Our adventures in Singapore!

Our last update ended as we arrived in Singapore and were enjoying everything that we had missed in a while – good coffee (and I actually managed to get Shane to enjoy a
Starbucks coffee – sacrilege I know!), good food, and a nice clean environment. We really enjoyed our time at One Degree 15 marina; it is very modern and new, and had a great gym and infinity pool. A membership there cost $35,000 so it was pretty swish.

The gym had great facilities – treadmills with a screen built in to the front that showed cable TV (headphones provided) and a view over the marina and pool – just the sort of inspiration I needed to start running again after a 13-month break.

As you can see, the marina wasn't a bad place to 'slum it' for a few weeks!





While we were there we met a cruising couple from Aussie who have been around these parts for a couple of years. Ley and Neil are a lovely couple, and have a wealth of knowledge on where to go to get things in Singapore. We spent one whole day walking around the streets near Little India, getting the low-down from Neil and Ley as to where to buy gas regulators, stainless steel items, and get our canopy repaired.

We also found out that Neil is a bit of a music buff and enjoys his jazz, as does Shane. The four of us went out one night to a jazz bar and had a few drinks. To give you an idea of booze prices in Singapore – we had two bottles of a cheap Aussie chardonnay that we would pick up at New World at home for about $10 each – at the jazz bar they were $60 a bottle! We just had to have a cocktail first though!










Given Singapore doesn’t have a lot of natural attractions, a lot of the entertainment and sights are man-made. One night we went to the ‘Songs of the Sea’ at Sentosa Island, a laser-light, water and music show. The accompanying narration and dance was more suited to young kids, but the light and water show was well done.







Singapore also dresses up quite spectacularly with Christmas lights. The display along Orchard Road (the main shopping street) apparently rivals that of Oxford Street in London. There was a free tour at night put on for tourists, to see the Christmas lights from the top of a double decker bus. I enjoyed it so much we did it twice! I have never managed to see the Christmas lights in London, so I suppose given Singapore’s reputation, seeing the lights in Orchard Road was the next best thing.




We spent three weeks in Singapore. We saw quite a few of the sights; I saw a lot of the shopping malls (until all the people at them in the week before Christmas almost drove me to distraction!); and I caught up with some friends I hadn’t seen for a while – Jo-Ann and Terry, and Chris and Svenja, along with an old work contact Tony. It was great meeting up with friends from home who were now living in Singapore. But after three weeks of giving the credit card a hiding it was time to move on to Sebana Cove Marina in Malaysia for Christmas.

So on December 19th we arrived at Sebana Cove. A few of the rally boats were there so it was good to catch up with them again.

Fairly soon after our arrival we met a cruising couple from Iceland – Aslaug and Kari - who I learnt were fairly keen runners. I went for a run with them and passed the test (i.e. I wasn’t too slow!). After that, a run first thing became my daily ritual!

On our third day at Sebana, as we were about to head off for our run, one of the other runners wished Aslaug a Happy Birthday. I didn’t know if I had heard right as it was my birthday that day too! We went out for dinner at the resort that night, along with Patrick and Elizabeth of Labarque. Luckily the cake didn’t get weighed down with too many candles!

Continue reading below as we move on to Sebana Cove and travel in Malaysia.