We awoke this morning tied to a beautiful terminal on the island of Singapore. This is all new to us. The last time we were here, ten years ago, we tied up in the container port among a large number of cargo ships. We have a ship’s tour of Singapore, unfortunately, Sandra is not feeling well and decides to stay in the cabin for the day. She sent me out to see the city. I drop by the tour office with her ticket and Mathew believes he can sell it.
The tour starts a bit late due to a holdup in immigration but after working through that process, the tour gets on the bus.
We work our way through the city seeing some of the newer building set among the old buildings. At the point where the North Bridge Road crosses the Singapore River, we get off the bus and onto a twakow (bumboat) for a cruise through the city. The Singapore River was the original dock area for the old sailing ships. It has retained a great many of the old buildings, all restored. There is a bronze statue of boys swimming that juts out from the stone retaining wall. You see all of these old builds in front with all of the ultra modern building behind.
The river flows into the Marina Bay, the heart of the waterfront area. The river originally flowed into the sea. In the last fifteen years, they have built an island out in the bay, placed a dam across the outlet to the sea and made the Bay into a fresh water lake/reservoir. Beside the lake is a statue of a Merlion, a mythical beast said to be half lion, half fish. It is the symbol of Singapore. After an hours tour on the water, we were back in the bus for a drive past Chinatown, the old parliament building and The Raffles Hotel. Sandra and I had high tea at the Raffles, ten years ago. The next stop was the Singapore Flyer, a very large Ferris wheel, much like the London Eye. Before getting on the wheel, we were given enough time to get a bite to eat. There were a number of eating spots but most of our group went to the local Subway sandwich shop.
The pods on the Singapore Flyer are very large. Our whole bus load was stuffed into one pod. From the top, the view included the whole waterfront, the cruise terminal, the marina lake, the Singapore River, the hotel with the boat on top and botanical gardens on the island. As we were getting off the Flyer, we could hear thunder in the distance. Our guide said, “Not to worry, they stop putting people on the wheel when there is a chance of lightening.” Five minutes later came the announcement that they were stopping passenger loading. It was good to be on the ground.
When I got back to the ship, Sandra was feeling better and wanted to go off the ship. There were a couple of convenience stores in the terminal. So, we went through customs and did a bit of shopping. I did find a new case for my iPhone, one that would not slide off my belt. At six P. M. the ship slipped her lines and we were off for Port Kelang, Malaysia.
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| The area near the boat dock |
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| One of the boats on the Singapore River |
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| The old Singapore waterfront |
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| Statue of boys playing in the water |
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| Hotel with the swimming pool on top |
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| The Merlion Statue |
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| Victoria Clock Tower |
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| Raffles Hotel |
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| Pod on the Singapore Flyer |
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| Island and hotel from the Singapore Flyer |
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| Botanical Gardens from the Singapore Flyer |
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| Marina area from the Singapore Flyer |
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| Singapore from the Island |
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| The Hotel |
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| Pod on the Singapore Flyer |
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