Singapore: Something Old ~ Something New

There are those among you who still are shaking your heads; trying to wrap them around the idea of anyone wanting to sail from Bangkok, Thailand to Istanbul,Turkey via the Middle East. It sounded to many like a route full of foreign ports with strange sounding names and in some cases undeveloped, perhaps even unsafe – at times -countries.

Not all our ports of call were like that.  Take, for example, Singapore. Our first port of call on this 34-day adventure is officially known as the Republic of Singapore, a Southeast Asian island country that is a sleek, modern sovereign city-state with a population of 5.4 million people.

Singapore skyline

In terms of purchasing power parity, Singapore has the third-highest per capita income in the world. It is a major commercial hub, the fourth-biggest financial center and ranks second on the list of the world's busiest ports.

It also ranks high when comparing its education, healthcare and economy with other countries in the world.

Touring the Town

We chose to explore this first port of call on our own.  For those of you who scoff at cruises because of those ‘cruise ship herd tours', let me assure you that Oceania Cruises gets a gold star for on-shore passenger flexibility. At all of our ports of call, those who wanted to take the ship-sponsored tours  could do so. Many arranged small independent group tours by use of the Cruise Critic web site in advance of the cruise. Others, like us,  just walked off the ship, planning to see the town on our own. 
 

Singapore is a tourist-friendly town

NOTE: Singapore is a tourist-friendly city, which makes it easy to tour on your own.  There were signs in English to explain the history of streets and neighborhoods and public art.

We opted to take the “Hop On, Hop Off” (HOHO) shore tour bus. We simply walked to the HOHO Bus tour desk in the very modern and cruise-ship-welcoming terminal. A short wait there and we were on their shuttle bus that transported us to the tour bus hub, tucked away among those towering buildings pictured above. 

NOTE: Similar buses operate in numerous cities around the world – as their name implies you can hop off, explore a particular site and hop back on the next bus that comes along to get to the next site or stay on the bus and simply sightsee.

Hop On, Hop Off bus tours

The open-air upper deck featured on Hop On, Hop Off buses is always a favorite with us. Sunglasses and sunscreen are musts in climates, like Singapore, where we were but a few miles north of the equator. 

It was a good way to cover a lot of ground as we were docked in Singapore from 8 in the morning until 8 in the evening. Admittedly a single day in a port of call isn’t long enough, but it is a good sampler of all that a place has to offer. We use these stops as research – the overview can either bring us back on a future extended land trip or we can check it off as a ‘been there, done that’ sort of place.

Historic Raffles Hotel, left and Marina Bay Sands to the right

In our case, we had been here before – decades ago.  So it was good to compare the old places that we recalled with that which was new. Trust me, there was much that was new! Our tour took us past the old British Colonial Raffles Hotel, (which had been old even way-back-when we first visited). The Singapore Sling, a gin and tropical fruit juice cocktail, was created in this place more than a hundred years ago. The stately old hotel was miniscule when compared to the towering Marina Bay Sands – yes, much has changed since we were last here.

Atop the Marina Bay Sands (my former boss and The Scout, top left)

We “hopped off” the the tour bus at this towering hospitality hub and rendezvoused with my former boss, now Superintendent of the American School there, and his wife.  We headed to the bar and restaurant at the very top – 57th floor. With a healthy fear of water and heights, the infinity pool that stretches some 150 meters across the rooftop Skypark didn’t call out to me – but it was spectacular.

Showcasing Ethnic Diversity



Sri Mariamman Temple

Asians make up the largest segment of the population. About 75% are Chinese, yet there are significant populations of Malays, Indians and Eurasians.

With limited time we couldn’t visit every ethnic quarter so rode through Little India’s eateries and shops en route to Chinatown.

At its entry (and near the bus stop) we – like countless others – stopped to admire and photograph Sri Mariamman Temple, the oldest Hindu temple (opened 1827) in Singapore.

Then we wandered up and down the market streets visiting with vendors and shopping. 










There were so many restaurants from which to choose in this colorful and lively quarter that one could easily eat every meal here for a week and never visit every eatery.

Chinese Quarter food street

Our day too soon came to an end and we climbed back on to our Magic Carpet, aka Oceania’s Nautica. We’d have another day at sea before reaching our next port of call: Phuket Thailand. Watching sail away is one of our favorite parts of cruising – on this particular sailing it seemed the perfect time to sip a Singapore Sling ~

When in Singapore, have a Sling

We know you are busy, so we appreciate the time you spend with us!  Safe travels to you and hope to see you back again soon as we head out through the Straits of Malacca for the Bay of Bengal. . . .


Linking this week with:
Travel Photo Thursday – Budget Traveler’s Sandbox 
Our World Tuesday
Travel Inspiration – Reflections En Route
Mosaic Monday – Lavender Cottage Gardening

Planning to Head “Down Under” in 2012

You know you are hooked on travel when you are making airline reservations before opening gifts on Christmas morning. 

But then, at our house, we think travel is the best gift we give ourselves. . .so in a way, we were opening a gift.

Our plans are to head “Down Under”  in 2012 to explore areas we’ve never been and along the way we will visit an old favorite, Singapore, a place where we celebrated New Year's Eve 28 years ago. 

It’s a trip that will guarantee we won’t  be home for Thanksgiving and will barely be back and over jet lag by Christmas. (Note to friends: the cards and gifts will be late).
It’s a long way off, or so it sounds right now, but it was even more futuristic back when we set the trip in motion eight months ago. It began with a $200 deposit on a future cruise, paid while we were sailing across the Atlantic in May on Celebrity’s Solstice. 
Frequent Flyer Seats

The reason we were making airline reservations on Christmas Day is because we are using frequent flyer (FF) miles to get us to Singapore and back home from Bali, Indonesia.  As those of you who use FF miles know, you can’t sit back and wait if you want to nab those precious seats – especially for flights around the holidays.

Thanks to Joel’s diligence  (it took calls made over a three-day time span to book the flights because of  time changes we’ll experience on our return flight)  we will fly to San Francisco on Alaska Air and there connect with Cathay Pacific which will take us to Asia. That airline will also return us to Vancouver, B.C. and we will fly Alaska Air home.   The Asia flight is some 14 hours so we’ve each used 100,000 Alaska Air miles to secure Business Class seats. . .which will make the flight almost fun.
 
Money Saving tip: we spent 100,000 air miles each and about $100 in taxes and fees.  To put that in perspective, a Business Class round-trip ticket from San Francisco to Singapore costs $6,018.75 per person! We got a good deal to our way of thinking.

The Cruise

The cruise will depart Singapore and over the course of 17 days will take us to Sydney, with several  ports of call along the way. We’ll spend a few days in Sydney then head to Bali. It’s a six hour flight between those two cities. . .somehow I thought it was closer. 

Money Saving Tip: We’d made reservations for a cabin in Concierge Class – the one that offers a some special amenities on board – but a recent cruise sale email from our travel agency caught Joel’s eye . . .with a quick phone call, he got us  moved to a regular cabin – same size  as Concierge Class – saving us $1,800 on the price of the cruise. (We can buy a lot of ‘amenities’ with that savings!)

We know ‘life happens’ and plans can change – final payment for the cruise isn’t due until next September which means changes can still be made until then. The airline seats can be cancelled (for a fee) and the FF miles returned to our accounts.  But for now our gift is open: the planning, reading, research and dreaming begins. 

So blogosphere friends, do you have some recommendations for us as we begin to plan? If so, please send us an email, travelnwrite@msn.com or jot a comment below.