Singapore Botanic Gardens

 

Established in 1859 as a public park, the gardens have grown over the years. One of the top attractions is the National Orchid Garden. Naturalist Henry Nicholas Ridley (aka Mad Ridley) became director in 1888. He conducted successful experiments with rubber planting which radically changed the economy of the Malayan peninsula. By the early 20th century, the Malayan peninsula produced half of the world's latex.

    We were proud of ourselves finding our way there on the subway. Here is a sampling of what we saw.

Clouded Monitor Lizard

After walking through the gardens for hours, we came to the gift shop. Jessica purchased a beautiful 24 karat gold plated orchid for someone dear to her. (spoiler alert) 

Eric scored a tropical shirt.

Day 3, Marina Bay & The Marina Bay Sands Hotel

 

Perhaps the most iconic structures in Singapore are those built around the Marina Bay. On this internet derived photo, from left to right are the Helix Walking Bridge, the hotel, and the science museum.

I took this photo just before we walked across the Helix Bridge toward the hotel. The bridge was constructed in 2007, modeled after the double helix that carries the genetic code of life on earth. At night, pairs of the illuminated red and green letters "c,g,a,t" appear in the darkness, symbolizing the amino acid bases of DNA cytosine, guanine, adenine, and thiamine. In whimsical fashion, the bridge was constructed as a left-handed helix rather than the right-handed helix that usually occurs in nature. Why? I have no idea. Perhaps the architect is left handed. Perhaps it is because Singaporeans drive and walk on the wrong side of the roads and paths.

    The enormity of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel is difficult to overstate. That big boat-looking thing on the top? - That is a 478 foot long swimming pool, almost the length of three olympic swimming pools end-to-end.

The hotel itself has 2,600 guest rooms in three 57-story towers. They are joined together throughout the bottom of all three buildings. This open complex space includes innumerable shops, restaurants, gardens, interactive light displays for children and much more.

Singapore Day 2 and the Walking Tour

We completed the first day in Singapore at the Long Bar, home to the Singapore Sling. Back in 1915, a creative bartender at the Long Bar at Raffles named Ngiam Tong Boon created a cocktail that looked like plain fruit juice. Actually, it was spiked with gin and liqueurs. Why? It was simply improper etiquette for proper ladies to consume alcoholic in public, thus the ruse. I suppose that makes the the Singapore Sling a "girlie drink". I'll take it.

Early on our 2nd day, we had an amazing breakfast in the Tiffin Room restaurant. There was a wonderful buffet with fresh fruit and pastries, etc. They brought us fresh coffee and we picked from a choice of Malaysian, Chinese and British breakfast items on the menu. At 10 AM, our guide arrived—an energetic Singapore born and bred woman of Chinese background.

We took a bus to Kampong Glam, the Malay enclave of Singapore where we saw the iconic Sultan Mosque and famed Arab Street with so many enticing eateries. Here we sampled the tarik, a sweetened tea drink made with condensed milk. Next stop was the Little Indian Station where to saw many colors and exotic scents of spices while walking along the streets. We sampled roti part, an amazing south Indian flat bread made by frying dough flavored with ghee. 

We saw the Sultan Mosque and many traditional Arab Street eateries. We learned a little bit about the Singapore education system, which requires all students to attend public school where they learn English along with their traditional language. Students can attend a madras, but ONLY as an adjunct, NOT as a substitute for a public education. It seems the many cultures in Singapore have learned to live together respectfully and in peace. 

The tour continued through the open food markets and food stalls.

Jackfruits are the largest tree fruit in the world. They can weigh up to 120 pounds each.

The next stop was Parkview Square, a huge Art Deco office building built in 2002, well after the era of Art Deco. Home to the Atlas Bar. No expense was spared. Although it seems out of place, it fits so nicely as part of the Singapore skyline.

Parkview Square lobby

   

     By the time we hit Bugis Street and the Singapore Chinatown, the humidity and jet lag had hit particularly the three men in our group pretty hard. We deferred a trip to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, while our tour guide instructed us on the amazing subway system. The Singapore subway system is efficient, spotless and cheap. We paid with our phones.

Singapore and The Raffles Hotel - Continued

Entry to our room on the right

 Bob, Ray, and Eric have been close friends since we were 11 or 12 years old. Ray was traveling with us and was staying at the Marriott across the street from Raffles. As we came back to life on our first day in Singapore, our first stop began by exploring the food court in the gigantic shopping center underneath the Marriott for lunch. Singapore is a foodie's paradise. Nowhere else in the world will one find a Michelin starred food stall.

Our home for five nights

The Raffles Hotel - An Introduction

 When considering the magnificent luxury hotels of the world, Raffles joins the top of the list. Outstanding in every way, it oozes an old-world charm difficult to find these days. We are enjoying the privilege of staying there for five nights along with our companions, Bob and Sheree.

        Raffles came into being in 1887 as a ten-room high-end hotel. Named after the founder of modern Singapore, Sir Stamford Raffles, the hotel became a destination for the wealthy travelers of the day. As the years passed, there were numerous expansions and renovations. Today, the hotel consists of 115 suites, numerous restaurants and bars, and many shops in the arcade.

    The hotel has been recognized as a national monument. We knew we had entered a different world when we were greeted in the expansive lobby by live harp music. The list of famous people who have visited Raffles is long. It includes but is certainly not limited to Somerset Maugham, Ava Gardner, Charlie Chaplin, Joseph Conrad, Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Jackson, Rudyard Kipling, Noel Coward, André Malraux, and James Michener.

We arrived at Changi Airport at 5:45 AM. It was a long flight, but we had all slept several hours on the plane. Customs was a breeze and our driver was waiting for us. Check in went smoothly at the hotel and in a little while, we introduced to our amazing rooms in the Palm Court Suite. Jessica was ready to explore, and the rest of us were ready to sleep!

The Great Silver Bird

 Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Arthur C. Clarke

An Airbus A350-900 plus fuel plus over 300 souls weighs over 600,000 pounds. It is nothing less than a miracle that such a device can leave the ground, climb to 6 miles above the earth, move at over 500 mph, and travel half way around the world nonstop in under 17 hours. Yet, it happens every day.

    The five of us gathered at the San Francisco International Airport, and had the privilege of flying business class to the Singapore Airport. They served the best airplane food I have ever eaten. The seats convert into tiny flat beds. The service was impeccable. Flying with Singapore Airlines is a unique experience.

    Changi Airport in Singapore is also a unique experience. How many airports contain a living wall and palm trees?

We left San Francisco the evening of 15-January and landed early morning on 17-January. 16-Jan disappeared because we crossed the International Date Line where one flies from today to tomorrow. We will get our day back when we return. After we take off from New Zealand, we will land in New York earlier than we took off. Go figure.

Getting To San Francisco

 It was a dark and stormy flight. This was our third attempt to travel the 2,400 miles from Cleveland to San Francisco. We left ourselves three days to get there so we could visit with relatives and friends. Our first attempt was a non-stop flight grounded due to loose screws in our Boeing aircraft. Our reschedule connected through Chicago. Our scheduled landing and takeoff in Chicago coincided perfectly with blizzard conditions at the airport, so on to plan C. The following day we made it, connecting through Denver. Winds were gusting to 50 mph in Cleveland, but we got out. After considerable turbulence and delay, we made it!

    The historic Claremont Hotel in Berkeley has a complicated 100 year history including brief ownership by the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation. It somehow seems appropriate that we stayed at the Claremont on our way to Singapore.

From the web site

Perched on a hill off Tunnel Road, the view to the west is outstanding.

Westerly view from the Claremont Jan 14, 2024
SF Bay Bridge to the left - Golden Gate Bridge to the right

Although our stay was cut short by a day, we were still able to gather with some of our favorite people.

Jessica, Kevin, Erica, me

One more day at the Bay, and it is onward to Singapore!

Preparing For Our Asian Voyage

      Later this week, we will be embarking upon a major voyage. After a few days in the San Francisco Bay area, we will board our Singapore Airlines flight to Singapore. Traveling along with us will be my dear friends Bob and Ray (no not THAT Bob and Ray). and Bob's wife Sheree. As a five-some, we will explore Singapore for nearly a week.

    The planning for this trip was hatched many months ago. Jessica and I have traveled frequently with Bob and Sheree. They asked us if we wanted to go to Singapore with them. We responded with "Why Singapore? We would really like to go to New Zealand." So, we compromised. We decided to go to both.

    And so, after exploring Singapore, we will revisit Singapore Airlines and fly to Queenstown, NZ by way of Auckland. Then we spend the next 18 days working our way back to Auckland by boat, plane, train, and car, stopping along the way for a whole variety of activities.

    Finally, we part ways at the Auckland Airport. They head home to Oregon. We head to Brooklyn, NY to decompress for a couple days and see our kids. We are going to cover a lot of ground, and water. This is what it looks like.

   I will do my best to keep posting along the way. Eric

This is the travel blog for Eric, Jessica, and frequently Erica. It was originally created in 2014 to record the 10 months that the three spent in Paris and exploring Europe. All of that can be found below. More recently, I have been recording other trips we have taken. 

The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

 "The mission of Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens is to inspire meaningful connections among people, plants and nature through horticulture, education and research." 

The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens are located in Booth Bay, adjacent to Booth Bay Harbor. The gardens cover 323 acres, plenty big enough to get completely lost without a map. The grounds are meticulously kept, and a brilliant combination of nature and art in the form of sculptures and architecture abound. We wandered the grounds for hours. I took 250 pictures. Here are a few:

One of 5 trolls. Jessica running scared.

From Freeport to Rockland

 Having satisfied our hiking needs, we left LL Bean and headed for Rockland. We checked into a funky B&B - The Granite Inn. Frequently, one meets interesting folks at breakfast when staying at a B&B, and this stay was no exception. Conversations ranged from living on a tiny isolated island off the coast to a 51 year old moving her chocolate business from Vermont to Maine.

We took walks in town during our short stay. The high point in Rockland itself was dining at Primo on a tip from our Cleveland friends Gay and Quentin. They steered us well. The restaurant is a two-time winner of a James Beard award. We learned that people come from far and wide, many by private and chartered aircraft, just to dine at Primo. Some stay at the Granite Inn.

The highest point of our stay in Rockland was our trip to Booth Bay Harbor, and our visit to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. This deserves a blog entry all its own.

Portland, Maine

 We spent the day in Portland before continuing our northward trip along the coast. Our major stops were the Portland Museum of Art, a microbrewery for lunch, and of course the obligatory walk along the coast.

The Museum was nice, but a bit of a disappointment since much of the museum was closed. I thought this piece captured the both the museum and Maine well.

The walk was challenging. It was cold and quite windy. Fortunately, we chose to walk in May, not January. So, it was a relief to head for Bissell Brothers Brewing in South Portland. Two days earlier, we had tasted their brew while dining in Ogunquit. It was so good that we wanted to check out the source.

They did not disappoint. Microbreweries are scattered far and wide in this area of the country. We felt that we had discovered a really good one. Here is a photo of my traveling companions hard at work completing their various tasks.

Here is a panoramic view of the whole operation:

Tonight, we spend in Freeport just north of Portland. Tomorrow, we explore the Flagship Retail store of LL Bean. We do not have to worry about when we get there. They are open 24/7/365.

With the memorable memorial event behind us we turned our attention to the coast of Maine. First, we had to pick up Erica in Middlebury who was visiting her friend Priscilla. The four of us went for a walk on the Robert Frost Interpretive Trail.

From there, we headed east. We stopped to spend the night in Woodstock, Vermont. We stayed at the Woodstock Inn, a spectacular hotel in the middle of a bucolic New England town. We recommend it.

After a leisurely breakfast, we headed east, stopping briefly in New Hampshire to "fill up the tank". Then it was onward to Ogunquit, our southernmost stop along the Maine coast. This is a funky little town which gets seriously overrun by tourists every summer since it is not too far from Boston. We spent the night.

The next morning after a leisurely breakfast, we took a walk along the ocean, and then visited the Ogunquit Museum of American Art.

Later that day on our way north, we stopped at the Rachel Carson Natural Wildlife Preserve. We walked a mile on a well established trail, observing wild orchids (specifically Cypripedium acaule aka Pink Lady's Slipper) amongst many wonders of nature. Rarely, the Lady's Slipper can be white instead of pink. Here is a white one that we saw, and also the more common pink variety.

white Cypripedium acaule

pink Cypripedium acaule

A few miles up the road, we reached Kennebunkport, of George H.W. Bush fame. The mansions that Kennebunkport is known for were well hidden. Instead, we briefly toured the shlock shops along the main drag where one could acquire memorabilia of all sorts. We soon took off and headed for our final destination of the day, the Lincoln Hotel located in Biddeford. Tomorrow is dedicated to Portland.