Port 23 Singapore

Greetings!

Today is April 22nd, 2024, and we arrive in Singapore by air from our land tour in Cambodia.

You may recall this photo, as we wave goodbye to our land tour guide, Chon, at the Singapore Airport.

The bus whisks us down the highway to the harbor where the Insignia is waiting for us. The highways in Singapore are beautifully lined with sweeping trees!

We pass the iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel with its cruise-ship-like party deck! Do you remember seeing this in the movie “Crazy, Rich Asians”?

We approach the downtown cluster of high-rise buildings, each very interesting in design!

After about 20 minutes the “HARBOURFRONT” sign appears, letting us know we are very close to the ship!

There she is!

On our way to the ship we are a little surprised to be following an armed guard!

We get checked back in on the ship, drop our bags off and grab lunch.

We agreed with Martin and Janice to head downtown to the Raffles Hotel for an original Singapore Sling! They have friends in town (really!) who will meet us there!

We wedge into a tiny taxi and head out! (Martin gets to sit up front.)

We pass almost directly under the Marina Bay Sands Hotel!

At Raffles we are greeted by one of their special doormen!

He is very helpful and directs us to keep walking to the back of the hotel to find the Long Bar. There are several long halls like this one!

Just when we think we made a wrong turn, this sign shows we are doing fine!

We ascend the staircase to the Long Bar, and signs such as this guide our way up!

Martin’s and Janice’s friends, Tom and Karen, are already here, with drinks in hand! I apologize that I don’t have a decent photo of them to add here! But we were tickled to learn they both attended the University of Dayton, where Joy received her degree, and Tom also attended the University of Southern California, where I received my undergraduate degree! Small world!

Raffles serves peanuts by the bag, but the peanuts are small and a lot of work to eat, so the bag lasts us!

Soon our Singapore Slings appear! $39 each! Ouch. But, hey, we may never make it back to Singapore! We scatter the peanut shells and enjoy the drink!

Joy and I leave the other four to enjoy their time together, and we leave the hotel and hunt for the train to see if we can get back to the ship and see a little of Singapore at the same time! The doorman points us toward the nearest MRT station. We find it, and here’s the map! The Raffles Hotel is at City Hall (1), and the Insignia is at Marina South (2) – pretty close!

We make it back to the ship with no problems! The MRT is incredibly well laid out and easy to navigate!

 

Day 2 in Singapore is April 23rd, 2024!

This is a turnaround day for the ship, like Bali was the day we boarded, and Tokyo was. Segment passengers leave, segment passengers arrive. As a result, we do not have an excursion planned – only the Worldies get excursions on turnaround days. We’re free and plan to take the MRT into town to do some shopping, and go visit the Singapore Botanic Gardens!

Here’s our plan for the day!  We will head from the ship at Marina South (1) and head to Little India (2). Then we’ll go to the Hard Rock Cafe on our way to the Botanic Garden MTA stop (3) to visit the Singapore Botanic Garden and UNESCO-recognized Orchid Garden. We’ll leave the Gardens via the Napier MTA station (4), and return to the Marina South MTA (5) to reboard the ship in time for its departure!

Leaving the ship in the morning, this piece of the Singapore waterfront pops with color! I didn’t see this last night – must’ve been different light!

We ride the MRT train to Little Italy. Joy’s research discovered a market to shop for extra luggage. I didn’t take pictures during this journey, but we did find some collapsible duffels that met our needs!

We continue our morning traveling to the Singapore Hard Rock Cafe!  On our way we find this building with a front facade that makes me think of the Mushroom we saw in Barcelona last year! The Orchard Residences aren’t a stop on any tour, but it is a very interesting building! Three bedroom apartments here rent for over $14,000 (Singapore $18,000) a month!

Similarly, this is the Pan Pacific Orchard residence building!  It has lots of large open spaces filled with greenery! Similarly, these units can rent for $471 per night, or $14,000 per month.

Across the street from the Pan Pacific Orchard building is the Voco IHG Hotel. There are two wonderful statues in front of the Voco Hotel!

Meet Tang Dynasty General Wei Chi Jing De, one of two “guardians of doorways”!

This is Tang Dynasty General Qin Shu Bao. These generals were believed to have special powers that made them protectors of Emperor Tai Zong in life, and thus are regarded in Chinese popular belief as protectors of doorways! Here, they protect the entrance to the Voco IHG Hotel!

This brings us to a successful arrival at the Hard Rock Cafe Singapore!

A short MRT ride to the Botanic Gardens leads us to this sign!

Here’s the map of the Singapore Botanic Gardens. We start on the far right “You Are Here” and work our way to the Orchid Garden in the left

The Botanic Gardens are lush and beautiful!

A family of otters frolics in the lake!

We discover the Symphony Stage! The roof is reminiscent of a large leaf. The large lily pads are fascinating!

We finally arrive at the clock tower in the middle of Orchid Plaza! Our current time zone is on the right. I’m not sure what time zone they are showing on the left – three hours behind is somewhere like Islamabad.

And then we’re at the entrance to the Orchid Garden!

There are hundreds of different orchids here! Too many to capture in the short time we have, and certainly too many to put in this blog, so I’m showing you a few of my favorites! No, I don’t know the names of each varietal. Just enjoy their unique beauty!

After the customary exit through the gift shop we make our way out of the Botanic Gardens. This is a lovely, and HUGE, swan sculpture in the middle of Swan Lake! There are five swans taking off from the lake!

Another MRT ride and we’re back on the ship. As we sail away I catch this view of the Singapore Harbourfront.

Goodbye, Singapore! I would have liked to spend a few more days here!

Next port – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia!