Day 43 – Singapore, Day 2

Today we set off bright and early for our open-top bus tour starting off at the Marina Bay Hotel shopping mall again, as this is where the ship’s shuttle bus drops us off. As we were too early for the bus tour and it was already 33° at 9:30 am, we passed the time strolling around the millionaire’s shopping destination-of-choice in the city. Actually, it is quite an impressive building with a very pleasant outdoor space overlooking the city.

Once on the open top bus we had a mini tour of part of the city before getting off at Kampong Glam (the Muslim Quarter) where we spent a pleasant couple of hours, visiting the mosque, browsing the shops and stopping at a Turkish restaurant for lunch. We then jumped back on the open-top bus and set off for the National Gallery of Singapore where a bloke from Sheffield sold us our admission tickets. To be honest we enjoyed the cool air inside the building much more than the minimal works of art on display and the exceptionally confusing layout of the museum.

From the National Gallery we set off on foot and walked along the river to the financial district where we ultimately got lost, went around in a big circle and almost expired from the heat. As it was almost 4 pm and we had walked miles, we decided to abandon the open-top bus and call an Uber to take us back to the ship! Once back on board Bridge had her first swim in 9 days – she hasn’t been allowed to swim until the wound on her leg sealed up which it has finally done.

As the sun went down, we sat on the Panorama deck as the ship sailed out of Singapore and watched the Singapore skyline gradually fade from view. We have had a really wonderful couple of days here and would certainly return. ☺️😎

Fun facts about Singapore:

Singapore is one of only three surviving city states in the world along with Monaco and Vatican City.

Not flushing a public toilet after you have used it is against the law and offenders can be fined S$150 (about £75) if caught!

Singapore imposes very high ownership tax on cars (approximately 1.5 x the price of the vehicle) to encourage people onto public transport.

One in every six residents in Singapore is the equivalent of a US$ millionaire.

Private home ownership is the highest in the world at 92%.

Singapore has one of the longest life expectancies and lowest birth mortality rates in the world.

Over 30% of Singapore‘s land is reclaimed.

The government provides significant assistance to its poorer residents, meaning acute poverty is almost non-existent.