March 25, 2018 – Singapore, Singapore – Day 1

Spread across 63 islands at the tip of the Malay Peninsula, Singapore is the world’s only island city-state. Established in 1819 for the East India Company by Sir Stamford Raffles, after whom the famed hotel is named, it grew from a secluded backwater into a shabby port city before transforming itself into a sophisticated metropolis. The technology and economy are highly advanced here, yet the islands host plentiful green parks with tree-lined footpaths and the stunning National Orchid Garden. For a panoramic view of it all, the Marina Bay Sands towers offer the perfect observation deck; the Sands Skypark lies flat atop the rooftops of this trio of 57-story hotel towers like an enormous surfboard. 

Here we are doing it on our own. Today we bought a train (underground railroad) pass and used it all day to cover a lot of the town. Singapore is a very clean and friendly city. In fact, there is a large fine if you chew gum. The subway stations are also very clean and friendly.

Today was a Sunday and the stop where we boarded the train was at the end of the line, so the cars were empty till we got a little further down the line.

Our first stop was Chinatown. It is a Chinese enclave with a colorful mix of old and new, with a lot of history, from family run goldsmiths and medicine halls, to textile stores and dim sum restaurants. The main tourist street here is Pagoda Street because of the style of architecture. We just walked around, shopped and took pictures.

Next on our itinerary was Little India.  Here we found fortune tellers, street cart vendors selling garlands of jasmine, roasted nuts (kachang puteh) and newspapers are just some of the interesting sights.

We also saw the Abdul Gafoor Mosque, which is one of the countries national monuments. It was originally constructed of wood in 1859 to service the residents who had come from Southern India. In 1881 the mosque was made official and a saqf or endowment in Islamic laws was granted to use the land for religious purposes. Construction of the mosque with more permanent building materials commenced in 1906. When Gaffoor passed away in 1919 his son became the manager of the mosque and adjacent Muslim properties until 1927. Today the shop houses opposite the mosque are used for religious instruction.

As we were winding up our visit in Little India we met some friends who were on a tour and had just come from Arab Street, another part of town. She also told me about the deal she got on some scarfs, so off we went in search of Arab Street. It turned out to be a very interesting neighborhood.

We then went in search of our subway and were headed to Raffles Place to visit the Lau Pa Sat Festival Pavilion. At night around the outside of the pavilion they have a night market.

Sir Stamford Raffles is considered to be the founding father of Singapore. In fact, the Raffles Hotel is where the Singapore Sling ($35 each) was founded. 

It was now time to go back to the ship. We were planning to go back out in the evening, but it got late and we stayed on the ship. It was a very full day and we walked seven miles.