Living Life to its Fullest: 10/29/10 – Day 34

Today had a rough start. My mother woke up at about 4:00 a.m. and wasn’t able to sleep. She was dizzy and would get sick to her stomach any time that she laid down. My dad woke up with her and took good care of her (I pretty much slept through the whole ordeal). When I did awake, my mother was sitting up at the desk with her chin resting on a stack of pillows and she didn’t look like she was feeling well. Needless to say, she decided to stay on the boat today instead of going out. My dad was going to stay with her, but she talked him into going out with me for a little bit (I think she wanted some time to herself to rest). After visiting one of the ship doctors, it was determined that she most likely has an infection in her middle ear. The doc gave her some medication and we’re hoping it goes away here it the next couple of days. She rested and got to feeling a bit better, however she is still unable to lie down completely. She’s been sleeping with her head and shoulders propped up on a big stack of pillows. She did join us for dinner and the show tonight, but still is struggling with being able to lie down without feeling queasy. Your prayers for her quick recovery would definitely be appreciated.

So, today we arrived at the Singapore dock about 7:00 this morning. We were hoping to get out early, but with the circumstances, it ended up being about 10:30 before my dad felt comfortable leaving. Thankfully, we did not have a tour scheduled this morning; instead we were just planning to see the city on our own. Adjacent to the cruise terminal was a station for a cable car that went high across the bay to Sentosa Island. This island was like a little city to itself. It’s home to Singapore’s Universal Studios theme park, a beach area and the receiving end of this cable car. The whole island is ornate, well kept, and decorated. And, they have a free monorail with 4 stops to take visitors to the various attractions. To the cable car is where my father and I headed first. It was a nice ride across the bay. We actually soared right over our ship, looking down into the pool area. My dad and I rode around the island with a stop at Hard Rock Café to pick up some guitar pins for a friend’s collection. We got back over to where the ship was around 1:00 p.m. My dad bought some postcards and headed back to the ship, while my adventure continued.

I took the Metro to the Orchard Street stop. There, I found the other Hard Rock Café, and purchased some more pins. After walking and shopping a bit on Orchard Street (one of the city’s main drags), I found the stop for a city hop on-hop off tour. I boarded the bus and began to travel a loop around the city. I had one stop at the Raffles Hotel to have one of their famed Singapore Sling drinks. Other than that, I saw the rest of Singapore’s sights from the bus: Little India, Arab Town, Chinatown, the Singapore Flyer (a large Ferris wheel comparable to the London Eye), the Singapore River that splits the city in half, a ship-like structure (a casino) that spans 3 towering buildings, and the city’s famed statue of a merlion (part lion and part fish…similar to a mermaid with a lion’s head). I disembarked the bus tour about two-thirds the way through the loop at Chinatown to take the Metro back to the ship. I did some last minute shopping at the Harbor Front complex to use up my Singapore Dollars, as well as jotted some postcards to put in the mail. Then, it was back on board the ship to one again set sail, this time for Semarang, Indonesia.

Please allow me to share a little about what I learned about Singapore. First of all, it is both a city and a country. The main language spoken is English. This is mostly a result of being owned by England before becoming independent. However, Singapore seems to be a large melting pot of Asian folks from both East and West. As previously noted, there is Little India, Chinatown, and Arab Town. Although, about 70% of Singaporeans have roots in China, there are other people groups also present in the mix, including Malay people, Indians (as in from India), and many others. The laws in Singapore are strict. We were given a rather extensive list of illegal items to make sure not to bring ashore, including obscene literature, reproductions of copyrighted material, imitation goods (such as the “Rolex” watch I purchased in China), gun shaped-lighters or toys, chewing tobacco, high powered prescription drugs, and even gum. Yes, that’s right, gum chewing is not allowed in Singapore. I’m not sure what the fine is, but I heard it’s pretty hefty. Also, we were told that jaywalking is illegal and subject to a fine.

Today’s port of Singapore marked the halfway point of our voyage at day 34. A couple hundred people left today, as they only did the segment from Seattle to Singapore. We also gained some new guests that will be joining us for the second half of the cruise. We only have one more country (2 ports) to conclude the Asia portion of our voyage, before moving on to Australia and the Pacific islands. It’s been a wonderful adventure thus far, and I look forward to the days to come.