FINAL: Three Days In Singapore

Three Days in Singapore

Disembarking off the ship was sad and exciting at the same time. Sad to say good-bye to new acquaintances who we shared new experiences. It was exciting to be able to explore Singapore for three days. We had to have our bags packed and outside our cabin doors by 8:15PM. Since the day before was a sea day, we had plenty of time. I wanted to get more sun on the deck then got too much. Heck, I should have remembered that the sun rays at the Equator are strong.

We did not purchase Princess transfers to our Singapore hotel since they are way overpriced. Since we were on our own, we would be one of the last to leave the ship which was about 11AM so a great amount of time is just sitting around waiting though I will admit that I fell asleep in a chair.

Ocean Princess docked their ship in a commercial dock area not at the Singapore Cruise Terminal downtown. The good news was that Princess took us by bus to the cruise terminal to claim our luggage which meant less tugging around. Singapore Immigration was a breeze. The Cruise Terminal appears to be relatively new and part of it was a mall which we found out later that Singapore was the mall capital of the world. It did mean that we had to get our luggage to a taxi stand. As we arrived at the terminal, there was a huge downpour of rain which means Joe puts on his brakes about making any movement.

I had procured a taxi but Joe was still inside the terminal standing still. He wanted to wait till the rain eased. Singapore is full of well know brand names so Starbucks was right behind Joe. He wanted coffee and pastry which he got as I waited for him to give the okay to go. After about 30 minutes, we followed the signs that stated Taxi Stand and there were taxis letting people off. A guy in a van came over to us and told us that there was no way that a taxi would take the entire luggage we had and offered us his services. He told us he would charge us $50 Singapore Dollars which was outrageous but Joe was already to take his offer. I went back inside the terminal to find out the exchange rate which meant the guy was charging us about $40 US. Several Singaporeans saw my perplexed look and ask me how they could help. They agreed that the guy was a scam.

I walked back through the terminal and got to Joe and grabbed the luggage and told him we were going to get a ride to the hotel elsewhere. I knew the hotel was not very far from the cruise terminal since I had reviewed it on the maps I had. With a little help, we found the “real” taxi stand where there is someone supervising the flow of people and taxis. We walked up to the first taxi and he got out luggage in without an issue. The taxi ended up costing only $6 Singapore which is about $4.80 in US. I gave the driver $10 Singapore and I told him to keep the rest since I felt like we did really well. The driver insisted on giving me $4 (S) back in change to me and I got him finally to accept $2 (S). Yeah! Joe has little patience and will take the easiest way in front of him no matter what the cost which drives me insane.

The drive to the hotel made a good first impression with the streets and area litter free, good roads and helpful people. Our hotel, The Park Hotel, was located on Clarke Quay where a better location would be hard to find since it was in the middle of the action and transportation. I guess we got to the hotel about 1PM. I had booked a room called the Diamond Club Deluxe which meant some extra perks and a room on one of the top two floors. Instead of checking in on the first floor, we were escorted to the 10^th floor where the concierge and club were located. Sue helped us get checked in and let us know the privileges we would get such as free high speed internet service, daily newspaper, full breakfast buffet, open bar and appetizers from 5:30 PM to 7:30PM, 2 pieces of dry cleaning free a day and her personal service for tours etc..

Our room was on the 9^th floor. Although the room was small it was nicely decorated, very clean, a comfy bed, good size shower and a view of the city and part of Clarke Quay. We wanted to do the Hop On Hop Off Bus around the city so we could see where and what we wanted to do. The bus is also called HIPPO since it also includes water taxi and boat tour as well as four different bus routes. The red bus is a two decker sightseeing bus where part of the top is covered and the bottom has comfortable seating and air conditioning. We would find out from experience that the air condition area was a needed option for us. We purchased a two day pass which would be good the rest of the day Friday, all day Saturday and until 3PM on Sunday.

We got seats on the upper level so I could take pictures with my camera and boy did I take a bunch! The city was spectacular with modern, tall, sleek and innovative skyscrapers that took design as important not like all the glass and concrete boxes in the USA. The plant life was lush even in the city. I loved all the neighborhoods that had their own charisma such as Little India, Burgus Town (Arab) and Chinatown. I was totally fascinated with so much color and design. It was all clean and orderly and not a bunch of crappy cheap shops. Joe was not as interested as I was and had no desire to explore these areas later though I really wanted too. Orchard Road in Singapore is the 5^th Avenue of the city where every famous designer has their own shops. Each block a building would have its own mall inside. People had bags and bags of the expensive designer labels and thank goodness I have no need or desire to shop there. All I wanted was a Singapore t-shirt and magnet. We passed the elegant embassies along the route and the Singapore Botanical Gardens which was a place that I really wanted to see and somehow I would have to get Joe to agree to go there during our three days. About 5PM Joe had enough; he hopped off the bus and headed back to the hotel as I stayed on board to see more.

Some sights that were also a must see was the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. It is three skyscraper buildings connected together by a boat like structure that lay across the top of all three buildings. The boat had observation decks, restaurants and gardens. About 7PM (at dusk) the building had a nightly laser show. On the other side of the road is a convention center that sits on the bay which also has a 4-story fancy mall inside. Across the bridge is the Singapore Flyer which is the tallest Ferris type wheel in the world including the one in London which made it to the “must do” list since I knew it was something that Joe could handle and enjoy.

I got back to the hotel at 6:30 just as Joe was coming down the hall to head to the 10^th floor cocktail hour. He told me that Marg and John from South Dakota called and they were exhausted from the touring during the day and would skip dinner. John and Pat Pryke from Plymouth England would still meet us in our hotel lobby at 7:30PM. We had time for a drink and a few nibbles plus enjoy the view of the city towards the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Clarke Quay.

There was no time to take a needed shower till we would meet with the Prykes. Thankfully they were about 15 minutes late so it all worked out. We walked towards Clarke Quay which was now full of young sophisticates. We walked across one of the many well lit pedestrian bridges to Riverside Center. Joe was already antsy and wanted to eat in an air conditioned place. The first place was full so we ended up going to a Chinese Restaurant upstairs that was fair but it was air conditioned. When the first place was full, Joe wanted to get a taxi. I told him you had to know where you were going if you got a taxi. He did not care. He wanted to eat and get cooled so that is why we ate at the Chinese Restaurant where it was a challenge getting our food, plates and the rice we ordered. The dishes that Joe and I had were barely eaten and our portion of the bill came out to be $72 US, definitely not worth it but when Joe wants to eat, he becomes primal. The Prykes went back to their nearby hotel and we started to walk to ours. Strangely Joe wanted to get a taxi which was nuts since the hotel was close by and we would spend more time and extra footwork to find a cab plus the roads were packed since this area was an entertainment area. I just started walking and he followed me back. We crashed for the night and put the air conditioning down to very cool. We did not wake up till 11AM on Saturday.

We took the HIPPO to the Singapore Flyer and had expected a crowd since it was a holiday weekend. To our surprise the ticket room had no line and it was air conditioned which makes Joe and me happy. We took two escalators up to the entrance for the Flyer Experience. The colorful lit rooms had various displays of the building of the Flyer plus it was all inside and cool, keeping Joe happy. These rooms were created to entertain the guests that are caught up in long lines. Again to our surprise when we got to the entry into the windowed cable car, there was no wait. The cable car holds up to 20 people but there were only 6 of us, Joe and me and a young family of four with two well behaved kiddos. The cable car had sitting and windows on all sides and moved very slowly. I suppose one revolution takes about 30 minutes with incredible 360 degree views of the bay, river, and city. One sight that was cool was a soccer field that actually was on the river with the colorful stadium seats on mainland.

After the flyer we caught the HIPPO to get over to the Bay Marina Sands Hotel complex which was only one stop but I was trying to keep Joe happy and comfortable. It would have been faster to walk across the pretty stainless steel pedestrian bridge. The HIPPO dropped us off on the far side of the convention center and I prayed that we would make it across the street before another tropical downpour occurred since the skies were black. I told Joe that we were going to eat in the mall area and that made him happy so he did not groan about walking. On the other far end was where the celebrity restaurants and huge food court was. In the mall we passed by gondola in the mall canals, a huge casino, theaters and even a large ice skating rink. Again all the big designers had a place here in this prime shopping area. The design on the ceiling was breathtaking and looking out onto the bay and rivers were a must do.

We ate lunch at DB Bistro Moderne (Chef Daniel Bouchard’s location). Joe and I had the luxury at dining at his Times Square location before a Broadway show in NYC. I knew it was pricey but with the lousy meal the night before, I knew Joe needed a guaranteed great meal and he got one. We even ordered wine and Joe indulged in a marvelous chocolate dessert that he raved about. If you wish to know how much the bill was, email me and I will tell you since I am embarrassed that we spent so much for lunch. Joe was very happy and had no concerned about the tab.

Since he was in a good mood, we walked over the pedestrian bridge and passed the soccer stadium to the lovely double stainless steel dome called the Esplanade where we caught the Bumble Bee Water Taxi back over to Clarke Quay. We passed by the famous Merlion, dragon fountain which is the symbol for Singapore. We also passed by Boat Quay which is another entertainment area along the river where at night it is full of people where there are numerous outdoor cafes, dance clubs and bands playing at the outside bars.

We got back to the hotel about 6PM and put ourselves under the white down comforter. It was then I started to get severe chills. I could not get warm then the sweats hit soaking me and whatever was near or on me. It was nearly 10Pm when Joe wanted to eat though I was not in any mood to go out but he insisted. We walked all the way through Clarke Quay which was in full prime time action. The people were well dressed and behaved. It was interesting walking through the area at its full power. I kept waiting for Joe to pick a place he wanted to eat at but again he could not make a decision. Once again he wanted to get a taxi and head to Clarke Quay. I knew he had no idea what he was taking about since we were in Clarke Quay. Again it would have taken us way longer to find a taxi stand and get us back to our hotel that was only 2 blocks so I just started walking and hoped Joe would follow me. We got to Liam Mall where there was a McDonalds full of teens at nearly 11PM on a Saturday night. Joe got him meal. Afterwards we walked a very short distance to Park Hotel and called it a night.

On Sunday we hailed a taxi instead of boarding the HIPPO to get to the Hard Rock Café off of Orchard Road. We had lunch and I got my Singapore t-shirts and my magnet which achieved my modest goal. I was still sweating up a storm and my throat was getting closed up. Another taxi took us over to the Singapore Botanical Gardens which was free and gorgeous with so many different types of plant growth from Rain Forest, Orchid Gardens, Sun Gardens, so many water gardens that I lost count with some gigantic koi fish. There were pretty bronze statues around the park with my favorite being on Swan Lake with a huge flock of Swans flying. Skies were threatening once again so we started to walk towards the Visitor Center. Joe got way ahead of me when I came across a three way fork in the path. Which way did he go? I walked towards Orchard Rd, nope. I walked in the other direction, nope. I walked towards the last option and there he was waving towards me with the idea that I should know exactly where he was! The sky broke loose and we stayed under the foliage of vines but it was crowded and very suffocating. My clothes were drenched from my sweats and I found an area with less people with fans running overhead and suggested to Joe that we got over there. I found him a seat so we could wait the storm out. Joe thought he was at the Visitor Center that we had entered the Gardens at but this was a totally different area. I was lucky to locate him. After 30 minutes of waiting, I told Joe that it was time to leave that the taxi stand was covered and our hotel had a covered entry way so he would not get wet. So we went back, dried off and got some more rest. At 7:00pm we went up to the 10^th floor to have some drinks and appetizers that would be our dinner.

Our wakeup call was at 3:30AM since our plane was leaving from the Changi Airport at 6:10 AM. Check it went smoothly but they sure had so many layers of security that it was a bit overdone. I was told that the US Government required extra screening at the gate not Singapore. It was the only place in Singapore where we saw police.

The place left on time and flew 6.5 hours to Tokyo with an hour layover. Our flight from Japan to Atlanta was almost 13 hours and we actually left early from the gate. I slept part of the way but was quite miserable from the bug and could not wait till I got home, inside our home. What is weird is that we left Japan at 3:40 PM, April 9 and arrived in Atlanta at 3:20PM on April 9. Try to grasp that in your mind.

Customs and Immigration in Atlanta was awful and whoever planned this area should be fired. It took 2 hours before we would be done after slowly progressing through long meandering lines. We had to get a luggage, go through customs then recheck our luggage then go through another meandering line. When we dropped the luggage off, Joe headed right to the security line and cut in front of over a hundred people. TSA stopped me in trying to get him and Joe kept going and I had to go back onto the line which I did for while when another TSA agent told me to go over to another line which I waited then they proceeded to tell me that I was in the wrong line and that I needed to go back to the end of the line that I was removed from and meandering all over again. I was miserable and angry but finally got through it all.

It was 6:00 by the time I got up to baggage claim where Joe was sitting on the floor with our luggage and asked him if the lines were long??????? YIPES!

We got our rental car to get home with which we would have to bring back on Tuesday.

As soon as I got in the house, I laid down on the couch and fell asleep till about midnight then went upstairs. If I still was ill in the morning, I would call my internist.

I woke up about 5AM and came downstairs to keep from disturbing Joe. At 8AM I called my internist who told me to come in at 2:30. My fever started going back and forth from 100.5 to 101.7 and sweats continued. After making the appointment I went back to bed to rest till 11:30 then took a wonderful strong hot shower. We drove two cars since we would drop the rental car back at the airport then drive over to Emory Clinic. Since I knew Joe was hungry, I told him to just drop me off at the doctor’s office and go get something to eat.

The internist said I more than likely had a cold but ordered blood tests to see what is going on there which the results will not be back till Wednesday afternoon. I was diagnosed with an “unspecified Illness.” I got a prescription for cough medicine and an inhaler.

So that is it folks and the end of my blog.