The following images were taken from the sliding door of our stateroom while docking in Singapore.
The following images were taken during our approach to the Singapore harbour. This is a very, very, busy port. There were thousands of vessels inbound and outbound from Singapore. This last image is a video. Ships go fast!
As always, the images and any videos in this posting are best viewed on the web page. View the complete set of blog posts here. Note to readers: Some email systems will clip content, asking you to click to fully expand the message. I have added an “End of post” message to the end of each blog post. If you do not see that message, please ensure you expand the email and do not miss any content.
A slow start this morning. Singapore takes security very seriously (see the red sign in the image below). Cheryl questioned whether I should even take a photo. We waited quite some time at customs when disembarking, almost as long a wait as Heathrow Airport! The longest line we have dealt with the entire trip.
Things were much faster both when we returned that afternoon and every other time we disembarked or embarked, despite continued strict security and scanning.
From Viking: “Panoramic Singapore – Witness the remarkable diversity of Singapore, where traditions endure in one of Asia’s most cosmopolitan cities. Along the banks of the Singapore River, admire old British-flavored residences. You will pass through Little India, where Indians developed their own unique community of trading houses and homes during British rule. Today, its bright colors and sounds echo those of the subcontinent. On Arab Street, see a rich Muslim influence, where shops sell textiles and Persian carpets. Today, the Arab Quarter is home to Malays, Sumatrans, Indonesians, and Yemeni. Its gold-domed centerpiece is the elegant Sultan Mosque. You will also view the diverse streets of Chinatown, brimming with markets and restaurants representing different regions of China. Mosques, Hindu and Buddhist temples bring even more variety to this vibrant pocket of Singapore.“
Our tour started in the heart of Singapore at Marina Bay, visiting the Merlion Statue. This famous statue symbolizes the early name for Singapore, Singapura, which means sea lion. Lots of tourists pose for pictures of the Merlion in a way that makes it appear that they are drinking the spouting water. Early stories from the 13th Century tell of lions inhabiting the island, thus the name. Today, Singapore is known as the “Lion City” or “Garden City”.
Across the bay is the Marina Bay Sands Resort (see the three towers with a rooftop deck), which is famous for its evening water and light shows and has been featured in many movies, such as Crazy Rich Asians. (It is owned by the Las Vegas Sands Corporation and includes a 1,800-room hotel, casino, high-end shopping center, and convention center.) Other photos of Marina Bay area depict the performing arts center called Theaters on the Bay (which is designed like a durian fruit), the Singapore Flyer ferris wheel (no, we did not ride it), and another American chain restaurant, Shake Shack.
The area is lively and architecturally interesting because these new, modern buildings are set against a backdrop of British colonial buildings. The British first arrived and established a trading post in 1819, led by Sir Stamford Raffles. Still today, many buildings bear the name Raffles.
Some interesting background about Singapore: Today, Singapore is a city-state. It gained independence from Malaysia in 1965. This island Republic is part of the British Commonwealth. Its first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, established a plan called “City in a Garden”, an aggressive strategy to transform the country into a Southeast Asian powerhouse in a natural, garden-like setting. Today, there are more trees than people! In terms of land area, it is one of the smallest countries in the world (730 square km) and is densely populated, so generous public gardens, parks, and landscaping have been built into the city’s plan. Note that 35% of Singapore’s land area is reclaimed land. Public transportation is clean, efficient, and easily accessible everywhere. Singapore’s 6 million citizens enjoy the 4th highest per capita GDP in the world (the US is 9th). But this tremendous growth and success during the past 60 years has also come at the expense of personal freedoms in this authoritarian country. While democratic elections are held, the People’s Action Party (PAP) has won every election since 1959, so the country is essentially led by a one-party government. The PAP provides a high quality of life for its citizens. However, from an American perspective, that comes at a cost. For example, there is no freedom of the press, and selling chewing gum is illegal. CCTV cameras are everywhere. Buying a car is prohibitively costly for most people because the government uses a lottery system to sell and bid up the prices of government-issued “certificates” that enable a citizen to buy a car. Currently, the certificates cost about $100,000 (and do not include the cost of the vehicle) and are only good for 10 years. Singapore was the first city to introduce congestion management during rush hour in the heart of the city. The system is called Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) and is highly effective at keeping traffic relatively light, even at peak times. Our tour guide told us that in addition to paying tolls or surcharges, drivers also receive demerits on their license, and that is the real deterrent.
We next walked and drove through the historic area where many British colonel buildings have been beautifully maintained and are still in use today as art museums or commercial or government buildings, including the Raffles Hotel, named after the founder (where the Singapore Sling drink was invented – we tried to get into the Hotel’s Long Bar for a $45 Singapore Sling but didn’t because the tourist line was too long).
Chinatown was vibrant and full of people, shops, and food. We had lunch at the Maxwell Hawker Center, which is like a gigantic food court with a couple of hundred food stalls showcasing excellent Chinese, Korean, Indian, Indonesian, and other types of food. I had my first Singapore beer, a Tiger. Chinese New Year celebrations were still underway, and the area had many decorations and orange trees, which symbolize great wealth and luck. The temple below is known as the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, which claims to house a tooth of Buddha.
We had a great lunch at the Chinatown Complex hawkers’ complex across from the temple.
After spending the afternoon walking around and exploring the city, we went back that evening to Marina Bay to watch the light show at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. It’s a 15-minute music, water, and light show that was incredible to watch. “Pure magic awaits in this spectacular show, which is inspired by Singapore’s journey to becoming the cosmopolitan city it is today. History, culture, and modernity collide in a stunning choreography of fountain jets, colourful visual projections, lasers, lava and mist effects, all stirringly accompanied by a majestic orchestral soundtrack”, as described by Marina Bay Sands. It was quite a spectacular performance with beautiful music that sounded like a movie soundtrack, vibrant lights that changed colors and moved with the changing water fountain displays. The videos below give you a better sensory experience of the show. (More pictures of the show from the other side of the marina tomorrow.)
We like to photograph our food, so we decided to add our drinks. After a long, hot day, we decided to have a late dinner at another hawker’s center nearby and then headed back to the ship. The last two images are videos.
Singapore has a tropical climate and, by design, has many parks, gardens, and beautiful flowering plants everywhere. There were many interesting plants to see.
Many more images and videos from the day can be found here.
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