Singapore April 2025

Laura and I had both been to Singapore before on business, but this was our first time with time to explore during the day. The ship did an overnight in Singapore so we had an afternoon and an evening to see the city and its surroundings. You notice several things about Singapore almost immediately - it is prosperous, clean, efficient and tiny. It is quite amazing how much international trade and commerce goes through this tiny city state.

On the first day in Singapore we took an excursion called "Singapore - how we live" which attempted to give us insight into what it is like to live as a resident of Singapore. We visited the Marina Barrage and saw how technology is used to hold freshwater for drinking and also keep sea water out and control flooding. We also visited a government building where people go to buy apartments, which included displays of all the housing projects being built and maintained. These are not your typical government housing projects - rather they are modern, well designed and with lots of green space - but still they are tiny. Real estate is hugely expensive so people live in tight quarters. Finally we got to ride the subway back to the ship. That evening we went back out to the city, had cocktails at the Fullerton Hotel and dinner at a nice back street bistro restaurant.

On the second day we canceled our pre-booked tour and went ashore now confident we could get around on the subway. We headed to the Singapore Botanic Garden, where despite the heat and humidity we enjoyed a lovely couple of hours exploring everything they had to offer without climbing a tower. We had a nice lunch out and we headed back to the ship. On to the next place!