We
arrived in Singapore around mid-afternoon on Sunday. The skies were overcast, it
was misting rain and visibility of the beautiful Singapore skyline was extremely
poor. There were a number of boats in the harbor as we approached, one of which
was greeting our ship with what is referred to as a water salute (sometimes called
“watery fireworks”). Water salutes are a ceremonial
gesture of welcome and also a sign of respect. They are usually made by tug boats using their powerful water cannons to create archways of water. They are very cool looking, I might add.
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| "greetings" as we approach Singapore skyline |
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| tugboat gives Oceania Vista a water salute |
Thankfully
the weather had cleared by evening as we left to attend what Oceania calls a “big
event.” An “event” is a special evening just for the ATW passengers and this
was the second of our trip so far. It was held at a huge venue for over 400 of
us. The theme was an introduction to different cultures – specifically Chinese,
Indian, Malay and Indonesian. Unfortunately, either the AC was nonexistent or
not working well, so they had large fans blowing across the tables where we
were seated.
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| Vista passengers arriving at event venue |
Different sections of the room were decorated to represent each country. Special
areas were set up just for photo ops. India was represented by floral “necklaces”
and "bracelets" made of roses, jasmine and marigolds. There were booths set up
for henna hand painting and Chinese calligraphy. It was difficult to take
good photos with the colorful flashing lights in the room, especially in the
stage area and above the tables where we were seated.
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| henna art |
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| floral necklaces and bracelets |
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| China - photo op setting |
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| Ronnie + Jan |
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| calligraphy |
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| lovely table settings |
The meal is somewhat hard to
describe but I will post the menu. We recognized chicken sate and fish
but other than that, it was like nothing we had even seen before, much less
eaten. Probably the most unusual dish was something that looked like black charcoal.
I’m proud to say that we tasted everything – even Ronnie! The thing I enjoyed
most was the blue rice. I googled to see what gave it the blue color and
learned that the rice is cooked with butterfly blue pea
flowers, pandan leaves and coconut milk. The pandan leaf’s
flavor is often described as “a mix of vanilla, fresh grass and coconut with a
grassy, floral aroma.” Anyway, it was pretty.
We
had quite a long (hot) walk from the ship to the busses and of course the same on our
return, showing our passports both ways. I forgot to mention the entertainment.
We watched costumed drummers and a Chinese dragon performance followed by a
local band that played music we were all familiar with. However, the volume along
with the acoustics in the room were so loud that some of the guests were stuffing
Kleenex or napkins in their ears while others were turning off their hearing
aids! LOL! I'm not usually one who complains about loud music but it really is “over the top”
when you have to yell to be heard by the person sitting next to you.
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| Chinese dragon dance |
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| band "Jukulele" |
It
was very late when we returned to the ship and some folks had to be out by 7:30 a.m. for
early morning tours. We were happy we didn’t have one. I had sweated so much
that I had to shower again before I could hit the hay. Even though the food was
interesting and the hospitality was warm, I would still say the evening was “just
ok” due to the uncomfortable temperature and ear-blasting entertainment.
