The trip of a lifetime: my Mom, Carol, has been eyeing this cruise for years. It's one of the last big trips that she's wanted to do. We talked about it, my sweet husband, Glen, told me I HAD to do it. So Mom bought a companion ticket for me. This trip starts in one of Mom's favorite cities, CapeTown, South Africa, and ends in Singapore. We are in transit from Jan. 3 - Feb. 4, 2017. Seventeen ports, Eleven sea days...
Five days later and I'm still only about 60% adjusted.
31 hours of travel, losing 12 hours and gaining a day (??) , not sleeping during the trip home, nor the night before... all makes for a true challenge to the stamina, character, and the immune system.
She can sleep anywhere. They all can.
Not me! The neck snapping wakes me up every time.
Wake UP! We're landing....!!
31 hours of travel to get home.
It truly was my Trip of a Lifetime. I'm sure of that. Thank You Mom for this immense, generous gift of travel, exploration, growth, exponential awareness, curiosity, patience, tip money,
life, and love. It was an awful lot of fun.
Final Singapore Selfie. From the rear of the group. (They're probably waiting for me on the bus again.)
And thank you, if you're still reading! For coming along!
The last four ports have been a bit of a whirlwind.
Singapore brings us out with a BANG! Let me tell you.
It's quite the grand finale. Safaris, Temples, and Jewels. Wow.
I Will Never Be The Same!
It's going to be a great ending to an amazing adventure! Sunrise off port.
Our first glimpses of Singapore, from the M/S Nautica:
Singapore. It's just fun to say.
Drips off your tongue with a delicate, sweet, mysterious flair.
Okay, I'm impressed!!
Modern Singapore is a city comprised of concrete, glass, freeways, and shopping centers.
Little of the original greenery remains, as Singapore is (like most of our recent ports) jam packed with concrete, buildings, people, and cars. But what flora is here is perfectly placed, and carefully preserved. The rain trees are majestic, articulate, and grand.
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Thirty minutes in the Botanical Gardens Orchid Exhibit was not nearly enough...I soaked it in and was always running to catch back up with the tour. We were always the last ones.
Here's why:
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Singapore boasts some of the most stunning architecture....
and the blend of buildings and greenspaces is quite attractive.
The Sri Mariamman Hindu Temple has a museum and botanical gardens on its upper floors! This is our last temple visit. We must have been in nearly twenty different temples...
Chinatown!
a few random snapshots,
And, Goodnight Singapore. Mom and I have a HUGE journey home ahead. We can't stay.
Our guide today was the lovely Mimi, the Singing Guide, who had fantastic English. We've had so many guides- most have been just incredible! It's a whole industry, an entire career that these patient, information filled people hook into. Many of these countries are looking for tourism to boost their economy. It seems to be a satisfying job, to be able to advocate for all of the great things about your country.
Here's Mimi and Mom, and our enormous, FANCY tour bus!
Mimi translated this curious billboard for me: "I have everything I need. But I am still lonely"- advertising one of the popular Korean TV shows that is mainstream in Kuala Lumpur.
Mimi's version was great- but hard to follow. So here it is from Wikipedia, how Kuala Lumpur got its name:
Kuala Lumpur was founded around 1857 at the confluence of the Gombak and Klang rivers. In English, the name Kuala Lumpur literally means "muddy confluence". The venture into the muddy confluence started when a member of the Selangor royal family hired tin prospectors to open tin mines in the Klang Valley. Chinese prospectors went up the river Klang and began prospecting in the Ampang area, which was then jungle. Despite 69 of them dying due to the pestilential conditions, a thriving tin mine was established.[1] This naturally attracted merchants who traded basic provisions to the miners in return for some of the tin. Kuala Lumpur was the furthest point up the Klang River to which supplies could conveniently be brought by boat; it therefore became a collection and dispersal point serving the tin mines.[2]
Population:30 million in Malaysia , located between Thailand and Singapore
3 million in Kuala Lumpur (capital)
Kuala Lumpur is one of 3 federal republics. There are 13 additional states in Malaysia.
Most malays work in government. Chinese work more in business. "Malaysian Indians" are predominantly lawyers, doctors, and engineers. Kuala Lumpur is a Muslim country. They also honor Buddhist, Hindu, and Christian faiths. In this Republic, we see Muslim Mosques right next to Buddhist and HinduTemples. All religions are fairly honored. All religions get along.
Today we noted many "rooster sightings, as the Chinese New Year was yesterday, January 28. 2017 is the year of the Rooster!
Industry: historically rubber. Now palm oil. Crush seeds and extract oil, used for cooking. Also patronus. Petroleum national pridr. They manufacture a car here called the Most taxis are Proton. Also tourism. Textiles. Here is a Proton: cute little car.
Kuala Lumpur has nine sultans. Every five years, they meet to select the next king of Malaysia. Only country in the world with new King every five years.
Prime minister is elected by the popular vote.
Language Malay. International language is English. Also Chinese and hindi. Internet is driving Malaysian schools to start phasing English into schools fairly recently.
National flower is red hibiscus.
We visited the National Monument built to commemorate fallen heroes from
World Wars 1 and 2, and Malaysian civil wars.
The flag of Malaysia
An artist displaying his work at the National Monument
Me and the tourists at the Monument :) haha love them!
Their monument is reminiscent of our Iwo Jima Memorial Statue
Loved this little tourist girl at the National Monument. On her phone:
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Here is the National Mosque, built in 1988. It can hold 15,000. On Fridays, the mosque is overflowing and people fill the entire square surrounding the mosque and are lined up all in the surrounding streets for prayer. We were there on a Tuesday!
Pronounce : "La ilaha illellahu muhammadur rasulullah" Means : "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is messenger of Allah.
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Petronas Towers. this 88 story pair of wonders is Kuala Lumpur's "Crown Jewel". ---------------------
In 1957 Kuala Lumpur proclaimed independence from Great Britain.
In 1963 Kuala Lumpur was unionized with Singapore and the country was called Malaya.
In 1965 Singapore gained independence.
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Lunch at Salome Bistro, a Theatre Restaurant.
There was live music - they played Achy Breaky Heart and Blue Suede Shoes among other Western hits. (Weird! Shouldn't they be playing local music in their own language?)
I had a bizarre Malaysian dessert called
ABC. It's a layered mixture of crushed ice, random jelly and strange bland but brightly colored toppings, and several different syrups, all in one bowl. Not very tasty.
A (Ice) B(batu=stone/crushed ice) C (champour=mix)
Here is the chef, making my ABC. So strange.
My ABC (ick)
---------------- We also visited a Pewter Factory. Very impressive, reflecting the industry that emerged from the area's early tin mining.
