Singapore

Fri, May 31

We arrived in Singapore this morning and set off on our excursion to see the orchid garden and Chinatown on our City Drive.

Having been in Singapore in the last year, Orchard Road, Raffles Hotel and Chinatown were familiar; however we did stop at Mt Faber and the Presidential Palace as well as admiring the oldest Hindu Temple in the city, the 19^th century Sri Mariamman Temple.

But the highlight for us was visiting the Botanical Gardens to explore the Orchid Garden, which is the largest display of tropical orchids in the world. Needless to say, many photos were taken as the orchids were absolutely stunning.

As we wandered around Chinatown it was interesting to see each apartment with its’ own bamboo pole to dry their clothes. We were told that newcomers to Singapore who may want to get a job as a maid have to pass a government-run course on how to hang out the laundry on a pole so that they do not fall out of the window!

Calling all Pollywogs!

Thurs, May 30

Pollywogs we are not, as we have crossed the Equator before; however we did go to the Crossing of the Equator ceremony to see King Neptune passing sentence on the ‘’accused”. They were then suitably covered in flour and pasta by the staff and one unlucky passenger was ‘’operated’’ on behind towels to remove his ‘’funny bone’’.

Lots of fun and received yet another personalised Crossing of the Equator certificate as proof that King Neptune has sanctioned our safe passage and we are allowed to continue our journey.

Goodbye Australia – Hello World!

Boarded the lovely “Sea Princess” in Sydney (after driving down from Brisbane) on Monday 20 May. We are on Deck 11 forward on the starboard side. Very comfortable and plenty of space to settle in for our 104 night adventure.
Sailed back into Brisbane last Wednesday and it was cold and raining when we left.
There is no shortage of things to do on board and I have been getting plenty of exercise with Zumba, line dancing and the gym. Lots of craft activities and Alex was pleased to find sketching and photography classes. Yesterday he won a bottle of champagne in the trivia challenge which was a laugh, considering the questions were on “How Australian are You” and he is from the UK!
Today is Tuesday 28th May and we can feel the weather getting warmer and more humid. The sea is unbelievably calm as you can see from the photo. There is hardly a ripple and the ship is just gliding through the waters of the Java Sea.

Photos show leaving Sydney, our stateroom and steward and Thursday Island.
We arrive in Singapore on Friday, so will post more later.