Day 65 Singapore

Friday, hazy early, hot, humid, sunny midhalf, showers at 1600. Last night: It is clear at 2100, before the moon rise. Stars are great! Faithful Orion and many others are visible for the first time in days. Still smooth.

Hot to trot, we cool our heels from 0900 to 1000, waiting for the clearance process. We walk to the gate, walk out to Julon Buroh street, and flag down a taxi. This is about a 1 mile walk. The driver accepts USD without a problem. We go to the shopping area on Orchard Road, about 12USD by taxi. Singapore is clean and safe and comfortable, so different from some other places in Asia. There is a strong emphasis here on education and tolerance. We find a book store, with perhaps the largest English book selection in Asia. LARGE. I buy a Lonely Planet book on China, probably the first purchase that I will bring home. Used plastic. We have lunch at a place called Coffee Club. I have a Caesar Salad and a Java Arabica coffee. I think I am the only person on the ship who drinks coffee black, without sugar. After that, we walk toward the older part of Singapore. Walked until we were tired and hot, and almost by coincidence arrived at one of the 2 museums on my list, Singapore National Museum, a historical museum. It was very good. We get in for the senior rate, 5 SD, which includes an audio device. This is the first museum in my life where such a device was free. Afterwards, we take the outside escalator up the hill to the old fort, and walked around the reservoir to the Raffles wharf area, where we catch a taxi back to the ship. After the taxi, we have 1.50 SD left between us. Security is tight. Our taxi driver has never been allowed inside the port area before.

A side note: One of my traveling companions traveled across the Sahara in a VW bus, carrying 200 liters of gas, 200 liters of water, and 6 pieces of plywood for the sand. We hear that the 4th passenger, an American, is aboard, but we have not met him yet. My Volkswagen-and-ski-crash hip is sore from all the walking, and I will self-medicate tonight.