Noon Report:

• Location: N 01° 15.71′, E 103° 49.07′
• Speed: Docked
• Course: Docked
• Weather: Clear
• Temperature: 27º C, 81º F
• Wind: NNE 8 knots, 9 mph

Another early excursion today.

Our first stop was the National Museum of Singapore. It’s a nice museum in a great neo-classic building. Our guide walked us thru exhibits showing the history of Singapore from pre-history to the present.

The Singapore Stone was a monolith at the mouth of the river inscribed with text in several languages – most of them unknown. Because it was blocking an expansion project at the mouth of the river the British blew it up. In addition to this piece another section is located in the British Museum.

Other ancient and early artifacts include:

They also had displays of early colonial Singapore.

When Sir Raffles built up the trading area, he put the different nationalities in different locations but required all the buildings to have brick or tile roofs to cut down on the neighborhood fires that consumed the pandanus & wood homes. The black and white bungalows of the early British colonists are very coveted by tourists.

We learned that in WWII the Japanese invaded the island from the north – thru the swampy area – using bicycles since there were only beaten paths through the jungles.

Following the museum visit we were bused to “Little India” – a section of the city where the influence of India is pervasive.

An excellent seafood lunch was served at a wonderful Chinese restaurant…

Following lunch we were bused to Little Arab Street.

They were preparing for Ramadan so we did not go into the mosque.

Our last stop for the day was the Raffles Hotel – sadly, not the Long Bar, but rather the boutique. We browsed for a bit and then left to find a bit of iconic architecture to use as a backdrop.

Here are a few shots of the street scene picked up along the way today.

The use of greenery on buildings is part of a national program to cut energy usage and air pollution.

Back on board we stopped at the Living Room Bar for a cool drink (C-banana daiquiri, R-Gin & Tonic) and a cookie.

Returning to our stateroom we read and studied until dinner. (It was Vietnam night at the World Cafe – YUM!)

Viking was showing a “movie under the stars” this evening – South Pacific. It had been some time since either of us had seen the movie so we camped out on the pool deck with popcorn.

Randy had to leave early for a short 11:00 Zoom call and he and Cheryl arrived at their stateroom together to rest and prepare for the final day in Singapore.

Nite all, R

Cheryl’s Factoids:

• The old British bungalows and many older houses are built up on stilts/pilings because of flooding and air circulation.
• People used to “hawk” food at carts along the streets, but the government decided this was a health hazard (and I did see slabs of meat laying out on carts in Ho Chi Mihn City) so they built indoor “hawker markets” and provided stalls with running water and electricity. The hawker markets have a seating area and air conditioning!