March 16
I'’ll start with a confession: the last few days I was really bored in classes, didn’t have any school work, and pretty much spent all my free time playing cards and hanging out with friends. It was sorta a mini-spring break where I did nothing, which was a lot of fun but has taken away from my blogging and journaling. So yes, I am fully aware that I have not blogged about my travels in India, but fortunately I have a pretty detailed itinerary with me so I won’t leave anything out when I do finally write it up. I absolutely promise I will post that before we arrive in Vietnam on Saturday. Before I continue about my travels in Singapore today, I should also mention that I shaved my head completely bald (we’re talking shaving cream and razor bald) a few days back, so I look a little different but honestly have been told it looks pretty good. This decision was part of the Neptune Day festivities, so there are a lot of bald guys (and girls!) on the ship now. More to come on Neptune Day in the next post. So with that lengthy and rambling introduction I would love to share about my experience in Singapore.
Like Mauritius, we were only in port in Singapore for one day. On ship time, which basically is like a curfew to be back on the ship, was about 4 hours later than in Mauritius, so at least we had the opportunity to eat dinner in the city before returning to the ship by 2030. Singapore was an absolute blast, one of those places I immediately promised myself I would try to return to later in life. We pretty much had zero plans going in and even stepping off the ship had no idea what we were going to do. It was a good and liberating feeling though, and after wandering around the harbor center for a while we made it to the metro station and bought an all day rail pass. The metro system in Singapore literally makes the DC metro look like a toilet bowl. The trains were clean, modern, efficient and quite a bit of fun to ride. Actually, the entire city center of Singapore puts almost any US city to shame in terms of cleanliness, architecture, noise, smell, attractions, city planning, efficiency of public transportation and just general city vibes. As an example, despite being in the heart of the city, I don’t think I heard a single vehicle honk its horn the entire day, just because everyone followed the traffic laws and was generally courteous. It was quite a nice experience, and not something I have been at all accustomed too considering the constant blaring of car horns in India.
Our first stop off the metro was Chinatown. We spent about an hour there, wandering the shops, visiting an elaborate Buddhist temple, and smelling all the great food. Next we headed closer to the waterfront area, hoping to find the Sands Casino. What we didn’t quite realize about the Sands was that it was much more than a casino. After crossing a pedestrian bridge called the Helix (designed and constructed to look like a twisting helix) we were confronted with this massive complex of towers and buildings. The hotel portion of the Sands consists of three, 55-story towers arranged in a row. On top of the three towers is a massive platform linking the rooftops and extending about a hundred feet out in front of one of the towers, called Sky Park. In front of the hotel is a massive mall and casino, and in front of that is a science museum that was constructed to look like an opening flower. Seriously, everyone reading this should google the Sands Singapore and just look at the buildings, it was pretty impressive. We went to the mall first and ate some great noodles and chicken in the food court next to the indoor ice rink. Next, we were on to the casino where we spent about an hour. Despite appearing to be rich Americans, the massive casino was way too expensive for us (the minimum bets at all the poker tables was 50 Singapore dollars, or about $40). We all lost about 10SD on slots, got a complimentary bottle of water, and left with our heads held high. It was on to Sky Park, boasting panoramic views of the entire city, an outdoor restaurant and one of the world’s largest infinity pools. It cost 20SD to take the elevator 56 flights to the top, but the experience was well worth the price of admission. We could see the hundreds of ships anchored just off the main island, the massive city skyline, the floating soccer field and stadium in the harbor, and the armadillo inspired theatre concert venue. We met up with some other SAS friends at the top and spent 45 mins snapping pictures, trying to sneak into the infinity pool (unsuccessfully) and generally pretending we had way more money in our pockets than we did. This attitude of snobby American wealth continued after Sky Park when we were in the mall, at which point I assumed the role of the son of a rich white business man, vacationing in the country. At one store I was presented with a “lucky” stone bracelet costing a cool $200,000 (the store also had a statue costing 20million). After the sale associate’s pitch I told her I would have to ask my father. At another store I received a free massage in a $5,000 electronic massage chair (which was absolutely incredible) and was given the store worker’'s personal phone number to call if I decided to buy one of the chairs. It was fun pretending, but couldn’t quite justify investing in a bracelet, no matter how “lucky” it was.
After the Sands experience, we wandered over to the theatre center and had the pleasure of sitting in during the sound check for one of the evening’s performances. The artist was one of the most incredible guitarists I have ever heard and, although we had to leave to meet some other friends, we thoroughly enjoyed our 20min show, which was free, and the seats were oversized beanbags. Next we were off to meet up with friends at the world famous Raffles Hotel, home of the Singapore Sling drink. Again, everything was crazy expensive ($20 for a tiny mixed drink!) but we did manage to play a free game of billiards in the cigar room, which was pretty classy. After Raffles, we went to Center Quay, which is a fancy waterfront dining area. We walked around for a bit, played in the fountain, and eventually ended up at a waterfront seafood restaurant for dinner. This decision was made after a thorough discussion of going to the Clinic for dinner. The Clinic is a bar/restaurant where the customers are treated like patients and the staff is doctors and nurses. This means that guests are seated in gold wheel chairs, drinks are served in IV bags and syringes and all the lights are surgical lights. It was fun to watch but too expensive and the restaurant we ended up at was great. Our table of four just split a seafood bucket and a Singapore Sling, but despite not eating a full meal, the atmosphere and company was perfect after a long day.
We took the metro back to the ship and managed to board with about 2 and a half minutes to spare. If we had been just a few minutes later, we would have gotten “Dock Time” and been kept from getting off the ship in our next port for up to 24hours. But everything worked out, as things tend to do with a lot of prayer, a little bit of hustle and perhaps the exposure to a ludicrously expensive lucky bracelet. So that was Singapore, a place where I would have loved to spend a few more days and could have spent a few thousand dollars. The city was great, the buildings were spectacular, everything was expensive, and I feel like I did a great job traveling with the lack of planning. Certainly no regrets or "I wish I would have done that"” from Singapore. Vietnam is in two days, China soon after and then a yet to be determined new country. Which reminds, since I suppose I haven’t mentioned it, we are of course, no longer traveling to Japan after the recent tsunami. I feel guilty even thinking of being disappointed for not being able to go considering the massive scale of tragedy and destruction that is occurring there. It certainly puts this trip into perspective. The rumor is we will be going to the Philippines instead, but S. Korea is also an option and would be an incredible destination. Either way, I am sure I will find adventure and excitement.
Don’t spit in public or you will get arrested,
Ben
I'’ll start with a confession: the last few days I was really bored in classes, didn’t have any school work, and pretty much spent all my free time playing cards and hanging out with friends. It was sorta a mini-spring break where I did nothing, which was a lot of fun but has taken away from my blogging and journaling. So yes, I am fully aware that I have not blogged about my travels in India, but fortunately I have a pretty detailed itinerary with me so I won’t leave anything out when I do finally write it up. I absolutely promise I will post that before we arrive in Vietnam on Saturday. Before I continue about my travels in Singapore today, I should also mention that I shaved my head completely bald (we’re talking shaving cream and razor bald) a few days back, so I look a little different but honestly have been told it looks pretty good. This decision was part of the Neptune Day festivities, so there are a lot of bald guys (and girls!) on the ship now. More to come on Neptune Day in the next post. So with that lengthy and rambling introduction I would love to share about my experience in Singapore.
Like Mauritius, we were only in port in Singapore for one day. On ship time, which basically is like a curfew to be back on the ship, was about 4 hours later than in Mauritius, so at least we had the opportunity to eat dinner in the city before returning to the ship by 2030. Singapore was an absolute blast, one of those places I immediately promised myself I would try to return to later in life. We pretty much had zero plans going in and even stepping off the ship had no idea what we were going to do. It was a good and liberating feeling though, and after wandering around the harbor center for a while we made it to the metro station and bought an all day rail pass. The metro system in Singapore literally makes the DC metro look like a toilet bowl. The trains were clean, modern, efficient and quite a bit of fun to ride. Actually, the entire city center of Singapore puts almost any US city to shame in terms of cleanliness, architecture, noise, smell, attractions, city planning, efficiency of public transportation and just general city vibes. As an example, despite being in the heart of the city, I don’t think I heard a single vehicle honk its horn the entire day, just because everyone followed the traffic laws and was generally courteous. It was quite a nice experience, and not something I have been at all accustomed too considering the constant blaring of car horns in India.
Our first stop off the metro was Chinatown. We spent about an hour there, wandering the shops, visiting an elaborate Buddhist temple, and smelling all the great food. Next we headed closer to the waterfront area, hoping to find the Sands Casino. What we didn’t quite realize about the Sands was that it was much more than a casino. After crossing a pedestrian bridge called the Helix (designed and constructed to look like a twisting helix) we were confronted with this massive complex of towers and buildings. The hotel portion of the Sands consists of three, 55-story towers arranged in a row. On top of the three towers is a massive platform linking the rooftops and extending about a hundred feet out in front of one of the towers, called Sky Park. In front of the hotel is a massive mall and casino, and in front of that is a science museum that was constructed to look like an opening flower. Seriously, everyone reading this should google the Sands Singapore and just look at the buildings, it was pretty impressive. We went to the mall first and ate some great noodles and chicken in the food court next to the indoor ice rink. Next, we were on to the casino where we spent about an hour. Despite appearing to be rich Americans, the massive casino was way too expensive for us (the minimum bets at all the poker tables was 50 Singapore dollars, or about $40). We all lost about 10SD on slots, got a complimentary bottle of water, and left with our heads held high. It was on to Sky Park, boasting panoramic views of the entire city, an outdoor restaurant and one of the world’s largest infinity pools. It cost 20SD to take the elevator 56 flights to the top, but the experience was well worth the price of admission. We could see the hundreds of ships anchored just off the main island, the massive city skyline, the floating soccer field and stadium in the harbor, and the armadillo inspired theatre concert venue. We met up with some other SAS friends at the top and spent 45 mins snapping pictures, trying to sneak into the infinity pool (unsuccessfully) and generally pretending we had way more money in our pockets than we did. This attitude of snobby American wealth continued after Sky Park when we were in the mall, at which point I assumed the role of the son of a rich white business man, vacationing in the country. At one store I was presented with a “lucky” stone bracelet costing a cool $200,000 (the store also had a statue costing 20million). After the sale associate’s pitch I told her I would have to ask my father. At another store I received a free massage in a $5,000 electronic massage chair (which was absolutely incredible) and was given the store worker’'s personal phone number to call if I decided to buy one of the chairs. It was fun pretending, but couldn’t quite justify investing in a bracelet, no matter how “lucky” it was.
After the Sands experience, we wandered over to the theatre center and had the pleasure of sitting in during the sound check for one of the evening’s performances. The artist was one of the most incredible guitarists I have ever heard and, although we had to leave to meet some other friends, we thoroughly enjoyed our 20min show, which was free, and the seats were oversized beanbags. Next we were off to meet up with friends at the world famous Raffles Hotel, home of the Singapore Sling drink. Again, everything was crazy expensive ($20 for a tiny mixed drink!) but we did manage to play a free game of billiards in the cigar room, which was pretty classy. After Raffles, we went to Center Quay, which is a fancy waterfront dining area. We walked around for a bit, played in the fountain, and eventually ended up at a waterfront seafood restaurant for dinner. This decision was made after a thorough discussion of going to the Clinic for dinner. The Clinic is a bar/restaurant where the customers are treated like patients and the staff is doctors and nurses. This means that guests are seated in gold wheel chairs, drinks are served in IV bags and syringes and all the lights are surgical lights. It was fun to watch but too expensive and the restaurant we ended up at was great. Our table of four just split a seafood bucket and a Singapore Sling, but despite not eating a full meal, the atmosphere and company was perfect after a long day.
We took the metro back to the ship and managed to board with about 2 and a half minutes to spare. If we had been just a few minutes later, we would have gotten “Dock Time” and been kept from getting off the ship in our next port for up to 24hours. But everything worked out, as things tend to do with a lot of prayer, a little bit of hustle and perhaps the exposure to a ludicrously expensive lucky bracelet. So that was Singapore, a place where I would have loved to spend a few more days and could have spent a few thousand dollars. The city was great, the buildings were spectacular, everything was expensive, and I feel like I did a great job traveling with the lack of planning. Certainly no regrets or "I wish I would have done that"” from Singapore. Vietnam is in two days, China soon after and then a yet to be determined new country. Which reminds, since I suppose I haven’t mentioned it, we are of course, no longer traveling to Japan after the recent tsunami. I feel guilty even thinking of being disappointed for not being able to go considering the massive scale of tragedy and destruction that is occurring there. It certainly puts this trip into perspective. The rumor is we will be going to the Philippines instead, but S. Korea is also an option and would be an incredible destination. Either way, I am sure I will find adventure and excitement.
Don’t spit in public or you will get arrested,
Ben
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