SINGAPORE
Our arrival in Singapore lacked
the excitement and anticipation that we expected. Our 3 PM arrival left little daylight for our
usual scenic overview of the city and departing tourists further complicated
our exit. It was a long walk from the
ship to the terminal and further still, to the waiting taxis. 
Bill’s bucket list included a
Singapore Sling from Raffles where the drink was created. Further Bill looked forward to sitting at the bar where General
McArthur had sat s he, too, enjoyed the exotic and famous drink. Once outside the terminal we engaged a
personable “cabby” who whisked us the short distance to the historic old hotel
through busy streets past beautiful high rise buildings and the bustling activity
that is Singapore.
Bill (and Ken) like to partake of
the cuisine of the culture that we are visiting but time constraints have not
permitted our pursuit on most of our shore excursions. To Bill’s inquiry about
a good place for us to imbibe in a taste sample of the native fare, the taxi
driver told us where he would go. We arrived at Raffles armed
with his recommendations and directed to the 2nd floor Long Bar where
we fulfilled our celebratory indulgence in Singapore Slings and enjoyed peanuts in the
shell. We enjoyed our drinks and the
lively atmosphere of fellow tourists similarly enjoying a step back in time and the memories of a bygone era.
Drinks consumed, we were ready to
seek out our next exploration a food court consisting of 60 restaurants (stalls?)
serving the cuisine of the locale. It
was a fun experience that required a walk past the many choices before settling
on our “cuisine” of choice. We enjoyed
sharing the experience with the locals on their “turf”.
Dinner finished, we flagged a taxi who didn’t seem to know where our terminal was located so we quickly climbed out and found another one who did. In our younger “life”, Singapore might have offered the nightlife that we enjoyed at that time but old age has sat in and the ship offered the bed and rest that we sought. Getting old lacks adventure!!
The nest day Bill and I decided to forego the challenge of fighting the crowd of an estimated 3,000 or so passengers who were disembarking the ship and another 3,000 + or – new passenger who were embarking. Diane and Ken, troopers to the end, caught the hop on and hop off bus for a tour of the city and their picture taking effort. However, they did not bargain for the rain that accompanied their tour and both returned to the ship decidedly wetter than when they left. As it turned out, our 2nd day in Singapore was plagued by the worst weather of our trip and reminded us of how fortunate we have been as to the good weather that we have enjoyed throughout this trip.
Today we are in Port Klang,
Malaysia which provided for an exploration to Kuala Lumpur. We decided to forego the crowd and the 3 hour
ride and instead, we have stayed aboard and are enjoying the the sights and
sounds of Malaysia from aboard ship.
Have I mention that youth has its rewards in adventures?
