Singapore: Day 17

Our last day in Singapore was not actually spent in Singapore, instead, we ventured to Malaysia! Since our husbands and wives had all returned to the ship, the spouses were left to our own devices. Mike, Nicole, Mari and myself headed north to Jahor, Malaysia for the day.

Mari wrote a long and lovely, detailed post about the same trip that you can find here.

Malaysia had a similar feel to Singapore minus the money I thought. Oh and throw in a muslim religion. The country is just a short bridge away from Singapore but the financial difference between the two is staggering. So much so, that you can't even drive from Singapore to Malaysia without 3/4 of a tank of gas because the gasoline is that much cheaper in Malaysia.

We made it half way across the bridge, back to immigration and finally on a bus to make it completely over the bridge. 8 passport stamps later and several confused immigration workers and we made it. At first, I thought, for what?

It probably didn't help that I was a little cranky from being tired and needing some food. First stop, lunch. I saw a restaurant that looked crowded and I figured that was a safe bet. A few choice items that Nicole knew and we had a plate full of good looking food.

Much better. Now I can think. We wandered around for awhile looking for a few things on the tourist map/brochure we received at immigration. A few "antique" shops here and there and I wasn't too impressed.

Finally, we all agreed to take a taxi to a museum, but I thought the driver might be able to show us around a bit first. After our good experiences in Bali with drivers, I thought it might be worth trying again!

Enter, Zainol, our cab driver. He drove us around for over an hour. Letting us stop and take pictures (while the meter was running of course) and showed up some of the cultural highlights of Jahor.

Government building? Perhaps? Check. Mosque? Definitely. Check.

Yummy semi-strange fruits. Also check.

All in all, it was an interesting day. Can't say I'll make it back to Malaysia and it is kinda fun to have an entire page of stamps from just one getting there and back.

Like I said, Mari's post was lovely and detailed. Mine though, sums up my impression of my time in Malaysia. Short, sweet and just the right length.

After our day trip to Malaysia, we headed back to my hotel where the ladies crashed in my hotel room so that we could wake up at 3 am to get to the airport by 4:30. We were on a 6 am flight home!

Day 18 was spent traveling the 7 hours home by plane, the 2 1/2 hours by train and the 10 minutes by car. Home sweet home. And my baby girl dog waiting for me.

What a great trip! Phew. Done and done!

Singapore: Day 16

Our last day together in a port call is always a bummer. Usually they have to be on the boat by midnight or 2 am so we spend all day together, but the inevitable is always looming over us like a big rain cloud.

I can't even tell you what we did most of the day. We lounged, we ate, we spent every minute together until he had to make his way back to the ship.

We got take out from a restaurant close to our hotel. They had this cut out of Obama so I had to take a picture:

 Our "picnic" in our hotel room. Glenn's not one for going out drinking and having a raging night before he gets back on the boat. He likes to take it easy and relax before it's back to the grindstone.

 The view from our hotel room:

 And that's a wrap on Singapore. Glenn left for the ship around 10 pm. I had one more day in Singapore before catching a early flight home.

Singapore: Day 15

Since Glenn was on duty all day, I met up with my friend Nicole because her husband was also on duty on the ship. Perfect!

We started our day at the Asian Civilizations Museum. We arrived just in time for a guided tour. I would recommend that this is the only way to see this museum. Otherwise, it just seems like a hodge podge of a bunch of stuff. The tour guide helped connect all the different exhibits and point out what was important to make note of.

Our next stop was lunch. We found a pub near the harbor that was open since our first plan was not. Tandoori chicken wrap, please!

From there we had a great view of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. If you remember from our trip in April, I pointed out this building in a post and how cool I thought it was. Well, 4 months later and the hotel is open! We wanted to check out the Sky Park, the observation tower from the 56th floor aka the boat.

After being blocked off by the set up for the opening ceremony of the Youth Olympic Games which was occurring in the same harbor in just a few hours, delayed by a rain storm and hailing a cab, we finally made it. After a detour through the lobby and S$20, we were at the top!

There was a headset tour that you could follow to point out all the different landmarks you were seeing. A audio tour seems funny for an observation deck, but it made the S$20 worth it! I learned a lot about the hotel and what the plans were for all the construction in the area as well as the harbor and a little history.

The most amazing part of the hotel was definitely the pool. A huge infinity pool overlooking the Singapore skyline. It was kind of a rainy day so not too many people were enjoying it, but I wish I could have!

 The colorful stadium is where the opening ceremony was going to take place. The weird flower looking building will be a science and art museum once it is completed. Rain actually collects on the top and makes a waterfall through the center of the building- which is why the giant hole is there. They can also set up 1500 seats on the top for a light and laser show. Pretty amazing.

 After the Sky park, Nicole and I parted ways and I returned to the hotel to meet Glenn and Nicole went to her hotel to clean up. We met up later for dinner at the White Rabbit. It was an old church that had been converted in to a restaurant in the Dempsey Hill area.

Russell and Angelica joined us as well.

Phew... only a few more days of my trip. Just in time to start another one! I can see why people get behind and give up, but I am determined to catch up!

Singapore: Day 14

On our last trip to Singapore, Glenn and I never got a chance to make it to Sentosa Island. I knew on this trip, I wanted to spend a day there. Sentosa island is a man-made island just south of Singpore and is probably less than 2 miles long. Singapore claims the island as "Asia's Favorite Playground." I felt like we were in Disneyland sans Mickey.

We took our time waking up in the morning. Got some breakfast at a local coffee shop around the corner from our hotel and then walked the 200 meters to Bugis train station. We headed south to Harbour Station and then hopped on the Monorail (like I said, Disney).

Our first stop was lunch and then Underwater World. The aquarium was small but very well done. I've seen my fair share of aquariums (cause I love them) and I rank this one pretty high. They had some big sharks in the tunnel that we like a lot.

Our next stop was Dolphin Lagoon which is home to the famous pink dolphins and several seals and other fun animals. We stayed for the seal show and actually understood it. It's nice to be in an English speaking country. :)

After the show we walked next door to Fort Siloso. The fort is a former WWII gun battery that is now used as a museum. Glenn and I happened to show up when a guided tour was starting so we got our own private tour of the grounds. It is interesting going to WWII museums where they document the place we are visiting, the American influence in the war and the attacks from Japan. It's neat to see the war from all different sides- all sides that we have a little bit bigger picture than some do. 

PS. Doesn't Glenn look good in this picture? I think so. :)

Next stop. Ice cream. Ben and Jerry's no less! Yes!

Next stop- the southern most point of continental Asia. If that doesn't sound made up, I don't know what is. Especially since we were on an island that is connected to Sentosa island by a bridge that is connected to mainland Singapore by another bridge. That doesn't sound so continental to me. Malaysia would probably agree, too. Oh well, I never said I wasn't a tourist.

After an unexpected walking tour, we found our way back to the train station and headed back to Singapore. We got off the train near the Esplanade theater to eat at our favorite Hawker Center from our last trip. Yummy noodles, fried food and Tiger beer coming up!

 

After dinner we headed back to our hotel. Glenn had to return to the boat tonight since he had tour guide duty back on the ship in the morning. We soaked up every minute together before he had to head back. Luckily, he got a pretty good duty pick that would have him home by dinner time the next evening. Another wonderful day in Singapore!

Singapore: Day 13

I don't really remember a whole lot about Day 13 of our trip. And I didn't take many pictures to jog my memory. I did go for a run in the morning while he slept. The guys schedule on the boat is much different from a normal work schedule. They normally wake up at 10 am-ish, work out, have lunch and then start work and work until 9 or 10 or 12 or later depending on the flight schedule. Because of their crazy schedule, our first few days together always consist of me waking Glenn up super early cause I'm so excited to be together.

After some coffee, breakfast and lounging in our room, we finally emerged to find some lunch and do some shopping. Glenn needed some stuff for the boat and I was excited to look at shoes! My too-big-for-Japanese-shoes feet were in need of some cute sandals.

We stopped at the Little Indian hawker center first for some lunch-

And then continued on to Orchard Road for shopping. Unfortunately, I never found the perfect grey slightly embellished sandals I had pictured in my head, but Glenn found some fun clothes.

We headed back to the hotel in the late afternoon to relax and then we met up with Mike and Toni, some squadron friends, for some dinner at Highlander. The restaurant was a Scottish/scotch/whiskey type restaurant. My lover had the lamb shanks (SNL, anyone?) and I had something else. I forget.

A wonderful dinner though. We continued on to Archipelago brewery for more drinking. A theme of any port call: food, beer/drinking, sex, repeat. (Sorry, mom :) )

The port calls always go by so quickly. We spent very little time of this trip "sightseeing" since we were just there in April and just enjoyed our time. I felt very little pressure to see and do everything in Singapore this time. I didn't care where I was as long as I was with Glenn.

Singapore: Day 12

We woke up stupid early to head to the airport. It was early, but our nerves were getting to us because we were so excited to see our hubbies! In Singapore, the ship pulls on to a Singapore base so the wives are not able to access the pier. Because of this, Glenn and I agreed to meet at the hotel. Krystal and I landed around 9:30, made a stop at the grocery store (for mixers for our Duty Free purchases) and caught a taxi to our hotels. We were there by noon, waiting and waiting.

I finally went down to the lobby to check my email and to send Glenn around 2 pm to see what was taking so long. Of course, he walks in to the lobby right then! So wonderful to see him! I hadn't seen Glenn for about 5 or 6 weeks since he was home for the 4th of July.

We hung out for awhile and then got lunch at one of our favorite restaurants on Arab Street. We had found it last time we were there in April. Just as delicious as last time.

There wasn't too much time for relaxing because we had some mando-fun scheduled at Brewerkz Brewery in Clarke Quay for a Hail & Farewell. Isn't he cute? I miss that face.

Farewell Jameson and Mike! Hello to Corn!

The evening only got more ridiculous after that even though the $400 tab only last about 20 minutes. That's Singapore for you!

I also got the pleasure of meeting Fun Bobby, XO's alterdrinking ego. We made the mistake of following him to a new bar- bad idea Fun Bobby!

Two belts do not equal more fun. But luckily, we went to the Fullerton Bar with Jimmy and Mai and got more mojitos- yum! Then Glenn decided which of our cars he should drive home-

He wishes! An evening of friends, fun and drinking with my mister. So wonderful to be together again!

I'm back!

Well not really, but I will be in a few hours. I can't wait to tell you all about Bali, Lombok, Singapore and Glenn!

This is how you should eat Chili Crab

When Glenn and I were in Singapore last month, we didn't realize you were suppose to ASK for bibs. Wow, did we make a mess of our shirts! Well on Tuesday when my friend, Nicole's, dad was in town and we went to a Singapore restaurant, we made sure to have bibs!

 Thanks for dinner! We had a wonderful time!

Singapore: Day 4

Our last day in Singapore was just as relaxed as the rest. We started our day at Starbucks as normal, then headed to Clarke Quay. This are has a ton of restaurants and shopping. We wandered around for awhile and then decided to do a little shopping. I bought a pair of sandals because the stores in Singapore actually carry my size! Yay!

We ended up in the mall connected to our hotel which was huge and also contained a movie theater. We decided to check out the new Date Night movie with Tina Fey and Steve Carell, but it didn't start for over an hour. We decided to check out this wine bar that we had walked by the other day. I think Glenn noticed it because the valet parking for the hotel next door was in front of this bar. Every uber expensive car you can think of was parked there at some point!

We had a couple glasses of yummy wine and then went to the movie. Which by the way, was hilarious! I definitely recommend it to all my married friends. It is more funny if you are married. When we got out of the movie, we saw that it was pouring rain so we made a good choice by going to the movie instead of the pool!

We went back to the hotel and relaxed and changed for dinner. We were planning on going to the Thai restaurant in the hotel, but they had some special chef and the only dinner available was a set dinner for $100 each. No thanks! We headed to the Irish pub across the street and I enjoyed 2 for 1 martinis for happy hour! No fancy dinner for our anniversary today, but I got to spend it with my favorite person! A good end to a wonderful anniversary trip. Thanks, baby!