Singapore is superlative. I did not know what to expect and I discovered that I really liked what I saw. Singapore is a clean, prosperous and modern island nation.
The symbol of Singapore is the Merlion which is half-lion and half-fish. The top half is lion, the bottom half is mermaid. Our bus tour brought us near the Merlion and then we took a boat tour on the river and got even closer.
The Merlion statue is white and located in a park in such a fashion that he spouts water out of his mouth into the harbor. For me, this figure brought up feelings of affection I have for the Little Mermaid who sits on a rock in Copenhagen’s harbor and the statue of Mickey Mouse at Disneyland. Locals as well as tourists gather at the park. The closest thing we have to the Merlion in San Diego is The Sailor Kissing the Nurse at the embarcadero. That was so popular that as the fiberglass statue was wearing out, funds were raised to replace it with a bronze one.
On our boat tour, we also saw a 14 acre waterfront park near the mouth of the Singapore River. This special park is dedicated to the performing arts. One of the Esplanade Theaters in that park has an unusual looking roof. The surface of the roof looks like the surface of a microphone. I thought this was very clever. Since I usher in San /Diego, the idea of having all the theaters centrally located really appealed to me.
The Marina Sands Bay Hotel and Casino is another building in Singapore which is iconic. To some, it may just be a little too unusual. Picture three identical towers of the same height with a giant boat perched on top of them. Now, picture the boat like an elongated Noah’s Ark with trees and shrubs rather than pairs of animals. I am not sure whether I like it or not but it certainly is unique. Of, course, there is an observation deck at the top but our tour took us to another observation deck because the one at this unusual building was too busy.
There was a hotel included in our tour but not the modernistic one. An old hotel called the Raffles Hotel was the site of a memorable event…the invention of the “Singapore Sling.” For the non-drinking readers, this is a popular cocktail first concocted in 1915. After all the modern structures we had seen, it was nice to gather in a classic old hotel. For the few non-drinkers on the tour, they served non-alcoholic Singapore Slings.
Mary and I were not able to make it to a special place called “Gardens by the Bay.” Ironically, our first day in Singapore, the excursion was overbooked and on the second day there were not enough people who signed up so it was canceled. What we would have seen, had we gotten there, was a 250 acre park home to more than 250,000 rare plants housed in giant domed conservatories. One section, the Cloud Forest, is home to a 115 foot waterfall. This is the world’s tallest indoor waterfall.
One of the new Singapore experiences for me had been promised by “Aunt Roselle.” Roselle is the aunt of Richard who is Mary’s son-in-law. This lady has been on multiple world cruises and had consistently come to the same haircut place in Singapore. I do not consider myself adventurous in many areas but I figured this should be a pretty safe thing to do. My hair grows rapidly so, even if the hair cut was a bad one, I could feel reassured it would grow out.
By the time we reached Singapore, I was more than ready for a haircut. A problem occurred. We docked at a different pier. Roselle only knew how to walk to her favorite haircut place from another pier. All bets were off.
Roselle, found her way by cab to her haircut place while Mary and I were off on a tour. That did not end the quest. It turned out that the special haircut place was part of a chain. Roselle figured out there was a similar place in the shopping mall where the shuttle from the ship dropped off passengers.
On our second day in Singapore, Mary and I got directly off our tour bus and onto a shuttle to the shopping mall. With no difficulty, we were able to locate the haircut place which was just a few feet from the entrance where the shuttle left us off. It was between Starbucks and Subway Sandwiches. This shopping mall was two-story, enclosed, and rivaled the best in San Diego.
The cost of the haircut was the equivalent of $10.00 but had to be paid in Singapore money. Mary had decided to get her hair cut too. The experience was remarkable. There was one hair cutter (barber) and no other customers. I dutifully fed the Singapore dollars into a machine and got one ticket for me and then another for Mary.
I had my hair cut first while Mary went next door to get a sandwich. I asked for an inch off. The hair cut lasted less than 15 minutes. Two things were different than what I was accustomed to at home. At the end of cutting my hair, the barber, took something like a little vacuum out of a sterilizing unit and vacuumed my hair. I think this was to help eliminate the itchy little hairs that end up in my shirt. After I was out of the barber chair, the barber swept the hair on the floor up into a pile and then towards an opening on the wall at floor level. He flipped a switch and the pile of hair disappeared as a vacuum sucked it into the wall. How about that!
Mary who has been accustomed to conventional beauty shop procedures in San Diego was satisfied with her haircut too. I know there were many things to see and do in Singapore but that haircut was a special experience.
Singapore has some remarkably strict rules about things which concern some of my pet peeves. After the incredible amount of litter I observed in Vietnam, I saw virtually none in Singapore. There are heavy fines for littering, spitting, smoking and not picking up after your pet. I heard selling drugs is punishable by death.
Mary almost got an employee of the Amsterdam in trouble. Our excursions always have a representative from the ship to make sure things go well.
Andy, a nice young man from the photography department, accompanied us on the second day tour. At the end of that tour, we opted not to get back on the ship but instead get directly onto a shuttle to get haircuts. The only drawback was Mary had a large bag with six purses she had purchased. She also had a cloth lunch bag in which she had packed snacks for herself. Andy agreed to carry the bag back onto the ship. I said to Mary, at the time, that there might be some policy against this simple favor. Well, if there was not a policy, there may be one in the future. Poor Andy was stopped because he was trying to take a peach onto the ship. It was Mary’s peach in her lunch bag. The fact that it had come from the ship did not make a difference. The peach had to be surrendered. I told Mary Andy could have been caned because of her!
If anybody is contemplating a trip that might include Singapore, I would say this is one place well worth visiting.