Asia - 2017 - Days 17 - 21

Asia – 2016 – Days 17 – 19

Two days in Singapore were next on our travel plans.

The ship docked at 8:30am and we had the ability to stay on the ship the first night and leave the second night, so we did just that.

We left the ship as early as we were able and went to an exhibit called the Battle Box.  This was a WWII underground bunker that took 5 years to build, starting just before the Japan started the war.  It was used as a hidden bunker to control the Allied forces in the defense of Malaysia and Singapore.  Because of the swiftness of the Japanese invasion, it was only used 5 days before the British surrendered.

It was very erie to see all of the pictures and displays as to how soldiers lived there during the last days of the war.

Singapore was under control of the British at the time of the war and had to surrender with 120,000 soldiers in Singapore and they said it was the start of the downfall of the British Empire.

After that tour, we went on a 4 ½ hour walking tour of downtown Singapore that was really good.

That night we were back on the ship for dinner and our last night’s sleep before leaving the ship for this trip.  

As the ship was in port, the casino was not open, so we left the next morning with all of our winnings.

Following are observations from the final two days that we had to visit Singapore.

First thing in our second morning, we took a cab to the Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza which had been recommended by a friend of our John Rettick, a FedEx pilot.

Once again we were staying in a beautiful Marriott.  As a matter of fact, all of the Marriott’s that we have stayed at overseas have been better than the Marriott’s in the US.

We then took the subway to the Gardens By The Bay, the #1 attraction in Singapore.  The Gardens are huge and there are two amazing domes, one for flowers called the Flower Dome and one for vegetation, called The Cloud.  We took a short tour in the Flower Dome and spent another ½ touring on our own.  Thousands of flowers were in this building and it was very beautiful.

Then we went into the Cloud Dome and what an amazing structure this was.  It was huge with a walking ramp that circled the living plants that are growing in the structure.    The pictures do not do either of these structures justice as they are just huge.

Singapore is famous for “Hawker Centers” which are areas in the city where local people have food stands.  The stands are 8 x10 usually run by a couple and they serve all kinds of food.  We ate several times at the two largest Hawker Centers in town and really enjoyed the food.  The food was very good and the prices were very inexpensive.  The largest Hawker Center was in Chinatown and it had 206 booths.  The most we ever spent on a main course was $3.17 US for a meal for both of us!!

We visited the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum; however, we were not allowed to take pictures in this Temple.  One amazing fact is that in the main room that displays a tooth of the Buddha, there are 1,600 8” x 8” floor tiles that are 3mm thick and are made of solid gold!!

On the second day, we went for another walking tour at 4:00pm; however, the tour guide did not show up.  While we were waiting, we talked with a young couple, he was from Italy and she from Spain and they had been living together for 6 years in England.  They were very nice and had travelled a lot.  We invited them to go with us that night to the zoo and they said yes and met us at our hotel.

We also visited the largest Hindu Temple as well as the largest Mosque in the city, the Sultan Mosque.

We visited the Chinatown Heritage Centre which traced the history of the Chinese people in Singapore.  They currently make up 74% of the population.  At the center, they had a full scale reproduction of a Chinese row house that was 3 stories high and would have held up to 100 people in the 1800’s.  Most of the families were from 8 – 10 children and lived in an 8’ x 8’ space!

People say it is a small world and we have certainly met people that we have met before in places we never expected and we had another crossing of paths on this trip.  Ed was in the salad line in the Marriott Executive Lounge and was on the wrong side of the line waiting for the person across from his to finish using the thongs to get some small tomatoes.  That person handed the thongs to Ed and said “Hi Ed” and to our surprise it was our friend John Rettick, the FedEx pilot from Bloomington!!  We had to leave shortly so we sat together for a little bit and then agreed to meet the next night for dinner and a river cruise that John had never been on.

That night, we went to the Zoo with our new friends to experience a nighttime safari and it was really fun.   It was a full moon and the lights were very dim; but, you could easily see and almost touch the animals as only a few were actually caged.  These were all nocturnal wild animals in a very real setting.  We were on a tram that took almost an hour to travel its course.  After the tram ride, we walked a number of walking paths throughout the zoo.

The last night in Singapore, we took an evening river cruise with John and witnessed a laser light and sound show that was very good.  After that we went back to the hotel and the lounge and sat with John for a while before going to our room and packing for the next day.

We also, on the boat ran into a neat couple who we had met on the cruise, Tony and Mary from Boston - it truly is a small world.

Our trip home was uneventful and very long.   We started with a 6 hour trip to Tokyo on a Japan Airlines airplane and it was amazing how trained and friendly the staff was.  The food was also very, very good.  Then we had access to the Admirals Club for American Airlines and we waited a couple of hours for our 11hr+ flight to Chicago.  We were lucky to cash in points and fly first class – wow what a difference that makes in flying comfort.  We each had a little cubical with an 18” television with dozens of movies, etc.  Our seat was made to lie flat and what a way to travel.  Of food service was fantastic with Barb having a traditional Japanese meal and Ed had a filet!!  All served on china with a table cloth and real silverware.

When we arrived in Chicago, we had a 6 hour wait so we waited in the Admirals Club and ate dinner and relaxed until the flight which was at 10:10pm arriving in Bloomington at 10:50pm. 

By the time we got home, we had been up for over 36 hours, but it was a perfect trip back.

That’s it for this trip.  All of the cities and countries that we visited were very interesting.  Would we go back to Vietnam, probably not.  Would we go back to Bangkok, Hong Kong or Singapore – Yes, Yes.  We will be in Singapore at the end of our next cruise and we are really looking forward to finishing our visit there.

(From Barb)

Hope you enjoyed following our trip  . . . it was fabulous, we saw and learned SO much.  Our only regret is that you all couldn’t join us!

Have happy holidays

Getting ready to leave for our first day in Singapore

A hotel, casino and then a pool in the roof top.  Cost 3.5 Billion to build

Lunch - Chicken and Rice

Ice Cream

Making us a sugar cane drink

Breakfast at the Marriott

Our lunch stand - we had the porl

Pork, Noodles and ??

Making our lunch of pork and noodles

John Rettick at the Marriott

Trees in the Flower Garden area

Sit or squat!!

With John Rettick on a boat ride

Our dinner 

This was KungPao chicken

Salted egg, rice and chicken

The Admirals Lounge in Chicago