World Cruise--Singapore, Excursion To The AIrport?

 Yes, let me confirm that we are a bit crazy sometimes with the adventures we choose in our ports of call. This was our third visit to Singapore and we had done all the introductory tours and visited the botanical garden twice before. As we planned this world cruise, we searched for something new and different to do—and found it!

The Queen Anne was to be in port overnight so we had two days to fill with fun things to do. We found that the airport, the Changi Airport that serves Singapore, had all sorts of unusual things that were available to explore mainly for those with long layovers but also many of them were open to the public including a huge shopping mall that was at least six levels.

The main attraction, and entirely free, was the 400 meter high (around 1200 feet) vortex waterfall in the middle of Terminal 1. People looked a little funny at us when we said we were going to the airport even though we weren’t on our way home. They had no idea what they were missing.

Part of the fun was in the getting there. Near the Marina Bay Cruise Center where we docked was an MRT (Metro Regional Transit) stop. It was a little bit of a walk but the walkway was covered thankfully because it was raining slightly. Once there, we went to the customer service booth and asked the best route to get to the airport. There were quite a few lines and more than one way to get there. She outlined the stops on our transit map and informed us that there are no tickets to buy. All we needed to do was to tap a credit card on the gated machine. We did need to have two credit cards though.

There were no other riders around and the attendant at the gated machines jumped up to show us what to do. I went through one gate and Bob another with basically the same account card without a problem. The attendant made sure we knew where we were going and how to get there. So far the journey couldn’t be easier.

The MRT train arrived and we boarded. It was practically empty and in pristine condition. We made our two connections and in about an hour’s time we arrived at the airport. I must say that all the trains were pristine and there was only one nearer the center of the city that actually had most of the seats filled.

At the airport we followed the signs that led to “Jewel” which was the large geodesic dome in which the waterfall would be found. The waterfall was to begin about fifteen minutes after we arrived. There were levels of walkways and some seating surrounding the waterfall with green plants and orchids adorning the walls from top to bottom. It was amazing.

People gathered with trolleys full of suitcases and waited as we did for the show to begin. There was a little theater smoke released at the top just before the trickle and then the full waterfall began. iPhone everywhere recorded the event as well as documented many of the viewers in various poses with the waterfall behind them.

We explored the mall a bit, stopping for a cup of brewed coffee at Starbucks. We’re not Starbucks fans but that’s where we usually find brewed coffee when we are abroad. The cups were huge even though we ordered “tall” which is their small. The unique thing we found was a little robot who was making rounds and stopping for people to put their used cups, etc., in the back trays. It would fill up and then go into the back where the dishwasher was to be unloaded. Every so often it would wink as it went by you.

So much coffee was consumed that we weren’t the least bit hungry for lunch so we opted to go to our second destination, the Marina Sands Hotel and shopping center. The hotel has an observation deck (57 floors up) where you can go to the top and get quite a few of the area. We had talked with a couple who had stayed in Singapore a few days and they talked of a bar/restaurant at the top where the cover charge was about the same as the cost of a ticket to the observation deck. Sounded like a good deal.

We found the way up and said we were just there for “drinks and bites” and were welcomed in without a reservation. The weather was still a bit iffy and had started to pour rain just as we got to the restaurant. You could not see anything out the window. We were finally hungry so we ended up with a pizza and of course we had to try a Singapore Sling. Definitely met our cover charge. By the time we were done, the weather cleared and we were able to walk on the outside deck to get some good pictures.

The area near the cruise terminal is known as Marina Bay Gardens By The Sea. It is a huge park area with all sorts of gardens including some huge man-made trees in the center of it. It was a lot muggy and warm and even hot-damp after the rain by the time we got out to walk around. Our plan had been to stick around the park, explore, have a light dinner and be there for the 7:45 light show that they have each night.

Sometimes the planning looks better than the reality. It was way too hot and we were way too tired. We started for the MRT station near the end of the park where we were. It looked close on the map and it was. Well the entrance was. Once we got inside, we must have walked almost a mile, at least it felt like it before we got to the gate to enter. At least it was in the A/C. The ride to the ship was easy enough with only one connection. Have I mention that the MRT is very easy to figure out and very cheap to ride?

On the ship we ate dinner and then sat on one of the upper decks where we could view from a distance the Gardens and watch the light show. It was not as spectacular as we thought it might be but we were watching from a distance.

I was still glad we made the decision to return to the ship. We called it an early night. The next day promised to be full as we would return to the Gardens to visit their two special indoor exhibits, The Cloud