After a very late night last night we slept in until 9:00am
and then we both ate breakfast in the lounge.
Then we went on the subway to an area called Little India
and it was a very interesting area.This
is a national holiday in India celebrating the harvest so it is also celebrated
in Singapore in this area also.Not only
were they lots of local shops open but there were a lot of street stalls set up
in the middle of the street.
We ate lunch at a local shop and were served a mutton dish
with local bread and it was very good.
Next we took the subway to the Turkish/Muslim community.Again, the area was extremely busy area
because it was Saturday.We walked and
walked and did some shopping until it looked like it was going to rain so we
took a quick cab back to the hotel.
At 5:30pm we went to the Executive Lounge and had their food
for dinner.Not a local restaurant, but
the food was good with a local flavor – and it was free.
Then we took the subway to the Sands Hotel and the
observation lounge on the 56 floor to see the city at dusk and it was a
beautiful view.
After that we took the subway back to the hotel and packed.
WOW – what a trip – thanks for following along with us.Also, a big thanks to Jason, Sharon, Cooper,
Alex, Wrigs and Captain for keeping Pippen.
It has been a great trip but we can’t wait to get home.
The pool on the 4th floor
Getting a sweet - it's the yellow ones on the right - really good
Today is the Chinese New Year and since the Chinese have a
large majority in Singapore, this is a really big deal for the next two
days.New Years Day is the major holiday
for the Chinese people and everything connected with the Chinese will be shut
down tomorrow and tonight it is either home time or party time or both we have
been told.
After sleeping in a little and having breakfast, we head to
the Bird Farm in Singapore that we had heard a lot about.It turned out to be one of the great spots in
Singapore to visit.The cab ride would
have been a ½ hour and expensive so we took the subway and bus for about 10% of
the cost of a taxi.It took about an
hour and it was a fun experience getting there.
We spent a couple of hours there walking on their paths
seeing an amazing display of birds.They
had a number of huge, huge areas where you actually cold walk in and you were
inside where all of the birds were and the birds would be just flying all
around you.One of the areas was all
filled with parrots. We were close enough to touch them but if you got to
within an inch, they would move or fly away. It was a neat place to visit.
Then we took a cab to the Zoo and a portion of it called the
River Safari.The cab was a Toyota 6
passenger van and it was a van that we do not have in the United Sates.It was a beautify luxury van and the driver
owned it himself and the total cost, including taxes and license fees was
$160,00 US dollars!!
They had a huge display of jungle animals and also a couple
of boat rides around and in the park.It
was fun, but not as much fun as the bird zoo.
When we left the zoo area, the wait for a cab was over an
hour and it was already 6:00pm and we wanted to get back to the Marriott, eat,
change and go to Chinatown for the fireworks. After just missing the last available limo
which would have cost us $50, Barb spotted a lady behind a desk who just
happened to have an express bus coming that would take us to the subway station
and we got on it.It was so out of the
way that with dozens waiting for a cab, we were the only people on this huge
bus.The driver was so nice he gave us
water and acted as a tour guide during the 20 minute bus ride.Then we took the subway to the hotel and
arrived just before they were stopping serving food for the evening.The costs to get to the Marriott by cab would
have been $25, by limo $50 and this only cost us $10 and we had a lot of fun!!
After eating we took a friend we had met on the cruise from
Philly on the subway to Chinatown and wow, what an experience.If we looked back at all of the places we
have been to and watched fireworks on the fourth of July, this crowd was more
intense.The streets were packed!!Wait till you see the videos.
Chinatown is about a 12 square block area and every street
was filled with street vendors and packed with people.We had fun walking around until about 10:30pm
when we went to the main street to find a place to watch the fireworks.
We met a man from the production crew and he tried to get us
close to the stage but the Fire Marshall had just closed off the area because
of too many people.He did show us a
great place to stand so that we could see the fireworks above us.
There are no open places in Chinatown so the fireworks were
shot from the top of a building.When
you see the video there is a lot of firecracker noise.The noise was so loud that we had to use
earplugs.The actual fireworks in the
sky were less than we have in the United States.We figured out that it was because of the
potential of fire from the residue falling directly below on the buildings.All-in-all though it was a fun display.
We then walked a little with the crowds and then took a cab
back to the hotel.
Night from our second day in Singapore –
tomorrow will be our last and as all of the Chinese areas are closed for the
holidays, we
will spend the day in the India and Arab areas of town – should be fun.
The view from our hotel room on the 23rd floor
Old and new - no shoes, a wrap for a skirt and an iPhone
At the entrance to the Bird Farm
Inside the Parrot cage
A walkway inside a bird cage
The men's restroom with an outside area and a waterfall
The Toyota Van
Inside the River Safari
Our own bus and driver!!
A panorama of one of the street displays for the Year of the Tiger
The cruise is over – a very interesting cruise and we
certainly experienced a lot of very different cultures and foods.Would we do it again – no these were not
destination we would like to visit again; but, it was still a great trip
We had planned to leave the ship as soon as they opened the
gangway; however, Ed re-set the alarm and we finally left at 8:30am.
We went off and got our luggage, went through customs, got a
cab and were in our room at the Tang Plaza Marriott by 9:30am.
Ed first worked for a couple of hours on emails regarding
work and updating work files while Barb unpacked.
Then we took the subway to the world’s cheapest 1 Star Michelin
restaurant in the world, right here in Singapore.The original stand was in the Chinatown Hawker
Center a complex of 262 food stands, all no more bigger than 8’ x 10’.We have
eaten at a number of the stands and the food is good and it is cheap.
When we went to the restaurant in the heart of Chinatown the
line was really long and people were saying the wait was at least ½ hour but we
didn’t care.We had heard so much about
this restaurant, we felt it was worth the wait.
Then we realized that standing in line was a couple of guys
we had eaten with on the ship, Marc and Nigel from London.Guess what; all of a sudden we were at the
head of the line with them and a table for 4!!It was so funny to run into them there as we had seen them several time
out on tours when they were visiting the same places we were.We spent a lot of time eating and talking
about visiting them at their weekend home in Paris when we go there this
October.We hope it works out.
Our meal today at the new restaurant cost less than $8.00
for the two of us, including drinks.
After eating we said goodbye to Marc and Nigel and we explored
Chinatown.Of course we had been just
been there last November, but we still found some things to buy.
Tomorrow is the Chinese New Year and we plan to go back to
Chinatown to watch their celebration.It
is going to be a huge event from what we have been told.
Then we took a cab back to the hotel and went to the
Executive Lounge to eat.There we ran
into Debbie who we had played blackjack with and also another couple who also
had been on the ship.
After dinner, we took the subway to an entertainment
district by the river and walked around for a couple of hours looking at shops,
restaurants and people.
Then it was time to take the subway back to the hotel.
That’s it for our last day of the cruise and our first of 3
days in Singapore.
Night.
Our fruit plate from the Guest Services Manager
The Casino Manager and her Husband
Our last dinner of the cruise with Brian and Sandy
The signboard for the restaurant
Outside the restaurant
Barb's Pork Belly and Noodles
Nigel and Marc from London and Paris - we joined them for lunch
Our last day at sea and our last day of the cruise.Yes we ready to come home.This is the longest that we have ever been
away and it is a little bit too long, but we have had a good cruise.
I forgot to tell you that last night we were surprised with
a huge platter of exotic fruits and a $400 on board credit to be used on our
next trip.What a great present from the
Guests Relations Manager who we had talked to the day before about a couple of
concerns.
We slept very late as last night was a late night and then
we had to set the clocks ahead by 1 hour for a total of 4 hours of time changes
on this trip.
As usual, Ed was up and went down one floor for breakfast
and then the gym while Barb got ready.
We picked up our passports, watched a Salsa dance class and
bought a gift for the casino cage manager, who we have known for several
cruises before going to lunch.
After lunch we came back to the cabin and packed for the
trip and after packing we went to the casino for an afternoon session where
Barb lost a tiny bit and Ed had a nice win.
The show tonight was a really good one – it was called “Boys
in the Band” and was a nonstop showcase of the world’s most loved hits from The
Jersey Boys, The Beatles, The Jackson 5 and more.The crowd and we loved the show; it wasn’t
great, just good fun.
Dinner was a lot of fun and sad because we really had a
great time with Brian and Sandy and we have made plans to see them in London in
October.Today was Brian’s birthday and
of course they brought him out a cake.In addition, last night they received the same big fruit plate with
strange fruit as we did so they brought it to dinner for all of us to enjoy.The Guest Services Manager had sent us a
bottle of Champaign and we took it to dinner to share with Brian and Sandy.
After we said our good byes to Brian and Sandy we went to
the casino where Barb broke even and Ed finished the cruise with a good
win.We said good bye to the casino
staff and went to the room to finish packing.
Tomorrow we arrive in Singapore for a couple of days and it
will be fun.
I will try to post videos sometime tomorrow from our hotel.
Night from our last night on the Celebrity Constellation.
Today is Thailand.Are we ever blessed to have now been in two cities in Thailand.This city, Plunket was the major city that
was hard hit by a Tsunami a number of years ago where hundreds of people were
killed.They have rebuilt the city and
it is a major tourist destination.
There is no large pier at Plunket so we had to tender in to
the city.The ship arrived in the port
at 10:00am and started the tender service shortly after that.
When we arrived at the pier, our guide was not there but he
arrived shortly after that.We were
supposed to have an English speaking guide for a 6 hour tour of the major
sights of the city.The only problem was
that our guide really didn’t know how to speak English and we didn’t realize it
until after we were moving in the car and started to ask questions.
So, basically for a very cheap price, we went to some
interesting and fun destinations and he took us to where we wanted to go, but
we never heard anything about the country or what we were seeing along the way.
He gave us a book of pictures of the major sights in the
city and he asked where we wanted to go and that is how we communicated.
Our first stop was a tiger location where you had the choice
of going into a cage with a large, medium or small tiger.We choose the large tiger.Yes, we really went into the cage.There were 4 tigers in this very large
enclosure and we were with a guide from the facility.We could hold the tail, and touch anyplace on
the tiger up to the shoulders.It was an
amazing ten minutes that we had.They
were not chained, just sitting there freely.We also will post a great video with the tigers later.
Our driver then took us to the original town which had a lot
of neat shops and then we traveled a little ways to a cashew factory.This was amazing to see.Each cashew is taken one at a time and placed
on a machine that pushes down on the shell and breaks it.They hand-pick out the cashew and then it
goes to another person who uses a tiny knife to scrape away the skin.No wonder they are so expensive as they are
very labor intensive to produce.
Next on our tour was to go to a bee factory and we were
introduced to all kinds of honey, including Royal Jelly that goes on your face
for a better complexion.They said that
this was very expensive in the US.We
didn’t buy any.
We next went to an elephant village where they were riding
elephants, but not like we did a couple of months ago.This was set up to give a lot of tourists a very
quick ride.They also rode on a seat
with a guide driving the elephant on a short walk – it didn’t look like fun.
We however, paid $2 to feed an elephant and was that ever a
lot of fun.The elephant even wrapped
his trunk around each of our necks and gave us a kiss on the cheek.It was just fun and we will download a video
when we arrive in Singapore.
After that we went to the largest temple in the city and it
was huge and in addition, they were having a festival there and had dozens of
booth selling everything, including a lot of local foods.
We had a noodle & shrimp dish, a strange desert and Ed
ate a serving of beetles, grasshoppers and slugs as well as a couple of other
types of bugs.They were good!!
Then it was back to the port to take the tender back to the
ship.
We met Brian and Sandy for dinner and talked about each of
our adventures and had a good meal.
Then we went to the show at 10:30pm and onto the casino
where both Ed and Barb lost just a little.
Tonight we set the clocks forward another hour and tomorrow
is our last day of the cruise and it is a sea day.
Night for this blog.
Barb with a tiger. They were not chained
Ed with a tiger
Barb getting kissed
Cracking the shell in the cashew factory
Thailand Pork on a stick (we think)
Eggs, noodles, bamboo shoots and ? made a great lunch
Another sea day and another day without sunshine so, Ed ate
breakfast, went to the gym, Barb woke up and we went to presentation about Thailand.It was interesting hearing the history of
this country that was once called Siam.
We have been in Thailand once before, last year when we went
to Bangkok and we really enjoyed it.
After the presentation we walked and people watched for a
while and then went to lunch.
Lunch today was poached salmon and it was very good.
After lunch there was an afternoon performance by the singer
from Great Britain that we heard last night and she was again very, very good.
Then Ed played in the blackjack tournament and came in
second to a person who had a blackjack on the last hand.But at least 2nd place paid out
money.
Barb didn’t play slots but Ed played black jack and had a
great run, the most of any session so it was a fun afternoon.
The show was the third production number from the cast and
it was all about music around the world.It wasn’t as good as their past two performances, but still pretty good.
Dinner in the restaurant Blu was again fun with Brian and
Sandy.We had a waiter Elvis who had
been our waiter on at least one other cruise and he was very funny.
Afterwards we went to the casino where Barb broke even and
Ed gave most of his winnings this afternoon back.
Tomorrow we arrive at our last port, Plunket, Thailand and
we have a tour set up so it should be fun.
Today we arrived in Colombo, Sri Lanka, a country that we
have never been to before. Colombo is the capital and main port and largest
city.There are reminders of Portuguese,
Dutch and British influence found around the city.
We are yet farther south than yesterday and of course it was
HOT!
Our tour today was in a private Tuk Tuk but first we had to
walk the length of two football fields to get out of the port.Then we had to take a taxi to another port
entrance to meet our guide/driver.
There are 800,000 people living in Colombo and 400,000 TukTuk's and I think they were all on the road to day.
In our first stop, we saw the train station – it looked like
something out of the early 1900’s and was still being used.
Then we traveled through the city to the largest Buddhist
Temple and was spectacular.We also
went to see the oldest protestant church in Sri Lanka, a Dutch church.
We kept driving seeing the houses of the very rich and
government buildings.We stopped on the
street to taste the juice of a King Coconut, which was a different taste from
any coconut we had ever tasted.
We stopped along a main shopping area and walked for about ½
hour before getting back into the Tuk Tuk and going to lunch.
Lunch was at a very nice local restaurant, although it was
a little fancier that we have been used to.
After that it was about 45 minutes to get back to the ship
and we quickly took showers and we had really been hot.
The show tonight was an individual singer, piano player from
Britain and he was very entertaining.
Dinner with Brian and Sandy was very good and then it was on
to the casino where Barb broke even and Ed lost.
Tomorrow is the first of 2 more sea days, so hopefully it
will be a relaxing day.
Most sea days when the sun is shining, our day is very predictable
–
Ed reserves deck chairs, has breakfast, goes to the gym and
then goes to the sun deck.
Barb joins Ed on the deck.
At 12:30pm we go to Aqua Spa and have a healthy lunch.Today it was grilled chicken.
Showers and then to the casino.
Today was the finals of the slot tournament.Last month Ed won a cruise; however, this
cruise the prize was money and not much of it.Both of us qualified for the finals and as luck would have it, Ed won.
After that we both played an afternoon session where we both
lost.
Then we got ready for the evening.The evening show was a couple who presented a
Cirque-style aerial/acrobatic show and they were really good, probably one the
best we have ever seen on a cruise ship.
Then we had a wonderful dinner with our friends from London,
Brian and Sandy.
After dinner we went up to the room to see the inaugural;
however, the speech was just over.We
hope for the best for the country in this change of administration.
Tomorrow we arrive in Colombo, Sri Lanka and we have a fun
tour planned.
