Landlubbers once again - in Singapore!

Our last two days on board were lovely relaxing sea days, but they also involved a lot of sad goodbyes!  We’ve been on board for seven weeks and the staff and crew of the Sojourn are absolutely wonderful and have just treated us both like royalty - and like friends.  Starting with the Captain - he has a wickedly funny sense of humor and was such a delightful dinner companion. Jan the cruise director and her assistants - Heather and Sophie - who are just so charming and talented and from whom we received very heartfelt farewell hugs - are so good at what they do that everything runs seamlessly and they do it all with their humor intact.  Nina, our waitress who always had fabulous dinner suggestions, and produced cocoanut ice cream for Burr every night - even when it wasn’t on the menu; Laurence the wine guy in the dining room who really knew what he was doing and had such a good attitude;  Alex the waiter who made sure I NEVER experienced dreaded empty glass syndrome; our wonderful housekeepers who took care of us as though we were guests in their own home, and of course Lele the fabulous nail tech in the spa who was such a joy! We’ve been on every major cruise line, and they’re all very nice and a great way to travel - but this was just a cut above in every category.  The people all knowing your name from the first day; the overriding theme of “just ask for whatever you want and we’ll get it for you”; the way the staff mingled with all of us - and never made it look like they were just doing their job; the calm atmosphere in every venue - we never felt rushed, stressed, on a time clock, or inundated by noise; and the incredible talent of the entertainers!!  I could go on and on, obviously, but suffice it to say we will definitely sail with Seabourn again!!!  Speaking of “just ask” - on the last night we and two other couples had Peking Duck which has never been on the menu but we mentioned to someone a week or so ago how much we all liked it and the chef just said, “What night would you like it?”  We were the only people who had it and it was delicious!!  Between Burr with the unlimited ice cream and me with the unlimited wine - we’re looking at some detoxing once we get back to reality!

Jan, Heather & Sophie singing "We Are Family" at our farewell party.

And our trivia team won second place!  We got hats.

So - here we are on land again.  Our ship docked at Singapore Saturday morning, the 29th, and we were off around 10am.  We could have gotten off a little earlier, but I was following the Michigan v. Tennessee game online and there was no way I was leaving before that nail-biter was over!  Go Blue!!

We checked in to our hotel and took off to explore!  There is a great hop on & off bus tour that we did first.  That is usually our first move in a new city when we’re on our own.  It’s a great way to get your bearings and an overview of the place.  

I'm always fascinated by the mix of old and new

And some things just make me laugh.

One of our hop offs was the famous Raffles Hotel where the Singapore Sling was first concocted!  Of course we went there for lunch - and, yes, I got the recipe for Raymond for this summer by the pool.  

Also near Raffles was a geocache, so - check!  That’s 47 countries!!  The only one we missed this trip was Malaysia :(  

The second day, we got a wonderful surprise!  I had posted on Facebook that we were in Singapore, and quickly heard from our friend David in Australia that his wife - Pita - was also in Singapore on a girls weekend!  He sent her a message, she called our hotel, and we were able to spend the morning together!  The joys of technology, eh?  We met David and Pita on our cruise around Fiji last February.  As you know - friends are what we collect on vacations!  

With Pita!

That afternoon, we went to the Gardens by the Bay.  This is the most remarkable thing!  An enormous conservatory of every imaginable plant, tree, flower, moss - you name it.  And air conditioned!  That’s really something in this climate.  Within the conservatory was the “Cloud Walk” - an elevated walkway above the rainforest - all indoors.  I was more than a little creeped out, but they designed it with people like me in mind - half the walkway was “see through” - like a chicken wire type surface, and the other half is solid!  Perfect - otherwise, no way I’m up there.  It was really something to see.  

This place is huge!

Notice the part I'm standing on.

It's so big - can you even see me??

I did NOT go up there.

"Super Trees"

We had to return to our hotel at 4 to check out.  They would store our bags until time to go to the airport at 8, so we caught a cab to this amazing looking new hotel/shopping/casino/restaurant complex on the waterfront - Marina Bay Sands.  

It's designed to look like it has a boat on top of the three towers.

We started out in the casino - and you know what high rollers we are.  I put $11 into a 2 cent slot machine and cashed out for $82!!!  Not bad for a few minutes of dumb fun.

We then headed up to the top - 57th floor - for dinner and the view.  

The conservatory from above

The view was amazing, the dinner was stupid.  Teeny tiny portions of pretentious food on huge plates with even huger prices.  We started it off on a sour note by being refused a table by the window because they were all reserved and then no one was seated in any of them the entire time.  Grrr.  But - the view was wonderful and we had a nice time discussing all the wonderful things we’ve seen and done during the past two months.  Our day ended fabulously, though, as we had the most wonderful cab driver to the airport!  He was so friendly and just a wealth of information about Singapore.  He showed us photos of his kids and asked us about ours - it was a perfect ending to our stay in this lovely, friendly city.

Singapore really has it figured out. It is probably the cleanest big city I have ever been in in my life - including the US.  It is practically spotless!   Hardly anyone smoking, and if you drop a cig butt on the street a plain clothes cop will appear and fine you $200.  There is no unemployment and almost no poverty.  It is obviously booming - construction and renovation going on all over the place, including an extensive new subway project.  The women are gorgeous - not over done, not trying to look like porcelain dolls - they’re classy and stylish and confident.  The stores aren’t all there just to cater to tourists - the locals are shopping, eating in restaurants, going from place to place, and for once not at a phrenetic pace - they’re just moving around going about their business!  It is also very diverse.  We sent through Little India, Chinatown, and the Muslim neighborhood.  All just as inviting as the city center.  The most wonderful thing about going through the ethnic neighborhoods on the open top deck of our bus … The cooking aromas!!  It was mouth watering.  Such a change from every other asian city we have been in!  This is a city I could come back to and spend significant time.  Great restaurants and bars and hotels.  And - there’s almost no crime!  You can walk the streets any time of night without worry.  There are no children begging, or trying to sell you crap.  It is an extremely modern city going in such a positive direction.  

We’ve had long conversations about this trip - where we’ve been, what we’ve seen and done, and the wonderful new friends we’ve made.  Believe me - we’re fully aware of how fortunate we are.  Thank goodness I’ve been keeping this blog, or I’d have forgotten most of it by now!  It is just remarkable how varied this world is - and how fascinating.  I’m SO thankful to be seeing so much of it!  Gives me more blessings to count

Thank you, again, who ever you are out there reading this, for coming along on our adventures.  See you next time!

From Champagne & Caviar to Temples & Tuk Tuks - Thailand!

What an adventure Thailand has been!  And the highlight of our stay here was the day we didn’t go anywhere.

After a nice relaxing sea day after Ho Chi Minh City, we arrived at Ko Kood Beach on Monday the 24th for the Seabourn Signature Event - Caviar in the Surf.  This was absolutely amazing.  We tendered to the beach at around 11am, to find hundreds of chairs under umbrellas all along the beach waiting for us.  Suddenly a bell rang and we all went into the water to be met by all the bar and restaurant staff floating out from the ship with champagne and caviar!  We were in waist deep warm clear water, there were fully clothed waiters all around pouring champagne, and two floating caviar stations!  

Heading out to our party in the water.

Here it comes with the Captain at the helm

Floating caviar serving station

Alex was very popular.

Heaven!!

The staff were all having such a good time - it was just a joy.  While we were doing this, the chef and his incredible crew were a little further down the beach grilling steaks, lobsters, chicken, shrimp and putting out a fabulous array of salads and fruit.  There were tables set up under dozens of beach umbrellas, complete with white table cloths and all the same trimmings as we get in the dining room.  

Then it was play-time!  Our ship carries a “marina” of kayaks, banana boats, speed boats and rafts, so we took a two person kayak down a little river type waterway through the mangroves on the island.  It was a wonderful, magical day.

The next day we arrived in the port of Laem Chabang, Thailand.  We left early Tuesday morning for our excursion to Bangkok!  It was about a two hour drive through the cities and beautiful countryside of Thailand.  Once in Bangkok, we visited several Buddhist temples, had a lovely Thai lunch (spicy!) at a beautiful small hotel, and toured the city by Tuk Tuk!  And - add another country to the geocache list!

Bangkok is a busy, hot, crowded, noisy, colorful, friendly, mix of old and new.  It is a modern city, but with a lot of the old still remaining.

Bustling downtown

We visited several Buddhist temples while in Bangkok - they are all beautiful and very busy with both tourists and worshippers.

There was a mass going on at the first temple.

Reclining Buddha at the Wat Pho Temple

Beautiful ceilings at the Marble Temple

 We toured the city by Tuk-Tuk - the traditional taxi used in Thailand.  They have three wheels and are steered by motorcycle type handlebars.  They got their name from the putt-putt type of motor they used to have that sounded like tuk tuk tuk tuk.  We even had a police escort!

Tuesday night was another unexpected treat - we had dinner with the captain!  He invited those of us who have been on since Sydney and are leaving in Singapore to a cocktail party with the officers and then dinner in a private dining room and it was so enjoyable.  He is an extremely gregarious guy and a great storyteller.  There were just three tables of 8, each hosted by an officer, and our names were on the table hosted by the captain!  What a fun night.

Wednesday was quite an adventure!  Well, the bus ride there and back was, anyway.  Our driver took us to the wrong place initially, so we had to back-track quite a ways and then on the way home he took a “short cut” down a dirt road, which ended up being a dead end involving backing the bus back up this very narrow road to get on the correct one.  Once we finally got to the right place - it was great!  We went to the Pattaya Elephant Village and learned how elephants are trained, saw a show - in which Burr was a participant - and rode an elephant!  The ride was quite exciting, as there was no seat or anything to hold on to - we just sat on its head with our legs behind the ears!  We felt like we were falling off either to the side or right off the front the whole time - it’s not exactly a smooth ride.  It was so fun!

We were treated to a fabulous show that evening after dinner.  Turns out, several of our enormously talented cast of singers were trained in opera!  We had a guest entertainer on board - a remarkable tenor - and he joined our singers for a wonderful night of opera under the stars.  We’ve heard these kids sing everything from opera to rock now and they are just fantastic.

I just can’t believe this marvelous trip is about to come to an end!  This is the longest we’ve ever been away, but this has been such an incredible adventure and this ship is so comfortable we could stay longer.  In fact - there is a woman on board who has done just that…for 10 years!  The Grande Dame of Seabourn is onboard with us.  Mrs Witzke has been living on board the various Seabourn ships for nearly 10 years.  She is a tiny little woman, obviously elderly, but quite spry.  She is always dressed to the nines with not a hair out of place.  She eats lunch at the same table each day at the stroke of noon, is escorted to the cocktail lounge (to her reserved table) each evening at precisely 7:15 by two staff members or officers, where her champagne is immediately delivered.  They then escort her to her table in the dining room and have dinner with her before delivering her back to her cabin.  I’ve never seen her speaking to anyone other than staff members, and she rarely ever gets off the ship.  The only event we've ever seen her attend is the mandatory safety briefing at the beginning of each cruise segment, and then she is escorted in at the last minute and escorted back out at the first opportunity.  At the end of this cruise, she will transfer to another ship and so on.  She has her own cabin on each ship, and not a big fancy suite, just a regular room.  She seems happy and pleasant and the staff all seem to like her.  At first, it seemed so glamorous and elegant, but the more I think about it, it would be an incredibly sad and lonely life.

Two sea days to the end of our journey in Singapore, where we’ll spend a couple of days, before flying home.