drron29

Dinner in Atlantide. Rojaan had the teriyaki glazed chicken thigh then her usual lamb chops. I had the steak tartare, pumpkin soup and the chateaubriand. it was excellent. Lunch the next day was at Kaiseki. Note a different sake. My usual drop had run out.

A lovely sunset from our balcony. It was the Captain's Welcome party tonight. The silver muse trio who were aboard our Moon cruise earlier in the year performed. We like their music. Senior officers. And Captain Giovanni Schiaffino on his third day as Master of a Silversea ship. He is a breathe of fresh air. Down to earth. Talks to crew and passengers. turns up at activities such as trivia. To cap it off one morning i was up at 0630 so did a few laps on deck 11 whilst it was cool. The crew had just started to put out the sun lounges. The Captain appeared and talked to them as well as helping by putting out the little side tables. By the end of the cruise it was obvious the crew thought of him highly. He comes from a little village near Portofino. His father was a ship's Captain.

.The last of Singapore's lights. Now the start of 2 sea days. Taken up by my walking the inside track and in the afternoon trivia and golf. Went very well at trivia with honors shared with another team. However my putting disintegrated and my luck failed me for the first 10 days. In the last 4 my luck changed and several holes in one even though they were no better than the shots of the first 10 days. The highlights of course were meals.First lunc h at Atlantide, Rojaan began with the prawn cocktail which was excellent. I had the smoked trout salad which was very good, Rojaan had the bow tie pasta and I the maple glazed chicken thigh. we both enjoyed our meal. And we both had cheese cake for dessert.

The pilot gets picked up.

Sail away continues. The view back to the dock. The yacht comes with it's own chopper.

Wow!

The next 2 days were sea days. We left Singapore at 6pm on our second day there. This housing is on the land that surrounded the Keppel dry docks.

For dinner with 4 of our Trivia partners it was La terraza for dinner. The first appearance for us of the abbreviated menu. We were told it is to be fleet wide. Rojaan had the fish of the day and I the fillet. Not quite as good as Atlantide. To finish Rojaan had the cheesecake and I had cassata.

We arrived back at the ship in time for lunch at Atlantide. Rojaan had the Avocado and prawns whilst I had the papaya salad. Both were nice. Then Rojaan went for the veal. And I the chicken korma. We were both happy. To finish she had the banana dish and I the cheesecake.

Map showing the position of the farm at the top left of Singapore. The green area is a military reserve. currently major roads being built plus a new Air Force base. They have patented this system. Some outdoor farming using the land until more systems built. So now it is a long drive by Singapore standards back to the ship. A new metro line being built. An older block of units.

They have connections around the world to develope technology. The Farm stay unit. Way too squeezy. Spare area so they grow some indoor plants for sale. Fish farm. A nearby neighbour has 8 stories of fish farms.

Now came the interesting part of the tour. Intensive agriculture. Some pictures of the set up. And some information. Here was our guide and boss of the farm. A really informative talk and thoughts on the future. They incorporate fish farming on the ground floor of their vegetables. They are looking to incorporate furnished rooms fr fsrm stays -but the demo unit was far too sqeezy. A restaurant is on the plans. Also looking into the feasibility of growing meat. Then taken on a tour of one of the units. Everything is monitored at a central station - temperature, humidity etc. Note the yellow plastic. It is for catching insects on it's sticky surface. Now the simple system for rotating the plants.

We had the old Terraza Menu on the Muse until we reached Singapore on November 8th. But on the Singapore to Carns sector it was the abbreviated version. Despite our warnings one of our trivia team had the Osso buco and it was so tough as to be nearly inedible. I also thought the Lasagna was a poor imitation of that on past cruises.

Harvesting the water hyacinth. Now time to get on the bus and travel to the north west of the island. Not a usual tourist destination.

Officially jealous. Orcas apparently don't like me as they swim in the opposite direction or disappear the day before I am in the area.

We spent the next day in Singapore and we both went on the Lakeside Gardens and Urban Farming Excursion. The lakeside Gardens are on the site of the old Jurong Bird Park which we visited first nearly 50 years ago. It closed in January this year and basically very little remains. It was moved to Mandai near the zoo. The Urban farming part was very interesting and informative. First views from the bus on the way to the Gardens. not surprisingly high rise is predominate. Then an hours walk around the gardens in the heat. Only a small area covered. A few flowers. The lake is still there.

Some more of the night scenes.

Missed some more of the pre dinner activity. The sunset cruise takes off.

Atlantide once more for dinner. for starters Rojaan had the laced king prawn and I the lobster salad. I then had the leek soup. We both had the lobster for main. Rojaan then told the restaurant manager George to sit and have a talk. She must be obeyed. We then had the nights chocolate, blueberry dessert. Back to our room and the night lights.

Sorry but I got a phone call and when i returned too late to get rid of the duplicate photos. So back to the Muse which was being resupplied. Then views from our balcony.

Now to lunch. First the restaurant and a little theatre with the cold towelette. The room is not the same room where we ate last time which was nicer but is now their function centre. The doors in the first photo are to a private dining room which was being used for a family birthday lunch. Now to the menu. There were 2 menus. We chose the shorter one as we just can't eat the same amount as in the past. However we got the 2 starters from the longer menu but still at the shorter menu price. Now the wine list. First by the bottle and a limited by the glass selection. We chose a rose made from Pinot grigio grapes. very nice. Now to the food. The amusee bouche. Lobster, chestnut cake and 5 spice lettuce. All very flavourful. Lovely bread with French butter. Hokkaido scallop. Best scallop I’ve ever had. Than a lilybulb soup. The only let down as bland. Rojaan had the Waygu which just melted in her mouth. Not a great steak eater but she finished before me. I had the duck which was perfect. Then a lovely palate cleanser with apple, ginger and Japanese pineapple. Then desert. Fig on a rum biscuit and cream with lemon sorbet. Delicious. To finish A financier with honey and coconut mochi with a raspberry jelly. Apple doing it's usual trick of inverting some of the photos. fortunately doesn't make much difference with food. Then a visit to our table by Chef Takuya Yamashita. Here he is at another table. Very modest. A great meal and a definite recommendation if you are visiting Singapore.

On the day of arrival we had booked lunch at one of our favourite restaurants - Whitegrass in the Chjimes centre. This area is well worth visiting with several good restaurants and an interesting history. https://chijmes.com.sg/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHIJMES A short taxi ride from the Cruise centre. First a wander around the grounds and buildings acroo the road. First the church. Inside which is now a function centre. I got a few photos before being chased out. The main building. And old buildings across the road. Modern monstrosities surround this oasis. A few orchids throughout the grounds. And we found that since we were last here a year ago Whitegrass has opened a new restaurant. So if you can't get a booking at Whitegrass you can sample food from the same kitchen. Walk ins only. https://chijmes.com.sg/directory/dew-by-whitegrass/

We go around Sentosa island to the dock.