Until backpackers came in the late 70’s, Koh Samui, one of Thailand’s sixty islands, was pretty self-sufficient and did not have much connection to the mainland of Thailand. They  had dirt roads, if any at all.  Now, in 2012 we were able to ride around the entire island as we toured the ancient temples on what they refer to as the ring road. When they say that backpackers founded Ko Samui, it is true. They came on fishing boats to get away from it all in more hectic parts of the world. This was to them a pristine paradise. They told others to come and now you have many hotels, spas and resorts on the island. The island has beautiful beaches, mountains, coconut plantations where monkeys are taught to pick coconuts. The monkeys use their hands to spin the coconut, the feet to pull at it and the mouth to bite if off.  These trained monkeys can pick up 1,000 coconuts a day. We left the island of Ko Saumi and $30.00 of our American dollars.  You should see the gaudy sandals I bought. They fit like a glove, just perfect. This is how good the Thai are when bargaining with you. The shoes were originally $75.00 American dollars all the way down to $15.00.  The show owner was so smart to bargain me down from such a lofty place. I will wear them once and all the beads will fall off. I am sure. But rarely do shoes feel good first try and rarely to you get such a deal from a professional! I was not born yesterday, but still and all, she was happy and I was happy and we hugged good-bye and a cultural exchange was set in stone. An airport services several flights from Ko Samui to Bangkok and Singapore as well as other parts of Thailand.  Sorry, sorry, I sound like an advertisement, but our guide today wanted us to let you know about Samui, which has a lot of other competition for your business since there are other islands as tourist destinations that surround it.   I thought I would add some photos of the island taken from the bus and you decide if this could be your next tourist destination. . .

The tour was about an hour late in getting started, which can throw off the spirits as they may or may not be.  In any case, I thought for sure there was a special blessing, a rite of passage or something lurking trapped in a time warp and would gladly spread its delight on me after centuries of waiting. Sure thing. All of the above is true, but a gentle and beautiful monk spread the graceful spirits of curative powers to Skip. He sprayed him with healing waters and you can see that he is tying the woven spirit of good luck to Skip’s wrist.  He could never, ever have tied anything to any part of me because a monk cannot touch a woman. So be it. It is true that the Health God is not Buddha, but in fact health is transferred from a monk to people of merit and need.

After the spiritual transfer we went to visit the mummified Monk. They say his hair keeps growing. Well, sort of. Here he is:

We continued on through Ko Samui to these sites:

The day was very special and I will always remember the sight and chanting sounds of a healthy spiritual transfer and the lovely quiet island of Ko Samui plus the privilege of being there at exactly the right time.

More Singapore. I was really connected there: This photo was taken as we sailed away for another adventure.

My brother Tommy from another mother wrote me after viewing my photos of modern Singapore of his observations of Singapore in the late 40’s.  He said at the time he was here, the tallest building was only three stories and when he saw the photos of the ultra modern city he was amazed at the transformation.  I asked a local lady how Singapore gets the enormous amount of money it must take to build the city that is  continuously involved in constant construction and maintenance. She said it comes from foreign investors.  Anyone interested in a good business tip, here it is.  Plus you need to know there is no unemployment or homelessness here according to our verbose Taxi Man!

Our taxi driver to the ship was so informative. He said that they have built casinos in Singapore and the tourist trade has soared 30%. He also said that if Singaporeans want to go to the casino it is a one hundred dollar fee, but free to tourist guests. They do not want their citizens gambling.  Also, if you are caught littering, the first time you are fined $150.00 plus sent to counseling and the second time $300.00 plus sent to counseling. On the third time, if there should be a third time, you are fined $500.00 plus you are put to work scrubbing the streets. The ethic of a clean city it is not just the fear of the money fine, the counseling or the scrubbing the streets, I think it is pride and a genuine caring about the look of their beautiful city that keeps everyone from littering and ruining such an important tradition which is known and  envied around the world.

The governing officials in Singapore make huge salaries, so it was just decided that they would take a 40% cut in salary. The Prime Minister makes over 4 million a year.  He can still get along with a 40% cut. Don’t feel sorry for him; don’t feel sorry for other officials, they will do just fine.

Our hotel offered an 8-person dinner with all the trimmings for only $7,000. Skip and I got a kick out of the price. We ate Mandarin Oranges and power bars in the room.  Actually our lunch was $122.00, so we economized for dinner. But you saw the photos and the view, well worth the $$$.

Remember I mentioned that because of the generosity of The Marriott Hotel’s new policy, giving Marriot Members free Wi-Fi, I am able to blog. I thank them! I was also treated to a complete hotel tour given by the Communications Director, Esther. She told me of the lovely amenities of the hotel and I told her about the kind and attentive service we have received here at the Singapore Marriott.

Remember I mentioned The Marina Bay Sands Roof Top Garden that spans from one tower to the other and you can see that it cantilevers over the third tower? I said it boasts about being the largest roof top garden in the world? During the night I realized I had to see this from the top.  We made reservations for lunch at Sky 57. If you do not have reservations and are not a guest, you probably would not be allowed to take the elevators to the 57^th floor.  The lunch was an Asian/French Fusion including lobster, noodles, knuckles, tendons, ribs, rice and condiments. I enjoyed squirting lime on everything. Yum. But, the lunch is not the issue at hand; it was the views of Singapore.  So, here is Singapore and doesn’t she look gorgeous?

Here are two views of the three towers and the rooftop gardens. See how the end extends over the third tower.

Now see what’s on top and what people are doing to enjoy the gardens and infinity pool.

Now we have views from our luncheon table and the walk around the restaurant:

Where’s Dave ?

Singapore is a tourist’s delight, an architectural splendor and a shopping mecca. Come and be wowed.

Here is The Marina Bay Sands Roof Top Garden that spans from one tower to the other and you can see that it cantilevers over the third tower. It boasts about being the largest roof top garden in the world.

The National Flower of Singapore is an Orchid called: Vanda Miss Joaquim. It was discovered growing wild by Miss Agnes Joaquim in her garden in 1893.  How do we know this? We visited the Singapore Botanic Gardens this warm and muggy afternoon.  Many orchids do grow wild, so why is it nearly impossible to grow them myself? I have a green thumb.  Hey, Jodi, they have red bamboo growing in the gardens. Wouldn’t a couple of red stalks look great with your pot of bamboo?

Taste treat: The Mandarin Orange. It is most delicious and I we have eaten a dozen or so each . I have spit out and saved all of the seeds. Wouldn’t it be grand to grow a fruit- bearing tree from a least one of these 50 or more seeds?  I know about grafting and how you have to graft a fruit-baring branch onto the seedling to have fruit. It is true. I will have to find someone with a Mandarin Tree.  Do you now of such a tree growing in Southern California?

You really have to be in awe of this gorgeous gracious city full of people, places and things, with no trash and or graffiti. The streets are clean or if not cleaner than your kitchen floor and even the freeway railings are polished. Their entire freeway is spotless. How about that? I heard, if you drop papers, you get your hand cut off. Well, maybe not that harsh, but a big fine and jail time. They are not kidding here.  We did see a woman standing off to the side, smoking. We actually stopped and watched drag after drag until she finished her cigarette. We made bets, and you guessed it, she dropped it to the ground and stepped on it, leaving it there for someone else to pick up. Imagine that. I had all I could do not to go up and reprimand her.  Does she know we spent 26 grueling and torturous hours on plane flights to get to Singapore the spotless city of the world and she just dissed our whole touristic attitude?  The “B” word to her.

Here are some lovely sights we visited around Singapore.

The City of Singapore is on Holiday for the next two days. It is the Chinese New Year of the Dragon.  The year of the Dragon is traditionally a prosperous one. Many of the stores are not open. Good thing because as usual I am over packed, so anything we buy goes into Skip’s suitcase and he really moans and groans over putting anything into his perfectly packed case. So, not to worry, I have an extra fold out and Delta lets you check 2 bags each free when you hit Medallion status. Will we or will we not have four checked bags? Don’t ask, you already know.

We visited a section of Singapore called, Little India.  Since Skip will not go to India, I had a little, very little taste of what it is all about.  I enjoyed being in the old part of the city, visiting India. All over Singapore new construction is the norm. Cranes and building materials are at sites across the city. This is such an industrious city, so colorful and basically has everything you could ever need and want. I fell badly that I do not know enough of Singapore’s history and of the infra-structure to tell you about the economics here, and who has and does what.

Next we walked in Chinatown. We felt like this was another reality of Singapore. There were hundreds of people watching a huge Dragon dance and twirl. After all of this excitement, we had to sit down and cool down. We found a place that looked lively and the food was beautifully abundant.  There were only two seats available, and we were invited in to sit down. As we looked around, we realize we are very different from the other diners. Remember, this is a special holiday; one of hope for prosperity and everyone is out at their very best. We also noticed that we sat there a very long time with no attention, not even a glance in our direction. It was like we were invisible. We finally stood up and started flapping our wings. That flapping surely did get the waitresses’ attention.  Then we realized, that the waitress does not speak English at all. Not even one word I am convinced. How we got the food on the table, I do not know. We noticed that people in the restaurant all ordered great quantities of food. They all left some.

Our beef and tofu soup and came out quite quickly once our order was taken. The resonances in the restaurant were sharp and foreign to our ears. The sounds triggered internal registers that we relished and appreciated. We thoroughly enjoyed being surrounded by authenticity and delighted in the purity of the cultural exchange.

Beautiful Singapore:

Construction everywhere:

My favorite building with many colored shutters.

A little section of the Raffles Hotel where The Singapore Sling was invented in the Long Bar around 1915.