Saturday, March 19, 2011
Singapore
We are less than a hundred
miles from the equator, and the weather is very warm with a strong shower in
the afternoon. A good excuse for
splurging on lunch at Raffles Hotel.
I am impressed with
Singapore despite the tee shirts announcing that Singapore is a fine city; that
is, a city with very strict laws and high fines. Our immigration cards announce boldly that
the punishment for having illegal drugs is death. We can’t say we weren’t warned, and I take
two valium out of my purse even though they are duly prescribed, and I know
this is not what they mean. Better safe
than sorry, I say.
The water is drinkable,
the air breathable, everything is clean, the public transportation system is
remarkable. The government is not
corrupt. The buildings are spectacular. There is easily enough to see for several
days, but we have only one.
We take a highlights tour
and are duly impressed by the orchard garden at the botanical garden, we drive
by various shopping areas, stop in Chinatown to see, of all things, the oldest
Hindu temple in the city. We drive by
the famous Raffles hotel, and I learn that Raffles was the man who grasped
Singapore’s potential as a port—many things are named after him. We return later for Singapore Slings and
lunch. It rains, and we return to the
ship.
It is now a quarter to
ten, and we should have left the dock two hours ago. We cannot leave until everyone has handed in
their passport, and they have been making announcements to that effect. For some reason, they cannot determine which
passports are missing unless they spend four hours checking which will make us
late on arrival tomorrow. Someone
probably kept their passport intending to return to town and didn’t return and
now doesn’t realize they still have it.
Sunday, March 20, 2011, Kuala Lumpur
Another day, another town,
another tour.
Apparently some people did
not return their passports until after dinner.
Due to people not returning their passports on time last night, we are
to be two hours late arriving in Kuala Lampur.
The captain announces we may stay one hour later in Port Kelang, but what this will do to the
tours is a question.
Kuala Lampur with a
population over a million is the capital of Malaysia, but our very large ship,
as usual, is at the dock of Port Kelang, twenty-five miles away. Another bus
trip to the good stuff, but it will be no worse than many airport drives to
town.
To be Malay we are told is to be Muslim. Malaysia has nine sultans who elect one of
their members king for a term of five years so the government is a
constitutional monarchy. We have also
been told that the difference between Indonesia and Malaya is the nation they
were colonies of. Malaya was British,
Indonesia was Dutch.
BOOK: I have finally finished Richard Russo’s That Old Cape Magic. He is a well-known writer and some of his
books have been made into movies. In
this novel the protagonist is a screen-writer who becomes a college professor
and whose marriage implodes as he carries his parents ashes in the trunk of his
car unable to dispose of them. It is
framed between two weddings held on Cape Cod.
There is lots of material about families and heritages. Russo can write good sentences and set up a
good scene. It is a worthwhile and
enjoyable read, but I have my quibbles.
In particular the wife is never fully developed as a character. We see everything through his eyes as it
impacts on him, but a marriage is between two people. Still, it is a good and discussable read.
We take the bus to KL as
it is locally called. We see many prosperous
developments on the way with interesting and very livable houses. We visit the National Museum which is devoted
to history and culture (but not art) with excellant displays. We spend about forty minutes there leaving by
the exit with the restrooms and the snake.
The snake is enormous, and for a small fee, you can have your picture
taken with him. Then to lunch which is
quite satisfactory and at the Federal Hotel, an early-built modern hotel where
the parties celebrating the establishment of independence were held. There are, of course, mementos, and it was
historic for Malaysia. After lunch it
rains and we are taken to KL tower for a view of 360 degrees and photos of the
other buildings. I anticipate 360
degrees of blank gray, but there is enough visibility for decent views, and, as
the guide pointed out, the only dry activity in a rainstorm. After the tower, the rains stops.
We drive by and sometimes
stop for a photo at various significant buildings, the formerly English only
club across the street from the former English administrative offices, the
Anglican church, the National Mosque, the old railway station built by the
English in Indian Mughal style, and, of course, the Petronas Towers, the
world’s tallest buildings until 2003.
We return after the
offical start of dinner. We are hot,
tired and unmotivated and go to the ninth floor for supper.
We are not sorry for the
trip we took and are glad to have seen KL.
However, there are other things to see such as a butterfly park, bird
park and orchid garden. If I came again,
I would certainly want to see the Batu caves (three big caves with Hindu
shrines) and maybe I-city, the “city” with LED displays.
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