Blogs from Singapore Harbour, Singapore, Asia

On our return to Singapore approximately 900 Malaysian/Asian passengers disembark and the same number of mainly Australian and British Embark. Once again the nature of the ship changes. Ian goes of to do a battlefields of Singapore tour, so over to him. ... read more

Your first reaction is that both are quite bad, or perhaps even tolerable, given the circumstances. I can probably count on one hand my decent airline meals, and most of those were on Singapore Airlines. My best hospital meals were at UC Berkeley. I contracted pneumonia as a sophomore there and was also hospitalized with a mysterious and unknown virus while I was in grad school. And I must tell you, the food was well above average, perhaps even pretty good. Why? I found out the UC Berkeley's Cowell Memorial Hospital does not have a cafeteria or its own food services. All the food came from across the parking lot, the famous Faculty Club. Once I had an appetite, meal selection became great fun. The menu for the next meal would arrive, and I could select ... read more

Singapore is famous for a lot of things; for its culture, economy, cuisine, and also for its cleanliness. This country is one of the cleanest countries in the whole world. If we take a look at Singapore’s history, it becomes clear that a lot of effort has been put into its development. Despite being a small country, Singapore enjoys a very strong financial position. It is an investment hotspot in Southeast Asia. It is also considered as the cultural hotspot of Asia. A country doesn’t develop such a reputation by not doing anything. Singapore’s strong economy has allowed the country to invest in itself like crazy. It has a plethora of developed tourist attractions and infrastructure. What’s more, the country has a reputation for being really clean. Around 50 years ago, Singapore’s government launched the Keep ... read more

After a solid night's sleep, I woke up fairly rested. I headed to the gym while John slept a little more. The gym was located on a very high floor in a corner, with floor to ceiling windows. Incredible views! It was well-equipped - like a regular gym. A ton of cardio machines, some weight machines, and free weights. The bathrooms attached to the gym had nice showers, a wet sauna, dry sauna, and a beautiful hot tub (no jets but looked awesome). John said the hot tub in the men's room has a window that looks out over the city. The one in the women's room had frosted glass. But still so relaxing! If we were there for 1 more day, I would have made full use of it. As it was, we were tight ... read more

Early afternoon we met up with Mary and David in the hotel foyer, and planned a trip to the Gardens by the Bay for the afternoon and evening. This would introduce us to the MRT system in Singapore which is both quite cheap and very frequent and useful. Getting on at Lavender Station, we were amazed at the politeness of the locals - 4 seniors get on and immediately 4 seats were vacated for us. After a quick change of trains, we were soon at the Bayside and, walking through a rather long concourse, arrived outside the gardens. One thing we notice is that there are no seats for the public in the stations or on concourses between services. So the locals sit on the floors. Seniors can get down should they choose. However, based on ... read more