Singapore

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This morning we arrived at the exciting city of Singapore about 10:00, about an hour later than scheduled and we have our second ½-day car provided by Cruise Specialists. So after we got the ship cleared (all proper ship documents approved), we left the ship as soon as possible to meet our guide and driver. We started our tour with them about 10:30 and talked about the places we’d like to see. Our first stop was the highest point in Singapore, Mount Faber Park, where we got out of the car and walked through a very nice hotel to a fabulous viewing point overlooking the city. There was an amazing cable car system up there that is currently closed for upgrading.

Singapore was really put on the map by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, who landed on the main island in January 1819. He saw its potential as a strategic geographical trading post in Southeast Asia. Raffles signed a treaty with Sultan Hussein Shah on behalf of the British East India Company within a week to develop the southern part of Singapore as a British trading post and settlement. Until August 1824, Singapore was a territory controlled by a Malay Ruler, and then the British extended control over the whole island, making it a British possession. In 1867 it became a British Crown colony, answerable directly to Queen Victoria. By the way, Raffles is a very famous name in this part of the world as he developed a lot of property and many hotels, another of which we will see soon in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam).

Following Singapore’s first general elections in 1955 to gain its own independence, Singapore became a self-governing state within the British Empire in 1959. It declared independence from Britain unilaterally in August 1963, before joining the Federation of Malaysia in September of that year. Singapore officially gained sovereignty on August 9 1965. So now Singapore is a city, state and country.

Singapore, a “fine city” is a very popular tourist destination, making tourism one of its largest industries. It’s a “fine city” because they have many ‘strict’ laws controlling the activities, vices and habits of people, like; no spitting, no chewing gum, no littering, no jaywalking, no weapons, and a number of others. These are things that if caught, you are fined depending on the severity. If caught with drugs, especially as a dealer, it is punishable by death. One may remember about 10-12 years ago there was an international incident where an American young man was caught spitting, and his punishment was 20 lashes by caning. They take their laws and city cleanliness very serious. And it is…a very spotlessly clean city. It has an incredible downtown with a modern metropolis surrounded by green, groomed parks and populated by about 4 million people.

After leaving Mount Faber Park we went to Chinatown and India town, where we walked around and explored. We went into the Kwan Im Temple located on a pedestrian street in Chinatown. Our guide took us through and explained how they prayed and worshipped. We then drove to Suntec City where we saw the world’s largest fountain, Merlion, an imaginary animal with the head of a lion and the body of a fish. Across the lake stands the incredible Marina Bay Sands, a new 55-story complex with 2,500 luxury guest rooms and complete resort destination. It is not quite finished, but the roof that goes across the top of the three buildings will not only connect them but also provide additional entertainment facilities and be completely landscaped. We then went to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and arrived as they were doing a service…very interesting. Our time was getting short with our guide and driver and we wanted to eat lunch, so we told them that last year when we were here our driver/guide took us to a place where we had great chicken and rice. The driver said there were a couple places that specialized in that and took us to the one nearest the ship. Lo and behold it was the same place…what luck! So we thanked them had a memorable lunch at Boon Tong Kee, after which, we took a cab back to the ship.

We had seen on the excursions list about an early evening Singapore’s Iconic Tour, so we called to see if we could still go. They had a couple tickets left so we grabbed them. We rested a few minutes and headed back out. It was great! We got to go on an evening bumboat ride along the Singapore River that took us back to Merlion. After that we took a trishaw (like a rickshaw, but it is a 3-wheel bicycle with seat for two) ride from the pier to the Raffles Hotel where we went to the famous Long Bar and had a $29.75 Singapore Sling, ate peanuts, and threw the shells on the floor. After that experience, we re-boarded our coach for our drive back to the ship. It was a memorable and full day!

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Photos

Welcome to Singapore
The Singapore Cruise Center

Annette is Ready to Explore!
We're not taking any chances in case it rains. We meet our car and driver for our 1/2 day tour when we depart the ship.

View from Mount Faber Park
A beautiful view of Singapore from a very nice hotel patio at the top of Mount Faber Park.

Another Angle
It's a beautiful city with tall buildings and lots of green and parks.

Love Chairs
These were also on the hotel patio.

Two Lovers
Just right for us!

View from the Backside
This is another view of the city from the opposite side of the patio.

Coi Pond
Coi pond at the Mount Faber Park hotel.

Annette and the Cable Car
Annette stands in front of one of the old cable cars, which is now a kiosk. The cable car system is currently shut down for renovation. The new cars will be larger and more modern.

Cable Car System
From here you can see how far the cable car system goes...from the hotel to the structure in the distance and beyond.

India Town Neighborhood
We made a stop and visited a local market.

Color of a Ribbon Store
The vibrant colors in this kiosk.

Fresh Fruit
This a local vendor at a street market. The citrus looks great.

Deer Creek?
Annette saw this carton box in one of the fresh fruit vendors...Visalia Citrus Packing Group from Orange Cove, CA? This fruit has traveled a long way.

Pedestrian Street
This street is where we will visit our first temple.

Looking the Other Way
There are many vendors selling everything from fruits, incense, flowers and more.

Incense and Flowers
These ladies are selling products primarily oriented toward the temple.

Kwan Im Temple
Temple we are going to visit on the pedestrian street.

Temple Entrance
Entrance to the Kwan Im Temple where people are praying. They burn incense and bow to a variety of different Buddhas that represent different aspects of the religion and what each can do to help the person. We were able to go through the temple but no photographs were allowed.

Good Luck Buddha
Doug rubs the stomach of this golden buddha for good luck.

Incense and Oranges
This vendor is selling incense for burning and the oranges are for offering.