Hey everyone!
This post about Singapore is going to be pretty short and sweet. We are getting to Burma tomorrow morning, and I've been sick so I'm trying to get as much rest as possible because I have a lot of things planned for that port! I am going to stick with text and no pictures for this one, but will upload pictures from Singapore right after Burma!
We were in Singapore for just two days, but I had an absolutely incredible time, as I have in all of the other ports so far. During our mandatory pre-port session before arriving in Singapore, I learned some very interesting and surprising facts about the country.
I spent the first day traveling in the city with a group of five other people. There were some places we had been told to go see, so we got off the ship as quick as possible. Unfortunately, we didn't realize that there was a bus that could take us from the port terminal to the metro station. We tried to walk there. It took us about 45 minutes to find it and we realized right as we got to the station that we could have taken a bus. Oh well. Lesson learned!
Singapore is a very expensive place. We noticed that right away when we were looking into buying tickets at the metro station. There were a lot of places we wanted to go, so we decided the best idea was to buy the day pass that we could use as many times as we wanted throughout the day instead of paying each time we wanted to go somewhere.
Our first stop was the Botanic gardens. It is a 150 year old garden home to a great diversity of tropical plants in many different landscapes. Some of the different areas include the Botany Centre, Ginger Garden, Stunning Sculptures, Eco Garden and Evolutionary Garden. We could have spent all day in there and not seen everything. I will definitely upload some pictures later.
Our next stop was a big food court for lunch near China Town that came highly recommended. It was the biggest food court I had ever seen and had food from all over the world including China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan and America. It was delicious!
We then made our way to China Town for a quick look around. On our way there, I was really surprised at how much I felt like I was back at home in America. Almost everyone spoke English, the signs were all in English, and there were tons of restaurants that I was used to seeing back at home.
We didn't spend a lot of time in China Town, but it was fun to look around after just having been to actual China. We took a metro to a huge discount electronics store so that one of the girls we were with could find a new lens for her camera. After that, we headed back to the ship to meet up with some people that had field labs that morning/afternoon and then went out for a late dinner.
Earlier in the day, we had passed a Chili's while walking around. Everyone thought that sounded amazing and that it would be great to have some familiar food after all of the new stuff we've been trying. So we ate at a Chili's in Singapore. :) The menu had a few different items and was slightly more expensive, but other than that it was the same as a Chili's back in America. We did a little more walking around after dinner before heading back to the ship for the night.
The next morning, I had the SAS field program trip to the Singapore Zoo! I was so excited for this and was definitely not disappointed. I only wish that we would have had more time than we did because I did not make it through the whole thing. It was the most incredible zoo I have ever been to. It was a pretty "open" zoo. There were not a lot of animals in actual barred cages. A lot of the monkeys were just hanging out in the trees around and above us. It was so awesome! There were over 2,500 animals there. My favorites were the pandas, white tigers and all of the monkeys! I was actually able to get my picture taken with some orangutans. I will definitely upload that picture later, so be watching for it!
After getting back to the ship, there wasn't a whole lot of time left before "on-ship" time, so I took advantage of some of the last Wifi I will probably have in a while, exchanged my leftover money and then got back on.
We had three days in-between Singapore and Burma. If you have me on Facebook, you might have noticed that I was fortunate enough to get to speak with the Arch Bishop and have my picture taken with him. That was such an incredible moment in my life and one that I will never forget! I will also upload that picture later. That took place on the day after Singapore, and I haven't been feeling too well since then. Hopefully I am better tomorrow because I have a lot of great things planned for Burma, including a tour of Rangoon the first day and then an Elephant Camp trip the four days following that.
I'm not really sure what to expect for Burma. This is the first time the ship has docked there in six years. Tourists haven't been allowed in for quite a while. We've been told that this might be one of the most interesting (in a good way) places that we will ever visit in our lives. I'm really excited!
Thanks guys! I'm sorry for how short this post was and that there aren't any pictures. I will try to make up for it later!
This post about Singapore is going to be pretty short and sweet. We are getting to Burma tomorrow morning, and I've been sick so I'm trying to get as much rest as possible because I have a lot of things planned for that port! I am going to stick with text and no pictures for this one, but will upload pictures from Singapore right after Burma!
We were in Singapore for just two days, but I had an absolutely incredible time, as I have in all of the other ports so far. During our mandatory pre-port session before arriving in Singapore, I learned some very interesting and surprising facts about the country.
- It is one of the cleanest and safest countries in the world. (Cleaner and safer than America)
- It is illegal to have bring chewing gum into the country. It is also illegal to litter and to jaywalk. You will be arrested if caught doing any of these things. I was never so nervous to walk in a place in my entire life.
- Sometimes they cane you in jail if you are arrested.
- If you are caught with illegal drugs, you are arrested and sentenced to death by hanging within 72 hours of when you were caught. Woah.
I spent the first day traveling in the city with a group of five other people. There were some places we had been told to go see, so we got off the ship as quick as possible. Unfortunately, we didn't realize that there was a bus that could take us from the port terminal to the metro station. We tried to walk there. It took us about 45 minutes to find it and we realized right as we got to the station that we could have taken a bus. Oh well. Lesson learned!
Singapore is a very expensive place. We noticed that right away when we were looking into buying tickets at the metro station. There were a lot of places we wanted to go, so we decided the best idea was to buy the day pass that we could use as many times as we wanted throughout the day instead of paying each time we wanted to go somewhere.
Our first stop was the Botanic gardens. It is a 150 year old garden home to a great diversity of tropical plants in many different landscapes. Some of the different areas include the Botany Centre, Ginger Garden, Stunning Sculptures, Eco Garden and Evolutionary Garden. We could have spent all day in there and not seen everything. I will definitely upload some pictures later.
Our next stop was a big food court for lunch near China Town that came highly recommended. It was the biggest food court I had ever seen and had food from all over the world including China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan and America. It was delicious!
We then made our way to China Town for a quick look around. On our way there, I was really surprised at how much I felt like I was back at home in America. Almost everyone spoke English, the signs were all in English, and there were tons of restaurants that I was used to seeing back at home.
We didn't spend a lot of time in China Town, but it was fun to look around after just having been to actual China. We took a metro to a huge discount electronics store so that one of the girls we were with could find a new lens for her camera. After that, we headed back to the ship to meet up with some people that had field labs that morning/afternoon and then went out for a late dinner.
Earlier in the day, we had passed a Chili's while walking around. Everyone thought that sounded amazing and that it would be great to have some familiar food after all of the new stuff we've been trying. So we ate at a Chili's in Singapore. :) The menu had a few different items and was slightly more expensive, but other than that it was the same as a Chili's back in America. We did a little more walking around after dinner before heading back to the ship for the night.
The next morning, I had the SAS field program trip to the Singapore Zoo! I was so excited for this and was definitely not disappointed. I only wish that we would have had more time than we did because I did not make it through the whole thing. It was the most incredible zoo I have ever been to. It was a pretty "open" zoo. There were not a lot of animals in actual barred cages. A lot of the monkeys were just hanging out in the trees around and above us. It was so awesome! There were over 2,500 animals there. My favorites were the pandas, white tigers and all of the monkeys! I was actually able to get my picture taken with some orangutans. I will definitely upload that picture later, so be watching for it!
After getting back to the ship, there wasn't a whole lot of time left before "on-ship" time, so I took advantage of some of the last Wifi I will probably have in a while, exchanged my leftover money and then got back on.
We had three days in-between Singapore and Burma. If you have me on Facebook, you might have noticed that I was fortunate enough to get to speak with the Arch Bishop and have my picture taken with him. That was such an incredible moment in my life and one that I will never forget! I will also upload that picture later. That took place on the day after Singapore, and I haven't been feeling too well since then. Hopefully I am better tomorrow because I have a lot of great things planned for Burma, including a tour of Rangoon the first day and then an Elephant Camp trip the four days following that.
I'm not really sure what to expect for Burma. This is the first time the ship has docked there in six years. Tourists haven't been allowed in for quite a while. We've been told that this might be one of the most interesting (in a good way) places that we will ever visit in our lives. I'm really excited!
Thanks guys! I'm sorry for how short this post was and that there aren't any pictures. I will try to make up for it later!
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