Blogs from Singapore Harbour, Singapore, Asia - page 5

Crossing the Line ceremony when Celebrity Millennium was crossing Equator on her journey from Singapore to Lombok on the 14 Night Gems of Southeast Asia Cruise, January 7, 2013. The ceremony of Crossing the Line is an initiation rite that commemorates a sailor's first crossing of the Equator. Equator-crossing ceremonies, typically featuring King Neptune, are for passengers' entertainment on ocean liners and cruise ships. The ceremonies are also performed in the merchant navy and aboard sail training ships. The ritual is a ceremony presided over by King Neptune (the ancient ruler of the seas) who wears a gold crown and holds a trident. The proceedings consisted of several phases or 'acts'. As part of the ritual polywogs (those who have not previously been initiated) are dunked in water. This procedure is intended to cleanse the initiate ... read more

Our final day in Singapore, and just a few more places on the list to visit. We started with brief trips to Chinatown and Little India. These frantic frenzy places are often where the true culture and diversity can be seen within a city. I was particularly wowed by all the beautiful sari's, headresses and jewellery availble to buy (gutted there is no room in my backpack!). We also went to see a couple of the Hindu temples, with there amazing entrances. In the afternoon we went down to the Marina, taking in some of the historical sights, such as Raffles landing sight, and the very modern 'Gardens at the Bay'. These gardens are completely man-made, and are built on reclaimed land but nevertheless very impressive. The tree structure stand out in the Singapore sky line ... read more

So here we are in Singapore. Journey out was ok after we overcome the delay in getting from Manchester to London. We made it to the gate just as they were boarding! Met with Joe and Gemma and arrived at the Fullerton in time to have a drink before going out for a meal. It is very warm. 32 degs and looks like we are in for a storm soon. As this is my first attempt at blogging I will leave it there. Raffles now for a Singapore Sling!... read more

Gardens by the Bay is a new park with cool architecture and plants that wraps around Marina Bay (Singapore) and consists of Bay South (open), Bay East and Bay Central (still to developed). The newly opened Bay South has 59 hectares and is the biggest and most amazing of the Gardens by the Bay complex (it cost $ 500 million dollars). It includes a Chinese Garden, a Malaysian garden and other theme gardens from different countries that shaped Singapore. It also has 5 different lakes, one of which is surrounded by marshland and boardwalks. SuperTrees It also has Super Trees that mimic real trees with solar panels ontop that generates enough energy to light up the Supertrees at night. The Supertrees vary in height from 25 meters to 50 meters and have over 163 species of ... read more

London, Singapore So we finally left south America behind, departing from Rio at one of the smallest international airports we have seen! Bizarrely, there was no bar (!) but we found a beer and sat to play El Presidente with Ben and Doogie one last time... We also pondered how on earth this tiny airport will cope with not only the world cup in 2014 but the Olympics two years later! Brazil has a lot of work to do me thinks, especially stamping down on those poxy street robbers! Before we departed there was a gang of screaming girls in the check in area and we looked to see someone famous being screamed at... He was gorgeous but we had no idea who he was other than he was a yank. We eventually found out that ... read more