SINGAPORE—Monday and Tuesday, April 1-2, 2013

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Monday, April 1, was a recovery day—not quite a down day, but close. Christopher went to work and we hung around the apartment most of the morning and then decided to go by bus to the mall to get some Singaporean dollars.



The bus stops right at Christopher’s residence complex’s front door. You ride this small bus about 10 minutes on a lovely landscaped roadway to a bus changing spot near a dolphin fountain. Then you transfer to a larger bus to ride another 10 minutes to the mall’s side door. From this large mall you can get the MRT system anywhere on the main island. If you travel during peak times, morning or evening, the small bus runs all the way to the mall without the intermediate stop.



Tuesday, April 2, the three of us started out to explore the island of Sentosa. The government has made the area closest to the mainland of Singapore a multi-resort-hotel/entertainment venue with beaches, 6 Flags like rides, shops, Universal Studios, and an aquarium plus two casinos.



We were headed first to explore the fort that was on the tip of the island to guard the entrance to the harbor when Singapore was under British control. The British in the 1800’s used this country to stockpile coal and other supplies needed for their Navy and for their shipping industry. They originally had 5 forts on the island, but most of the others have been supplanted by homes, high rises, and amusement areas.



When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor they then swung around on their way home and hit both Hong Kong and Singapore. After the bombing, the British expected the Japanese to take the country by sea and had fortified the island of Sentosa and Fort Siloso with that expectation. Instead, the Japanese hacked through the Malaysian jungle and came at them by land. The British were overwhelmed and surrendered within 7 days of the first appearance of Japanese soldiers, leaving the Singaporeans and many ex-patriots to then fend for themselves at the hands of the Japanese.



We purchased our tickets to tour the fort and then walked up the hill under the canon embankment to catch a trolley-car like tram that then dropped us at the top of the fort. Here were the some of the original buildings and in them were displays of the British plans and dioramas of the battles and timelines of the history and the personalities of the people involved on both sides of the conflict.

Outside they had figures at the guns and canons to show the men’s stations during battle. The hill’s elevation afforded great views of the city of Singapore.



We then started our walk back down the hill and on our way saw other canons and a really pretty squirrel that had a stripe on its side like a chipmunk. When we got to the next level’s buildings, inside was a life sized set-up of the tables where the British surrendered to the Japanese and then where the Japanese signed their surrender over to the joint chiefs of staff of all the involved countries. Singaporeans were so fed up with the performance of the British they opted to become their own separate country after WWII.



We took the tram back down to the bottom of the hill and then stopped to get something to drink and there were several peahens and a peacock trying to get one of the peahens to pay attention to him. No matter how hard he drummed his legs and swung his tail they paid absolutely no attention. There was a monitor lizard and pea hen with one lone chick in the area also.



Caught another bus and went into the main entertainment plaza area to get some lunch. Decided on the Malaysian Food Court--Valerie had satay, I had a noodle dish, and Chris had some veggie dish that we couldn’t really identify or describe.



Christopher then showed us a new section that had just opened by one of the casinos and had this very colorful display of lights over the escalators that went up to the lobby of a new hotel. As we rode up and down the colors and patterns changed and a display of fish swam overhead in one band of white. The bright colored fish do not show up in Valerie’s photos for some reason.

Hot and very sweaty, we decided to catch a bus back to the apartment for a rest. Just as we got to one of the transfer places it opened up and really poured—that’s the tropics for you!!!

Back at the apartment we rested a bit and when LeeLi arrived we got ourselves ready for a cruise on Christopher’s catamaran. We took the little bus and got off at the place where we transfer to the larger bus, and walked behind the building and down past some shops and restaurants to the marina where we met the captain and got on board for our evening cruise.

We then sailed around some of the small islands in the Singapore Straits. On the islands are areas set up for families and groups to have picnics and parties. On the far side of one of the islands we anchored in a small bay and had a bar-b-que of chicken and veggies that LeeLi cooked on the small grill.

After we ate we weighed anchor and sailed out around the islands and down near where the big container ships were waiting to load and unload. We also saw the marina area from where we would leave on Friday for our cruise. The sky wasn’t clear, so no stars could be seen, but it was a nice night anyway with the city lights shining on the water. Good time was had by all!

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