Tuesday, October 21

Sea day. About the only thing different was that there was a very temporary exhibit of efforts of the watercolor class, including 2 of mine.

Oh, and the passenger talent show. For the first time in my entire cruising history, the talent was actually pretty good! Several good singers, a banjo player, a pianist, a barbershop quartet, a cowboy poet, et al. It also included a huge group of passengers who had been practicing as the “HAL Chorale.”

At dinner we said goodbye to one of our table mates who is getting off in Singapore, Mary from Walla Walla, WA. We’ve heard that 300 are getting off, but only 50 are getting on, so we don’t know if we will get anyone new for the second part of the cruise.

Wednesday, October 22

Singapore. Of course Raffles is quintessential Singapore, and I managed to get a photo of it while on a bus tour of the city. We didn’t stop much, but we had an excellent guide who made the trip interesting. We saw most of the different ethnic enclaves as well as newer portions of the city. Near Little India there was one street that was solid fabric shops along both sides! Absolutely amazing! If I were staying here I could spend a whole lot of time and money on that street! It’s a good thing that the bus didn’t stop there.

Singapore is a very neat and clean city...it’s illegal to chew gum there, and anyone who litters gets fined on the spot. Even the traffic is neat and orderly...completely unlike all the other Asian cities I’ve seen so far. Refreshing.

Back on the ship, I spent much of the afternoon with Mary (the one from Seattle) and Josie on the aft deck watching little boats in the harbor, sipping a real Singapore Sling (complete with a small white orchid) and wondering when the Singapore officials would clear the ship for departure. They were counting noses and passports in a very dedicated manner. We actually sailed about an hour late.