Singapore

Singapore marks the beginning of the final segment of our cruise and that is sad.  I am starting this segment with an epic summer cold.  Lungs and nose are producing astonishing amounts of liquids but the Cel is convinced that this is my tactic to avoid the smells of India.  Despite my ill health I simply had to go ashore and see something of Singapore.  We arrived at 7 am but could not get off the ship until almost 8. A  quick breakfast and we were off.  Marcel was worried that with all the kleenex stuffed in my pockets that I would drop some leaving us open to a $1000 fine and $2000 and community service for a second offense.  So Cia  was very careful.
After getting cash from the ATM and buying a$20 tourist SMRT pass ($10 is refunded.)  The subways are immaculate, no food or drink allowed and chewing gum will cost you $100 fine as well.  Our first stop was the Botanic Gardens.  The gardens open from 5am to midnight.  The garden was begun in 1822 by Sir Stanford Raffles.  It closed in 1829 and was reopened 30 years later.  The current garden is 74 hectares and has components such as swan lake, the ginger garden, the cactus garden, the bonsai garden, an evolution garden that takes you back to pre dinosaur time.  The highlight is the tropical orchid collection.  It is stunning in diversity and layout and is said to be the largest in the world.  There are over 1000 species and 2000 hybrids in the garden, even one named after former Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien.  We spent most of the day walking the gardens in the 30 plus heat.  We had some iced lemon tea at the refreshment bar that was delicious.  
After the Botanic Garden we took the SMRT to the Singapore Flyer, a gigantic ferris wheel that can accommodate up to 784 people, with room for 27 in each capsule.  We lucked out and managed to have a capsule to ourselves.  It was wonderful to be able to walk around the compartment and see the city below from all vantage points.  Normally, the cost of renting a private capsule is $1000.  One complete rotation of the Flyer takes 30 minutes and you get a great view of the city, its unique buildings and the formula one track.  This is one city I would love to come back to as there was so much more to see that we just did not have time for as we had to be back on board by 4:30.   After setting sail for our next port of call, Phuket, the cumulus clouds that had been building all day produced a number of spectacular thunderstorms throughout the night and early morning.

Cruise tip: take the SMRT to get around in Singapore.  If you will disembark or embark a cruise in Singapore, plan to spend a few extra days here as there is so much to see.  The cruise ship terminal has great access to the city and the SMRT station is right next tot the terminal.

Princess sea term definition : Brass Monkey
In the days of sailing warships, the most common weapon was a cannon.  It was obviously useful to keep a supply of cannon balls next to the cannon, so to stop them from rolling All over the place they would be stacked pyramid fashion on a brass retainer about 1-2 inches high, known as a brass monkey.  In very cold weather, the brass retainer would contract more quickly than the cast iron cannon balls and eventually the cannon balls would actually fall off the monkey and so we arrive at the expression "cold enough to freeze the balls of a brass monkey."