4/9 – 4/10 Singapore
The short version via pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/mpquinn/Asia2010
The narrative version:
4/7 – 4/8 Dallas to Singapore
4/9 – 4/10 Singapore
4/10 From the Ritz Carlton to the Seabourn Pride
4/11 – 4/12 At Sea
4/13 – 4/14 Laem Chabang
4/15-4/16 Ko Kood and at sea
4/17 – 4/19 Ho Chi Minh City (Siagon)
4/20 Da Nang
4/21 – 4/23 Halong Bay
4/24 Hong Kong
4/25 Homebound
Service Specific Comments on the Asia trip
After check in, we shower and get ready to sleep, by which time it is about 2am. During this time we noticed that there was loud bass music, and we assumed there was a club nearby. Before 3 the music was off so this wasn’t an issue. I got a few hours of sleep then got up and showered again around 6am. Brook still wasn’t feeling well, didn’t want to go anywhere, even just downstairs for breakfast but was interested in room service. The problem is, room service is not a great choice when you can’t eat gluten, but she finally decided on a couple things, so I ordered that up and a pot of coffee for me.
This all takes about 90 minutes, I drink my coffee, and Brook shows no interest in eating anything. I tell her I am going to go swim for about an hour, and she says “I was wondering why you were still here.” Umm… because you have been acting like you were going to die for the last 12 hours.
I swam and came back to the room to find that she still hadn’t eaten anything, so I eat a piece of fruit and some eggs she ordered and hang around for a while to see if she might be interested in eating anything. She does eat some fruit and goes back to sleep, so I head downstairs to have breakfast.
Breakfast is included with our room, but I figured I would try a Singapore breakfast on the trip, runny eggs, toast and kaya, which I think is a sweet coconut syrup they put on the toast. At this point, I need food more than I need culture, so I eat at the hotel.
The breakfast is buffet, so I am not thrilled. After being seated, I am brought a cup off coffee, and it is GOOD. At this point, breakfast just needs to be edible; I can wash everything down with good coffee. There are about a 12 tables’ setup with breakfast, and the first thing I see is Dim Sum. Umm HELL YEAH, I can have dim sum for breakfast? Instead of going into detail about everything I ate, let just go over what was available. There was congee (rice porridge), dim sum, pork rib soup, maybe a dozen choices of fresh fruit, a dozen fresh juices, a dozen jams, breads, bagels, made to order eggs, pastries, muffins, sausage, American style bacon, curry, rice, baked beans and cereals. The food was good, so I was now thrilled that it was a buffet.
I come back to the room, and Brook has eaten some. That is an improvement. I tell her I am going exploring for a while, since she is planning on just sleeping. She lets me know that she will be at the hotel when I get back and if she is not in the room check the pool and the restaurant. That is a big improvement.
Off I go to explore the wonder that is Singapore’s mall system. Now shopping really isn’t my thing, but it is the national past time in Singapore, and their malls are a little different than our malls. Everything is in a mall in Singapore. Walking to the nearest mall from the Ritz takes about 3 minutes, and if you know where you are going (I don’t yet), it can be done with only about 1 minute in un air conditioned space, but completely in the shade. When you first walk in to Marina Square from the Ritz, there are little restaurants, a CVS/Walgreens like pharmacy and a miniature Home Depot. After wondering for a while, and walking through two more malls, I found the supermarket. So everything really is in a mall, supermarkets, hardware stores and pharmacies included.
After about an hour walking through malls, I start to feel the effects of the time change and try to retrace my steps. Lacking female mall navigation skills, it took a while to get back to the hotel, but walking out of Marina Square, I spotted the back door to the Ritz, which required much less un air conditioned walking. Singapore is HOT.
It is now mid afternoon and I totally bonked.
After I nap, Brook gets up and is ready to do a little of something. So we walk around Marina Square for about 10 minutes then head back to the hotel for ‘lunch’. Brook gets adventurous and orders a salad. The food is good, but I can’t believe I am in Singapore eating at a hotel.
We finish up around 4pm, Brook goes back to bed and I explore a little more before going to sleep.
The loud bass music starts up again around maybe 10pm? I sleep through it. Brook calls a little after 3am to ask when the club closes, and finds out that there is no club. The music is shut off for about 10 minutes before coming back on, it was the room below us that was playing the music. I wake up around 5:30am, and can see how that might keep a normal person awake, like me if I wasn’t jetlagged.
I head down to the pool to get a swim in. When I get back Brook is pissed because the music was finally turned off a little after 7am. I ask why she didn’t call reception again.
I excitedly convince Brook to get some breakfast at the buffet with me.
She tries to get some sleep while I going touring before we need to leave for the boat. The pictures cover what I saw better than I could write about it. After getting caught in the rain, I slog back to the hotel to shower and pack up to head to the boat.