March 14, 2016 - Disembarkation and Singapore

Our appointed time for disembarkation was 9:30. This was the last group to leave. We had Holland America transfers to our hotel. We had breakfast in the Lido and loitered in our stateroom. At 9:10 we went to the Ocean Bar to meet our wheelchair escort. We were all alone until 9:15, when Tina, the manager of the Pinnacle arrived. She explained that her colleague was collecting his passport, and would arrive shortly. She left. At 9:20 a young man arrived with the chair. We had been told of the long long walk to get out of the terminal. He pushed Alice gingerly on our way.

After traversing 2 very long halls we entered the immigration hall. It was full of people in the longest queues we had encountered the whole trip. Our escort took us to an empty lane for pass holders. A minute later we were done and collecting our luggage. As we identified our bags, 2 men put them on a cart and led us to the exit. Directly outside we were met by a young lady who was collecting people for the transfer. She directed us to a sitting area. Several minutes later our van arrived. Our driver seated us and another couple while he loaded our bags. He explained we had to wait for one more passenger, and went inside. 10 minutes later we were all present an on our way.

The drive into the city took about 25 minutes, and gave us a quick overview of some of the sights. Checkin went efficiently. We were soon in our room on the 22nd floor of the Fairmont. After checking our view, we were off to find the HoHo bus. Our doorman explained that we could walk about 5 minutes to the hub at Suntec Center or we could board a bus directly across the street. This was their last stop before Suntec. 

We crossed the street. A 5 minute walk was not in the cards for Alice. After a very short wait we boarded the bus, and were whisked to Suntec. This is an office and retail complex with a transportation hub. We walked up to the HoHo window, bought our tickets and got maps and timetables.

We enjoyed the sights along 2 of the routes today, the red and the yellow. They did a good job of covering different parts of the city. We could not go up the steps to the open deck, so we stayed on the lower air conditioned deck. The drawback was the goofy advertising overlays on the windows. Yes you can see out, but it is like looking through a screen. This sure messes with photography.

Views from the bus

The various markets and food halls looked most interesting. Every high rise building seems to have a mall in it. Somewhere along the line we downed energy bars to keep us going. We got off the bus across from the hotel about 6:00. This was the last bus. We think we got our money's worth today, and it is still good for tomorrow.

The Fairmont entrance is in the middle of the block, so we had to walk to the corner to cross. On our way we decided to walk into Raffles Courtyard. Long Bar is located here. This is where the Singapore Sling originated. We had been told it was $37 here, but we wanted to see the bar. You cannot get into the hotel unless you are a guest. Unfortunately Long Bar is on the second floor. We never found the elevator, but we did enjoy the courtyard.

Next we crossed to what looked like a beautiful church property a block from the hotel. This property named Chijmes (chimes) is an old convent and girls school that has been rehabbed and repurposed as  a shopping and dining. After walking the property we selected an Italian restaurant, next to a fountain, for dinner. We started with Singapore Slings. Served in pint Mason jars these were delicious and just $8.50. We topped this off with a delicious pizza. We were seated outside in a delightful breeze as we watched the moon rise and the lights come on the steeple.

But that wasn't the end. The walk back to the hotel took us past Raffles City. This large mall was directly next to our hotel. After a short stroll inside we returned to our room. This busy day left us tired. We fell asleep as easily here as we did on Amsterdam.