Sunday May 26 – Singapore

We decided not to take a ship’s tour today but rather catch the train to the Botanic Gardens in Singapore.  After a one kilometre walk to the station we found that there were disruptions to the train service but that they were providing a free bus to the city instead.  We then caught the train to the Gardens.  Sunday is the day off for the Filipino maids in Singapore, so we saw many of these young girls picnicking in the gardens.  The Singapore Botanical Gardens are truly beautiful, with many old trees.  We spent much of our time in the orchid garden.  There was such variety.  Many of the hybrid orchids are named after famous people such as Queen Elizabeth, Lady Diana and Nelson Mandela.  I particularly liked the red speckled orchid named after William and Kate.

It was extremely humid today, so we were wet through by the time we returned to the air conditioned comfort of our cabin. Barbara returned to the ship at lunchtime while Bill went on to Marina Bay Sands to catch up with business emails.