Monday 25th March
Today we are in the port that Russ (Dad/Grandad) has been waiting for - Singapore. It is about ten years since he was last here and he has noticed some changes. Our ship docked at the brand new cruise terminal and we took the shuttle bus into the centre of the city. We started our walk around Singapore at the war memorial that remembers the civilian casualties of the Japanese invasion during WW 2. We walked across the cricket ground towards the Singapore River. When we got there we followed the bank round past the statue of Sir Stamford Raffles who, in 1819, decided this place would make a good port and claimed it for the East India Company. We walked on to Clarke Quay where we took a boat trip along the river and into Marina Bay. In Marina Bay we saw the statue of the Merlion (in the picture). The name Singapore means Lion City and the Merlion, a mythical creature that is half lion and half fish, is its symbol. When our boat returned to Clarke Quay we crossed over one of the many bridges to the other side of the river and walked along Boat Quay. After passing the Merlion again we walked to see where Russ used to work. The bank is no longer in that building, in fact the building isn't there any more - its being rebuilt. Opposite was a food market that he used to go to so we stopped there to have a cold drink - much needed after all the walking.
We retraced our steps and went to Raffles Hotel. Just like all good tourist we headed for the Long Bar. We decided against the Singapore Slings that were being made constantly while we were there. Instead we had beers cheaper than the cocktails but still very expensive. I suppose you pay for the history and the experience and it was very good. I quite enjoyed shelling peanuts and throwing the shells on the floor as is the tradition!
We returned to Boat Quay for lunch, had some more beer - much cheaper this time. We had some satay and rice which was delicious and sat right next to the river - a lovely spot to relax in.
The last place that we visited was the hotel Russ used to stay at - the Marina Mandarin. It was lovely inside. We went up to the main reception area on the 4th floor and had coffee. It was very relaxing with water around where we sat. The hotel is built around this area and you look up to see the glass roof. From where we were sitting you could watch the internal glass lifts go up to the top floors - it was a long way up! A really lovely day we are quite exhausted!