Sorry for being late, I must have skipped this. Thank you so
much Philippe for letting us know. Very much appreciated.
For these two days we have been in Singapore. We are docked
facing an amusement park complex. It has a resort, casino, upscale shopping
center and a Disney like park. Over us is a cable car that goes from one side
of the harbor to the other. It goes directly over the ship.
Singapore is an island city-state, a World War II battleground,
a global economic superstar and a crossroads of the world. A town named Temask
existed as early as the 11th century. In the 15th century
it was claimed by the kingdom of Majapahit, the vast Javanese maritime empire
that dominated the kingdoms of Indonesia and Malaya. In 1824 the Sultan of
Johor deeded the site to the East India Company and a major British trading
post in Southeast Asia was created. In 1867 it was put under control of the
British crown. It then fell to Japan in 1942 and was returned to British rule
after the war. Internal self-government began in 1959 and in 1963, Singapore
became a semi-autonomous state with in the Federation of Malaysia. On August 9,
1965, it was separated from Malaysia and became an independent republic within
the Commonwealth of Nations. Today it has grown to an affluent and vibrant
city.
On the first day was got a two day MRT (subway) pass. In the
morning we took it to Chinatown, where everything was very reasonable and
bought some very nice souvenirs. We saw a Buddhist temple (again) and all the sights
down in Chinatown. We came back to the ship for lunch and then went over to
Marina Bay. It is considered the financial district and the bay has a 6 km walk
all the way around. There are shops, historical buildings, restaurants, museums,
etc. all the way around. Since it was 90 degrees and we had been walking all
day, we took a boat ride around the harbor. We saw the MerLion (cross between a
mermaid and a lion. It was first built when the Chinese settled in this harbor.
There is a resort there that is shops, restaurants, gambling, etc. that is two
tall towers with a top that looks like a long boat.
Singapore is a mixture of the old and the new. There are so
many beautiful old buildings, yet there is still the old. It is a very clean
city, in fact you can be fined if you have gum or throw trash. The water in the
bay where we were is drinkable.
On day two we went back to Chinatown and got Steve another
pair of pants and toured the temple. We just walked around and then came back
to the ship. We left here at 3 PM on Thursday. We are about 14 hours ahead of
Eastern time right now.
Next stop if Port Klang (Kuala Lumpur) tomorrow.
Here are some Singapore pictures.
Cable cars above the boat
Skyline
Port
Chinatown
Eggs for Easter egg hunt outside of mall (when we got lost
looking for the ship)
Scenery
Art along the Marina Bay walk
Olympic Rings at Marina Bay Harbor
Boat we rode around the bay in
Marina Bay Gardens ( big leaf looking structure)
MerLion fountain
Architecture of buildings
Statue of boys who used to get cool by jumping in the bay
Colorful building is a government office building
Resort and casino is three towers with what looks like a
boat on top
Shopping mall at port
Temple in Chinatown
Subway
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