From Singapore to Los Angeles

12-Day Southeast Asia Cruise on Diamond Princess December 7~19, 2018

Post-cruise - Singapore to Los Angeles via Xiamen December 20, 2019

Finally, it was time to go home after two weeks. We still had the morning free before going to Changi for our flights home. After having the included simple breakfast at the hotel we headed out for a walk nearby, including another visit to Chinatown.

Robertson Quay Hotel

Walking across the bridge to the other side.

I thought these trees were interesting with branches hanging down.

I did not take many photos this morning, I guess I was tired and really ready to go home.

From Chinatown we took the subway back to Fort Canning station.

Then walked back to the hotel.

An easy walk following the path behind the station.

Hello birds!

Goodbye to the beautifully decorated Christmas tree at the hotel.

We took two separate Grabs to the airport. For some reason it was not easy to get a driver willing to respond so ET and I arrived while SC and CiC continued to wait for the next driver.

Departure level at Changi.

Mural on the wall.

After waiting for a while, we decided to get in the check-in line as it was getting to be very long. Fortunately, they arrived just in time for us to check-in together.

Airside of terminal 1

Just loved the Christmas decorations everywhere.

We found the SATS Premier Lounge for our wait and some food before boarding the plane.

Rice noodle with fish balls, not bad at all!

And the curry dishes were all delicious!

It was quite crowded for a little while.

Then it got empty.

Noodle station

It was an OK lounge but I prefer the other Premier Lounge better.

Meal served on this flight from Singapore to Xiamen.

Arriving Xiamen Airport one more time for a quick transit.

Our plane was rescheduled for a later time leaving Singapore so it did not give us a lot of transit time here. Just went to the restroom quickly and then checked back for departure.

Back into the immigration and custom checks.

We made it for boarding right on time.

Settled in our seats comfortably. This time there was an empty seat between another traveler and myself making this flight a much better ride. ET also had an empty seat on her side.

First meal served on the Xiamen to Los Angeles leg.

Second meal served before landing.

So happy to be home, finally arriving Tom Bradley Terminal at LAX!

This conclude my trip report on this exceptional cruise on the Diamond Princess. 

Thank you for following along!

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ-to the glory and praise of God."   Philippians 1:9~11

Singapore Debarkation

12-Day Southeast Asia Cruise on Diamond Princess December 7~19, 2018

Day 13 - Singapore, December 19, 2019

Our ship moving slowly into Marina Bay Cruise Terminal in Singapore in the dark early this morning. It's always a bittersweet experience on debarkation day. Having to leave the ship and ending our vacation means going back to our normal life of cooking, cleaning, and making our own beds. But then, going home to see our loved ones is exciting and priceless. I have been away for two whole weeks and it's about time to go back home. We will spend one night in this beautiful city of Singapore before finally flying home.

Sailing into port

Marina Bay Cruise Terminal

The city is slowly waking up.

As we walked out of the terminal, we were greeted by the taxi operators right outside the exit. We found out that they were the 'special' taxis that had set rates and cost more than the regular taxis. Not exactly what we wanted. We walked further down and found the regular taxi line where the staff helped us wave down a van for the four of us. A short ride took us to our hotel for the night, Robertson Quay Hotel right next to the river and a few minutes walk from Fort Canning.

Festively decorated front entrance to the hotel.

Room was tight but worked OK for a one-night stay. 

We were on the 10th floor with a view of the river.

Small single beds inside this odd shape room because of the circular building.

A tiny desk right next to the bed.

It did come with a refrigerator and a safe.

After putting down our luggage we went out for our exploration.

The circular building is our hotel. We have stayed at two circular shape buildings on this trip.

We just walked across the bridge and followed along the riverwalk.

Absolutely beautiful!

Bars and restaurants along Boat Quay.

Charming buildings

The Fat Pigeon Statue

Cavenagh Bridge with Fullerton Hotel on the right.

More statues in the vicinity depicting life of local merchants in early days Singapore.

Not sure what you would call this, a boat that's for cleaning the river.

Waiting for SC to find the ATM machine.

Finally arrived at the merlion.

Then we crossed the Jubilee Bridge to Esplanade Theater.

Entrance was decorated with traditional Chinese soldiers cut-outs.

From there we took the subway to Chinatown.

This time, we were advised by the staff at the subway station to purchase the EZ Link card instead of the one-day pass. The cost for each trip is almost half off regular price using the EZ Link card and the card won't expire for five years. We were pretty sure that we would be back within five years so it worked out well for us. Just loved the cute design on the card!

Getting out of the subway station in Chinatown.

By then we were quite hungry after walking around all morning so we headed over to Maxwell Center for some Hainanese Chicken Rice. Even before we entered the food center, we saw the line for Tian Tian wrapped around the corner of the building. This is certainly a very popular eatery in Singapore. As I have mentioned in the past, we came here twice in 2016 and both times we missed eating at Tian Tian because they close on Mondays. On those other trips we enjoyed our Chicken rice at Ah Tai, a rivalry of Tian Tian right next door. Now, I finally got to try out Tian Tian and be able to compare between the two.

We ordered and picked up the food at the same time. I must say this is one 'fast-food' stand.

Successfully found a table to enjoy our delicious meal.

Oh, mine! Tender and succulent chicken with rice that was cooked in chicken stock and fat. 

Washed down with fresh coconut drink. What a lovely lunch we had!

Honestly, I did not find any difference between the chicken from Tian Tian or Ah Tai. They were both nicely done. I may even say that I lean a little toward Ah Tai for their wonderful service. Can't go wrong with either one of these.

Next time we will have to try that roast meat stand. A long line was formed even before the place was opened for business. I wonder how good they really are?

This is Chinatown Complex. Some people swear they have better food here but I find that the place was dark and dingy for me.

Waiting in line for some bak kut teh at Song Fa in Chinatown Point Mall.

Again, this is a very popular restaurant for some local spare-ribs soup.

Spacious and clean restaurant with good service. We were quite full by then, so we only ordered the spare-ribs soup.

 

Peppery ribs soup with endless refills (soup only). The meat was tender and practically fell right off the bone. I personally like this better than the herbal kind.

We then went back to the hotel for a short nap before venturing out again in the late afternoon.

This time we took the subway from Canning Fort to Marina Bay Sands.

The huge mall was nicely decorated for Christmas.

Food Court

I believe this shaved ice is called Chendol.

Quite refreshing on a hot day.

Lotus pond right next to the ArtScience Museum.

Gardens by the Bay

Crossing the Marina Bay Overpass from Marina Bay Sands to Gardens by the Bay.

Dragonfly Bridge

Supertree Grove

We did not really walk around too much since we were a little tired by now. These old folks have done enough walking for the day. It's time to find some dinner!

Lau Pa Sat in the center of town.

We ended up here for some Chili crab.

Very good but not amazing. I think the chili sauce was flavorful but the crabs lack the sweet taste of freshness. This meal cost us around $100 USD. Not cheap, I'll say.

Boon Tat Street BBQ Seafood

After the crab feast, we made sure that we also try the satay here so we moved over to Stand #7 where it is supposedly the best in Singapore.

We ordered a set of 10 beef skewers, 10 chicken skewers and 6 shrimp to share. We were so stuffed that we had problem even finishing all of these. They were awfully good though.

What a wonderful way to end our day in Singapore!

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."   Romans 8: 37~39