Category: Asia

Not quite ready for the real world yet…

Singapore may have the top rated airport, but not all the airlines are! I will admit we may have gotten spoiled as we haven’t flown on a ‘budget’ airline for years, but it was extremely frustrating.

First we went to print our boarding passes at the machines and get Richards bag tagged and dropped off. He spent quite awhile trying to figure it out how to drop the bag at the machine without any help. Finally I went over and we just took it to customer service. However, the line was about 5 passengers deep and the lady at the front was trying to check 8 boxes of mangos… so that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. We then went back to the automatic bag drop and found someone to help.

Now it was off to security. I was pulled aside first as I had 2 bags. I had to go to a scale and the total was more than 7kg, so they made me check a bag (which I was not happy about). They weighed Richards 2 bags and said he was ok.

So off to security we went again. Now we didn’t get far before Richard was pulled aside and said he couldn’t take both his bags. We explained we were just at the counter and they said he was ok, but clearly he wasn’t. So he then had to check another bag. Now Richard did say he had to pay to check one bag on-line, so at least they didn’t charge us.

Finally off to security and as I get to the front of the line… I don’t have a stamp on my boarding pass so I am turned away to go and get my ‘stamp’. I go to another desk and without even looking she stamped my boarding pass. Once I get back to security they don’t even look at my passport as I have a stamp on my boarding pass- so everything must be fine.

Immigration is next and we breeze through and drop our remaining bags on an x-ray machine. We are immediately in the departure hall and realize we didn’t go through security, which we think is odd but are frustrated and hungry so we go off to find some food.

After what seems like forever we finally find some edible food and have a few drinks… sort of edible.

Now I was so happy to find a hot water dispenser so I could make myself a nice cup of tea. On the walk to our gate we realize we now have to go through security… so I have to pour out my cup of tea! Once again I am disappointed.

Amazingly we board the plane without issues! One item that I didn’t think about was the bulkhead seats sometimes become the exercise area for the Asian passengers- at least it added some comedy for the flight!

We also went to the flower garden and were really impressed! The colors were amazing.

We went to Gardens by the Bay this morning and I have to say it was amazing!Unfortunately I have so many photos to chose from- here are just a few… from the GoPro camera.

And a few from my Nikon camera. I think once I get home and have a chance to edit some of them there will be some good shots.

This morning Jo and I went for a walk and did some grocery shopping then we headed out on a 10k hike. We had some lovely views!

Then we went to enjoy a nice lunch by the water and enjoyed some Australian football

Now it is nap time before dinner with Mark and Ange tonight!

We have been in Singapore for a few days now. It is nice to relax and just take some time to do nothing.

Yesterday we went to Chinatown and did a bit of shopping. Today we are going to explore downtown and take a boat cruise along the river.

This morning we visited an ancient town called Duong Lam. It is located about 1 1/2 hours from Hanoi.

Once we arrived we walked into the town and collected our bicycles. We biked along alleys and enjoyed lunch in a 400 year old home.

Then we cycled out to a temple. Passing farm fields and animals.

We passed through the market and community center in the before returning our bicycles and heading back to Hanoi.

This is my last morning on the boat and I am going to miss it. Unfortunately my quiet time is quickly coming to an end as the boats are starting to move around and you hear the sounds of engines vs birds.

It is so sad that these tours are going to be coming to an end in 2025 as the government says they are “not safe” for tourist. They are building some big hotels at the port and want people to sleep there and only come out for day tours. I think there was a few bribes paid…

We went on a tour of a more developed fishing village this morning. They have started a small fish farm as well as pearl farm. They have also started living on small floating houses. It is amazing to see what the tourism dollars have provided the people with.

Some of the homes were a gift from a US university that taught them some basics about fish farming.

Now it is a slow cruise back to the cruise dock to wait for our bus back to Hanoi.

This morning I was up early and enjoyed listening to the birds and watching the fisherman out on their boats. It was so peaceful! Everyone slowly got up on the boat and we enjoyed some tea while watching the boats pass by. We enjoyed a great breakfast and then headed off to collect our kayaks.

We kayaked for quite a long time and enjoyed some beautiful views.

We saw some small fishing communities and learned a bit about them. One really good thing is some of the tour companies have partnered with them and collect their trash and what they pick up from the ocean in exchange for goods they cannot get on the water (flour, sugar etc). It has made such a difference as they look for trash to pick up now.

We stoped on a bridge between two islands that is only accessible during low tide.

Then we went over to a little cove for a swim. Unfortunately the bottom contains fairly sharp pieces of rock and most of us got some minor cuts. Richard was even lucky enough to get a sort of dead jelly fish tentacle around his ankle, but no harm was done.

On the kayaks back we went through a few caves.

Once back at the boat we had some time to relax before our beach BBQ.

It was nice to sit on the beach, but a bit hot and really sad to see how much trash washed up. Our guide picked up several bags while we were eating, but as we were leaving more was washing up.

We then relaxed on the boat as we headed to a cave to explore and then had a spring roll cooking class before our final dinner on the boat. The crew made some decorations just for us as well.