Welcome to Singapore
It was another long flight on Fiji Airlines to get to Singapore. The 10 hour flight began at 9:30 PM with a 4:30 AM arrival. Customs was much much easier than we had imagined. Fortunately, we had filled out the necessary documents in advance, so entry went smoothly for us.
We originally had transportation all lined up to take the seven of us to our hotel with our 10 pieces of luggage plus backpacks, but, unfortunately, we got the date mixed up and our ride showed up a day early! They were not happy! After customs, we took the elevator down to the ground floor and to the taxi area. We had to hire 2 taxis because of our group of 7 and, of course, a couple of tons of luggage. As we called for taxi service, we were told we would need to pay cash and had a 30 minute wait. Eric, Nancy and I went back upstairs to find an ATM to get some Singapore cash. On the way back downstairs, the smell of fresh coffee caught our attention and caused us to make a slight detour. We had time. As we waited for our order, Debby call me to let me know the taxis had arrived early and they were waiting on us. Needless to say, we took a few minutes more for our order and then made a beeline downstairs to impatiently awaiting taxi drivers!. The oldest driver was apparently the most irate of all. Sandra said it wasn’t until they were about half way to our hotel, did the old man calm down from chewing them out. Both drivers let us know that they were not happy with our delay. As Fiji was known as “laid back, on Fiji time and other slogans” that’s simply referred to , Fijians are not on a schedule and certainly in no hurry. These taxi drivers, on the other hand, representing their country of Singapore, demonstrated the total opposite attitude!. After getting chewed out in broken English and being warned that absolutely no food or drink was to be consumed inside these pristine vehicles, we proceeded to our hotel. Hopefully, we could drop off our luggage and go find a tour of some kind to see the city.
By the time we got to our hotel, the drivers had calmed down enough to carry on a civil conversation. Our driver was very proud of his immaculate, black Toyota, that he said was “very expensive” and could only be purchased in Singapore. We told him that we also owned a Toyota but he was unimpressed. From there he informed us that Singapore was a civil and law abiding country. He felt like we needed to be aware that the fine for chewing gum here was very expensive, like a thousand dollar fine. He said the crime of murder was punishable by death. Kidnapping was punishable by death, and so on and so on. It was clear that we needed to avoid killing anyone, kidnapping or selling drugs, also punishable by death. We needed to help keep the city clean and to respect the laws. As the driver cruised past our hotel, he told us this was the front entrance of Hotel Mi but that he was dropping us off in back at the loading zone. And so he did. We walked up the ramp to a plain, windowless steel door to enter the back of the hotel lobby. Our driver looked closely to the floor on my side where I had held onto a cardboard carrier containing two hot cups of coffee, for the whole trip. He then walked around to my side and more closely inspected the floor mat for any sign of spilled coffee,. As none was found I headed for the steel door with my luggage in tow. I can’t be certain but I thought I walked past a trash compactor. From this point, I felt very welcomed to Singapore!
The hotel Mi lobby was clean and welcoming. The hotel staff were accommodating as we checked in to store our luggage. The Pinkerton’s room was already available to use and they were allowed to check in. Debby and I had to wait until our room was vacated, cleaned and ready, which meant later this afternoon.
We all decided to find some breakfast and asked about a local place nearby. They sent us up the street. After wandering around for a while, finding nothing was yet open, we returned to the hotel.
As soon as it was 7:00, Eric and I found some breakfast next door while the others changed clothes and cleaned up a bit and probably catching a nap or two, as welll. A couple of hours later, we headed down to the bus stop to catch the Big Bus for a hop on, hop off tour of the city. The weather was nice. The temperature would be up in the 80’s today. The humidity is high but not uncomfortable. Singapore is about 80 miles north of the equator in Southeast Asia, on the South China Sea. This would be a good day to ride in the upper deck seating of the Big Bus, in an open-air area.
The tour of the city was very nice. The architectural imagination of Singapore is amazing! The buildings are unique, breathtaking and a marvel to see. We spent most of the day riding the routes and then moved onto another.
The first leg of our Big Bus tour was a 12 mile journey meandering through downtown they called the Yellow Route. We got off at the main bus station and switched to the Red Route. We continued to see the city sights and architecture, traveling through various areas of ethnic persuasions such as little India and China town. Chinese New Year begins in a few days. The China Town area was already being decorated with banners and lanterns. This year China celebrates their year of the horse. It seems lucky for us that we will be on the streets of Hong Kong for New Year’s Day! It should be exciting!
After completing the Red Route, we decided enough was enough and so we cut our tour short. Eric and Nancy figured out how to call us a large taxi, so we went back to the hotel. We were so tired from the day’s events that we skipped dinner and went to bed early. It sure felt good!
The next morning we had coffee in our room and then met up with our group for breakfast. We went into a small cafe next door where Eric and I had breakfast yesterday morning. It was just as good. On the menu today was scrambled eggs instead of the boiled eggs of yesterday. Today there was also chicken nuggets instead of chicken sausage. It was good to see they change things up! The green salad and noodles kind of threw us off but it was still a good meal.
After some well-needed shopping, we called for a taxi large enough for the seven of us. It was about time to get to the Port and meet our ship.
Soon we were checking in with the crew of the Diamond Princess. Check-in went very smooth. We crossed the gang plank and took the elevator up to the 14th floor to have lunch. Our rooms would be ready soon and our luggage would be delivered to our door. It will be nice to unpack for a while instead of living out of a suitcase!
We are looking forward to cruising the Far East for the next two weeks and are anxious to get under way. But first, we have to go through a safety check to make sure we know exactly what to do if the ship was to go down. Yes, that would’ve be good to know!
Our evening dinner schedule will be in the International Restaurant at 5:20. We enjoy sitting down at a nice, clean table with well-dressed waiters taking care of us. The menu was always good and the service was professional.
The seven of us on this trip include our life’s-long friends, Ron and Nancy Pinkerton, Ron’s brother, Mike, and his wife, Sandra, our son Eric is coming along to make sure w don’t get lost and, of course, ourselves, Mike and Debby.
It was good to visit Singapore. It was not exactly what I had expected. I think the taxi drivers got us off on the wrong foot to start with. They made us feel like unwanted outsiders instead of tourists looking to enjoy their country. It was a very beautiful city with magnificent buildings, designs we had not seen before. Perhaps, had we stayed longer and had more time to explore their history and see something besides skyscrapers, I might have a different opinion. It was a very clean city that was preparing to celebrate their New Year. There were many decorations and flowers being displayed. It seemed like people were excited to be coming here to celebrate.
At 4:00, we left port on our way north to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
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