by Judy Handley | Oct 26, 2008 | Sailing Logs Year 4, Singapore |
Day 4, Year 4: Fourth Busy Day in Singapore
Date: Sunday, October 26, 2008
Weather: More Sun, More Humidity
Location: One 15 Marina,Sentosa Island, Singapore
Some things never change. No matter how many times we promise ourselves that we are taking a day off and just relaxing, it doesn’t happen. We are doing wonderful things, but I feel a bit like I’m in a salad spinner. There is so much to do and see in Singapore and I don’t think there is any way we will really be out of here at the end of this week as we had promised ourselves. But it’s not Thursday yet, so we shall see.
I finally took the time to do the mountain of laundry that has accumulated since Kumai. Every towel and sheet on the boat needed to be washed and since there is only one dryer here that dries things very slowly, it literally took all day. I was, however, sitting happily in air conditioning and working on getting photos ready to put on the website. Mark was on the boat doing chores and when I got back to the boat after 2 pm, he was worn out from being so hot. We then changed gears, greeted friends from a number of boats that arrived here today, went up to take showers in the luxurious One15 changing rooms, and then off we went to Little India to have dinner and enjoy the last night of the Festival of Lights. It was so crowded that it was almost impossible to move. You had get in a flow of people and just go with it. We ate a lovely little second floor restaurant sitting on pillows on the floor around low tables. Rose and Tim of Rendezvous Cay were with us, as well as the crew from Scot Free II who just arrived this afternoon.
Now for the really important events in the last 24 hours . . . We talked to our grandson Sam via Skype last night and again tonight. We have to call Massachusetts late in the evening to catch Sam early in the morning and last night we called from the boat and had an on and off connection. But then we are trying to do two-way video and that complicates matters. Sam really couldn’t see us as we had to sit in the cockpit in order to have a strong signal, and the lighting there what you might call “mood” lighting. But we could see him and it was great fun to watch him. But we wanted to try again with better lighting so he could see us, so after returning from Little India tonight, we took the computer up to the laundry room and called from there. When we connected, Sam was developing a new game with a box and an old Sears credit card. He is one intent little guy and when he finished that game, he went to get some Legos to show us how he builds. Then he decided he wanted to read, so he went with his mom to get a couple of his current favorites. He seems to currently be fascinated with an alphabet book we gave him just before we left last spring. It is called Animalia and is by an Australian author. We tried to read this together. Heather would read and then he would indicate that he wanted us to read. So she would position the camera so we could see the page and then we would read. Early in the conversation, we were giving each other high five’s via the camera but he wouldn’t throw kisses. But when it was time to say goodbye, he threw kisses and even said the word “kisses” which surprised Heather and he had never said this before. Obviously, we were charmed. This little guy sure has won our hearts and we can’t wait to see him January when Heather, Jed, and Sam visit us in Thailand. Until then, Skype is our connection and we have had two wonderful contacts from here.
We are off and running again in the morning. We are going to Jurong Bird Park with Robert, Tina, and Neal on Shirena. We’ll stop for lunch at the Vivo Center and then spend the early afternoon in the pool here at One15. When we return to town to have our Singapore Sling at Raffles to celebrate our anniversary, Neal will be heading to the airport to return to Australia. Out here friends move in and out of our lives quickly, but because we have shared such wonderful experiences together, the ties are strong.
by Judy Handley | Oct 25, 2008 | Sailing Logs Year 4, Singapore |
Day 3, Year 4:Â Third Busy Day in Singapore
Date: Saturday, October 25, 2008
Weather: Partly Overcast Day
Location: One 15 Marina, Sentosa Island, Singapore
It is the beginning of the rainy season here and I don’t think the weather is going to get much better than it was today. There was no rain which was a nice change, but it was partly overcast all day. Once in a while the sun tries to peak through, but as hot as it is without the sun, it is probably a good thing that it is staying in hiding. We did not have the relaxing day today that I thought we would have, but it was a good day. Our friends Jean-Pierre and Collette left around 9 am and then I found out that Mark planned to go back into Little India to buy an AC converter. We looked at them yesterday, but I didn’t know we were really buying one. So instead of relaxing, we did a few chores on the boat and headed into the city. We took the free shuttle bus to the Vivo Center which is just across the bridge on the southern tip of Singapore. It really is only about a ten minute ride and it is great to be out here away from the hustle and bustle of the city but still be able to be there in just ten minutes. At the Vivo Center we checked out the Super Walmart style complex. It is a supermarket called Giant on the bottom floor, with everything else from clothing to automotive parts on the top floor with an adjacent pharmacy and smaller supermarket with fantastic meats and specialty items. I even found pretzels for Mark and that is something we haven’t seen since Australia, and barely there. We went to the bank and got dollar coins for the laundry that I have been putting off, had lunch at the food court, and then hopped on the subway for Little India. One of the boat supply places was closed, but we then walked down to the SimLin Tower, home of all things electronic, and purchased the AC converter. It was going to take an hour or so to get the wiring adapted for us, so then we went across the street to SimLin Square. This is like Best Buy times four. There are five, maybe six floors of cameras, computers, sound systems, you name it. We found the 320 Gigabyte hard drives we were looking for about $100US each, so we bought two. We will use those to back up our computers and to serve as a second back-up for all our photos and videos.
We hurried back to the Vivo Center to catch the 3:53 pm free shuttle back to the marina, but we missed it by a few seconds. We were both worn out, so we hailed a taxi and paid the $5.00 Singapore to get back to the marina. Mark has been working to get the AC converter working with our system, but he has been unsuccessful so far. The converter is working but the convoluted adaptations from US to NZ to Singpore plugs is confusing the issue. This is one of the travails of traveling around a world where nothing is standard.
Maybe tomorrow will be our day to enjoy the marina facilities. I finally took a shower in the marina facilities this morning and enjoyed the complimentary towel, the huge shower stall with a shower head that is at least a foot in diameter and liquid body soap in a dispenser. After the shower, I used one of the provided hair dryers, the Q-tips and deodorant, and even got to watch CNN news on a big screen TV while doing this. We still haven’t made it to the pool. Maybe tomorrow.
by Judy Handley | Oct 24, 2008 | Sailing Logs Year 4, Singapore |
Day 2, Year 4: Â Second Busy Day in Singapore
Date: Thursday, October 24, 2008
Weather: Overcast and Drizzle in AM; Clearing in the Afternoon
Location: One 15 Marina,Sentosa Island, Singapore
It is after midnight again and we just got home. We left early this morning and did the shop ’til you drop thing until mid-afternoon. We then came home for a couple of hours and then headed right back to Little India for a cultural performance that was being put on for the Festival of Lights. The performance started at 7:00, but it took us almost an hour to find the place once we got there. But it was well worth it. There were song, dance, and drum performances by groups from Sri Lanka and India, as well as a number of local presentations. I fell in love with the Sri Lanka drumming and dance troupes and would love to visit there to see more. The final presentation by a group from India was absolutely spectacular. It was telling the story of the Krishna’s love and it was beautiful. It was so late when we left the cultural performance that it was hard to find a place to eat dinner. We actually took the subway back to China Town and found a little street restaurant there. Then it was back on the subway to Harborside and then we had to hail a taxi. That is no easy feat. But we made it home and are looking forward to a day of rest tomorrow. Jean-Pierre and Collette of Safina will be leaving in the morning and I think we will probably spend the day on the boat and in the pool here at One15 if the weather cooperates.
We are anxiously awaiting a time we can talk to our grandbaby via Skype but we haven’t even had a chance to email to set up a time. So that will be a priority tomorrow. The other priority is to take advantage of the marina facilities. Staying here is like staying at a five-star hotel. We just can’t afford to eat or drink here, but we can enjoy the facilities. I’ll have to take some photos and get them posted on the web.
by Judy Handley | Oct 23, 2008 | Sailing Logs Year 4, Singapore |
Day 1, Year 4: We Made It!
Date: Wednesday, October 23, 2008
Weather: Overcast, Rainy, and High Winds
Latitude: 01 degrees 14.678 minutes N
Longitude: 103 degrees 50.451 minutes E
Location: One 15 Marina,Sentosa Island, Singapore
I say “we made it” as if there were some doubt as to whether we would or not. And actually a few things happened in the last 24 hours that made us think we might not get here today. Around 9 pm last night as low tide was approaching, Windbird swung on her anchor and bumped against a coral bommie. At least that is what we think it was. So we immediately tried to pull up anchor and move, but the chain was wrapped around the obstacle and we couldn’t move. So Mark slept in the cockpit all night just to keep a watch on things. At some point in the night the chain must have unwrapped itself and we were once again free floating, but we just weren’t sure until we tried to pull up anchor this morning whether or not we would be able to. Mark was prepared to dive on the anchor to help free it, but that wasn’t needed. So we took a deep breath and advanced on the next obstacle-a very strong northwest wind blowing across the Singapore Strait and a fairly steady downpour of rain making it a fairly slow and miserable ride. We had as much as 25-30 knots of wind on the nose at times, but again Windbird pushed forward and we made it to the Quarantine Anchorage by 11 am. The seas were choppy and the Immigration boat had to come up beside us to receive our Passports and papers. And then they had to do this again to give the papers back to us and once again to take back signed papers. In choppy seas, the one thing you don’t want to do is get close to another boat and having this one head straight at our side and almost touch before backing off-three times-gave my heart a bit of a flutter. The next hurdle was getting safely into the marine slip, but actually that went off without a hitch. There was absolutely no wind in the marina, so docking was easy for a change.
So we finally had a chance to look around and realize just where we are. I’ll have to describe the marina in another log as it is after midnight and this cruiser needs to get to bed. But let’s just say it is plush. We have use of the pool, parts of which are shallow and tables and chairs sit down in the pool so you can enjoy a cool drink while sitting in the water. Of course, we can’t afford to buy a drink here, but the concept is nice. There’s a steam room in the bathroom and a gym upstairs from there. Very nice. We made a quick trip into Vivo City to get Singapore money and few groceries and had lunch at a Subway. A sub has never tasted so good. After three months of nasi goring, turkey, lettuce, and tomatoes on a wholemeal bun was welcomed. The shuttle bus to town is free and the HUGE shopping city at Vivo is only about ten minutes away. There is a fantastic supermarket and just about every other kind of store you can think of plus more. We had only been home for a few minutes when Jean-Pierre and Collette of Safina arrived. We had invited them to make Windbird there temporary home while visiting Singapore from their marina across the way in Malaysia. They are with us tonight and tomorrow night and was great to see them. But they no sooner got here than we were off again, this time to have dinner in Little India. It is time for the Indian celebration of the Festival of Lights and Little India is dressed to the nines with lights, lights, and more lights.
So it was quite some day. Tomorrow morning we have to make our way fairly early to the One Stop Shop for final clearance into the country and then I know we will continue exploring Singapore. One day soon, however, I am going to plop myself down in this beautiful pool here at One15 Marina and just enjoy the moment.
