Singapore

Monday, March 30

Today the sun is shining in Singapore and the sadness of the last week seems to have been left behind for the Singaporean people. Everyone is going about their business as usual, the flags have been returned to the top of their masts and life is going on - and in a much better way than fifty years ago, largely due to the life of Lee Kuan Yew.

For us there is reason to feel sunny and bright too because we board the Volendam cruise ship today to begin our 28 night Far East China & Japan cruise.

After a breakfast of poppiahs (our new favourite Singaporean food) & a Singaporean coffee that was so sweet it required a drink of water to chase it down, we headed off for a short walk around our hotel. Because the sun was shining and everything was still moist from the torrential rain of yesterday, the humidity was very high so we didn't walk far. Our hotel was situated near the Philatelic Museum and, as Al has developed quite an interest in philately recently, he was keen to visit it. Sadly, (for him anyway!) it wasn't opening until 1.00pm and we were due on board by then. We walked past some interesting old buildings including the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and some beautiful gardens before making our way back to the hotel where we caught a taxi for the Ocean Cruise Terminal.

The Singapore Philatelic Museum

The interesting Chinese Chamber of Commerce Building

Seeing our "new home" is always exciting and MS Volendam didn't disappoint. It is one of Holland America's smaller ships and we really enjoy being on this size ship. The MS Rotterdam that we cruised on for 6 weeks last year is identical in size and layout so we felt at home as soon as we were on board.

MS Volendam

We enjoyed a "return Mariner's" lunch on a table with four other Aussies and two Americans then returned to our cabin to unpack and settle in. We then walked around the ship to familiarise ourselves then settled down to enjoy our kicked-back lifestyle for the next month. The Volendam sailed at 6pm and it was interesting to see Singapore's unbelievably varied skyline from the vantage point of the ship. As cruising is so much about the food, we then made our way to the dining room for a delicious dinner followed by the obligatory welcome show, a short time spent listening to the excellent piano player in the Piano Bar and then into bed for a delicious night's sleep being rocked by the very slight movement of the ship. We have a day at sea tomorrow and arrive in Koh Samui on Wednesday. What a blessed life!

 

 

 

 

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