One More Day in Singapore

We cruised into Singapore Strait on Sunday afternoon and docked at Marina Bay Cruise Center.  By 3 we got off the ship, with our friends Florence and Tony and took a taxi to Singapore Botanic Gardens.  Singapore Botanic Gardens is considered one of the top botanic gardens in the world and the only tropical botanic garden names as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  It has long been on my list of places to visit, and I was not disappointed.  The gardens are beautifully landscaped and maintained, and full of incredible plants, brightly colored orchids, ginger, and more.  We had a delightful afternoon!  

After dinner on the ship, at 7:45, we went up to the 15th deck to watch the light show in Marina Bay Gardens, and to see the city of Singapore from the water.  It was beautiful!

Surabaya and Trowulan

Our ship made a stop at the port in Surabaya for the day.  Surabaya is the 2nd largest metropolitan area of Indonesia, behind Jakarta, with over 10 million people.  Surabaya has been one of the busiest trading ports in Asia for centuries.  Principal exports include sugar, tobacco, and coffee.  Surabaya has a strong financial infrastructure with financial institutions and an economy influenced by growth in international industries.  It is home to a large shipyard and specialized naval schools.  Surabaya is predominantly Muslim.  

We spent our day, taking a tour that drove through Surabaya, to Trowulan, an hour and a half to the west.  Trowulan was the ancient capital of the Majapahit Empire and the only city site of the Hindu-Buddhist classical age in Indonesia.  It is now an 100 square km archaeological site.  The Majapahit Empire ruled eastern Java from 1293 and maintained strong connections with ports and traded extensively with Southeast Asia and China.  The people of Majapahit practiced a blend of Hinduism and Buddhism, coexisting with a growing Muslim presence that later shaped Indonesia’s religious landscape. The city was razed in 1479 during an invasion.  Temples, tombs, a reservoir, canals, and a bathing place remain.  The city ruins were rediscovered in the early 1800’s by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, Lieutenant-Governor of British Java, who was an enthusiast for the island’s history, and credited with founding contemporary Singapore.  Trowulan was submitted as a UNESCO site in 2009.  

We visited several temples, the Majapahit Museum, a reservoir, bathing site, and burial temple.  We saw a smoking volcano in the distance, with rice and sugarcane growing in nearby fields.  It was an interesting day, led by our enthusiastic tour guide, well versed in Majapahit history.

Day 2 in Bali

Papa and I took a tour today, Art & Crafts in Bali.  We made five stops, to visit a batik shop, jewelry maker, wood carver, paint artists, and a bamboo wood furniture maker.  Each was interesting and the products were beautiful.  I bought a batik scarf.  We enjoyed the drive around Bali too.  Our tour guide talked while we rode, telling us of his family, inheriting his family home compound and living with his brothers families there.  He is also a rice farmer and told us about life in Bali.  

Bali

We arrived in port in Bali this morning before 11, to the busiest waterfront of any stop we know.  We met our tour group at noon, for a drive through the city of Bali and the countryside, with stops at Ulun Danu Beratan on Danu Beratan Lake, and the Secret Garden for a snack and coffee.  We passed through the very busy religious city (full of Hindu temples), and countryside of agricultural fields and rice terraces.  It was a long day for us and not at all how we imagined.  Bali’s income is 70-80% from tourism, but 80% of the people work in agriculture.  The average monthly wage in 2024 was $160-320.  It seems that a large number of tourists stay exclusively in resorts, without much interaction with the locals.  Our tour was very informative.