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Thursday, March 16 – Singapore
Our tour today is “Iconic Singapore”. It is only 4 hours after yesterday’s 6-hour tour and 3 miles. There are several aspects of today that we are really looking forward to.
Immigration this morning turned out to be quite easy. We were expecting what we experienced yesterday. Today, there are not quite so many people and once we were in line, one of the workers asked if we had used our thumbprints the day before? Yes, we had. Great! You get to go over to this line (that had almost no one in it). We put our thumbs on the scanner, took off hats, they scanned faces and passport, and we were done! Evidently, not everyone had the thumbprints taken, so they had to do the longer version. We had left the ship planning on the long version, so we were 40 minutes early for our tour. A very curt staff member told us to “come back at 9:00”. We found a little food vendor with tables and stools so camped out there with several others of our World Cruise comrades. We bought a beverage that turned out to be lychee fruit in the bottom of a glass with water. We both really enjoyed it! Very refreshing. Very sweet.
We gathered
with our group for the tour. The guide was a bit late, but then the bus wasn’t
there either. Finally, it was time to leave. We’ll start the tour with a ride
in a river boat down the Singapore River into the reservoir. Singapore has
numerous reservoirs for drinking water. This one is just steps from the ocean
and they have been able to dam it to keep it pure. It is not a recreational
lake, but these river boats to tour it and the river. The boats are electric.
We sailed past the “Merlion” statue that is the symbol of Singapore. An early
settlor claimed to have seen a lion here. (They might have seen a tiger, but no
lions). The lion has been married to/combined with a sea creature, therefore “Mer
lion”. Note the fountain.
District
A panorama of the CBD from across the reservoir
We ended our
boat ride at the dock for Marina Bay Sands Complex. This is a huge complex with
a major shopping center (high level brands), a Casino (the Sands from Los
Vegas), a high-end hotel that can house up to 5,000 people in the three towers,
and an observation deck on the 56th floor. We were going to the 56th
floor. What an amazing view. All of Singapore laid out below you and looking
out over the waters south of Singapore. Ships as far as you can see. Hundreds
of them. We are also looking down on our next stop. “Gardens by the Bay”.
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| Ships in the harbor as far as you can see - hundreds |
A huge complex of gardens and greenhouses and the iconic “super trees”. From above it was beautiful, from the ground, they were amazing. We are touring the “Flower Dome”, the largest greenhouse in the world that has no columns. Beautiful, amazing, and many other adjectives. The facility is only about 10 years old and is wonderful, I can’t imagine what it will look like in another 10. The Flower Dome is divided into themes.
Succulents
include baobab trees that they have brought from Africa and are doing well.
Palm trees that I’ve never seen so well-manicured. Much much more. Throughout,
they have placed wonderful pieces of sculpture. Much of it out of drift wood
but with an almost whimsical approach. The facility is also definitely geared
towards amusing children.
In the background you see Marina Bay Sands. Just a little whie ago, I took pictures from there to where I am now shooting from.
What a great
day! Possibly one of the better ones we’ve had, yet every port is different,
and all offer amazing things. It is a little bit of comparing apples and oranges.
This was just probably one of the better ones.
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| Just interesting apartments we could see from the ship. |
I am loving reading all your posts….an amazing adventure you are taking!
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