Days 34 and 35 of 102. 13th February, and St. Valentine’s Day.

Firstly, I discovered, recently, a couple of blogs written earlier in the voyage, which, although were either not checked or completed, I felt these  worthy of inclusion, even if rather late.  Generally, the Internet on board QM2 is infinitely better than previously and, so far, it has been possible to write and publish each day, rather than having to wait to be somewhere where the WiFi facilities are good.  So, here we are, back on track in Singapore after an overnight stay, and a fabulous first day here yesterday.

Yesterday

Annoyingly, I have picked up some kind of a cold, one of the symptoms of which is loss of voice!  This has been troubling me for over a week, along with the world-renowned Cunard Cough or QM2 cough!  This is usually a nocturnal irritation, but it can take all morning to clear.  Yesterday, Jo encouraged me to join her while she got her bearings in Singapore, a city she appeared quite familiar with from several previous trips. I suggested lunch at the Lavos Restaurant at the top of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, level 57, Tower 1. This suggestion went down well.

We took the complimentary (and very useful) shuttle bus to the Marina Bay Sands complex, right by where I hoped to take Jo to for lunch.  But first, we had to look at the shops, “heaven” for people who like that sort of thing. But it wasn’t long before I, too, was enjoying window shopping. We went outside, where what appeared to be much of Singapore “downtown” was spread around a wide expanse of water, The Bay.

There’s a little canal at the lowest level of this amazing shopping and dining complex, with boat rides 13 SG dollars for 10 long minutes!  “Why not,” we agreed, but we passed on the souvenir gifts afterwards!  

Yesterday, I decided that today, I would walk to the Merlion fountain, another Singapore landmark, which was boarded up last time I was here.

Back to Yesterday. We made our way to Floor 57 in Tower 1 of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel where an excellent bar and restaurant thankfully had space available. (We were lucky) After ordering, we were invited to the outside viewing decks while our meal was prepared. Often, dining atop landmark towers can be slightly underwhelming. That is definitely not the case here. I think the dishes were perhaps for sharing; they were massive.

The fruit salad I ordered was the size of a small mountain, as was Jo’s Tiramisu.  Ye Gods!, I only had a piece of Jo’s tiramisu, the size of my thumb nail. It was magnificent!  I just wish that I wasn’t Type 2 diabetic!

Jo was booked on the Night Safari trip at 17.45 hrs.  I had tried to get on it also, and only succeeded at the very last minute just as the tour was about to leave.  I’m very pleased I went.  I presume this is a  nightly event staged by Singapore Zoo.  We got to see from a four(?) car tram, many endangered species, as we toured around this amazing complex as the sun went down.  We would then be shown more on foot before a stage presentation in a sizeable arena. 

We returned to Queen Mary 2 sometime around 22.45 hrs.  Immigration procedures here in Singapore were very slow, careful, and lengthy.  In the morning, people grunted about 2 hours to go through Immigration, Jo, and I took just thirty minutes in the late morning to make it to the shuttle bus, which yesterday, ran throughout the day, every 15 minutes until 8 o’clock in the evening. We had not eaten since the oversized lunch mid afternoon. Neither of us needed to, but I was fairly hungry again, by the time we were back on board, following (even at that time of night) very detailed checks prior to boarding QM2.   This time, I could justify visiting the midnight buffet.

Today, Valentine’s Day 2023

I was alone today, to do exactly as I wished, despite feeling just that bit tempted to join Jo as she explored Little India.  My plan was to take the shuttle bus, and then walk as far as the Merlion and Fullerton Hotel, taking photographs as I went along.  For Singapore, it was not unbearably hot. It was humid, and I had obtained a couple of small bottles of water to prevent dehydration.  I suppose there and back might have been around two, perhaps three miles. I stopped for lunch at a waterside cafe for a French ham and onion pizza type dish.  Thankfully, this was definitely intended for one person!  I had explored, for a second time, part of the amazing shopping mall where the shuttle bus had brought us to.  I made it to the Merlion and the very grand Fullerton Hotel, and other Hotels in the Fullerton area.

I had planned to return to the water feature canal in the main shopping area. Every two hours, water swirling in a huge basin above falls to the circular pool below, the end of the Sanpan Ride, that is the little 10 minute boat ride at Canal Level.

I chose not to wait over an hour for this event, but would make a point of trying to catch it when we return to Singapore on 23rd February.

I had achieved what I wanted to and returned to Queen Mary 2 before 3 o’clock, with eventual departure some four hours later. This late departure enabled some fine sights, as the sun went down behind dockyard cranes. I never thought I would ever see this sight ever again, and regard this as an unexpected bonus.

I dined alone and would meet up with Jo at Showtime in the Royal Court Theatre. She was very concerned having mislaid some important items. I couldn’t stand the show as some West End diva belted out melodies at a volume that would raise the dead and deafen the living! For the first time, I had to leave. I couldn’t face having to applaud this shrieking artiste from the West End (London’s?) and the sound engineers who must have just got on board in Singapore. Said missing items did show up, much to the huge relief of Jo. It’s a relief to know that it’s not just me who loses things!

Many thanks for reading, David, the following morning after breakfast, 10.45 hrs in my stateroom.