Life from abroad

They say the national pastime in Singapore is shopping and eating. If it wasn’t for the beautiful architecture and the zoo, I would never have a reason to leave the malls..

We arrived a little past midnight on Friday. Luckily, all the restaurants by the quayside were still open. The only downside to eating so late was mom didn’t get to see all the colonial buildings lit up across the river. We did catch the sunset on our second night there so she didn’t miss much. After Rasa’s romantic birthday dinner of pizza and outrageously priced beer (sin tax will kill you), we all walked back to our hotel.The next day was what Rasa and I have been looking forward to since we were here last, The Food Court! It is 150 food stalls serving pretty much any type of Chinese/Indian/Malay food you could want. After this we went to our second most anticipated destination, Loong Art Furniture. We looked around the store and warehouse a bit but somehow managed not to buy anything. We decided that there was no place left to store furniture. Mom did buy three pieces though.

We spent the rest of the day walking around the city. We hit the colonial district, quayside, seaside boardwalk, giant durian amphitheaters, and Chinatown. We also stopped by Raffles to relax a bit and have a Singapore Sling. After all this walking we were ready to sit awhile so we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean playing at Suntec, also home to the world’s largest fountain. Walking back to Chinatown we stopped for some Shawarma but it was not nearly as good as in Manila.

On our last day, we wanted to see the zoo and night safari. Mom had not gotten a chance to see the orangutans in Borneo so we thought the zoo would be the next best place. You were able to get a lot closer to the orangutans here than at Kuching. Along with this and all the bugs, monkeys and wild lemurs running around, it was a great zoo. The night safari was interesting because it let you see many nocturnal animals up close; a new experience for me.

Singapore is our last country before heading back to KL and then flying home. It’s been such an amazing trip traveling with mom. Can’t wait until our next one in Honduras

Tropical Hotel- Singapore: 1°16′50.30 “N, 103°50′30.04″E

–
Robert J Kent Jr
Wat/San/Health Engineering Consultant

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Halong Bay is a splattering of 1,969 limestone islands similar to Krabi Beach in Thailand and El Nido in the Philippines. Apart from our time sailing on the Chinese junk, I still think El Nido is the best of the three.We met at the travel agency in the morning to leave for the harbour.

When we checked in the lady asked for our passports. Stricken with a sudden sense of dread, we realized we had forgotten to get them back from the hotel. The hotels in Vietnam keep them while you are checked in. Rasa ran back to get them while mom and I relaxed, had some crack coffee, and played on the internet. At least she didn’t have to take the train from Rome back to Naples like I did when we forgot them in Italy.

From Hanoi it’s a 3 hour drive with a bathroom stop half way, where I got my second crack coffee. We bypassed the port where the 1,001 other tourist ships depart from and left from a private dock. The bay must be a mad house during the high season. The other couple on the boat was asked by the Vietnamese government what they thought about building floating hotels islands in the bay. Like the rest of Vietnam and Cambodia, it is changing fast and forever so see them soon.

The five of us spent the rest of the day being pampered, eating and relaxing on the boat. After a huge lunch, we did some touring of the floating villages, where about 200 families live entirely off the sea. Then we did some kayaking and swimming while the sun set. I think all this activity was just to prepare us for another 10 course meal. And some more Vietnamese special crack coffee, my 4th of the day. Did I mention how yummy and addictive it is?

The next day we woke to wonderful sunrise at sea. Sailing is an amazing experience and falling asleep to the gentle rocking and lapping of the waves will settle any one’s thoughts. Add to this the velvet green topped limestone cliffs jutting out of the milky emerald water and you have your postcard moment. I know mom was happy to finally have her relaxing beach experience. But alas, it had to end and we started back to the port. Here is a link to see more pictures of the boat: http://tropical-sails.com/gal2.html

Tomorrow we leave for our last country and always our favorite, Singapore. This is also the home of our Chinese furniture shop, where we can never leave without buying some chest or armoire.

Halong Bay Boat Anchorage: 20°50′18.14″N, 107° 5′44.05″E

–
Robert J Kent Jr
Wat/San/Health Engineering Consultant

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