Singapore

Wed April 13.Docked at 6am.I took "Singapore's Iconic Tour"The city state is 710sq km with a population of 5 million.Very clean and safe.17% of the land has been reclaimed.When I was here 3 yrs.ago the symbol of Singapore,the Merlion(head of a lion,body of a fish)was at the mouth of the Singapore River.Now there are many buildings beyond it on reclaimed land and it was in a small red building,unable to be seen,I forget why.We took a boat trip which was lovely.

Riverside shops and cafes

Along the riverfront are shop houses where the merchants lived above their businesses.These are now trendy shops and cafes.The river used to be polluted by all the barges, etc.but has been cleaned up and the only boats are those that bring tourists up and down.

Our tour boat

We got off the boat where the statue of the founder of modern Singapore is,Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles.

Statue of Raffles

Many trishaws there;I rode one 3 yrs ago,but this time we walked to our coach and were driven to Raffles Hotel where we went up an outside staircase to the long bar for our Singapore sling and peanuts in the shell.

At Raffles long bar having a Singapore Sling

I took a picture of the lobby where only residents are allowed.
We visited a Taoist temple built in 1821,no nails were used.The roof detail was interesting.This was for protection.

Roof detail on pagoda

We passed the once Governor's residence

Governor's house

and saw many raintrees with epiphytes

Raintree with epiphytes

It was extremely hot and humid and I could hardly wait to get back to the ship to put all my clothes in the laundry.
Tomorrow Kuala Lumpur.

Singapore, Singapore