Leaving Singapore, but not going far

Today we met our friends Michael and Linda from S/V B'Sheret at Vivo City for lunch and to say goodbye. They will be staying at Raffles Marina at least another week and are not sure where they are going next, maybe to Puteri Harbour Marina or maybe start working their way up to Langkawi. Rather than go to China Town on this rainy day, we opted to eat lunch in the food court beneath Vivo City shopping mall. The food is just as good as in China Town and is less expensive, plus it is air-conditioned and not out in the rain. I finally had an opportunity to try Bee Hoon, which is a very popular dish locally. It tasted okay but was not what I expected -- too much like a soup filled with thin clear rice noodles.

The four of us walked around talking for a couple of hours. Bill and I did a tiny bit of shopping. Our toaster died yesterday and we have gotten spoiled and wanted a new one. For the first 2 1/2 years we made toast in a skillet until we finally bought a toaster in New Zealand almost a year ago. These cheap appliances certainly don't last long. Then our friends headed off for Raffles Marina and we returned to our nearby marina. I really do like being in this centrally located marina on Sentosa Island once we figured out the buses and subway.

Today the marina handled our clearance out of Singapore. We will leave the dock in the morning, move to the nearby Immigration Quarantine anchorage and submit out clearance paper; then motor the 30 miles to Puteri Harbour Marina on the Malaysia side from the island of Singapore. So we can still take a bus or taxi into Singapore whenever we like since it is just across a bridge.

A couple of days ago Bill spent several hours dealing with Emerites airlines, Continental airlines, hotels in Birmingham, England and in Bangkok. Net result is that we canceled our original flights from Bangkok to Dubai to England to Newark to Houston and will now fly on the same dates from Singapore to Tokyo to Houston. Even after paying all the penalty fees the net result cost us nothing and this will be a much easier itinerary. If only we had known we would stop in the Singapore/Malaysia area for months instead of pressing onward to Phuket or Langkawi. That is what happens when you plan things so far in advance. This is a far better place to be based for the land travel we hope to do in Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam. Heck, Bill is even thinking of a short trip into China while we are here, although I doubt that is going to happen.

Next posting will be from Malaysia -- just across the bridge.