Hello again Boatbloggers®, and greetings from Singapore!
Actually, that’s not quite true. Right now we are in Brentford – which is not nearly so glamorous – or warm. But it is where our family and friends are, so we are having a very nice time. I’m afraid we’ve got a a little bit behind with our blogs, but we’ll do our best to bring you up to speed with the adventures of the good ship Domini.
Of course the main reason to be in Singapore was to carry out the repairs after the lightning strike and we had a fantastic team in Jason Koh and Marina Yacht Services at Raffles Marina.
The first job was to unstep the mast (which for the landlubbers amongst our readers, means take it off) which does leave our boat looking a little naked.
And then she had to be hauled out and into the boatyard, which was no mean feat and required the bringing in of a special crane as our boat was too wide for the normal boat lift.
At this point we must give a big shout out to Admiral Yacht Insurance and in particular Richard Chitty who have been so supportive during this period. If you’ve got a boat and you want it insured, give Admiral a call – they have been great.
While Marina Yacht Services got on with the repairs, we were able to explore Singapore.
But first we had to bid a fond farewell to our crew Mark who went to rejoin Memo, and as a little thank you treated him to one of the local specialities of jelly tea.
Yum yum. It’s very good for you.
Singapore is a very modern city. It’s clean, warm, virtually crime free, and with fantastic public transport. In many ways a lot like Brentford. And it is is shopping mall heaven.
Or hell, depending on your viewpoint. It’s Westfield on steroids. Shops, shops and more shops.
But they have put up some incredible modern sculptures, such as the famous trees, which are massive.
Behind the facade of concrete and glass, you can still find the traditional streets of historic Singapore.
And of course no visit could be complete without a Singapore Sling at the world famous Raffles Hotel.
Unfortunately a Singapore Sling at the world famous Raffles Hotel is $37 so we had a nice cup of tea at the not so well known cafe next door. Followed by our favourite food in Chinatown, frog meat and fish heads.
The botanical gardens are very..er..botanical.
…and the whole city is a vibrant melting pot of the different cultures, Chines, Indian, Malay and European. We saw this ceremony which involved ritual skin piercings. Each one of those metal wires has a sharp point that goes deep into his skin, but it is done in a state of spiritual trance so apparently it doesn’t hurt.
Hmmm.
Every evening the city puts on a magnificent music, light and water display.
But it was nearly Christmas. And we had arranged to meet Rory, Joe and Alice and all the rest of the family in Thailand. Alas, there was no way that Domini would be ready to make the voyage.
So we cheated and flew up instead. We had a great couple of weeks with everybody.
Especially Orson,
…and Magnus.
Lyn & Emma did a cooking course,
..though we weren’t all that hungry when they came back with the food.
And we even managed a few days in Cambodia. We got up really early so we could see the famous sunrise at Angkor Wat before the crowds arrived.
Unfortunately, the crowds had the same idea.
But it was still pretty spectacular,
…especially when you explored inside.
All too soon, we had to say goodbye to Christmas in Thailand,
…and head back to Singapore to see how the repairs were coming along.
Domini was back in the water but there was still plenty of work to do.
And not much time to do it before it was the start of Chinese New Year when all work would stop. The decorations were going up already.
And as the big day got nearer the drone shows began.
1,500 drones making moving pictures in the sky.
Spectacular.
A few weeks later the repairs were completed – almost – and we were ready to set sail once more.
Thailand, here we come – and this time on a boat!
We just have time for the Arty Farty Competition, and for this edition we have a number of strong entries.
Ju’s entry is a juxtaposition of the new and the old, where crane meets twisty tree and is called “Reach for the Sky.”
Clever stuff.
Lyn’s entry is called “The Writing’s On The Wall,” and was taken at Angkor Wat.
But the winner is an unknown artist who produced a conceptual piece for the Singapore Arts Festival that was inspired by Ju’s unique piano sound.
That’s it for now Boatblog® Fans.
See you soon.
Ju & Lyn x
Domini 