Singapore Sights and more

Feb 17 & 18 Singapore 

We had 1 ½ days in Singapore.  We arrived the afternoon of St. Pat’s Day- I think a few people missed the port that day due to the Top o’ the Mornin’ Party.  We didn’t attend as “C” was doing school work and I was doing my exercise homework. 

Merlion- symbol of Singapore

We arrived in Singapore at 2 in the afternoon.  There was a bit of a different procedure here in Singapore, we had to have our passports with us at all times and we had to go through immigration each time we left and returned to the ship.  I am sure many of you know there are lots of rules here in Singapore and it is a very clean and orderly city due to much of those rules.  The many changes have transformed it into a very modern city in a very short time.  The people will tell you the sacrifices they make are well worth the modernization and wealth that has come to this city. 

One of the biggest changes was to eliminate the Kampong lifestyle that once characterized the island.  There were small villages, made up of clusters of homes and a central well and provision shops as well as temples on the shores and close to the jungles.  The 50s and 60s were the heyday of the thatched roof homes that were later replaced by corrugated metal and concrete. They were a sense of community despite the poverty.  When those Kampongs were eliminated, the government relocated the residents to public housing estates.  This did lead to a loss of some of the community feel but helped to modernize the city/country.  Today people can own those government properties at a subsidized rate and as much as 85% of the population owns a government condo/apartment.  They range in price from $60k-300k Singapore Dollars.  There are also plenty of private condos and luxury homes in the city as well. 



Raffles Hotel

We promptly signed up for the hop on hop off tour and headed into downtown Singapore.  Wow, are there lots of very modern skyscrapers and lots of construction.  I guess they are always adding reclaimed land and building to keep the city modern.   Our first bus took us through the heritage areas so we saw China town, Little India and the classic Raffles Hotel.  This hotel is named for Stamford Raffles the Englishman to come and settle Singapore in 1819.  We did not go in there though as you have to be dressed appropriately.  This is the home of the original Singapore Sling cocktail.  

After touring around for an hour, we hopped on another bus.  This time “C”, dad & I hopped off at the 2^nd stop,  Mom continued on for the full circuit.  We went on the Singapore Flyer- the tallest ferris wheel in the world for now.  It is taller than the London Eye but will be surpassed by a wheel in China soon.  The ride lasts 30min and you can see all over the city.  On a clear day (today was cloudy)  you can also see Indonesia.  Upon finishing the ride, “C” tried out a trampoline with a harness that let him jump real high, he had a blast. 

fish pedicure

After dinner, we headed into the mall attached to the pier.  Here, “C”, mom & I had fish pedicures.  It is a very weird sensation but it does remove lots of the dead skin on your feet, leaving them feeling smoother.  ”C” was a bit ticklish but did survive more than I thought he would.

 

 

 

surviving the fish pedicure

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hindu Temple
 

Our second day found us on the bus again. This time we took their original tour and it took us back to Chinatown.  We alighted here and toured the Hindu temple, Sri Mariamman, the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore.  We even witnessed a baby blessing that was being performed at the time we were visiting.  The temple was beautiful and we were able to explore inside since we had removed our shoes at the front. I also paid the requested $3 for taking photographs. 

Mahraj statue at Hindu temple

 

 

We wandered through the Chinatown markets while we were here.  We purchased a chop here with “C”s name in English and Chinese.  We also explored a fun TinTin shop.  After hopping on the bus again, we drove along the famed Orchard Rd, full of all kinds of shopping. 

Chinese temple

 

 

 

 

    

historic Rickshaw station

 



rickshaw at Chinese Cultural Center





Our next stop was in Little India where wewandered the shops and “C” got a henna dragon put on.  It should last about 10 days. 

Little India

 

 

Madagascar carousel at Univ Singapore

After completing the tour and returning to the ship’s port, “C” and I headed on the bus to Sentosa Island.  This is a resort and recreation island full of entertainment of all sorts.  We headed into Universal Studios for a quick whirlwind visit.  We rode lots of rides that were unique to this location.  One cool feature is they have awnings high up above the buildings that provide shade from the very hot climate.  They have a Madagascar land and Far Far Away (Shrek).  They also have Jurassic Park- we opted out of the water ride as it is the raft style where you get soaked and while we were very hot we didn’t want to walk around soaked.  We also decided not to pursue the Transformers ride because it had a 1 hr line and we didn’t have that long to do things.  After we finished at the park, we headed over to the Hard Rock to pick up a pin.  There were huge crowds of preteen girls waiting for something.  Upon querying, we found out Demi Lovato was playing that evening.   We come all the way around the world to run into a Disney Pop Icon- who knew. 

Next stop:  Malaysia