Singapore, Singapore

March 5th and 6th.
Some of you probably know that the 5th was my birthday (I love birthday’s). First of all, our suite was decorated beautifully by our team that takes care of our room - champagne, balloons, rose petals spelling “happy b-day” on the bed. Then the 4 of us had freshly made hummus that Jeff had ordered and champagne on our balcony while we sailed in to the harbor at Singapore.
We have been planning for months to meet our friend Mark Zimmerman during our visit; Mark has lived in Singapore for 5 years and seemd willing to take the 4 of us on for 24 hours. Mark is the son of some dear friends of ours from home (Maurertown), Zip and Phyllis Zimmerman. He had supplied us with a wonderful itinerary before we arrived so we were very excited to see him as we came out of customs to begin our adventure. We were also very happy to turn ourselves over to Mark as our guide after some of the cities we have been trying to get through on our own the last couple of weeks.
We proceeded in the maxi-taxi to one of Mark’s special restaurants called “Jumbo’s” for pepper and chili crabs. We sat at our reserved table and were waiting for Mark’s friends Barry and Laura from Canada to join us. We were settling in with our drinks when I heard Jeff say “oh my, oh my” and Nancy say “holy crap”! I turned around to see Zip and Phyllis walk up to the table. They had been visiting Mark in Singapore for several weeks and planned it so it would coincide with our stop in Singapore. This was one of the biggest surprises we have ever had! They even kept their trip a secret from people back home for fear that someone would slip and give us a clue that they were going to be there. When Mark, Zip and Phyllis set their minds to a project like this, they are unstoppable. In any case, there were hugs all around and it meant a great deal to us to have a touch of home in the middle of our trip.
Our “tour guide” Mark arrived the next morning to take us to some of the popular sites in Singapore. We viewed the city state from the top of the Marina Bay Tower and sampled a special breakfast dish and, of course, a Singapore Sling. The best part of the day was a visit to Mark’s home “Bliss” where Zip and Phyllis were waiting. It felt like a calm oasis in the city, especially when we went up to the roof to see the infinity pool that looked over the city. Singapore is a very clean and organized city which was an enormous change from what we have experienced recently.
All too soon, it was time to go back to the ship. We did manage 45 minutes of power shopping before reboarding to be on our way to Kuala Lumpur.
The first photo is my birthday dinner.
The second photo is the Marina Bay Sands Tower.
The third photo is Mark's Bliss rooftop.Read more