi stand, two ladies ran towards us asking if they could share the cab ride because they recognized Michael from the ship.  We were only too happy to share the ride and found out that they had missed their flight from Vancouver to Los Angeles and had to fly to Honolulu back in January to join us on the ship.  Getting close the ship and watching what I thought was the meter showing about 35.8 SGD, I removed 20 SGD from my wallet expecting to share the cost.  Turns out the fare was only 5.8 SGD – I had been watching the clock.   When I told the cab driver what I had been looking at, he cracked up.  We made his day!  

We had an incredible day in this magnificent city and this would be one of those places I would definitely come back to in the future.  I love it.  

Michael’s Observations:    Singapore is an amazingly well-planned city.  Clearly, they have spent a great deal of time to lay out manufacturing and living sections as well as the transportation and freeways since they have so little land mass.  To say Singapore is a clean city is an understatement.  As Leona pointed out, the rules are very clear and the fines are very steep.  Yet, it’s a city of great range from dollar magnets to high-end watch stores.  I really enjoyed my time there and would to go back.  

Note:  Very slow connection in India; unable to upload photos at this time.

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