Singapore, Day 1
I’m breaking Singapore into two blogs only because I have 8 pictures I wanted to put on, not because Singapore was that exciting. In fact, one of the girls on the ship said that Singapore wasn’t “edgy” enough for her, but in my view, after Vietnam, which was so foreign, so exotic and surreal, Singapore was a huge gulp of fresh air.
We’ve all heard about the rules in Singapore: You can’t chew gum, the penalty for drawing graffiti is several hundred lashes, drug trafficking means a death sentence. But it pays off; Singapore is spotlessly clean, safe, and chock full of law-abiding citizens. There are 4 ½ million people on this small island that is both a city and a country. Eighty-five percent of them live in government supplied, high-rise apartment buildings. So the city skyline is one after another of these tall buildings.
We started our day with Austin and Brenna. We had no real plans so we decided to go into the city to explore. We took a taxi downtown and on the way we saw the Singapore Flyer, which is the world’s biggest Ferris wheel. It’s modeled on the very first one which was introduced at the Chicago World’s Fair in the late 1800’s. It has about 25 cars, each of which holds 36 people. It takes 35 minutes to make one revolution. It won’t be the largest Ferris wheel in the world much longer; the Chinese are building a bigger one in Beijing for the Olympics.
We got on the hop on/hop off tour bus in town and took the tour which took 2 hours. We saw a modern city with a nice blend of old and new buildings. Except for the laundry hanging from the apartment windows, the cars driving on the left side of the street, and the oriental faces of the people, you could imagine yourself in an American city.
We spent the afternoon just walking around and shopping a little, had a beer at a café and then Ed and I had to return to the ship for our evening tour. We took the subway which was very fast, efficient and clean as a whistle.
That evening we went on a Night Safari. As it turns out, this is one of the main attractions in Singapore, complete with Ben and Jerry’s and an expensive gift shop. It was very well done but it was Friday night and it was teeming with people. We rode in trams through a dark forest where we saw many animals that you wouldn’t see in the day time. It was a type of zoo but the animals weren’t in cages, they were all free. After the tram ride there was a Creatures of the Night show and then we took the long bus ride back to the ship. We were exhausted.
I’m breaking Singapore into two blogs only because I have 8 pictures I wanted to put on, not because Singapore was that exciting. In fact, one of the girls on the ship said that Singapore wasn’t “edgy” enough for her, but in my view, after Vietnam, which was so foreign, so exotic and surreal, Singapore was a huge gulp of fresh air.
We’ve all heard about the rules in Singapore: You can’t chew gum, the penalty for drawing graffiti is several hundred lashes, drug trafficking means a death sentence. But it pays off; Singapore is spotlessly clean, safe, and chock full of law-abiding citizens. There are 4 ½ million people on this small island that is both a city and a country. Eighty-five percent of them live in government supplied, high-rise apartment buildings. So the city skyline is one after another of these tall buildings.
We started our day with Austin and Brenna. We had no real plans so we decided to go into the city to explore. We took a taxi downtown and on the way we saw the Singapore Flyer, which is the world’s biggest Ferris wheel. It’s modeled on the very first one which was introduced at the Chicago World’s Fair in the late 1800’s. It has about 25 cars, each of which holds 36 people. It takes 35 minutes to make one revolution. It won’t be the largest Ferris wheel in the world much longer; the Chinese are building a bigger one in Beijing for the Olympics.
We got on the hop on/hop off tour bus in town and took the tour which took 2 hours. We saw a modern city with a nice blend of old and new buildings. Except for the laundry hanging from the apartment windows, the cars driving on the left side of the street, and the oriental faces of the people, you could imagine yourself in an American city.
We spent the afternoon just walking around and shopping a little, had a beer at a café and then Ed and I had to return to the ship for our evening tour. We took the subway which was very fast, efficient and clean as a whistle.
That evening we went on a Night Safari. As it turns out, this is one of the main attractions in Singapore, complete with Ben and Jerry’s and an expensive gift shop. It was very well done but it was Friday night and it was teeming with people. We rode in trams through a dark forest where we saw many animals that you wouldn’t see in the day time. It was a type of zoo but the animals weren’t in cages, they were all free. After the tram ride there was a Creatures of the Night show and then we took the long bus ride back to the ship. We were exhausted.
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