Widebay

Presently in Singapore after cruising Sth East asia - Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, Ko Samui, Penang, etc, fantastic cruise & the sapphire princess ship was magnificent takes approx. over 2,000 passengers

It would be hard not to find a store near the cruise terminal, to buy your items. 7-11 stores are all over Singapore & they trade into the evening hours.

Also there are supermarket chain, called Cold Storage, and they sell just about everything you want.

I think the best idea is to "use your computer" and do a search on "What convenience store or supermarkets are near...............?"

I am always researching "new" cafes for my wife & I to visit on each visit to Singapore. One of my favourites out near Buket Timah Road, is "The Living Room" Cafe.

I am sure if you do web search as suggested you will find heaps of places for you to buy whatever.

We will be there in 8 days time, can't wait to see family (especially, our grandson) His mum & dad will go on a well earned holiday, and we get to look after our active 9 year old grandson, can't wait - roller blading, cycling on east coast, perhaps a bit stand up paddle boarding at Mana Mana Beach Club, or Siliso beach on Sentosa? OR bushwalking at McRitchie Reservoir?

Sometimes I think there are more taxi's in Singapore than there people.

Frantic36 - yes it was JapaMala, and its situated on Tioman Island.

A few years ago, you could fly from Singapore to Tioman Island, but that small airline company folded or stopped flying there, so now I believe, its a bus trip from Singapore to Mersing in Malaysia, then a boat trip across? - unless you know of a different way of getting there?

Doesn't surpise me at all, Singapore is a very vibrant & go-ahead country.

I visit their at least once or twice a year, and always enjoy my stay, in a very clean, safe country. My first visit was 45 years ago, and we were looked after by very good friends - residents of Singapore. They were Chinese Singaporeans - we still communicate & meet up with them.

You only have to look at some of the major new attractions, eg Gardens by Bay, Flower Dome, ArtScience Museum, and the Barrage.

Keep it up Singapore.

Bintan Lagoon Hotel was okay, nothing out of the box, if you know what I mean. We stayed, I think 3 days, and that was enough.

There is another island, more upmarket I believe, called Nikoi Island, which is reached from another ferry from Bintan Island. Look Nikoi Island on the web, it

looks quite good.

The ferry to Bintan Island leaves from Tenah Merah Ferry Wharf on the east coast of Singapore. Bintan & Nikoi Islands are part of Indonesia, and thus you will be required to pay a small amount money to visit Indonesia, and also you need to bring your passports, to be stamped. When we visited, there were two very nice ladies, like tourist representatives or guides, who assisted visitors in the paying & having your passports stamped.

If you want to travel to islands further afield, there is always Rewa Island, situated just up the east coast of Malaysia.

Just remembered my son, wife & grandson, when they first visited Singapore on a holiday, they visited a very swanky resort, which I think was called Japalama? I must ask him when I speak to him again.

From memory, the resort on Bintan we stayed in, was, "Bintan Lagoon" Resort Hotel. (I will do a web search, to see that's right)

I forgot to mention, that Singaporeans like to visit East Coast Parkway, also for the "cooling" sea breezes & have a picnic.

Frantic36 - firstly, in regard to Singapore & sightseeing, this tiny nation keeps re-inventing itself, with "new" attractions.

The eating establishments on East Coast Parkway starts from about Still Road and runs parallel to East Coast Parkway Road. The parkway itself is not for motor vehicles, only for walkers & cyclists. Cycles can be hired at various points along the Parkway. A friend of mine who lives nearby said he rode his cycle right along the Parkway, then up to Changi Airport to watch the jets landing or taking off above him.

There is a jetty on East Coast Parkway called Bedok Jetty.

There are a handful of restaurants/eating places along the Parkway, and lots of coconut palms, little sandy beaches. There is even a lagoon you can swim in.

To put you in the picture, imagine loads of shipping tankers bringing goods/etc into Singapore, and having to wait for days to get a berth to unload their gear, hence they anchor some distance from East Coast, however, the problem with Singapore is that people on these ships sometimes dump some rubbish, which ends up on East Coast Beaches. The beaches are cleaned regularly, but myself, I wouldn't swim in the area, only, do Stand Up Paddle Boarding at Mana Mana Beach, which is situated at the northern end of East Coast Parkway. The beach there can get quite choppy, which makes it unfavourable on those particular days to do a bit paddling.

If you had plenty of days to spare, before or after your cruise you could always book a trip to Bintan Island, & stay a few days (we did this 3 years ago) quite a nice break away from Singapore, at a very nice resort, which looked out to sea, and at night whilst dining in their outdoor restaurant, one could see the lights on the Kampongs (little timber shacks on stilts, where they fish from & also sleep) - sorry to ramble on, hope something in this reply helps.

I should have mentioned that coffee & the cafe scene is growing "fast" in Singapore. Not only to brand name coffees, but also guest brands, like my favourite cafe here in Hervey Bay, Qld, Australia, called "DeliBay Cafe", the owner/barista, is "Ulf" (he is Swedish - and I call him the master barista of our city, no one can compete with his coffee. He is passionate about making good coffee for everyone, and he explains how he does it)

Actually, I am going there now.

Wangeling Gal - We often visit a cafe in Bukit Timah Plaza, just up the road from our son's Condo, called "Fringe", its probably the best cafe close to his place.

Here is a list of Cafes, we hope to visit this November - Carpenter & Cook Cafe, Drury Lane Cafe in Tanjong Pagar Road, then much closer to our son's place are these cafes (not yet visited) - "Living Cafe", "Little Diner" and "Vicky's Cafe, these 3 cafes are Bukit Timah Road, so hopefully, you should be a short walk.

There are two other Cafes in the city, we will probably visit, that is, "Vanilla Bar & Cafe" & "Shots" Cafe, the first one is not far from Thian Hock Keng Temple, and Shots is 90 Club Street, Chinatown. Also one more - Little Drom Store Cafe, 7 Ann Siang Hill.

Wangeling Gal - You forgot to mention - its important to have a swimming pool at your Hotel, a great way to cool off, and head down down Silosa Beach on Sentosa, and head up East Coast Parkway to Mana Mana Beach Club.

DW & I will be in Singapore in 2-3 weeks time, looking after our grandson whilst his parents go for a beach holiday break at Da Nang, Vietnam.

We have a list of interesting places to visit, that we haven't visited before eg. Kent Ridge Park Walk, and a list of interesting Cafes we haven't been to also.

Should be a lot of fun, doing stand up paddle boarding with our grandson at Mana Mana Beach Club (we taught him the sport on his last visit to Australia)

Well, must get off this Chat Board, and get some sleep, regards to all the Cruise Critic Members who reads these posting/replies, have a nice day wherever you may be on this beautiful planet.

I would be more concerned about Ebola

Ooops, forgot to mention the island of Nusa Lembongan, off the east coast of Bukit Peninsular. Your cruise ship will no doubt dock at Benoa Harbour, which is in striking distance of Kuta, Sanur, Nusa Dua, or Nusa Lemongan.

Another beach areas which is more upmarket than Kuta is Seminyak.

I forgot to mention which beaches in Bali to visit.

Kuta is for teenagers, wild drinking parties, etc. not my cup of tea, as they say.

I have friends who have stayed at Nusa Dua & love the upmarket resorts & quiet beach.

Another beach that is worth visiting, and suited more for mature adults is Sanur Beach on the eastern side of the peninsular.

Hi, I might be able to help with advice.

Firstly, I would recommend the village of Ubud, mainly for shopping, temples,

etc. however, make sure you walk along Jalan Raya Ubud (street) towards Wos River, to see terraced rice paddy fields, etc.

In Ubud, there is Puri Lukisan Museum, shops, etc. Forget the Monkey Forest. I see them in Singapore each time I visit relatives there. Two things about the monkeys, "dont bear you teeth at them" that's sign of aggresion, and secondly, don't produce a banana from your backpack, you will start WW3 with the monkeys.

I like Pura Taman Saraswati temple, it faces Cafe Lotus.

Enjoy Ubud,......so much nicer than Kuta.

Boogs, my wife & I visit our son & his family in Singapore, usually about once or twice a year.

I agree with the others - why walk in the heat & humidity, either take a taxi,

or better still go to the MRT (Mass Rapid Transport) Station at Clarke Quay, your hotel staff will tell where the station is located. Then ask Ticket Office how to go about purchasing a ticket or Ezi Link Card, how top it up, how to use it, etc.

There is a MRT station at Clarke Quay, you take the purple line MRT train to Dhoby Ghaut (interchange) then walk to the "red" line (heading towards Marina Bay MRT Station. Your MRT train will then stop at the following stations, City Hall, Raffles Place, then lastly at Marina Bay Station (NS27)

If you feel uncomfortable with using the MRT, then catch a taxi, enjoy Gardens by the Bay, and the two domes.

I heard the same from a friend, you have to take one of the ship's shore excursions.

I guess P&O cruises will appeal to a lot of Aussies, who haven't travelled much. I have personally spoken, to people who cruised on P&O around the Sth Pacific, and they love it, and have no intention, of travelling further afield, pity, they miss out on so much in this world. Unless, its the short South Pacific cruises that appeal to them, cheaper than a longer cruise, not as much money is required to spend on booze, etc.

Skyrules - I am glad you didn't say the stripe would look better in "pink".

I always think that any work or upgrade on "any" cruise ship is an improvement.

This cruise on the P&O Pacific Jewel is going to be "very interesting", as we have never cruised on P&O before, only NCL, Celebrity & Princess.

I am not sure just where P&O fit in on the grand scale of general cruising? We will certainly go with an open mind.

I read where other cruise critic members were critical of P&O for removing the buffet in main Dining Room. We always found the buffets to be a bit of a shamble, with so many people pushing etc, just to get that little bit of extra meat or sweets, etc on their plate. We made a point of eating in other dining areas of various ships, firstly, because some of the restaurants were almost empty, and it gave my wife & I some lovely quiet time together.

Because I don't lug around a dinner suit for formal nights, we tend to stay away from the main Dining Room when the formal nights are on, and instead we visited some of the Restaurants (for a fee) on those nights, and had the restaurant to ourselves almost, except for some of the officers who also frequented the restaurants (for a small fee)

We have never cruised on P&O (will in June next year out of Singapore back to Brisbane - our very first P&O cruise, so I will put a post on our feelings after that cruise.

Our short cruising history - 1st NCL Pride of America around the Hawaiian Islands (Loved it, but it was our very first cruise ever, and we loved the Hawiian Islands also).

2nd Cruise - Sun Princess around the South Pacific - again, a very nice cruise, which we both loved.

3rd Cruise - Last year, flew to Hawaii, stayed 5 nights, then board Celebrity Millenium ship, which cruised back via Tahitian Island, Papeete, Mooree & Bora Bora, then Suva & Noumea, to Sydney, Australia....Not real fussed on numerous sea days crossing the Pacific Ocean, but loved the Tahitian Islands, just gorgeous people, customs, etc. As they say in Tahitian, Mar RuRu (which means thank you)

Our next cruise is on the Sapphire Princess in February 2015 starting & finishing in Singapore, visiting Vietnam, Thailand, etc.

Then the last cruise will be on the P&O Pacific Jewel out of Singapore in June 2015 (after a refit, etc) then visiting various ports in Indonesia, Dili, and PNG, finishing in Brisbane.....so this cruise will give us an idea of what P&O are really like? - I guess that's not fair, as we cruised on more upmarket cruise ships, before taking P&O. However, DW & I are not critical of any company, providing the service is "reasonable" (doesn't have to be over the top), and the people we socialise with & meet, are "nice" people, not bogan type, which unfortunately, we get here in Australia.

What about flying over to Moloka'i Island, and do the mule walk down to Father Damiens Church & grave.

Did you mention Waimea Valley & Gardens on North Shore of O'ahu, then come south of the surfing town of Hale'iwa, with heaps of surf shops, cafes, etc.

Look out Hawaii, my wife & I will be there next year again, for a bit board riding, etc,

David 1951 - I will be in Singapore this coming November 2014 for two weeks, looking after my grandson, whilst his mum & dad go for beach holiday in Vietnam (not cruising - fly & stay)

We may take him up to Tioman Island or Nikoi island.

Trend - that's interesting about the volcanic dust & native lung problem. It doesn't surprise me. I was glad when Yarlu said it was time to leave the rim of the volcano and come down to the 4WD and back to Whitegrass Resort for dinner & few cleansing ales.

At Whitegrass Resort, there was the resort "dog" called Brandy, and receptionist told us that if Brandy saw us with face mask, flippers & snorkel, she would lead us to the diving spot, which she did, "Thank you Brandy". It wasn't far from the resort office, beautiful aqua blue water, and the water edge consisted of old black lava flow rock, and as you dive in, there is a rope, to pull one self out from the rock wall, then dive down to view the beautiful coral growing below.

When my wife & I had finished diving, we collected our mask & fins, and yes you guessed it, Brandy escorted us back to the office. That night we sat outside the restaurant, nice food/wine and lots of gecko lizards climbing the restaurant wall, to feed on moths, etc attracted by the lighting.

Ah! must go back one day.