Singapore is one of the most amazing places I have ever been to! I am so sad that we had such little time there. The moment the ship was cleared by immigration, Amy and I grabbed our passports and made our way off the gangway. The port was a little different than any other port that we have been to. We had to leave the gangway, go up a set of stairs into a building that was similar to an airport terminal, and then proceed to a security checkpoint with x-ray scanners for bags and passport checks. It was more tedious than anything, and if you were part of a big trip, you could expect to have to wait in line to go through the security process.
Once out of the security area, we walked out of the building and across the parking lot to another building and went to the cable cars. We took a cable car to Sentosa, an “island” that takes about five minutes to get to. The cable car was so cool. We rode right above the ship and got to see the aerial view of it. We got to see the amazing scenery and architecture in Singapore. There are building that curve, and no I am not exaggerating. They really curve. I don’t know how, but they do. I don’t know why I am so fascinated by them but I am.
We took the cable cars to Sentosa and made our way to the Underwater World Aquarium. When we bought the tickets we were able to buy a combo with the Underwater World, Dolphin Lagoon and Butterfly Park. The Underwater World was awesome! I’ve realized that I am kind of obsessed with aquariums. I absolutely love them. At this one you can actually touch the fish. It was so cool. At one tank there is a well and you can put your hand in and the goldfish swim up to your hand. Some of them were scared and didn’t but when you just barely touch the top of the water they swim to the surface because they think it is particles of food or something. One of them kissed my finger. It was so weird. There is also a tank where you can touch the stingrays and starfish and you can also feed the sharks. I loved this aquarium.
At 11am, we made our way to the Dolphin Lagoon where we could go to the “Meet the Dolphins” show. It was about ten to fifteen minutes of meeting the dolphins and seeing their “tricks”. They know how to balance basketballs, shoot soccer balls, use hula hoops, wave hello and jump out of the water in unison. I felt like a little kid again, but that’s okay. I loved it.
On one of the signs, we found the MegaZip Adventure Park. At this park, you are able to ParaJump (jump off of a fifty foot platform and freefall while harnessed in), ClimbMax (complete a rope obstacle course while harnessed in above the ground), RockClimb, and ZipLine. Amy did the ParaJump, CimbMax, and Zipline, while I did just the ParaJump and Zipline. The ParaJump was a lot of fun, but I had a minor freak out session. When you are on the ground, it doesn’t seem like it is that high, but when you get to that platform and you are looking down it is extremely high. I was shaking, and after about two minutes of hesitating, the guy counted me down and I jumped. It wasn’t that scary, but it was a lot of fun!! The ZipLine was probably my favorite. I videotaped the whole thing. We were strapped in and on the count of three, let go and we zip lined above the tree tops towards the other side which was along the beach. It was absolutely beautiful. The entire time we were waiting to go, I was saying “watch me get stuck right before we reach the end” because Amy had mentioned that the zip line she did in Haiti she got stuck over the water and they had to come out to get her. Of course, it happened to me. I got stuck about ten feet in front of where I needed to end above the beach and water. They had a rope attached to a zip line that they threw out to me (after about six tries) and I was rescued. It was a beautiful scene and I wasn’t complaining that I was stuck out there, but after a minute or two just hanging out the harness started to hurt a little bit, so I was happy I was rescued when I was.
After I was rescued from the ZipLine, we found this cute little ice cream shop called New Zealand Natural Ice Cream. We stopped in and got some ice cream. They had the craziest names for their ice cream. I had a scoop of “Spotty Dog” which was a mix of chocolate and vanilla with an assortment of chocolate chips mixed in. It was so good!!
We made our way to the Butterfly Park. There were so many butterflies flying around! It was amazing! We saw the many different species of butterflies and displays of the life cycle as well. Then we entered a room and there were beetles and insects. I tend to be a ‘girly girl’ when it comes to those things so that was not my favorite part of the day, but I survived. Amy walked by a display case and yelled for me not to come over there. I wondered why, but then realized that there was a huge snake in the case. I was thankful that she warned me because I am terrified of snakes. Overall, I liked the butterfly park, but the aquarium topped it by a mile in my book!!
After a long day wondering around and being adventurous, we headed back to the ship. We were able to relax for about an hour and then we headed out for our Night Safari. The Night Safari was an SAS trip which took us through the Singapore Zoo. It was really cool because we were able to have an authentic Singaporean meal, buffet style, and then went on a tram style car decked out in animal prints through the zoo, at night, to see all of the different animals in their zoo habitats. What made it even cooler was that it was Halloween, and Halloween is a big deal in Singapore so they made it a Haunted Night Safari. There were different people along the way that jumped out to scare us. Some of them were really scary and Amy and Carly were screaming, and so was I J
The next morning, Amy and I got up, fairly early, and decided to go look for some free Wi-Fi at an internet café. We walked around, and to our dismay were unsuccessful. We walked around the local mall, which was massive, looking around for souvenir stores, and stumbled upon an internet boutique. It was a room with about thirty computers. We learned we would need to pay four Singapore dollars to use the internet for one hour. We decided it was worth it. The computers had Skype on it so we were even happier. I was able to call home and talk to my mom, dad and brother. I was probably the happiest person when they answered the phone. I talked to them for about half an hour. It was my dad’s birthday, okay well it was his birthday the following day but we would be sailing to Vietnam so I wouldn’t be able to call him, so I called a day early, which was actually two days early back home (we are 12 hours ahead). After talking with my family I was in such a good mood. I miss them so much, but I know I will see them soon (6 weeks!)
We spent the rest of the day shopping and got little souvenirs. Singapore is extremely expensive so I wanted to save some money and not get too many things. We were able to find some deals, but not too many. We made it to Chinatown where there was an outdoor market which was like a flea market setting. I was a little nervous because I was expecting Chinatown like back home or for it to be dirty or something like that, but it was not like that at all. It was so clean and laid back. I didn’t feel bad if I decided not to buy anything. It was so nice and not overwhelming at all…except when Amy and I had our first little screaming match. We had a miscommunication and while I was looking at something Amy apparently told me that she was going to walk to another little store and I didn’t hear her. I turned around and she was gone. I started to freak out and get annoyed because she disappeared. I walked up and down the street looking for her and all that were there were Singaporean/Asian people and I did not see one American. I was getting mad at this point. I found some SAS kids and was asking them if they saw her. After about five to ten minutes I was all set and decided to go stand on some stairs above the street where you could see everything, figuring that it is easier to find a target when it isn’t moving. Apparently Amy had the same idea because she was heading for the stairs as I was. We started yelling at each other (well not really yelling, just talking rather loudly for us at least) because we were just scared and annoyed that we lost each other. It was actually funny and we were laughing about it after wards. All that matters is that we found each other and made it back to the ship safe and sound.
All in all, Singapore is an amazing country. I would love to return and would actually consider living there, if it wasn’t so expensive, and when I say expensive I mean expensive. Picture this, I have a Nissan Altima and on average, my car would cost around $20,000, give or take. We met a family waiting outside the terminal, and started talking to them. We asked them if all of the rumors were true about cost of living, etc and they were quick to assure us that they were. They divulged to us that they have a Nissan that cost them about $80,000 and their monthly rent is $8300/month. It is crazy!!! But I soon learned that their wages/salaries are slightly higher than ours.
Singapore is also a FINE city. I knew that laws in Singapore were much stricter than in any other country I had ever been to. But some of these laws were kind of funny. Amy actually found a T-Shirt which listed a bunch of the fines that you would receive in Singapore. Some of them were:
· No Smoking (Fine: $500)
· No Flushing (Fine: $500) (if you are caught not flushing the toilet in a public place)
· No Bird Feeding (Fine: $500)
· No Dumping/No Littering (Fine: $500)
· No Urinating in a Lift (Fine: $500) (don’t pee in an elevator)
· No Flower Picking (Fine: $500)
· No Spitting (Fine: $500)
· No Chewing Gum (Fine: $500) (I learned that you can chew gum but you can’t spit it out in public)
I was laughing at some of them because they are so random.
I loved Singapore and was sad we only had two days there. I will definitely go back there someday.
Vietnam is up next and I couldn’t be more excited J Shopping here I come!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment