Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, USA, 5 November 2011, at home.
South China Sea (30 October 2011). A sea day en route to Singapore. This sunset on the equator was too much of a cliche not to include.
South China Sea Sunset
Container Ship Departing Singapore
And there were literally a dozen or so of these big boys (lots of Christmas toys) on the move all around us. We docked next to a Chinese cruise ship, false-flagged and registered in Fanafuti, Tuvalu, at the Cruise Terminal to disembark (no one would know that it was Tuvalu except J who collects stamps from there).
Early Morning Docking at the Cruise Terminal
After clearing immigration and collecting our luggage, we were off via private car to The Regent Hotel for a two-day stay. The hotel is located at the west end of the Orchard Road shopping and hotel area and is very close to the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Although not a new hotel, The Regent is an extremely pleasant and well-run establishment, and we enjoyed our two days as guests. That could be because we upgraded to the club floor, and they returned the favor by upgrading us to a two-room suite.
After a second breakfast (watching the bags being moved made J a bit peckish), we took a taxi to the local equivalent of Borders to get a book for E to read on the return flights to Kona. The book store was inside a Japanese department store, which was inside a shopping mall, and the book store was huge! Somebody must have forgotten to tell these people what happened to Borders!
Shopping can be a full-time occupation in Singapore. Temptation was overcome, and we returned to the hotel for a nap. Instead, we were treated to a Singaporean thunderstorm. Very impressive sound and light show accompanied by torrential rain. During this weather event, we went down to tea. Very British and very proper it was, too. There were those little sandwiches (Thank you Lord Sandwich), little pastries, and tea, many kinds of tea. J got "The Look," when he ordered coffee.
National Orchid Garden - Yes, They Are ALL Orchids!
Singapore is not a place where mid-day activity should be attempted without air conditioning. But, after the thunderstorm, about 5:00pm, we took a taxi to the Singapore Botanic Gardens. The Gardens, established in 1822 by Sir Stanford Raffles, cover ~155 acres and consist of plant specific gardens: i.e; Palms, Rain Forests, Ginger, and Orchid. It is much too large to view and appreciate in a single visit. So, we decided to visit only the National Orchid Garden. Here live all the orchids you will NEVER be able to grow!
For the next 2 hours, until nearly dark, J & E walked in the Orchid Garden. It is very difficult to describe the orchids, so the following pictures will have to suffice!
High Altitude (Cooled) Orchid Environment Building
J & E at Orchard Garden Sans Feet
After two hours in the garden, we were walked-out and the staff were giving us looks. (Probably a no overtime establishment.) If you are interested in the Gardens, here is a link to the web site (www.sbg.org.sg). So, we returned to the main visitors' center and caught a cab back to the hotel. Ending another day in Singapore.
Singapore (1 November 2011). After a leisurely breakfast at The Regent's club, we decided it was a museum day, so into a taxi and off to the east end of Orchard Road and the National Museum of Singapore (www.nationalmuseum.sg). Founded in 1887 as the Raffles Museum and Library, the museum still is housed in the same facility which has been greatly upgraded and expanded. It is much too large to view in a single visit, and a decision was made to visit the travelling Musee D'Orsay Paris exhibition "Dreams & Reality."
Exhibition Poster
Woman with Parasol by Claude Monet, 1886
The exhibition included works by most of the major and not so major artists of the period 1848 to 1914. It was an introduction to the impressionists on a grand scale, and for us, the highlight was Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night. It might seem unusual to visit a European collection in a major Asian museum, but we spent hours at the British Museum viewing the Sir Percival David Collection of Chinese porcelains. Turn about is fair play!
We also viewed the William Farquhar Collection on Natural History Drawing. Farquhar was the East India Company's first Governor of Singapore and his passion for natural history was boundless (he kept a tiger at his residence). Over a period of years in the early 19th Century, he made sketches of much of the major Malaysian flora and fauna. Then, he retained Chinese artists who had immigrated from South China to Singapore to refine and colorize those drawings. The results are both important as natural history documentation and art. Although the drawings are stiffer than J. J. Audubon's, they are amazing in their accurate rendering of the flora and fauna. Regretfully, the museum has a No Photography rule, but the collection can be seen, in part, at the museum's web site above.
Lunch time at the Museum's Cafe gave a whole new meaning to "slow food," but it was well worth the wait. Then, it was bad decision time. We decided to walk back to the hotel, providing once again that the brain of the European turns to mush in the heat of the tropics. After a few blocks, however, common sense (or exhaustion) set in, and we caught a taxi the rest of the way back to the hotel. If we had the skill at this point, we would cut in a brief clip from Noel Coward's Mad Dogs and Englishmen....
After returning to the hotel, we were planning on napping in preparation for our red eye flight to Seoul, but another Singapore sound and light show put an end to that idea. So after playing cards (J losing as usual.), it was off to a light supper and packing for an 11:00pm trip to Changi Airport.
For those of you who are accustomed to the US's cattle-prod approach to air travel, a description of check-in at Korean Air is in order -- On arrival at Changi's terminal 2, we were met at the Korean Air Check-in area by a minion who escorted us to a private room where we were seated, offered refreshment, and checked-in by the Korean Air ground staff. (If you were ever escorted to a private room at a US airport, you would probably be thinking "It's TSA water boarding time." Then, we were escorted through immigration and to security, after which, it was to the Business Class Lounge where an episode of the new Hawaii 50 was playing on a large screen TV - Book 'em Danno - with Chinese subtitles!
The flight to Seoul/Inchon on Korean Air was uneventful, but in many ways at variance from air travel we have come to except as the "new normal" in the U.S. The aircraft, a Boeing 777, was immaculately cleaned and prepared for the 6 hour flight. The cabin staff was courteous and attentive without being fauning. Also, they were young and you didn't have the feeling that you would have to get the cabin crew's walkers out of the isle before going to the head!
On arrival in Seoul/Inchon, we were provided a day room at the airport Hyatt Regency, so we didn't see much except for the new Inchon airport and the hotel. Then, it was back to the airport and onto the flight to Honolulu. About 9 hours later, "Aloha, Honolulu," followed by "try wait" for our Hawaiian flight to Kona, the reunion with James and his ward, Cooper, and home.
