DAY 66- WELCOME TO SINGAPORE

Wonderful Dinner At Prego Last Evening ✔ Terrific Full Day In Singapore ✔ 

Before dinner last evening we attended the Captain Farewell Reception.  We had a really nice time and spoke with several fellow guests.  During the reception the Captain recognized the employee of the month which was awarded to a sailor who most people would not know since they work behind the scenes.  The recipient received a letter from the President of Crystal Cruises, a gift certificate for the on board stores, dinner for two at one of the Specialty Restaurants and a cash bonus.  On top of this it is special for the person receiving the award and for all of us that they are recognized by the Captain at the Captain's Reception.  

Before the reception, we spoke with fellow World Cruiser Elaine.

We enjoyed a glass of wine at the bar.

While we ate dinner in Prego last evening, these are the dinner menus from the Crystal Dining Room where the theme of the menu was the Captain's Gala Dinner.

We enjoyed a delicious meal at Prego.  Our waiter was Costa.  He was also assisted by one of the other senior waiters and an assistant waiter.

We changed things up a bit last evening by ordering some items we usually do not order very often such as Veal for Anne Marie and Beef for Keith and we even shared a dessert.  One thing we do not mention very often is the size of the portions.  We like the fact that the size of the portions is what we would consider not too large and not too small and certainly no one will starve on the ship.  If you want more of an item or some other item that is easily taken care of.  At the same time by having servings that are not so large we think that is a much more healthy approach to eating.  It gives you the opportunity to truly savor what you are eating just a you might savor a fine wine.

Speaking of wine, we enjoyed a wonderful Chianti which Christian, the Prego Sommelier, had recommended for us the last time we dined at Prego and we decided to have it again last evening.  Christian, like so many of the seasoned Sommelier's on board the ship truly knows his wines and spent a good deal of time talking with us last evening about this wine along with some other wines.  In about ten days we are going to have six other guests join us for dinner at Prego and we spoke about what types of wine(s) would be nice to enjoy with them.  We find it so very interesting to speak with the Sommelier's about wine as there is much more that we do not know about wine than we know although with each passing cruise we certainly know so much more about wine than we did several years ago.

We each began the meal with salads.  Anne Marie had a Caesar Salad and Keith had a standing order salad.

For our second course we ordered a small portion of the additional entree which was a Ravioli.  The Ravioli was delicious and this is an example of a specially prepared food item that one can truly savor the taste.  The pasta was very light and not too cheesy and the sauce added a great deal of flavor.

On each evening in Prego there are two additional entrees beyond the menu.  Often they will include a Pasta and a Seafood Entree.  However, given the last couple of ports we visited Seafood was not available so instead last nights additional entrees included the Pasta entree that we had as an appetizer along with a beef entree.

Since there was not Seafood item, this was extra incentive to change things up rather than say ordering the Striped Bass Entree from the regular menu.  Anne Marie decided to go with the Veal Scaloppine Marsala (the Veal can be prepared in one of three different ways) and Keith had the additional entree of the evening which was sliced fillet of beaf with vegetables.  We both enjoyed these entrees.

Keith's entree also came with a large crouton and salad.

Veal Scaloppine Marsala

We decided to share a dessert which was also one that was an addition to the menu.  It was a Mocha Bodino.  It too was very delicious but the photo does not do it justice as you cannot see the true color of the ice cream.  This was a perfect size dessert to share.  We both also had decaffeinated cappuchino.

After dinner we attended the late seating Captain's Farewell Reception.  We did not have anything to drink there, and only attended the reception so we could speak with fellow guests who we do not see at the early reception.  We spoke with several guests as well as various officers and those from other areas such as some of the Lido Deck Stewards who assist at these functions.  Some of the Lido Stewards who we absolutely adore are leaving the ship in Singapore.  However, several other favorites are returning to the ship in Singapore having spent two months at home.  

We spent a good deal of time with friends Bob and Glo.

We also stayed to hear Captain Glenn speak again at this reception.  During his talk he highlighted what an extraordinary itinerary we sailed from Sydney to Singapore and how nice and calm the seas were.  He wished those who will be departing in Singapore safe travels and noted that he looks forward to their return on a future cruise.  

By the time we got back to our room it was fairly late and we fell asleep relatively easy.  The seas continued to be very calm as they have been throughout this leg of the World Cruise.

After getting a very nice sleep it was easy for Keith to get up early in the morning for his daily workout and he actually got up a little earlier than normal.   He had a great workout and he was alone the entire time.  During the workout, he watched a lecture he had missed seeing live yesterday.  Afterwards,  he stopped by the Lido Cafe for some coffee.  He spoke with the member of the night crew who he sees there on each and everyday and also to Lido Cafe Steward Liebert.  Anne Marie also woke up a little earlier than normal and she worked out for one hour.  

We had breakfast in our room thirty minutes earlier than we normally so we could get ready for our visit to Singapore.

This is our third time to Singapore.  We first visited Singapore in 2008 and then we visited there a second time when we were there just last year and that included a three day post cruise before we flew back to the United States.   We love Singapore and most people who have visited here say exactly the same thing.

It is a very clean and safe place to visit and it is tourist friendly.  There is a lot to see  and to do here and it has a wide range of diverse places within the downtown area to see including its Little India and Chinatown districts.  While it is a dictatorship the people who live here do have much more opportunity than those who live in many of the oppressed dictatorships around the world.

While we  find that it is an easy place to see on our own between using the subway system, taxis and walking by foot, we ended up arranging for a full day private tour.  This is because we had an option with our travel consortium of taking the full shipboard credit they offered or taking a combination of a shipboard credit and cars in five of eight cities that were available to us.  We wanted the cars in some of the cities and we selected Singapore to get to five cities.  We did include a couple of places on our itinerary that we would need to travel by car to reach anyway.

We met our driver, Calvin, and tour guide, Linda, at the Pier to begin our full day of touring.  We have another photo that is posted later on that will give you a view of Linda's face.

Our first visit was to the Singapore Zoo which is located outside of the city.  Last year we visited the night time safari which is located just across the street from the zoo so this time around we decided to visit the zoo. We were very impressed with the zoo.  It is beautiful and easy to get around by foot and on the tram and has a wide range of animals to view.  It is very lush with all of the greenery around the zoo and there is a river as well.  

 Everywhere we walked there were lush foliage which really added to the beauty of the zoo.

This is a species of deer which is the smallest deer in the world.

Yes, that's a bat!

And another bat!

Our tour guide for the day, Linda.

We saw three white lions and one of the three was hidden in between the trees.

Our next stop was supposed to be the Botanical Gardens which we had previously visited in 2008.  However, given how long we had spent at the zoo and a couple of other things we wanted to do before we headed over to the Marina Bay Shopping Mall we skipped the gardens.    This photo was taken as we were walking along orchid road.  Traffic in Singapore is a challenge not only on the weekdays but on the weekends as it was today.  To try to minimize the amount of cars on the roadways there is a very high tax on cars but that doesn't seem to have made a dent in the traffic situation.

A very nice sports car.

The Marina Bay Shopping Mall is very new.  We visited there last year and it does include that 2,500 room hotel with the pool on the top floor, along with a very large casino and lots of stores and restaurants.  One of the stores it features is Jim Thompson.  The largest of the Jim Thompson stores are located in Bangkok which we will be visiting during our stay there later in the cruise which carries an extensive selection of women and men's items that are made of silk.  While the Jim Thompson store located in this shopping mall is not as large as the ones in Bangkok it is much larger than the one located at the Raffles Hotel and the store located in one of the malls located on Orchard Road.  One of the unique items that they carry at Jim Thompson are silk purses that you tie into a purse but can be packed flat and are very lightweight making them ideal for packing.

Last year we didn't make it into the Casino as we did not have our passports with us so this time we went inside the casino. We have to say we were not impressed.  It was very crowded but distinctly different than the mall that the hotel is connected with which is very upscale.

We also had lunch at the Mall and we had wonton soup with noodles.  It was quite good.

Wonton Soup with Noodles.  It was simple, yet filling.

Throughout the day we learned a great deal from Linda about Singapore, including not only things to do but its history and its way of life.

We talked about the control that the government has over the people.  There are clearly pluses and minuses to that way of life.  About 60% of the people live in public housing but between the public housing and private housing close to 95% of Singapore Citizens own their homes.  The very few who don't tend to be ones who have no family and not enough income to support ownership.  The other item that came out of this part of the discussion is that often families of multiple generations live together and that ultimately it is the adult children who are required to support their elderly parents.  This has similarities to the United States many years ago.  In fact, she supports her parents and still supports some of her children and she works seven days a week.

We talked about the history of this nation and covered its recent history starting with Japan's occupation of the country during World War II, up through the time it won its independence.

We talked about the economy and clearly the major driver of the economy is tourism.

We also talked about things to see and do in Singapore and even hotels to stay at.  We were pleased that she thought the hotel that we stayed at last year was one of the nicest to stay at.

It was a fun day and our third time to Singapore is once again a success.  Tomorrow we will be in Singapore before the ship departs in the evening.

This evening we will dine in the Crystal Dining Room and will post more about that tomorrow.

TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.......

“No great man ever complains of want of opportunities.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Keith and Anne Marie