Monday February 13, 2023
The Republic of Singapore is an island City-State at the end of the Malay Peninsula, consisting of 63 islands with the main Island, officially called Pulau Ujong, but known as Singapore Island. It derives it’s name from the Malay Singa (Lion) and Pura (City) which itself is derived from Sanskrit. The name is perhaps derived from 14th century folklore where a Sumatran Prince – Sang, Nila Utama; who landed on the island following a storm at sea and seeing a lion, called it Lion City. In more recent times, when Malaysia became independent from the British in 1957 it was the 14th state for Malaysia. However months later it opted to become an independent country and today it is a well run, major Asian city, a Financial Center, with virtually no crime, clean and very cosmopolitan. This in many ways is thanks to 2 men – T. Stanford Raffles, who as an employee of the all powerful East India Company, sneaks in the brother of the Sultan of Malay and made him Sultan of the swampland that was Singapore. He then went against the prevailing policy of not getting involved with confrontation with the Netherlands, who at the time were the colonial power in the area. He established a free trading zone and attracted a lot of traders. The other person, many years later that “Made” Singapore was the first Prime Minister and visionary – Lee Kuan Yew (1959 – 1990).
Singapore lies only 85 miles above the equator at the start of the Malacca strait so has always been a critical port for all maritime traffic flowing from east to west. With an area of 283 square miles and a population of 5.6 million (Chinese 75%, 14% Malay and 9% Indian) it is one of the most populous by area nation in the world. Government is by election of MP’s to a parliament, using the British model and even though it is a multi-party body the People’s Action Party (PAP) have held the majority since independence. Due to the British influence, like Malaysia, driving is on the left hand side. Singapore is one of the founders of ASEAN – Association of South East Asian Nations and headquarters of the APEC – Asia Pacific Economic Council. Even though Singapore has an elected President, he or currently she (Halimah Yacob since 2017 – 8th President) is more of a diplomatic, ceremonial post and though officially Head of State, has very limited powers. The Prime Minister (PM) is the “Head of Government” and the person who “runs the country”. The first Prime Minister – Lee Kuan Yew (1959 – 1990) and his administration are praised and responsible for making Singapore the powerhouse it is today. He was succeeded by Goh Chok Tong (1990 – 2004) and since 2004 the PM is Lee Hsien Loong. PM’s are appointed for a term of 5 years that can be renewed, by the ruling party.
We had decided some time ago that as we both had been to Singapore various times and Anne worked here some 10 years ago, that we would not take any tours, but rather book into a local hotel overnight and enjoy 2 days in the Port. Last time we were in Singapore, before traveling to Malacca, Myanmar (Burma), Andaman Islands and Sri Lanka, we had lunch at the iconic Marina Sands hotel with it’s 3 towers and a roof top connecting the three buildings. We were taken with the roof top infinity pool and determined to say here overnight as only hotel guests are allowed in the pool area.We packed an overnight bag and after breakfast we proceeded ashore. All passengers going ashore had to complete an on-line landing card, providing a lot of information via the ICA app on our phones, 3 days prior to arrival. We had filled out the SG Arrival Card information prior to leaving New York, so had already got all that information registered and3 days before arrival completed the process and got the all important bar code that was necessary to go through immigration. When we finally got to the immigration hall we were greeted by a long snaking queue of guests trying to get through immigration. There were 6 snake lanes and some 50 people in each lane, so it took us over an hour to get through immigration, presenting passports, ICA Arrival Card bar codes and being fingerprinted. A lot of complaining by may of the guests. Once we got through that, there was a further snake queue to get through customs. So it was about 1 1/2 hours from the time we got off the ship until we got onto the shuttle bus to take us to the Marina Sands Convention Center which is opposite the Marina Sands Hotel. Sands is the same group that has hotels in Las Vegas and Palm Springs.
We checked in and were told that our room was not ready but we were given temporary cards to go up to the pool area, which we did after booking dinner tonight and “Lunch” tomorrow. The view was amazing and the 100+ meter long 10 meters wide infinity pool, was spectacular. We had planned on wandering around the Marina Bay Area, but after seeing the price of the room we decided to take full advantage of all the hotel amenities and as soon as we got our suite, on the 49th floor (4901) overlooking the bay, we changed and spent the day at the pool. It is deceiving in many ways but spectacular. Palm trees lined one side of the pool with pairs of lounging chairs, some having their base in the water and others on dry land, and a small table in between. There are three rows of these chairs each on a higher level overlooking the pool and the city landscape around the Marina Bay Area, mostly built on reclaimed land. Above these three rows of chairs running the full length of the top with restaurants along the way as well as lifeguards, towel stations etc. are hot tubs and lounging areas overlooking the gardens by the bay and ocean.
The gardens consist of metallic trees that have a walkway between, a lake with sets of fountains, two enormous conch shell greenhouses, 20 stories high, with botanical gardens with plants from all over the world and a green park. Out at sea there were some 150 ships at anchor waiting to be loaded up at the container port. As the tide ebb and flowed, these anchored ships moved in a circle with the changing tides. This apparently is an almost permanent situation.
Soon after we had settled in our lounge chairs, with base in the water, meaning you had to step into the pool with water just above the ankles to get into the lounging chairs, a waiter came up and we ordered a pitcher of beer and lunch. While that was being prepared we waded into the pool, only about 4 feet deep, to the “cliff” – the end of the infinity pool. The water from the pool is continuously being re-cycled and it flows over the edge of the pool into a trough that carries the water to be filtered and recycled. The open side of this structure some 8 feet lower is a maintenance walkway permitting any repairs to be made along the way. However looking from the poolside, it definitely appears that there is nothing but a 57 story drop to the ground floor! We enjoyed our lunch and drinks and were in and out of the pool there rest of the day, but had forgotten the sun cream on the ship so we were bright red by the time we went back to our room to shower and get ready for dinner.
We remained in our bathing outfits, overlooking the ocean until 7:45pm when the light show on the metal “trees” started and had played out. We then went down the 7 floors to our room to see the 8:00PM light / fountain show outside the Marina Sands hotel and Convention Center. It was really quite unique with water forming a 20 foot high ring that changed colors, with dancing fountains in two transecting lines each having some 50 fountains again all with a light show.
Having been duly entertained and seeing Singapore at night over the by area, we returned to the pool deck as we had dinner reservations at 9:15at LAVO, the Italian restaurant, situated at what would be the aft end of the top structure that resembles a ship. A view over the city, the bay on one side and the ocean on the other was spectacular. The shrimp cocktail seemed more the size of small lobsters rather than shrimp. The waiter suggested that the portions are large so we shared one each – appetizer, salad and main course and were more than satisfied. The day ended with on-line Zoom meetings with New York at midnight.
Roger & Anne Travels 