MARCH 3: This morning we docked at the world’s largest container pier. Our shuttle bus drove through the length of the pier on our way to Singapore. I am certain that the Halifax pier would be less than one per cent the size of this one.
Singapore is a wealthy city-state where the average annual income is $ 62,000. ( $ 47,000 in the U.S.). The city is spotlessly clean which is what one would expect from a country which has a $ 500 fine for eating anything on the subway, and where chewing gum is outlawed completely.
We didn’t have a tour arranged for Singapore so we bought one-day passes to the subway. The subway system will take one literally anywhere so we spent the day going from sight to sight. It is very easy to navigate as all the signs are in English. One of the most impressive spots was the Sky Park, a huge structure in the shape of a ship that straddles the top of three 50+story hotel towers. Going up is similar to going up the CN tower but with a much, much, more impressive view. We talked to people on the ship who had been here 7 or 8 years ago and they said that they didn’t recognize anything about the city.
MARCH 4/5: Two sea days coincided with both Betty and I having stomach upsets. We are not certain why as we ate different things on March 3, but we did drink a bottle of wine that was slightly corked (I know, I know, shame on me). Really we were only sick for one day but even that is an adventure. Getting any kind of sickness on a cruise means that one will get immediately quarantined until the ship’s doctor decides you are no longer a threat to anyone. Thus, one has to be careful to leave one’s room at least twice per day when the maids come so that you don’t get reported. We were on a cruise once when a passenger got a mild bit of flu and both she and her husband were confined to their cabin for several days.
MARCH 6: We docked at the Port in Maura, Brunei Darussalam (on the island of Borneo). Brunei Darussalam is a tiny oil-rich Sultanate. We had no advance plans but thought we would go into the capital city of Bandar Seri Begawan and wander around. However, the ship wanted $ 49 per person just for a return bus ride to the city which is only ½ hour away. Instead we left the ship and found, or were found by, a young deckhand from a nearby tugboat who offered us a 5-hour tour for $ 100 Singapore dollars.
First, he took us to the 100-year old Kampong Ayer, or Water Village, where 30,000 live in stilt supported houses on the river. There we rented a high-speed water taxi and went several miles up the Brunei River where we found many Proboscis monkeys which live in the Mangroves. After returning to the city center Betty donned a floor length black robe in order to enter the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque. We then were briefly dropped at the gates of the Sultan’s Palace, the world’s largest making Buckingham seem definitely from the low rent district. After several more stops including another Mosque and the Royal Regalia Museum we headed back to Maura stopping for a walk through the lobby of the Empire Hotel (where rooms range in price from $ 400 to $ 15,000)—definitely a step up from Motel 6. I happily left my remaining Singapore dollars with our superb guide and boarded the ship in time for an afternoon swim.
DINING ON BOARD THE NAUTICA: There are five restaurants on board but we usually opt for the Grand Dining room. On entering we are always asked if we wish to be alone or would we like to join others. Our option is for company and we sit at a table for 6 or 8 and enjoy a 3 to 5 course meal with decent wine. As there are 131 Canadians on board sometimes we find ourselves with sedate conversations about travelling or grandchildren. If our dinner companions are Americans the conversations tend toward politics. Although there are both Democrats and Republicans here they seem to identify each other from a distance and avoid the same tables. I remain shocked at the Republicans antipathy toward Obama. Although lots of Canadians dislike Prime Minister Harper the depth of emotion is nothing like that many of our dinner companions have toward their President. They seem in absolute despair at the thought of another 4 years.
Tonight, however, we have reservations at the Italian spot.
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