by Judy Handley | Nov 1, 2008 | Sailing Logs Year 4, Singapore |
Day 10, Year 4: Windbird has a New Power Plant
Date: Saturday, November 1, 2008
Weather: Stormy Early Morning, Overcast Day
Location: One 15 Marina, Sentosa Island, Singapore
Hurray! Our new AGM (absorbent glass mat) batteries arrived this morning and by day’s end Mark has them installed with a new marine plywood floor under them and a new marine plywood ‘lid’ on top of them so we can store things there. It was a long, hot job, but he is pleased with the results and we have power without running the engine so much. Since we don’t have a transformer to plug into local shore power, we will still have the run the engine when in a marina, but not nearly so much.
I worked all day trying to clean out food lockers and rearrange things. I’m still “in progress” but hopefully by the end of the weekend I’ll have things ship shape. We are also working on getting some of the photos from this cruising season uploaded to the website. We have the three days in Kalimantan on Borneo uploaded, so if you want to take a peek at the orangutan photos, you can go back to Days 151 to 153 to see them. Even with Singapore wireless, it is a slow process, but we’ll get there!
by Judy Handley | Oct 31, 2008 | Sailing Logs Year 4, Singapore |
Day 9, Year 4: Time Is Slipping Away
Date: Friday, October 31, 2008
Weather: Beautiful Clear Day, But Even Hotter
Location: One 15 Marina, Sentosa Island, Singapore
Our time here in Singapore is slipping away. It is easy to get comfortable here and forget to do the things you need to do. Our son Justin emailed and asked if we were missing the slower moving island life without all the trappings of modern civilization. I have to say that we are not, but that is because this is like staying at a five-star resort without the cost. Who can turn that away? But I must say that I am sad to leave the island life behind. From here on up the Malaysian coast, most
of the stops are in marinas. And when we reach Thailand, there are islands, but they are crawling with tourists. So we are just in to a new “era.” Every time I’ve said that things couldn’t get any better they have, so I’ll just have to wait and see what comes. I said to Mark yesterday that if I could turn back time, I would go back to Flores Island. It was a beautiful island with the most beautiful weaving I have ever seen, and I just didn’t get to spend enough time there to get to know the
local people. But we move on and maybe I will find another Flores somewhere along the line.
We traveled back to the Royal Thai Embassy today and got our visas. We won’t know how much time we have in Thailand until we arrive, so we’re hoping for the two months. The woman that gave us back our passports with the Thai visa stamped inside said we have two months. So we shall see.
We are working on sending some of our photos to our website, but it is a frustrating process. We have a good internet connection, but it keeps dropping out. I called my sister Patsy this morning and after three drops, I gave up. It was great to hear her voice, but very frustrating to not be able to complete our conversation. Patsy is having knee surgery next week and I never really got to talk to her about that. I am going to try an call again tonight (her morning) and hopefully we will have
a better connection.
Tomorrow those very expensive new batteries arrive and Mark will spend the entire day taking out the old and putting in the new. We have to replace the plywood floor the batteries sit on as the floor they sit on is deteriorating due to the boiling over of our old batteries back in Indonesia. So tomorrow won’t be an exciting day, but it will a good day because it will be so wonderful to have the new batteries in place. Right now we are having to run the motor about an hour every morning and again
an hour in the evening. The new batteries should hold a charge much longer. While Mark is getting the new batteries installed, I will work on making the ‘ultimate’ list of what we need to buy and do before leaving Singapore. I have a feeling the list will be longer than we can accomplish before our visa expires next Thurday, we we’ll just have to find a way to fit it all in.
by Judy Handley | Oct 30, 2008 | Sailing Logs Year 4, Singapore |
Day 8, Year 4: More Embassies and More Shopping
Date: Thursday, October 30, 2008
Weather: Very Stormy Early Morning; Partly Sunny Day; Always Hot and Steamy
Location: One 15 Marina, Sentosa Island, Singapore
We woke way too early this morning to thunder, lightening, wind, and rain. The wind was so strong that Windbird shuttered in her berth. The storm finally subsided and we went back to sleep and didn’t wake up again until after 8 am. That is a late get-up for us, so we got into gear and headed for the Royal Thai Embassy once again. And this time we made sure we had the necessary paperwork. Getting there requires a bus ride from Sentosa Island across to Singapore where we walk, walk, walk through the underground to the Harborside MRT station. We get on the North-East Line and go about five stops, get off, walk, walk, walk, and get on the North-South Line. We go two stops and get off at Orchard Road and walk, walk, walk to the Embassy. All of this is easy but it takes time (about an hour) and this was the third day in a row that we have had to do the same thing. This time we hope we got it right. At least they accepted our application and we go back tomorrow to get our visas. There should be no question that I will get a two month Thai visa, but for Mark, as captain of our vessel, there is a question as to whether he will get one month or two. They want to make sure the person in charge of a visiting boat stays with that boat, so they usually require monthly renewals and apply a hefty bond should the captain need to fly out of the country. If Mark gets only a one month visa, he could have to travel out of Thailand and back in to renew. And that would happen sometime in the middle of January while Heather, Jed, and Sam are visiting. That would be a “royal” pain and something we are trying to avoid. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens when we return there tomorrow. The woman who accepted our application told us “they” will give us what “they” want to, but that even if Mark gets only one month, by applying from here instead of waiting until we cross the border, he should be able to simply pay for the renewal without leaving the country. We asked her if he would still have to pay for the renewal and she said, “Most assuredly.”
From the Royal Thai Embassy it is about a quarter to a half mile to the mall with the great supermarket, so we walked, walked, walked and went shopping. Three small boxes of food cost $450 Singapore dollars or about $300 US. But I got Crisco, Grandma’s Molasses, pure maple syrup from the US, Old El Paso chunky tomato salsa and jumbo taco shells, more BumbleBee Wild Alaskan salmon, Hormel turkey bacon and pork bacon, Skippy peanut butter, and on and on. Of course, there is a price tag for being able to buy all your Western favorites, but we might not see these things again until we get home. So we’ll keep stocking up while we are here. We bought as much as we could possibly carry on our little two-wheeled cart and then headed back to the MRT for the trip home, now carting this tower of food. It was actually easier than we had expected, but when the check-out clerk at the store asked us if our order was for home delivery, we were sure tempted to say yes. Of course, that comes with a price as well.
Mark has been spending much of his time here researching how to get a new bank of batteries for Windbird. We want AGM batteries that do not require any maintenance and we had been told that we would get the best deal in Malaysia. We were also told when we arrived that there are no AGM batteries in Singapore until a ship arrives in November. But both pieces of information were incorrect. Two days in a row a man named Johnny Lim left his card on our boat. He ‘is’ Johnny Marine Supply & Service and he does have AGM batteries cheaper than the prices quoted on the West Marine website and cheaper than the marine supply in Malaysia is charging. So late this afternoon we confirmed the order with him and found out we will need to pay in cash. We’ll need more than $2,000 US dollars, so we are going to have to make a few trips to the ATM to get the whole amount. The batteries should be delivered on Saturday and it will be a great relief to get them installed and working. These batteries are Windbird’s power plant and without them there are no lights, no computer, no printer, no freezer, no refrigerator, no toaster . . . you get the picture.
Today we had a couple of neat experiences through our website. A young person here in Singapore, Siti, whose family was originally from Bawean Island in Indonesia, came across our website when researching Bawean. We visited there with Justin and Jo on our way to Kumai and Siti is going there in about a week to visit the great-great-great grandfather’s land. We hope to share some pictures and Bawean impressions with Siti and think it is so amazing that we connected through the website. Then early this morning we got a reply to an email inquiry we sent late last night. We have a friend that we met through our website and he got us in contact with a US cruising couple living temporary in Thailand. Fred and Judy of S/V Wings left Seattle in 1996 and have worked their way slowly this far around the world. They have been extremely helpful to us when we send email inquiries about Thailand and Fred got back to me almost immediately with my inquiries about getting a Thai visa. I think it is just so amazing how small the world has become with email and the internet.
by Judy Handley | Oct 29, 2008 | Sailing Logs Year 4, Singapore |
Day 7, Year 4: Embassies and Shopping
Date: Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Weather: Mostly Sunny, Hotter, Rain in the Early Morning
Location: One 15 Marina, Sentosa Island, Singapore
Orchard Road was the explore today . . . upscale shopping in one glittery mall after another on a strip that ends in Embassy row. We skipped the upscale shopping and headed directly to the Royal Thai Embassy. But once again our efforts were thwarted. We didn’t have all the paperwork with us that was needed. Yesterday we got there too late and today we didn’t have our boat documentation. So we will be going back tomorrow. Let’s hope three is a charm. From the Thai Embassy we walked further west on Orchard Road and found the Tanglin Mall. There was a supermarket in the basement of this mall that was amazing. It had most of the specialty items we were looking for: Cheerios for our grandson Sam when he visits in January, canned wild Alaskan salmon which is a mainstay on Windbird, stuffed olives, rice milk, and a new addition of packaged chapattis and great curry sauces. The supermarket close to us at the Vivo Center has lots of variety, but none of the items that I just mentioned, so I was delighted to find this place. The one thing I can’t find anywhere is rolled oats to make granola. That is another mainstay on Windbird, so I will keep looking. While I shopped in the grocery store, Mark walked across the street to the US Embassy. It was in a cluster of embassies and Mark was quite impressed with the security. The Australian, British, and US embassies are all together and according to Mark, they are formidably secure. He was checking on getting Social Security for me
starting in March if we do not make a trip back to the US and found that it is possible to activate from out here. He got the forms for me to fill out and send to Manila in Philippines. So that was another positive contact. Our next stop was at Borders Bookstore just to look at the books. We can’t afford to buy them here, but it is always a joy to just wander among the rows and rows of books. Our last stop was in the Ngee Ann City Mall for lunch at Sushi Tei. It is one of those “sushi on a conveyor belt” places, but this one was a cut above most. And the prices were quite reasonable considering that we were in one of the more upscale of the upscale malls.
We returned to One 15 Marina in mid-afternoon and enjoyed a long stay in the pool. It is so hot here that you can’t possibly wear clothes more than once and when you return from the city dripping wet with perspiration, changing into a swimsuit and getting into the glorious pool here is just a wonderful treat. Mark has spent most of the evening researching battery possibilities. We have to buy new batteries SOON and we had hoped to get AGM’s. These are maintenance free batteries that you never need to top up with water, but it is looking like the price tag is just too high. So we might end up with the same kind of batteries that we have had and we will just have to be more vigilant about checking the water level. We can’t afford to boil anymore batteries dry because replacements are just too hard to find.
Tomorrow we will go back to Orchard Road to the Thai Embassy and to do more shopping at the great supermarket we found today. We also hope to go to the Night Zoo tomorrow night. Everyone says this is the number one attraction in this city of many wonderful attractions. Then we have to figure out when we are leaving here and start working in that direction. We’d love to stay here to watch the US election returns, so we might actually be here for two whole weeks. No matter what we have to leave by next Thursday because our Visa expires, so that will probably be our exit date.
by Judy Handley | Oct 28, 2008 | Sailing Logs Year 4, Singapore |
Day 6, Year 4: Almost Heaven
Date: Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Weather: Overcast, Hot, but No Rain
Location: One 15 Marina, Sentosa Island, Singapore
Singapore is nice, but my log title is not indicating that we think Singapore is almost heaven. It is referring to John Denver’s song, “Almost Heaven, West Virginia.” I have mentioned before that I am a West Virginia mountain mama and it has amazed me that the one and only song that we have heard in every country we have visited is this John Denver classic. After a heavenly dip in the pool this morning, we headed to the embassies of Thailand and India, and then on to Little India. The hours we had for the Thai Embassy were incorrect, so it was closed for Visa applications by the time we arrived. We hiked to the India Embassy and found it still closed for Deepavali. But there was a sign telling us we could go to Little India to a travel agent and make our Visa application there, so we got back on the MRT and went to little India for the sixth day in a row. The short story is that we have to go back to the Thai and India embassies tomorrow, so we decided to have lunch in Little India before walking across to the Sim Lin Centre. We ducked into a little hole in the wall sort of place without looking at the name of the place, looked at the menu, and decided to stay. As we waited for our food to arrive, we realized we were listening to American country music. And then John Denver started singing . . . Almost Heaven. This was the last place in the world we expected to hear this song. So we started looking around and discovered that we were in The Countryside Cafe. There were posters announcing The Elvis Presley Show starring Elvis himself. So this place has been around for quite a few years and how we stumbled upon it we’ll never know.
From The Countryside Cafe in Little India we hiked over to the SimLin Tower to return the transformer we bought on Saturday. The transformer worked great, but not with our inverter. The whole point here was to find a way to convert Singapore’s 240 volt AC current to our US 110 so we can use the shore power in marinas in this part of the world, in fact in all of the world except the US and Canada. But we will have to try to find something in Langkawi in Malaysia as nothing here seems to do the
job. The shop where we bought the transformer was called Convert-Invert and the young man who sold us the transformer had to make modifications for us when we bought it. But thankfully, even with the modifications, they took it back and gave us 80 per cent of the initial cost. Most people bought a transformer in New Zealand, but we made it through without one until now. We are just going to have to buy one from a marine dealer that can install it and make sure things work. Until then, we just have to run the motor twice a day to keep the batteries charged and our system working.
We actually made it back to One15 before dark and enjoyed a late afternoon dip in the pool. One end of the pool has water jets that massage your aching muscles after walking miles around this town and we sure took advantage of those this evening. It’s a tough life out here, but somebody’s got to do it!
by Judy Handley | Oct 27, 2008 | Sailing Logs Year 4, Singapore |
Day 5, Year 4:Â Â Happy Anniversary to Us
Date: Monday, October 27, 2008
Weather: Mixed-Sunny Morning, Sprinkling Afternoon and Evening
Location: One 15 Marina, Sentosa Island, Singapore
It was another busy, busy day. We decided late last night to go with the Shirena crew to the Jurong Bird Park on the western side of Singapore. Robert wasn’t feeling well, so just Tina and Neil went. This was Neil’s last day as crew on Shirena as he is flying out late tonight. We left a little late, it took longer than we hoped to get there, and it took much longer than we expected to get through the park, but all of that said, it was a great day. The birds were magnificent.
We got back to the marina much later than we had planned and it was just about time to turn around and leave for our 5 pm “appointment” at Raffles to celebrate our 34th wedding anniversary. Raffles is the home of the original Singapore Sling drink and the crews from five other boats came to join us. Eric and Robin of Scorpedo, Judy and Dave of Freebird, Tim and Rose of Rendezvous Cay, Tina and Robert of Shirena, and Klinton of Scot Free II all joined us. We are all staying at the One15 Marina so it was great fun to be out celebrating together. We all had one of the world’s most expensive drinks and then we headed out to Clarke’s Quay on the Singapore River for dinner. We found a restaurant on the river that specializes in tapas, so we got into the South American mood and feasted on paellas and tapas and had a great time.
Tomorrow we have promised ourselves that we will begin in the pool and then decide what to do from there. We need to get visas for Thailand and inquire about visas for India in case we do decide to head to the Red Sea in January. Sri Lanka and Cochin on the west coast of India will be on our itinerary if we do that. So after the pool, it will probably become a busy day but hopefully we’ll make it back to the marina to enjoy the late afternoon in the pool as well.
