Singapore is everything everybody says about it, and more. It is an extremely clean, modern, bustling city with at least one of anything you could possibly want. It also has an older side, where tradition reigns. For our first day in Singapore we opted for a city tour that included lunch at the famous Raffles Hotel. However, David was not feeling well, and did not think a tour that included eating was a good idea, so I asked a friend of mine, Jeanne, to come along. She had filled in for David in Auckland, and we had a great time together, so I thought it would be fun to have her along again.

The first thing we learned about Singapore is that there is a lot of walking through the terminal to get to the Customs area, where our passports and bags were checked, and then more walking to get to the tour area. For some reason, of all the ports we have been in so far, only Singapore has required the passengers to carry passports; so the ship signed them out to us and off we went.

Our first stop on the tour was at a Buddhist temple. It was very interesting, and a worship service was actually going on while we were there, with lamas leading people in chanting (which was almost like singing). One half of the temple (not the side where the service was going on) had statues of many deities, including the ones matching your birth year (Year of the Rabbit, Year of the Monkey, etc.). We all looked for (and got photographed with) our own special deities. I think the small statues were for sale, but I didn't buy any.

After the temple, we walked down the street to a market area. The guide really wanted us to look around the upstairs, which he claimed had more than 200 food places, but Jeanne and I took one look and found that most of them were small stands or even McDonald’s type places, so we opted to go to the basement floor, which was a food and flower market. At the seafood area they were having a sale on crocodile meat, which I thought was interesting.    I bet it tastes like chicken.

We then drove through the city. The architecture is amazing. They have a museum building called The Durians because it looks like two durians. There is also a building that looks like three columns with a cruise ship on top of them, said by the guide to belong to Harrah’s of Las Vegas. Our destination was a tea shop in the older part of town, where a fascinating gentleman gave us a lecture on tea: what tea is (and isn’t), how to grow it, how to dry it, how to brew it, how to drink it. At the end, he gave us some tea.

Just to recap: there is only one tea plant, camellia sinensis. Herbal teas are not real teas (sorry, guys, he said it, not me). There are four types of tea: white tea, green tea, oolong, and black tea. White tea is the healthiest because it is the least processed, has the least caffeine, and it is made from the tender leaves at the very tip of the tea plant. Green tea is next in all these respects, followed by oolong and black tea. Black teas are often combined with essential oils or spices to add different flavors (for example, Earl Grey tea has oil of bergamot added). Also, tea bags are evil; they are used to hide all kinds of sins and inferior teas. The average teapot used by Americans or English is way too big; it should be used for a large gathering, because it will make at least 50 or 60 of the proper sized cups of tea. If you look at the picture of the proper-sized tea set, be aware that the small cup by the teapot is about 1.5 inches tall. He used that very teapot to brew 7 cups of tea. He did it 7 times, only steeping for about 30 seconds at a time.

After the tea lecture/ceremony, we went to Raffles Hotel.    Our first stop was outside for a photo opportunity (and to gather the group together); then we proceeded into the Long Bar, which was closed to the public for our group, and enjoyed a Singapore Sling. Actually, Jeanne and I enjoyed one and a half Singapore Slings, because a woman near us didn’t want hers. The ceiling fans in the bar are unique: they are hung from the ceiling and move back and forth, not around. Singapore Slings are delicious, but tricky – don’t have too many. On our way to lunch in the Chinese dining room, we stopped at the Raffles Museum, which had some interesting travel artifacts and the original recipe (supposedly) for the Sling. The Raffles is an extremely nice hotel, but their suites run from $1000 a day and up, according to the guide, so I don’t imagine I’ll be checking in soon.

We had a very nice set luncheon in the Chinese dining room, and then went back to the bus for a ride back to the ship. On the way back, we stopped in Little India, and did a bit of shopping and photography. I had particularly wanted to get a picture of a Hindu temple but the guide said it was several blocks out of the way. However, we passed one on the way back to the ship and I managed to get (kind of) a picture of it. Better than nothing, anyway.