Oct 25-Nov 5
Hi All,
We have just returned from Singapore from our 5D/4N mini-vacation back to Puteri Marina in Malaysia. Oh what a treat….we found Singapore to be a beautiful, modern, clean and vibrant city! Terrific food and wonderful, multicultural people! So glad we had the opportunity to visit it!
When we first thought of this idea back in the middle of Indonesia we were thoroughly enjoying ourselves, but getting physically tired from all the constant activity/boat work and the very hot and humid weather. We thought a nice pampering mini-vacation in Singapore would restore our mojo and rejuvenate us to continue on in Malaysia/Thailand…..and boy did this trip do all of that and then some.
First, the hotel…..Fullerton Bay Hotel…..it could not have been any better……the description on their website says it all…..”The Fullerton Bay Hotel is a modern hotel that pays tribute to a bygone era. Infused with a sense of refinement and a style that is both contemporary and international, the 100-room waterfront jewel is a spectacular addition to Singapore’s vibrant heritage precinct.” The service was top notch…..the concierge service some of the best we have ever had…….food outstanding…….they had a gourmet breakfast every morning that we just gorged ourselves……very international….dishes from America, Europe, China and Malaysia……wow….we ate so much we found ourselves skipping lunch so to be hungry again for some delicious dinners!! And maybe the best…….the room had a great view of the marina district, nightly light show and the bed, pillows, and shower were to die for…..now remember we had navy showers for the last 6 months so it wouldn’t take much to impress us on the shower….just give me running hot water please…..but this was just decadent….2 shower heads, one a massage one a rainfall, full water pressure…..yes, it’s the little things you miss:)))) Oh……and I actually heard from the Princess several times……I’m cold please turn up the AC…..for 5 days we were living in pamper land and we liked it very much…yes, we continue to be blessed and LIG for the YB’s!!!!
Massages: Both of us had various aches and pains from all the activity and hot yoga work on the boat so we booked massages at the spa……we chose a 90 minute couple massage…..the Asian heritage signature massage…..a holistic approach combining Oriental techniques to detoxify and energize body and spirit…just what we needed….we had heard massages in SE Asia are some of the best and now we know…..for me, maybe in the top 5 massages I’ve ever head……Post Ranch and Namale still the tops!!!!
Attractions: Many people advised us to go to the many amusement attractions in SG…..Sentosa Island, a resort island with great beaches, Universal Studios, 2-3 other amusement parks, light shows et al, and shopping for just about anything you want/need. There are 5.5million people in SG and they get 7.5million tourists so a lot of fun attractions for the family and tourists. Well, that is really not our style so we chose……a city tour, 3 museums, the Zoo and great restaurants!!!! Singapore has rightfully earned the reputation of being the cultural melting pot of Asia. To showcase this heritage it has four outstanding world class museums and we were fortunate to visit 3 out of the 4…..we missed the art gallery.
Since this was a vacation we chose to use a private car service to take us from the marina to Singapore. The typical way is to take taxis, buses and trains which in years past was a 2-2.5 hour trip but this year was taking people 3-3.5 hours. When we asked Dana at the marina how to go about all the transfers he said why not take a private car, it will take 1-1.15 hours and you stay in the car the whole time at the Singapore/Malaysian border crossing (if you take the bus you have to get out and go through 2-4 lines)…..really, that is an option….yes, but most people think it is too expensive….well, how much…..well, about RM$350, or $USD82……a sort of nobrainer for the Admiral:)))))
The first day we got there rather early…..well, we were excited but we really did not know how long the car service was going to take…..so what do early birds do….we went up to the roof top bar and had opening ceremonies…..the SG Tiger beer is quite good and they had real chips with real guacamole:))) We then took a private City Tour…….we saw Chinatown, Little India, Kampong Glam (Malay and Muslim area) plus a lot of other sights driving to and fro!!! Wow….a very impressive City. Very clean…..we had heard this before but what a stark contrast to all the trash we saw in Indonesia…..it also had very modern architecture, clean and maintained painted buildings, and very friendly, helpful people. Maybe our best experiences were wtih the cabbies…..all very talkative, native to Singapore, mostly our age, full of historical tidbits, many stories about life in SG……they were very proud of SG but did talk a lot about how expensive it was to live there. The taxis were so convenient and fairly inexpensive that we never took the very efficient and modern train system….called the MRT.
History: “The written history of Singapore dates back to the third century. Later, the Kingdom of Singapura rose in importance during the 14th century under the rule of Sultan Iskandar Shah and Singapore became an important port, until it was invaded by the Majapahit in 1398. It then came under the Malacca Sultanate and then the Johor Sultanate. Modern Singapore was founded in 1819, when Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles negotiated a treaty whereby Johor allowed the British to found a trading port on the island. During World War II, Singapore was conquered and occupied by the Japanese Empire from 1942 to 1945. When the war ended, Singapore reverted to British control, with increasing levels of self-government being granted, culminating in Singapore’s merger with the Federation of Malaya to form Malaysia in 1963. But social unrest and disputes between Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party and Malaysia’s Alliance Party resulted in Singapore’s expulsion from Malaysia. Singapore became an independent republic on August 9, 1965.
Facing severe unemployment and a housing crisis, Singapore embarked on a modernization program beginning in the late 1960s through the 1970s that focused on establishing a manufacturing industry, developing large public housing estates and investing heavily on public education. By the 1990, the country had become one of the world’s most prosperous nations, with a highly developed free market economy, strong international trading links, and the highest per capita gross domestic product in Asia outside Japan.”
Chinatown: During our tour we went to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum: “….built in 2007, the temple’s richly designed interiors and comprehensive exhibits on Buddhist art and history tell stories of culture over hundreds of years old. The temple gets its name from what the Buddhists regard as the left canine tooth of Buddha, which has been recovered from his funeral pyre in Kushinagar, India and displayed in its grounds.” Wow……this was really our first experience in a Buddha temple and going through the multi-levels we got a quick education from our guide and the written material in the museum!!!
Little India: hmmm…….how many gold/jewelry stores can there be:)))) For the most part we felt very safe in SG……all the cabbies talked about it as well as the concierge at the hotel…but our guide warned us to be careful at night in LI…..curious!! We did see the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple, which is one of the oldest temples in Singapore. Built by Indian pioneers who came to work and live in SG the temple was the first in the area and became a focus of early Indian activities.
Kampong Glam: means glamorous village and wow, what a treat. We saw the Sultan mosque, which is considered the Grand mosque of Singapore, and was built in 1928. It can hold 5000 worshipers……by far the largest and most elaborate mosque we have seen so far……an attendant there, once we told him we had been in Indonesia, asked if we had been to the Jakarta mosque…..well, no….you should go…it holds 100,000 people…whoa!!! Just like the Buddha temple we saw in Chinatown, this mosque also had a great explanation of the Islam religion albeit in a a readers digest form. While we had experienced the Islam and Hindu religions in Indonesia we along with many of our cruisers friends were still somewhat uneducated about these religions. The explanations given by our guide and these two temples helped answer many of our questions. We are feeling a little more prepared to continue our education as we visit more temples and experience more of these three religions.
The first evening we were a bit worn out from our whirlwind city tour so we opted to eat at one of the hotel restaurants…..there was Halloween with a party on the rooftop but we opted for a quiet dinner in the Clifford Pier restaurant. So, what do you order in SG….well, Maine lobster of course….go figure They had an Oct special on these crustacean delights…..Kathy had the lobster roll which is the best she has since Key West…..I had the braised lobster done Asian style…..many savory flavors but not too spicy!!!! Oh, and since it was opening ceremonies a bottle of Katnook (Coonawara and one of our favorite wineries) Australian shiraz……sidebar: while most things in SG, especially the food were inexpensive to reasonable prices, the liquor was not……for example, beers were in the USD10-15 range, glass of house wine, USD20, this bottle would be USD40 in USA and was USD95…..yikes……we eventually found a liquor store for our drinks in the room which were more like USA prices!!!
The 2nd day was our first museum, massages, and then we met Brett and Stacey at the top of the Marina Sands for drinks. Our first museum was the Asian Civilization Museum…..we spent 2+ hours and could have spent another hour or two….just poor planning on our part!!! One floor was dedicated to the history of the Hindu and Buddha religions, another was the various trade routes and trading goods of SE Asia but the gallery that captured us was the one of a 9th century shipwreck. “The Belitung shipwreck also called the Tang shipwreck or Batu Hitam shipwreck is the wreck of an Arabian dhow which sailed a route from Africa to China around 830 AD. The ship completed the outward journey, but sank on the return journey, approximately 1 mile off the coast of Belitung Island, Indonesia…….we were at Belitung a few weeks ago!!!! It is unclear why the ship was so far from its expected route back from China. Belitung is to the south-east of the Singapore Strait by 380 miles (610 km), and this secondary route is more normal for ships travelling from the Java Sea, which is south of Belitung Island. The wreck has given archaeologists two major discoveries: the biggest single collection of Tang dynasty artefacts found in one location, the so-called “Tang Treasure”; and the Arabian dhow, which gives a new insight into the trade routes between China and the Middle East during that period.”
They found 70,000 glazed ceramic bowls bound for the Middle East……looked like soup bowls to us but they said they were actually tea cups. Yes, that is correct….70,000! Even in the 9th Century, the Chinese were already mass-producing ceramic ware!! And, the trade through this area was huge and multi-cultural…this shipwreck and the learnings just blew us away!!!1
After our wonderful massages we met Brett and Stacey on sv Bella Vita (they had taken the ferry from the Nongsa marina where we were last week) for sunset drinks at the Marina Bay Sands….. an integrated resort fronting Marina Bay in Singapore…….we had a great view from our hotel room. “At its opening in 2010, it was billed as the world’s most expensive standalone casino property at SG$8 billion, including the land cost. The resort includes a 2,561-room hotel, a 120,000-square-metre (1,300,000 sq ft) convention-exhibition centre, the 74,000 m2 (800,000 sq ft) The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands mall, a museum, two large theatres, “celebrity chef” restaurants, two floating Crystal Pavilions, a skating rink, and the world’s largest atrium casino with 500 tables and 1,600 slot machines. The complex is topped by a 340-metre-long (1,120 ft) SkyPark with a capacity of 3,900 people and a 150 m (490 ft) infinity swimming pool, set on top of the world’s largest public cantilevered platform, which overhangs the north tower by 67 m (220 ft).”
The views from the SkyPark were spectacular…..57 stories high, over 1100′, with this gigantic ship on top…….we just had to go……we were lucky it was pretty clear although not a great sunset as too many clouds and skyscrapers from the CBD!!! It was good to catch up with B&S albeit only for short time as we had not seen them in a few weeks and we won’t see them again for another few weeks!!
That night we ate at the Jade restaurant…..an upscale Chinese cuisine restaurant…… in the Fullerton Hotel……the bigger sister hotel. OMG…..can you say Peking Duck……this is one of our all time favorite dishes but we had not had it in a very long time…..this was the best we have had since our time in Hong Kong!!!! They carved it at the table and we had them make up the pancakes with all the fixings…..yummers!!!! We also had fresh prawns in a killer sweet and sour sauce, and some asparagus and mushrooms in another sauce…..I think we are going to really like the SE Asia cuisine!!!
The blog is getting long so I’ll stop for now!!
Hope all is well!!
John
Mystic Moon
PS: Lots of pictures on the website: http://mysticmoonvoyages.com/photo-gallery/
