Saturday we got to our free breakfast ten minutes before it closed and really enjoyed the made to order omelette which seemed much better than the ones at our apartment in Singapore. We then took photos of the nice infinity pool at the Grand Lagoi but since that was about the only activity besides the conference center and kids club we took the shuttle to the sister property at the Nirwana Resort which was about ten minutes away and had a great pool and was right on a beautiful looking beach. We had a very relaxing day enjoying the pool with swim up bar and a nice lunch with vegetable spring rolls and tasty chicken satay with a spicy and peanut sauce! While I rehabbed my ankle on the hammock Susan walked down to the beach which was pretty empty. And while it looked great from a distance when Susan went down to walk it she saw signs warning of tar and jellyfish. While she didn’t see any jellyfish and a few people were in the water she did get some Rae on her feet and had to hit the swim hut to get the “tar man” to spray and scrub the tar off.

Needless to say that deterred us from the banana boat, sailing, swimming etc. (Keep reading after photos.) While we had a great time at the pool and restaurants it does show that paradise looking spots can be soiled by the busy shipping industry that passes by. It will be interesting to see if Bali, Thailand or other places we plan to visit have better beaches.

And if Jennifer Hollingsworth, Matt Phillips, Marlee Deluca, Jim Haggerty, Diane Blanton, Scott Krebs, David Greiner or other Penn Staters are following did you notice in the bowling photo above that even Indonesia has a “Happy Valley.

And yes I almost had an international lunar exposure incident with the swim trunks without the elastic so Jennifer please find a way to mail me one or both of those new swim suits that came in the mail.

That evening we had a great dinner at the Kelong Seafood Restaurant at the other end of the island. We arrived at 5:30 PM just before sunset. The pictures just don’t do it justice as the view was beautiful.

We did have a bit of a communication issue with the waiter when we ordered crispy prawns, pepper beef, noodles and a “small” soup from the menu that had small, medium and large soups on it.

When I kept pointing to the small crab and corn soup and the small hot and sour soup he kept frowning and shaking his head. After a few minutes of this I thought he was trying to up-sell us to a medium or large size and told Susan I thought we had plenty of food ordered. So I loudly pointed to the “small” size and he kept shaking his head and moving his hands to simulate bowl sizes or at least that is what I thought he was doing.

I finally said “maybe you should get the girl who seated us” as she seemed to speak better English. (Susan thought that may have been a bit disrespectful but I was getting hungry.)

He again shook his head, kept making bowl sizes and for the smallest one kept saying something like “Bi bol” or “Bible”. I finally guessed that he was saying that the “small” soup was too big so we went with the “Bi bol” size. Good thing we did as they were the size of a large cereal bowl and were really delicious and almost enough for an entire meal.

Turns out the smaller size wasn’t on the menu and was cheaper but I just spent the last 20 minutes trying to translate small and Bi bol info English and can’t find it so you will have to take my word for it.

Note in the sunset photos from the Kelong Seafood Restaurant that I am wearing a white tropical shirt that Ray Parpan from Chicago got for me to wear to the Jimmy Buffett concert on July 7. I had send a picture of an 85 dollar one to my family for my July 13 birthday idea list but this one for less than 11 dollars from Walmart looks great! I even saw a guy wearing one at the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band concern at Hartwood Acres in Pittsburgh. I will get a better photo of it next time! So thanks Ray, it is coming in handy in this 85 degree weather.

We spent Sunday relaxing at the Grand Lagoi’s infinity pool and Susan walked to its beach “three minutes away” while I took the shuttle for a two hour massage for 60 bucks, less than half the price of the ones in Singapore, so welcome spa goers.

We “relaxed” this time in the Emerald Class Executive Lounge in plenty of time for the ferry ride back but Susan got nervous when they took our suitcase and passport and “as usual” we were somehow the last ones on the boat again but we at least had our passports. We waited in a long line for Singapore customs but later found that we could have just used our employment and dependent cards in the automated scanners so we will try that next time.

Then we went to the “normal” taxi stand around 7 PM with like 60 people in line and no taxis. After a few minutes I crossed the street to the “large” taxi area with vans etc. and they had one plenty for a fixed fee of 50 Singapore dollars instead of say 35 but well worth it as we were told it was “rush hour” (on Sunday?) so we saved an hour or so. Our driver was nice and when he found out we were from the US he said he was collecting US quarters and only needed 10 more to complete his collection so when we paid him I gave him one from my suitcase but who knows if it was one he needed but he seemed happy. The last photo below is a picture of the Singapore Flyer which is a Ferris wheel downtown reminiscent of the London Eye. According to Wikipedia it cost USD 180 million andhas an overall height of 165 metres (541 ft) and was the world’s tallest Ferris wheeluntil the 167.6 m (550 ft) High Roller, which is 2.6 m (9 ft) taller than the Flyer,^[8] opened on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada, US, on 31 March 2014.^[9] The previous record holder, the Star of Nanchang, in Jiangxi, China, is 160 m (525 ft) tall, although its 153 m (502 ft) diameter wheel is larger than the Flyer’s 150 m (492 ft) wheel.

We will have to try it sometime. We returned to our apartment, dropped off the suitcases and went next door on the mall to Wildfire Burgers where we returned to Western Food splitting a juicy cheeseburger, chicken tender and onion rings! Now back to the diet and back to the grind for Susan after a very relaxing weekend in Bintan. I plan to return soon to play one of their golf courses! Next week swimming, working and separate dinners for us both on Wednesday. Mine is a Rotary Club of Singapore meeting at the famous Tangling Club (think Duquesne Club or University a Club) and Susan has a meeting of Singapore General Counsels at the British Embassy hosted by a large law firm, Clifford Chance, so we continue to rough it but someone has to do it. We may send photos if not an offense punished by caning! Thursday while you are dining on Turkey and Stuffing we join two of Susan’s coworkers in Little Indian at an Indian vegetarian restaurant. (Yum and a great start to the Bill Donovan – Jim Hollingsworth weight loss and fitness challenge that officially begins the Monday after Thanksgiving.).

Next Saturday and Sunday we visit Kuala Lumpur so more to come! Remember to tell your friends about the link to this website and to become a follower. Jim and Susan Hollingsworth.

https://singaporeblog.travel.blog/

Friday November 16 – will just do this day then another post as the pent up demand keeps coming in!

Friday’s November 16 – typical last minute travel disaster avoided as usual but a bit stressful, also “as usual.”

So, we are booked on Bintan Ferries leaving at 5 pm from Singapore to Bintan Indonesia, 55 minutes away and home to a large number of resorts of different degrees of quality.

Susan has a late lunch and plans to just go from there to the ferry around 3 or 3:30 and I am to meet her at the ferry terminal. Since we paid extra for “Emerald Class” we are allowed early check in of luggage and expedited immigration as well as access to the Emerald Lounge with free drinks and plush top deck seating on the voyage.

I do my usual routine of sleeping late after waking up at 4 am and sending emails to some of you then going back to bed and heading down to free breakfast at 10:30 that ended at 10:15. But “as usual” I talk the staff into grabbing me a couple of yogurts and a banana and grabbing a tasty cafe latte from the machine that is open all day till 10 pm. I then swim 15 laps and come back to the apartment and watch CNN and Fox News (yes both) and go on Google Flights to try to book travel next week to Kuala Lumpur and back to Pittsburgh and Chicago over the holidays searching for December 14 and returning January 2.

I leisurely hit the restroom and bring my bags downstairs around 3 pm for the 28 minute ride to the ferry and we depart. The driver assures me he knows the way so after a few blocks I reach for my phone to text Susan and cannot find it so I hurriedly ask the driver to go back to the Pan Pacific Orchard apartments but that entails several turns and when we get there I run (I mean limp) upstairs and search for my phone finding it on the bathroom counter. I check the messages and there is a 3:08 pm text from Susan saying “Are you close?” (Yes this time she is on time and already at the ferry terminal.)

So the driver and I head out but he apparently is very conscious about the speed limit and the constant “drive carefully” and “stop light camera” warnings coming out if the navigation system so we slowly creep along and even stop on the side of the road to plug in the navigation to the ferry as apparently he doesn’t exactly know where it is. Around 4:30 I begin fidgeting and muttering “I’m going to be late! How much longer?”

He finally pulls into the terminal around 4:50 PM and I give him the 30 dollar fare with no tip and he apologizes to me for being late. But not to worry, Susan sees me pull up and she grabs my suitcase and rolls it into the terminal as I limp behind her into the terminal. She shows the ticket agent my passport and ticket and the agent says “gates to departure ship close in one minute.” So we rush to the boat which is actually quite a walk but we make it to the long hallway and Susan takes off saying I will meet you in Bintan. (Indonesia if you are new to the blog.) There is actually a couple with a baby in a stroller behind me which makes me feel better but I let them pass me but we make it to the boat entrance and “as usual” we are the last ones on, rolling the suitcase and lifting it upstairs to the Emerald Class area rather than using the expedited check in and lounge area. Somehow Susan was not amused when I said “I guess we cut that a little bit closer than we should have.”

But we sailed away for a nice 55 minute ride to Bintan Indonesia. And fortunately we stayed at the closest resort to the terminal called the Grand Lagoi Resort. It had a two day for the price of one stay and we soon determined that it was primarily a conference like hotel so they probably had extra rooms on the weekend so it met the “Hollingsworth Penny Saver Travel” criteria. We found out that it had reciprocal privileges at the Nirwana Resort about 10 minutes away so on check in we signed up for the 11 am shuttle after breakfast. As you can see from the attached pictures it was a very nice place and the staff was incredibly nice and attentive. We checked into the large room and headed to dinner (included in my package deal) where they cooked bbq tableside and it was great, chicken, beef, shrimp, vegetables and yes some chewy squid that we sampled but left. So it was a bit hectic getting there but very relaxing as we prepared for the next day which I will report on in the next posting, but check out the initial photos first showing departures from Singapore with its skyline and arrival in Bintan Indonesia, the hotel and the bbq dinner! And yes, Susan is smiling after the dinner and fried banana desert with the changing colored lights like our friends the Jarik’s in Chicago have and that we also bought for Jimmy Buffett concerts and John Puckett pool parties! Not a bad looking sunset from the hotel either. Jim H.

Again pretty quiet on the Asian front as I continue to rest and ice the ankle injury. I did see my physical therapist yesterday and he felt that the swelling had decreased and said it was ok to swim on it. So last night while Susan was still at the office at 9 PM I went to the pool. It was a bit chilly at first even with the 82 degree temperature but I was able to do 20 laps in about 30 minutes followed by dips in the hot and cold hydrotherapy pools and the steam bath – very relaxing. Susan brought home some plain and spicy Texas Chicken which was flavorful and similar to Popeyes so that probably wiped out the exercise benefits! She had other calls at home ending at midnight so she continues her long days trying to juggle Asia, Europe and the US hours but seems to really enjoy it. Tomorrow we head to the Indonesian Resort island of Bintan by ferry for the weekend so I hope to have some good photos then. Below are last nights pictures of the pool, plunge pools and the mall next door where this year’s holiday theme is Disney. And speaking of mall they are everywhere with all kinds of food on every level. Hope all is well in the US. Jim H

Kind of quiet days watching the tragic shootings in Thousand Oaks California and resting my ankle. Probably overdid some walking on it.

Enjoyed keeping up with the Steelers’ big 52-21 win over Carolina (sorry Martha!) but couldn’t quite bring myself to paying 99 dollars for NFL live streaming but may do it sometime if the games aren’t on at 2 AM here with the 13 hour difference.

Met Susan downtown tonight at the famous Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel where the original Singapore Sling was invented. They were quite delicious and much better than the ones I tried to make at our Crazy Rich Hollingsworth’s going away pool party.

You can’t drink too many however as they are pretty potent and sweet and more importantly are about 38 Singapore Dollars each after tax and service charge, which is also about 30 USD each with Singapore Dollars being worth about .8 USD.

Back at the apartment with Susan doing more conference calls. Tomorrow we plan to go to Sentosa Island, the Resort area just south of the city with beaches, restaurants, Universal Studios, a Casino (not likely with Susan), etc. Next week (pending the ankle recovery) we may go to Bintan Indonesia about 45 minutes by Ferry!

Check out the Singapore Sling photos . hThe Long Bar at Raffles has a great green cranking shaker that maybe I can get Tim Mink to put in the new bar at the Longue Vue Club in Pittsburgh – ha!

Jim Hollingsworth

They don’t mess around here. Guess I will have to avoid fist fights in the crowded subway!

Not much activity as my ankle is still swollen. I did go across the street to Orchard Health and they tried some ultrasound on it and told me to rest, ice and elevate it and gave me some exercises to try in a few days.

Met Susan for breakfast today before she headed to work. She is adjusting well but seems to always have late evening conference calls such as one at 10 and one at 11 tonight so a pretty full day.

I got up early (13 hour time difference now) and am listening to Pens vs Capitals game on Iheart Radio. Just heard Crosby’s goal so hope they get back on track! I am reading the paper and listening to game in our 11th floor lounge with coffee so could be a rough day! Jim H

Ate breakfast and found this 11th floor lounge with reclining massage chairs TV, pool table, library, coffee city views etc. Susan have you been here? Not sure how to get out of the chairs so may have to rescue me tonight! I will work on the getaways to Malaysia or Cambodia while my ankle heals.

Jim

Had a great day until this accident at Marina Sands Resort and trip to emergency room. Not too serious but will result in inactivity for a while on my fitness blog. More details to come.

As we prepare for a day of touring in case there is anyone I know ( unlikely) who hasn’t seen my Panama 300 pound Black and Blue Marlin photos or my Hole in One or Senior Championship trophies please enjoy! And Gretchen I realize this mention of the hole in one will likely cost me ten bucks!

yHere is a picture of the Pan Pacific Suites where we are staying and some “tasty” fish chips and a nice restaurant (more like a Bonanza) where we paid 42 dollars for a steak instead of 108 in the mall next to our building. More to come later today when we take the Hop on Hop Off Bus to visit some of the main sites! (If I can get to sleep with this 12 hour (13 on Monday) time difference! Jim H