After months of transiting the enormously dispersed and most diverse country of Indonesia, with its 17,000 islands and one of the rare remaining destinations in the world where a cruiser can see little to no influence of the modern world, we were exhausted in every which way by the time we reached Malaysia; mentally, physically and emotionally, a culmination of a number of factors. 

 

Firstly, we’d basically been continuously on the move for sixteen weeks since arriving in Debut, our Port of Entry, never mind the weeks it had taken us to reach Thursday Island in Australia from Port Macquarie. With the exception of a few weeks here and there, where we stopped to enjoy the areas of Indonesia that we wanted to see, we hadn’t stopped for more than an overnight anywhere. It had been a very long, arduous sailing season in an extremely difficult and dangerous sailing environment, yet full of the most diverse experiences and encounters along the way, together with the most spectacular sceneries, magnificent snorkelling adventures and fabulous cultural exposures.

 

Secondly, there were aspects of this country that had a profound impact and ultimately dictated our entire experience of Indonesia; aspects which we, unfortunately, learnt the hard way, but, had we known upfront, we would definitely have been more vigilant in avoiding the pitfalls as best we could. However, since this kind of pertinent information was not provided to us by the Sail2Indonesia rally organisers, we were left at the mercy of a population that was extremely unhealthy, given that most lived in completely unsanitary conditions and most suffered from chest complaints due to the smoke from the fires that burnt continuously. In fact, in all our travels, we had never experienced toilet facilities like those we saw in Indonesia and not a smidgen of soap to be found anywhere. Being forewarned would have afforded us the opportunity to give the local toilets, the local (coughing) population, the food and the drink, a wide berth. 

 

We weren’t the only cruisers to fall victim to this aspect of Indonesia, though, with the entire fleet ending up with either chest infections, sore throats or food poisoning or, in many cases, all three, but in Elaine’s case, an additional severe UTI (Urinary Tract Infection), coupled with multiple bouts of food poisoning, no matter how careful we tried to be. All of which spelt disaster for her autoimmune conditions and sent everything into free fall, making it extremely difficult to get her conditions back under control. This resulted in our decision to change our itinerary and head for Bali as quickly and as safely as possible to obtain medical care.

 

Unfortunately, having eventually reached Bali and received care at the BIMC Hospital in Nusa Dua, a full physical examination and blood test results confirmed our worst fears; Elaine’s inflammatory indicators were the worst ever; in fact, seven times worse. With only a plan of action that would tide us over until we had the opportunity to access the medical services of Singapore, where a full reassessment had definitely become a priority, our dreams of continuing our circumnavigation were in serious jeopardy, the reality and gravity of which really only hit us a number of weeks later after leaving Bali, bound for Singapore / Malaysia; firstly, on Wednesday, 9^th October 2019, as we transited Salat Karimata and transitioned to the South China Sea from the Java Sea. This was a passage we never imagined in our wildest dreams. We never imagined ever sailing in the South China Sea or, for that matter, towards the heart of Southeast Asia, under circumstances we never envisaged in our wildest dreams either. While it was a major milestone on our circumnavigation and one we’d achieved against the odds, it was never planned when we embarked on this adventure nearly six years ago. It was also hard to believe we were saying goodbye to the Southern Cross and the Southern Hemisphere. With less than 200 NM to go, we’d be crossing the equator for the second time on our circumnavigation, as we headed to Singapore / Malaysia and back to the Northern Hemisphere, with no idea as to whether or not we’d have the opportunity to return to the Southern Hemisphere again, as so much of our vagabond lifestyle hung in the balance at this stage. While our heart’s desire was to continue on, the practical health matters threatened to supersede those desires, but we remained hopeful that the medical fraternity in Singapore could work some magic!

 

A few weeks later, on Tuesday, 22^nd October 2019, the reality and impact hit us again. Having decided to celebrate our second equator crossing with everything we loved about our adventures in the Southern Hemisphere, shortly before noon, we bid our farewells to the Southern Hemisphere as we played our all time favourite song, Southern Cross, with Elaine dancing in the cockpit and Roy navigating us through all the crab pods and, at a few minutes past midday, to the beat of our favourite Samoan song, we crossed the equator on Paw Paw and returned to the Northern Hemisphere. At the time Elaine was dressed in one of her swimsuits purchased in Australia, sporting her tattoo from the Marquesas, her sarong from Bali, her gift of earrings and a hair clip received from a beautiful lady in Nuietapotapu, Tonga, her gift of a neckless and bracelet received from our hosts in Soso Bay, Fiji, a flower in her hair as a reminder of all our wonderful times in French Polynesia and drinking a glass of champagne. Roy, on the other hand, was wearing his Hinano beer t-shirt, sporting his Hinano Girl tattoo from the Marquesas, his head dress from Bali and his gift of a shark’s tooth necklace from our hosts in Soso Bay, while drinking a beer in his Hinano beer glass. While it was a fitting tribute to toast Neptune, it was the rush of all the fabulous memories we were taking with us that had us acknowledging the lingering thought and acknowledging our hearts that were tinged with a little sadness, as we wondered; will we ever cross the equator on Paw Paw again.

 

By Tuesday, 29^th October 2019, though, after clearing out on the Monday evening, we were up with the birds for our early morning departure; full of hope and thankful that we were eventually leaving Indonesia, which couldn’t have come soon enough, especially, since our arrival at Nongsa Marina and Resort, we could see the lights, across the Singapore Strait, beckoning us! Our first hurdle, however, once we were out of the marina, was running the gauntlet across one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, the Singapore Strait. As luck would have it, we really only had three cargo ships heading east and six heading west to deal with and all but one passed ahead of us. By 0700 we’d made it across the Strait without a cargo ship hitting us and as we meandered our way between the ships at anchor, we only had two more to deal with that were coming out of the anchorage areas. All in all, it wasn’t as hair-raising an experience as we had envisaged. The only opinion we have on this particular crossing was how useless the VHF radio Channel 16 proved to be, with everyone talking over everyone else as we listened. It was ridiculous!

By 0830 Indonesian time / 0930 Malaysian time, as we’d lost an hour, we were anchored at Tanjung Pengelih, a ferry dock and marina and a one-stop shop for clearing in to Malaysia using the government run CIQ facility which didn’t cost us a penny. Within an hour the very friendly and efficient staff had helped us complete Harbour Master clearance, Immigration and Customs. The strange thing was that there was no Biosecurity at all and no one came out to the yacht; we simply dinghied ashore and all the paperwork was handled in a single complex of offices, with an office we had to visit on each floor.

Once back on Paw Paw we started the long meander up the Johor Strait, which wasn’t much more than a nautical mile or two wide, with Singapore to our port side and Malaysia to our starboard. We passed the Singaporean islands of Tekong and Ubin before seeing the main island. There was, however, a stark contrast between the coastlines of each country; Singapore was mostly lush green vegetation with a barbed wire fence running the full length, interspersed with multiple high-rise buildings and some new development, while Malaysia was very industrial, with a petrochemical plant, a number of cargo terminals, loading and unloading containers and all sorts of cargo from all over the world, including freezer and refrigerated containers, as well as numerous mussel and oyster farms. 

 

As we progressed further along the Strait, we started to see the high-rise buildings of various residential developments in Malaysia and downtown Johor Bahru, known as JB and the capital city of the southernmost Malaysian State, Johor. JB is connected to the island nation of Singapore via “The Causeway” with a CIQ checkpoint on either side for easy movement between both countries. The Strait was also the location of the Senibong Cove Marina, part of a luxury waterfront residential development carved out of the mouth of the Lunchoo River, one of the five economic zones earmarked by the Malaysian government for infrastructure development and our home for the next few months. The reason we  had chosen this particular location was primarily for the shorter distance via “The Causeway” to the hospital and clinic in Singapore for Elaine’s medical care, where we’d obtained appointments with a rheumatologist and a naturopathic physician, respectively, prior to our departure from Bali at the beginning of October.

 

It was rather odd, though, that every ferry we saw as we came down the Strait was Indonesian flagged, but later learnt that there is a 3000-passenger-per-day ferry terminal near the Puteri Harbour Iskandar Marina, on the other side of “The Causeway” and the Tuas Second Link bridge, offering daily fast ferry links to the Indonesian islands of Batam and Bintan, used by migrant labourers working in Malaysia.

Fortunately we had the tidal current with us and by 1400 we were tied up in our marina berth. However, our first impressions were not good, given the very poor assistance we received with our docklines, which definitely left much to be desired and had Roy swearing and cursing as we tried to explain that the lines needed to be cleated off and not just loosely held as Paw Paw veered this way and that. It was very bizarre! Then a cursory view of the surroundings from the helm station portrayed a completely deserted scene. Although there were yachts in the marina, they all seemed unoccupied and all the buildings along the waterfront seemed closed. It was at that point we had a “Bonaire moment”; that exact same feeling we had following our arrival in Bonaire in June 2014 after our friends, who’d crewed for us, had left. A feeling of being totally alone, miles from our loved ones and wondering what the hell we were doing. With that Elaine started to cry. Fortunately, as with Bonaire, things improved exponentially after that and, to this day, Bonaire is still one of our favourite destinations. We’d hoped Singapore and Malaysia held the same appeal, but after what we witnessed in Indonesia, we held our breath, nonetheless! 

It wasn’t until we spoke to the security guard afterwards, who had our access card to get on and off the dock, that we subsequently learnt it was a public holiday and that our two dockline helpers were, in fact, the security guard and the gardener, as the marina was actually closed, but the “skeleton staff” had been informed of our arrival. Who knew!

With further help from the security guard, however, we arranged a Grab, Malaysian’s equivalent of Uber. The security guard then proceeded to explain to the driver that we needed to get to an ATM, a mobile telephone store and a supermarket and that the driver would only be paid once we’d drawn a few Malaysian Ringgits. Turned out the driver knew exactly where to take us; a local shopping mall and within an hour we had money, local sim cards, a few groceries to tide us over and we were in another Grab taking us back to the marina. It’s fair to say, though, we were definitely relieved at our first sights of Malaysia outside the marina complex. We were, not only pleasantly surprised to find a clean, civilised, modern city with decent roads and highways, modern homes, beautiful gardens, restaurants, cafés, shops, etc, but the grounds and complex around the marina were also lovely and, by the time we returned to the marina, all the cafés and restaurants were open as well, with people enjoying sundowners or an early dinner at the various upmarket establishments. So, with that, dinner plans to eat onboard changed immediately and, instead, we enjoyed a “we got here drinks and dinner” at one of the restaurants, The Bierhaus. Things were definitely looking up! All in all, we could have been in any modern western country anywhere in the world, which was a far cry from Indonesia and certainly welcomed!

The following day we decided to explore the surroundings of the Senibong Cove Marina and the residential development by foot. First stop was the marina office to finalise their paperwork and get the general scoop on the usual services we needed, as well as obtain clarification on the water and electricity supply. Next stop was the Vanilla Bean café for a mid-morning coffee and ended up enjoying a baked delight we weren’t expecting to find; a slice of freshly made cheesecake for Roy and a warm croissant for Elaine. We also met a delightful lady from South Korea, married to an Irishman from Kerry, and their 4-month old baby girl, expatriates living in one of the high-rise apartment complexes for the past year. She was extremely helpful in providing us with information on the better malls, grocery stores, medical facilities, water quality, etc. We’d no sooner returned from our walk when we also met some cruisers off one of the yachts we’d assumed was unoccupied and received more information on the area, particularly on where to source marine supplies. Soon thereafter another yacht arrived. We were delighted to realise that, in this instance, first impressions were definitely not lasting impressions, thank goodness! Our delight was only superseded by a chat to Keenan and the grandsons, who were on their way to practice for their bicycle race, as well as receiving a phone call from the family in Ireland. 

 

By Saturday, 9^th November 2019, having settled in to our new home, we were ready for a day trip to Singapore. We’d decided to undertake a dry-run of this journey, in preparation for our next trip to the Mount Elizabeth Hospital for Elaine’s medical care, but doing so specifically on a Saturday during peak hours, in order to ensure we were aware of the worst case timings, all the nuisances and to simply enjoy a day out.

By 0800 our Grab had arrived. By 0830 we were dropped off at the CIQ building in downtown Johor Bahru, through passport control and on the bus heading across “The Causeway”. That’s when we hit the first snag as expected; Saturday morning traffic. What we hadn’t expected was for the bus lane to be jammed pack with cars as well, as we all crawled across “The Causeway”. The next delay occurred after our efficient progression through the Singapore passport control, but it was also a mistake. Not realising, we followed instructions to board the same bus we had taken across “The Causeway”, which, in fact, introduced at least an hour’s delay in the overall journey, since we ended up standing in line for half an hour while we waited for this bus, killing Elaine’s feet and legs, only to be transported to a MRT (Mass Railway Transportation) station miles away and in the opposite direction to where we wanted to go. Instead of waiting for the bus, we could have taken a Grab to the nearest MRT station in Woodlands,  less than a fifteen minute walk away. The end result, however, was that three and a half hours later we were sitting in the ION Orchard mall in downtown Singapore on the southeastern side of the island, enjoying a morning coffee and a baked delight, in awe of what we were seeing.

A major part of the appeal of the areas we lived in while enjoying a landlubber life in Arizona, before embarking on our vagabond adventure was, primarily, the clean, hygienic, organised environment with new, modern and well maintained communities and infrastructure, including numerous malls, shopping areas, cafés, bars and restaurants, set amongst immaculate gardens and lakes, with communal facilities like swimming pools, sporting arenas, entertainment areas, etc; everything you expect to find as part of any master planned community. On seeing Singapore for the first time, it was this appeal that resonated with us, with the exception of the high-rise buildings; not a house in sight. It was, however, very evident just how affluent Singapore was. We’d never seen so many upmarket, high-end shops from all over the world, concentrated in one area, not to mention, the elaborate Christmas decorations everywhere and we understood at the time that the latter was still in the process of being erected.

After enjoying our coffee and getting our bearings, first stop was the Apple store to purchase an early Christmas present for Elaine from Roy. She was not only delighted by the purchase, but by the lovely staff who patiently helped her and allowed her to enjoy the entire experience, including opening her gift. We then treated ourselves to a late lunch / early dinner at a Michelin Star restaurant, the Crystal Jade Golden Palace and well worth the money spent on the delicious Cantonese meal we enjoyed, albeit that we’ll never know if we were charged the correct amount, given that our bill was not in English. By then, however, it was time to commence the long journey home to Paw Paw, but we did it in less time, even with another faux pas on our part, thinking the Woodlands MRT would take us to the Woodlands CIQ building, instead of the Masilling station. This resulted in time being wasted again while we got our bearings and found a taxi. We subsequently also learnt, from the Singapore immigration official who served us, that taking the train is an even faster option, but only for getting across “The Causeway” section of the journey. For us, though, we knew we would be undertaking this journey again during a non-peak time and not on the busiest day of a weekend, so we considered our dry-run a success, regardless.  

By 1800 we were enjoying sundowners at The Bierhaus restaurant before having a light meal onboard and heading to bed, having walked the equivalent of nearly 8 Km / 5 miles, excluding all the time we stood in line; first while we waited for the bus on the Singapore side, unnecessarily, and again at passport control on the Malaysian side on our return leg, due to peak traffic. Although exhausted, it was a fabulous day out and, while Singapore was far too busy and hectic for our taste, if we were ever forced to live in a big city anywhere in the world, we would choose Singapore without a doubt. It was splendid and we loved it!

 

By Sunday, 24^th November 2019, we were both up early to give Paw Paw’s decks a wash before breakfast, following which it was time to get ready and take a Grab to the downtown Johor Bahru Bus Terminus for our second and most important trip to Singapore; the very reason we had sailed to this part of the world after leaving Bali. Since undertaking the dry-run by bus, we had subsequently learnt that taking a taxi was a far more efficient and comfortable way to get to Singapore, especially a taxi registered in and from Singapore doing a return journey. That information turned out to be very accurate and became our mode of transport across “The Causeway” on almost every subsequent trip we made from Johor Bahru. 

 

Once at the bus terminus we only waited a few minutes for a taxi, which took us straight to our hotel, the Grand Hyatt, in the heart of the shopping and Central Business District on Orchard Street and only a short walk to the Mount Elizabeth Hospital. We did, however, encounter a small hiccup since Roy’s passport was expiring within the next six months, something we knew, but could only get renewed in Kuala Lumpur in the new year. Fortunately, having dual citizenship, the authorities were happy to accept Roy’s other passport. It was our driver, though, that made for the most interesting and informative journey, given that he was an ex-history teacher and gave us a fascinating account of Singapore’s history versus the Singapore of today, nuggets that we didn’t actually know about.

 

For instance, Singapore was claimed by the Sultan of Johor in 1865 then leased to Britain sometime later for 150 years, following which it was returned to the Sultan and subsequently formed part of Malaysia. However, even after the expulsion, Singapore continued to pay royalties to the Sultan. As a result, Singapore does not celebrate an Independence Day, but rather a National Day and, while the two countries are no longer linked politically, they are linked in every other way; economically, socially, etc, including the fact that, since Singapore has no natural resources and there is no farming conducted on the island, the country relies on Malaysia for all its construction materials and its supply of fruit and vegetables, all of which is trucked over both the bridges during a dedicated time slot of midnight to 0500 daily. Fish is brought in to three separate ports by fishermen from all around SE Asia, including Indonesia and Malaysia, some of which is consumed locally, but most is processed, packaged and exported around the world. The country’s water supply is via desalination plants and storage, but they have kept the water pipes that send water from Johor, although the latter is not needed too often. Additionally, 500,000 Malaysians commute daily to Singapore for work, of which 120,000 travel on motorbikes. With a current population of 5.8 million, only 3.5 million are actually citizens of the country; foreign workers making up the difference. 

 

We also learnt that when building a new area on the island, referred to as an “estate”, besides constructing the high-rises for accommodation, all schools, medical facilities, including hospitals, as well as shops, restaurants, cafés and light industries are also developed, the latter of which increases the likelihood of residents not having to commute to other areas to work. School-going age starts at two years old, primarily because both parents work, but, before any higher education or career can commence, there is a compulsory conscription of two years service for men, following which an annual call-up occurs until the age of forty-seven. Singapore, however, also has a similar issue to that of many other island nations we have visited during our sailing adventures; the younger generation want to leave the island and usually have no desire to return to their homeland. Understandable, with the draw of travel and the allure of something new. 

 

Furthermore, besides exports and, although not a tax-free country, income is achieved through banking and having multinational companies headquartered here. During the time of the British occupancy, convicts from China and India were brought in as labourers. After time served and assuming the convicts weren’t hardened criminals, they were allowed to stay, which, of course, explains the ethnic heritage evident today. With this multinational mix of inhabitants, Sunday is the day of the week where people of the same nationality gather in various parts of the island; Philippinos, Indians, Thais, Malaysians, Indonesians etc, to catch up with family and friends, which we experienced firsthand in Lucky Square on Orchard Street; the favourite meeting spot of the Philippinos.

 

Once we’d checked in to the hotel, we found a place to have lunch then went in search of sim cards, paid another visit to the Apple store and wondered around a few other shops before returning to our hotel room for a rest. Dinner was enjoyed at Pete’s Place before venturing back out to the busy streets to enjoy the Christmas lights and an ice-cream.

 

Monday, 25^th and Tuesday 26^th November 2016 were the days we’d anxiously awaited for weeks and, as such, were focussed on the matters at hand; medical care, with little to no tourist activities. However, we still managed to see quite a bit of Singapore purely because of the location of the various places we had to visit. That in turn afforded us the opportunity to get a fairly significant glimpse into local life on the island and to learn a few more fascinating nuisances from the delightful gentlemen who had ferried us around in his Grab, although our transportation methods had also included buses, trains and an extensive amount of walking. Our wanderings also revealed an error in a previous assumption that there were no houses in Singapore.

 

First stop was a short walk from the hotel to the Mount Elizabeth Hospital for Elaine’s appointment with the rheumatologist. It is fair to say, Elaine was very apprehensive about this appointment, as the future of our sailing lifestyle was completely dependent on the outcome, not to mention, concerns over the overall state of her health and how severely her conditions had progressed. That meant she was looking for a “sign” that would indicate she was in “good hands” with an intelligent and competent medical professional. Besides her immediate intuition at meeting the specialist, he was left-handed; her “sign”, as she has never met a “stupid” lefty, her theory emphasised by other lefties she’s admired, other than Roy, for these particular qualities in their field of expertise; Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Paul McCartney, to name but a few. 

 

This “sign” was further ratified by the fact that Elaine had never had such a comprehensive, thorough encounter with a medical professional ever. While we knew Singapore’s medical industry is one of the best in the world, her experience was phenomenal and everything necessary was completed in less than a day, the results of which would be available on her follow-up appointment three days later. Besides the numerous questions asked by the rheumatologist to supplement the information Elaine had proactively provided in a detailed medical summary ahead of time and to obviously obtain an in-depth understanding of various aspects of her health record, an extensive physical examination was also undertaken, following which a variety of tests were ordered and completed on the day. These included diagnostic blood tests that required 10 vials of blood, urine tests, a lung x-ray to check for any damage to her lungs past or present, x-rays of most of her joints including both feet, ankles, knees, hands, wrists and right elbow, a bone density test and fluid drawn from one knee. Elaine was then handed medication associated with a prescription, already processed and received from the hospital pharmacy prior to her leaving the hospital, to keep her comfortable until her followup appointment on the Thursday.

 

During the entire consultation the rheumatologist did not provide commentary, other than to say it was very unusual for Elaine’s current diagnosed condition to attack the joints in the way her joints had been attacked, but that we needed to wait for all the results. That single comment, though, confirmed a suspicion we’d both had for some time, especially since all the current medications have been so ineffective. However, there was one aspect that could not escape us; whatever the outcome, we would be left in no doubt that this would be an accurate assessment. Satisfied that everything possible was being pursued, we left the hospital to get a late lunch, enjoyed at Salon de Paul, Patisserie et Viennoiseries and then ran a few errands, although Roy did complete one of these errands while Elaine underwent her tests. 

 

His experience of a simple, mundane task of purchasing a few rush-guards and exercise outfits turned into another fascinating experience in Singapore; deciding not to use the self-checkout, he asked the store attendant to complete the process for him. Taking Roy’s eight garments on their hangers in one hand, the attendant moved his hand in front of a scanner and all eight items, with their corresponding prices, appeared on a receipt for payment, following which the transaction was completed with a tap of a credit card and Roy walked out of the store within seconds of starting the checkout. Two aspects resonated immediately; no wonder the items were so reasonably priced, since there was limited staff overheads and secondly, how on earth did it worked. Once back at the hotel, a closer examination of the garments uncovered a RF (Radio Frequency) tag attached to each of the labels. To say we were impressed with Singapore by now was definitely not an accurate description; we were completely in awe of this tiny island nation. However, our other errands planned for the day required an enormous amount of walking just to complete the simplest of tasks like purchasing a postcard and finding a post office, primarily because we were completely unfamiliar with the area. Our walking, though, took us past the historic Orchard Precinct, which was an odd sight amongst the modern high rise buildings surrounding it.

 

Back at the hotel, exhausted from the hospital visit and all the walking, we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon at the hotel swimming pool, following which Roy enjoyed a cold beverage while Elaine enjoyed another long chat to Maria off Cattiva. As luck would have it, they were still in Singapore, but on the exact opposite side of the island to where we were and leaving early the following day for Malaysia. With that, we resigned ourselves to the fact that it would be awhile before we saw them again. Little did we know, though!

 

Dinner turned out to be another whole new discovery which we stumbled upon and had us both in total disbelief. In fact it was a whole new world, underground; an entire supermarket with fabulous French and Japanese bakeries, as well as “street food” vendors representing every conceivable Asian and Oriental country, including Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, China and varieties from the various ethnic groups, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, etc, known as the Food Republic. The throngs of people, all local residents of the area, were a testament to how great the food was, all freshly cooked while we waited and for a price equivalent to $12.50USD for both our meals. In fact, so delicious we returned the following night.

 

What we later learnt is that this is typical of Singapore and that, besides road tunnels, rail tunnels and pedestrians underpasses having been built underground, many supermarkets, parking garages, “food courts” and shopping malls can be up to five levels deep under the ground, the soil of which was removed during construction and subsequently used in the many land reclamation projects. To say Singapore has efficiently used their land would be a complete understatement. This usage extends to buildings being built over the many canals, as well as overpasses for pedestrian safety and vehicle overpasses at intersections to avoid traffic congestion.

 

The next morning, it was time for the visit to the naturopathic physician and an osteopathic practitioner, both in order to receive alternative complimentary care and proved to be another interesting and informative day in a completely different sphere, the outcome of which prescribed a significant dietary change, including increased dosages of supplements Elaine was already taking and an education on complimentary treatments that would be beneficial. Getting many of her questions answered about dietary and supplementary conflicts with her medications, all of which need to be avoided, regardless of the diagnostic outcome, was invaluable. While Elaine spent her morning at the clinic, Roy ran a few more errands, including travelling to the southwest side of the island to collect our Yanmar filters. Then, after another late lunch, we took a trip to the South African store, where we were delighted to find many of our favourite treats, including peppermint crisps, tex bars choc-kit biscuits, tinned guavas and sweets for the family in Arizona, including their favourite; jelly tots, as well as biltong, droerwors and a bottle of one of our favourite South African wines, a Backsberg sauvignon blanc which we hadn’t had in more than 25 years. There was just one problem; at this stage, Elaine did not know the extent of her new dietary requirements as she was yet to receive all the documentation from the naturopathic physician’s consultation. As a confirmed chocoholic, she was devastated to learn that cocoa was off the list of things to eat. That meant, for the next few weeks, she had to watch Roy munch his way though all her favourite chocolates!

 

All in all, however, it was a very busy, but productive two days, but, by Wednesday, 27^th November 2019, we were looking forward to our first day of enjoying a tourist attraction. So, after breakfast we hopped on the next available bus to meet our guide, Leo, for a walking tour around Chinatown, although he was quick to point out that, with 70% of the Singapore population being Chinese, the entire island was really Chinatown. Be that as it may, the area we were visiting was the historic area, started by the British in 1822 following the creation and approval of the “Jackson Plan”, an urban plan titled “Plan of the Town of Singapore”. It was a proposed scheme, drawn up to maintain some order in the urban development of the thriving colony, founded just three years earlier. It was named after Lieutenant Philip Jackson, the colony's engineer and land surveyor, tasked to oversee its physical development in accordance with a vision Stamford Raffles had for Singapore. As a result, it is also commonly called “Raffles Town Plan”. Part of the plan was to divide the city according to “the colour of skin”, which basically segregated areas for the different ethnic groups that comprised the population at the time, which gave rise to Chinatown, Little India, etc. However, Chinatown was divided further based on Chinese origin i.e. Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeastern China, etc.

 

Our first stop of the tour was at one of the earliest mosques in Singapore, Masjid Jamae, also known as Chulia Mosque, established in 1826. At this point we learnt that there are ten official religions in Singapore, with four represented in Chinatown alone, including the mosque’s neighbour, Sri Mariamman Temple, the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore, the Buddhist temples and a Christian church. What was immediately obvious was that the mosque didn’t have a single large onion dome, but rather two minarets topped by small onion domes which framed the gateway entrance, part of a miniature four-storey palace façade. The “calls-to-pray” happened in the minarets which amplified the sound before speakers were invented.

 

Our next stop was a shop selling all sorts of fish, including jellyfish, which is served in most Chinese fish dishes apparently; those crunchy bits topping a dish which, unbeknownst to most of us, is exactly that, but, seeing dried seahorses in the traditional Chinese Medicine store, along with dragon fish and other assorted treasures of the sea, was rather disturbing and by the time we reached the Wet Market in the Chinatown Complex and saw turtles, frogs and frog’s eggs for consumption, the guide was quick to tell us that Singapore does not trade in any wild animals or sea life and what we saw was bred specifically for consumption.

 

An explanation was also provided on the numerous statues of lions we’d seen, in pairs, flanking entrances everywhere. This is part of Feng Shui, translated as "wind-water” and also known as Chinese geomancy, a pseudoscience originating from ancient China. It is believed to use energy forces to harmonise individuals with their surrounding environment. The practice discusses architecture in terms of "invisible forces" that bind the universe, earth, and humanity together, known as “Qi”. Standing in front of a grandmaster’s office, we learnt that the hotel we were staying in, the Grand Hyatt, apparently was a failure after the initial opening. A grandmaster audit revealed the property, on which the hotel was built, was too dry and the entrance was facing the wrong way. Soon after modifications were made, including the addition of a number of water features around the hotel, a Singapore Airlines plane broke down and all the passengers were accommodated at the hotel, jump starting its popularity. The lions represent a male and a female, distinguished only by a ball under the front paw of the male and a cub under the female’s paw.

 

Our tour then took us past a local food centre, the Hing Lim Complex, where the second floor houses restaurants producing fusion foods that are all on the Michelin List and passed a variety of bronze artworks which depicted life in Chinatown in the 1800s. These included a depiction of a meal being shared by immigrant labourers, brought in by the British, some of whom were identified as coming from the Qing Dynasty by their shaven foreheads. Most were very poor, so money was borrowed to pay for the journey which was repaid by working for free for three years, although food (porridge, salted fish and salted eggs) and lodgings were provided. These labourers were used primarily for carrying goods on and off the ships. Our guide could trace his roots back to the first empire in China and his grandfather was amongst the labourers who were brought out by the British, becoming a boatman after obtaining his freedom from debt, transferring passengers across the Singapore River. When the British built bridges over the river, a different business was then started to sell fire wood to the Palace and the Raffles Hotel. These labourers also pulled rickshaws, either as a personal “driver” for a wealthy family or for the general public. These “drivers” pulled the rickshaws in their bare feet and received a daily meal of a pancake wrapped around sugar and peanuts, a food still obtainable today from the food stalls. We were informed that our guide’s grandmother’s family owned a rickshaw and the guide’s father was taken to school in it.

 

Our wanderings took us past one of the oldest tea and coffee shops, Ya Kun Kaja, where one can enjoy a local coffee made with condensed or ideal milk, accompanied by a slice of toast and an egg for less than $5SGD / $3USD.

 

The heritage trail depicted scenes of crafts long forgotten; a letter reader and writer, the services used by the illiterate masses at the time and the famous Lau Pa, where the Chinese street-operas took place. The latter still occur today, but tourists are advised to observe the tradition of leaving the first three rows empty, as these are reserved for the gods and the spirits.

 

Walking past the last water well in the city, we learnt that taking water from the wells was stopped in order to preserve water levels, especially with sea levels rising. As an alternative, since Singapore has one of the highest rainfalls in the world, rain water is captured in reservoirs. This is then mixed with the desalinated water to supply the island, while water is also supplied from Malaysia when needed, as previously mentioned. Purified recycled water is also added. There is an acknowledgment, though, that additional water will be needed in the future due to the population growth and additional desalination plants are under construction to meet these needs. Electricity is generated through power plants fuelled by diesel and the burning of all garbage. Experiments are also underway to obtain additional electricity from solar panels floating on the ocean, as well as hydroelectricity from Laos.

 

All the historic houses we passed were built back to back or front to front and had trap doors used to lower the toilet bucket, which was collected and replaced daily. Since taxes were calculated on how wide a house was, the Chinese built very long houses instead. Today most of these houses are now “shop houses”, but some have remained residential, identified by a wooden front door with two windows on either side, the height of the door low enough to allow wind to enter the house, but high enough to maintain privacy. They all had a peephole in the floor of the upstairs master bedroom, above the area where business was conducted by the man of the house and where a father could observe his son conduct business during a training period or where a mother would meet a potential suitor for a daughter while the rest of the family, including the daughter, observed the meeting through the peephole before any decisions were made. Street vendors would walk along the alleyways between the houses while carry two pieces of bamboo to tap out a tune which would identify the type of food they were selling. The food would then be hoisted up to the rooms to be eaten. Some of these houses are now rooms of the Amoy hotel we visited, where the original alleyways between the houses was converted to form the hotel’s reception and lobby area. However, on leaving the hotel, we stepped straight inside the Fuk Tak Chi temple, one of the three most prominent temples in Singapore, which was a little bizarre and on leaving the temple we had to step over a deliberate piece of wood placed across the entrance. This was purposefully placed to ensure worshippers automatically bowed to the gods as their legs were lifted over the wood.

 

The Wet Market in Temple Street was another interesting site, learning that all the original market stalls were moved into this complex as part of an effort to clean up the Singapore River. Strolling through the market, our guide pointed out bunches of peanuts on their stalks that are boiled and given to babies, the differences between citronella and lemongrass, ripened cucumbers that are used in soups and, if left in the sun for 5 weeks, become a body loafer once the dried skin is removed. Next we met Anthony, the Spice-maker, who shared his secret mix, an all natural spice known as Flavours of Singapore. Amongst the other interesting sights, beside the frogs, frogs eggs and turtles, were black chickens used for soups and something called “chendol”, a dessert made from shaved iced coconut and “flour-plum” sugar. It was the queue of people lined up at the Hong Kong style food stall, Liao Fan Hawker Chan, the first ever food stall to be awarded a Michelin Star, that caught our attention and, as soon as the tour was over, we joined the queue to sample the famous soy sauce chicken, which was definitely worth the wait.

 

Our tour ended with an explanation of the Thian Hock Keng temple, translated as the "Palace of Heavenly Happiness", also known as the Tianfu temple and another one of the prominent temples. It is the oldest hokkien Chinese temple, built for the worship of “Mazu”, the Chinese goddess of the sea, whom we first learnt about while touring Bali. When the labourers first arrived they would visit this temple to give thanks for their safe arrival; something definitely not guaranteed, since the Chinese junks bringing the passengers, had to weather the high seas associated with the northeast monsoons. It was typical that only 150 passengers of 450 would reach the shores of Singapore, as many got ill and died along the way. Since opium was the only medicine available, if someone survived the passage having gotten ill, they ended up “junkies” (heroine addicts). Today in Singapore, just 16g of heroine in your possession gets you the death penalty. The unscathed passengers certainly had something to give thanks for, though!

 

The final titbit of information was regarding the Chinese belief of the afterlife, which is not unusual amongst various other religions. However, the Chinese take it a step further by passing forward “conveniences” to the other side in the form of paper cars, houses, cell phones, lingerie, money and credit cards as part of the Chinese funeral ritual; just to be sure their loved one is not doing without anything. It was interesting to see paper money notes of $100 million SGD each. The cost of living must be hellish expensive on the other side!

 

Before entering the Wet Market, though, we had the pleasure of seeing the outside of the magnificent Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, based on the Tang Dynasty architectural style and built to house the tooth relic of the historical Buddha. It is claimed that the relic of Buddha, from which it gains its name, was found in 1980 in a collapsed stupa in Myanmar. So, once we’d finished our delicious lunch, we headed back to the temple to see the inside and what a fabulous treat this was. Besides the various deity positioned around the temple and the splendid carvings, etc, it was the seated Buddha, “Maitreya”, flanked by two Bodhisattvas, that was simply stunning.

 

By the time we returned to the hotel it was late afternoon. Although we’d enjoyed a fabulous day of touring, we were both exhausted from all the walking, so we decided to enjoy a “carpet picnic” in our hotel room and watch a movie.

 

The morning of Thursday, 28^th November 2019, was our second opportunity to tour around Singapore, so we decided on the iconic Marina Bay Sands Luxury hotel and, in particular, the Skypark Observation Deck, followed by the Gardens by the Bay. We couldn’t have picked a better day for both, enjoying sunny blue skies all day.

 

So, after breakfast at our hotel, we hopped on a bus which dropped us right outside Marina Bay Sands, leaving us somewhat dazzled by the architecture of the building; it was simply magnificent. Although we’d heard so much about this building and seen photographs, we weren’t prepared for the scale of it. Just walking into the hotel was a sight to behold, but the fabulous seascapes and views of the city from the Observation Deck were definitely the highlight.

 

Looking out we could see the three tallest buildings; the 66 storey Public Plaza built in 1996, the 63 storey OUB Centre built in 1988 and the 66 storey UOB Plaza built in 1992, all 280 metres tall due to aviation restrictions. The views also included the various significant financial and residential buildings, all built on reclaimed land, as well as the Fullerton Building, also referred to as the Post Office Building, named after Robert Fullerton, the first governor of the Strait Settlement from 1826 to 1829. This building was commissioned in 1919 as part of the British colony’s centennial celebrations and is now a hotel. The “Merlion”, positioned in front of the Fullerton hotel, is Singapore’s most recognisable icon; a mythical creature with the head of a lion and the tail of a fish, the body representing the origins of Singapore as a fishing village, while the head pays tribute to Singapore’s original name, Singapura, which means ”Lion City”.

 

Next stop was the Gardens by the Bay, a short walk from the luxury hotel. The park is 101 hectares / 250 acres of reclaimed land and forms an integral part of the strategy by the government to transform Singapore from a “Garden City” to a “City in a Garden” and they’ve done a splendid job in achieving this vision. Due to the size of the park, we limited our visit to the Flower Dome and, given the run up to Christmas, we were fortunate enough to enjoy part of Singapore’s biggest year-end holiday event, the Christmas Wonderland. Displays in the dome included the various Christmas displays of The Family Hearth, The Post Office, The Kitchen, The Repair Shop, The Reindeer Station, The Centre piece, The Chimney and the Choir Stage.

 

Besides enjoying the various gardens within the dome, especially the South African garden and seeing Barberton Daisies and Proteas again for the first time in years, it was also interesting to learn the history of the Poinsettia, a living symbol of the festive season, while we wandered around. The showy coloured parts that most people think are the flowers, are, in fact, bracts, while the actual flowers are tiny and are found in the centre of the leaves. The plant had very humble beginnings, discovered by Joel Roberts Poinsett, a botanist and the first US Ambassador to Mexico, who spotted it growing by the side of a dusty Mexican road, following which it was introduced to the US in 1825.

 

Additionally we discovered that in the Nordic regions of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and Finland, Christmas marks the turning point when light prevails over darkness after a gloomy autumn and cold winter. Nordic Christmas’ roots can be traced back to the pagan holiday of Yule, a celebration of the winter solstice and Christmas is still referred to by the pagan name in these regions; Jul in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, Jól in Iceland and Joulu in Finland. Similarly to Father Christmas / Santa, there is a mystical creature from Nordic folklore, called a Nisse, who is believed to be benevolent most of the time, but known to be mischievous. For us it was simply a wonderful way to spend our morning while we awaited Elaine’s follow-up appointment in the afternoon to get the results of all the test conducted. Before making our way back to the hotel and on to the hospital, though, we enjoyed a very tasty lunch at Satay by the Gardens and completed some last minute errands.

 

Unfortunately, while we’d hoped for a different outcome, the tests confirmed both of Elaine’s conditions, but on the upside, her joints and internal organs had withstood the onslaught on the cocktail of medications that hadn’t control matters, with no permanent damage identified. Following the prescription of different medications which required close monitoring moving forward and a plan of action if those didn’t work, Singapore had just become our “home away from home” for the next year, at least and the glimmer of hope brightened; maybe, just maybe, Elaine would receive a Christmas miracle!

 

We wrapped up another exhausting day with a Vietnamese dinner in the ION Mall, then found a bench in the cool night air to people-watch as the throngs of people enjoyed the Christmas Lights.

 

Given that we would be seeing a lot more of Singapore over the coming months, we decided to cut this trip short by a few days and return to Paw Paw to give ourselves some extra days to prepare for Roy’s departure to the US. So, the next morning we were up early to get packed, have breakfast and get a taxi back to Malaysia. This turned out to be another easy undertaking with a minor hiccup on the Malaysian side due to some confusion around our return to our yacht. For some weird and wonderful reason, the immigration officer thought we were meeting a cruise ship. Something was definitely lost in translation, no doubt!

 

By lunchtime we were back onboard and while Elaine started the unpacking, Roy headed to the Village Grocer to get a few provisions, primarily because there wasn’t much left in the fridge or freezer, but also to accommodate Elaine’s new gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free diet prescribed by the naturopathic physician. This, of course, was going to require a complete makeover of our Ship’s Stores and a rethink of our menu, but we were both delighted to set that challenge aside to join Michele and Midge aboard Fourstar for sundowners; friends we had met soon after our arrival in Senibong Cove Marina.

 

After a good night’s sleep, we spent the following day onboard. While Elaine did the laundry, researched new menu possibilities, sorted out all her medications, spent time catching up with the family in Ireland and getting the backlog of blogs completed, Roy got all our Indonesian photographs uploaded to the Gallery and worked on his “mystery” project. Being a Saturday, it was also “wedding day” at Senibong Cove Marina, which made for some rather interesting bridal and matching groom outfits.

 

By Wednesday, 11^th December 2019, Roy had started his long journey back to Paw Paw via Los Angeles, where he picked up his international flight to Singapore via Japan, after visiting Keenan, Brooke and the grandchildren. Since Elaine was unable to travel in the winter, she had to forgo this visit, something she deeply regrets, given what subsequently developed early in January 2020, but, while Roy was on his flight to Japan, Elaine enjoyed a fun time with the family in Arizona. A last minute decision to fill the void after Grandpa had left, resulted in Santa arriving early at the Cadman, Jr. household, much to the surprise and delight of the grandchildren. It was a wonderful distraction for them, especially since William was the first to realise Grandpa wasn’t there and woke up wanting to know where Grandpa was. It appears the hugs in conjunction with the goodnight kisses had not resonated with them that Grandpa wouldn’t be there when they woke up the following morning. Nonetheless, they were all very excited to show Grandma all the gifts Santa has left for them. Unfortunately Keenan’s schedule had him leaving for work the following day as well and flying all through Christmas and New Year; the price him and the family were paying so that Keenan could be home while Roy visited. There’s always the piper to pay, but the early Christmas decision also afforded Keenan to have a Christmas with the children at least.

 

Elaine then spent the rest of her day sitting with her feet up enjoying a few movies and getting packed for her trip to Singapore the following day, where she was meeting Roy and seeing the specialist again; the former in light of the third straight day of absolutely pouring rain. Good job she decided to do the laundry a few days earlier. A perusal of the weather forecast, however, didn’t shed any light on the reason for all the rain, but further research revealed this to be quite normal, with the highest average rainfall in the Johor Bahru region occurring in December. Guess it was the rainy season!

 

After Elaine woke to the news that Roy had arrived safe and sound in Singapore, it was then her turn to get there, achieved by a less arduous method than flying halfway around the world, with a Grab and a taxi ride, albeit that it took three and a quarter hours before she eventually arrived at the hotel where she was meeting Roy. The hold up on “The Causeway”, although always busy no matter what time or day one makes the journey, was due to a truck, or as the locals say, a lorry, that had broken down and blocked both the truck lane and the bus / taxi lane, which had everyone squeezed into one lane. What a cluster! Of course, this made for a very grumpy taxi driver too and it didn’t help matters either that Elaine was dying to go to the loo; her bladder protesting with every bump in the road.

 

Once her luggage was dropped off in the hotel room and a desperate dash to the bathroom was satisfied, we enjoyed lunch at Salon de Paul, Patisserie et Viennoiseries, although, being primarily a French pastries and café establishment, Elaine had to settle for a salad, while Roy munched his way through his baked delights. Next stop was the hospital for Elaine’s consultation and to get her blood work completed, both another efficient and thorough undertaking, including another physical examination and a flu shot administered by the specialist. Elaine was so surprised following a discussion about having the flu shot and agreeing to have it, that the specialist administered it himself, right there and then; no nurse; no separate appointment; no delay of any kind and everything completed in less than half an hour with instructions to return in the morning for a follow-up consultation on the blood test results and a decision on medications moving forward. Roy had barely made it to the Apple store and back for some last minute Christmas shopping when Elaine was ready to leave the consultation rooms.

 

From there we hopped into a taxi to the naturopathic physician to collect supplies that had been preordered and, by mid afternoon, we had completed everything we needed to do; it was time for a coffee break and decision on what tourist attraction we wanted to enjoy while in Singapore this time. With the decision made, after a brief stop at the hotel and a light dinner, we made our way back to the Marina Bay Sands Luxury Hotel and from there enjoyed an evening walk along the waterfront to the Gardens by the Bay for the Christmas Wonderland Lights Show at the Supertree Grove. However, regardless of the fact that we had arrived early, but actually at the wrong location in the park initially and with the incorrect understanding that the show was free, per the information obtained on the internet, we, nonetheless, managed to get to the correct location just as the show was starting, thanks to a delightful young couple who gave us their extra tickets so we didn’t have to stand in line to get tickets first, thereby running the risk of missing the first show of the night. What a lovely and unexpected gesture which made our evening and afforded us the opportunity to see the show, given that it was only on for two fifteen minute intervals over a two hour period. It was fascinating, though, to also see many muslim families out with everyone else enjoying the festivities even with traditional Christmas carols being played.

 

The following morning we were up early to be back at the hospital for Elaine’s follow-up consultation and to receive the results of the blood tests. Relief definitely set in when she was informed that her internal organs, particularly her liver and kidneys, were coping with the new medications and that her inflammatory indicators had significantly improved. That meant we were at least heading in the right direction. With that it was time for a morning coffee before heading back to the hotel to check out and get our taxi back to Malaysia. By early afternoon we were back on Paw Paw, but just in the nick of time; the heavens opened. It wasn’t anything that was going to dampen out spirits, though; Elaine was on the mend and our vagabond lifestyle appeared to be saved!

 

After a fabulous Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, although it was Boxing Day and a Public Holiday in many parts of the world, we were up before the birds to make our way back to Singapore for Elaine’s next appointments. We had expected “The Causeway” to be the usual nightmare, so we gave ourselves plenty of extra time to make her first appointment of the day at 1100 by choosing to take the bus option vs a taxi to ensure we got through the immigration lines on the Malaysian side as quickly as possible vs sitting in traffic just to get to the drive-through booths, as well as have the bus lane commute across “The Causeway” itself. Both decisions proved to be wise choices and within two hours, we were in a taxi on the Singapore side heading to the hospital, an hour ahead of schedule. Fortunately, given our early arrival in Singapore, the doctor’s office was also able to reschedule both Elaine’s phlebotomist and rheumatologist appointments to earlier time slots and soon after her phlebotomist appointment, we were heading to our chosen hotel, the Singapore Regent. 

 

We’d book this particular hotel, situated just outside the Orchard Road shopping district, in an attempt to reduce the costs associated with the astronomical increases for stays over the Christmas and New Year week, as well as for the gluten-free, dairy-free breakfast buffet options offered, which we confirmed by phone prior to making our reservation and following our lesson learnt from the Holiday Inn Express experience on our previous visit. Once we’d dropped our overnight bag in the room, we still had plenty of time for lunch at a nearby café serving vegan and gluten-free menu choices and to witness the rare “Ring of Fire” Solar Eclipse, which was definitely a sight to behold, before heading back to the hospital. 

 

It was, however, a somewhat uncomfortable morning for Elaine as she was definitely suffering the effects of breaking her dietary requirements on Christmas Day, the corker, of course, being her decadent hot molten chocolate sponge dessert that had every ingredient in it that she was not supposed to have; guess the proof of whether or not the new diet was having an overall positive effect on her well-being, was definitely in the pudding! Regardless, this visit to the rheumatologist was also a pivotal point in determining whether or not her new medications were actually working and whether her internal organs were coping. It would be an understatement to describe Elaine’s reaction as overjoyed and filled with gratitude when her rheumatologist broke the news that she had indeed received her Christmas miracle; her inflammatory indicators were within one point of normal; the first time in a very long time since her diagnosis in Australia in December 2017. Granted she still had the challenge of coming off the corticosteroids, but these results were on a decreased dosage, the lowest in nearly a year. Her physical examination also indicated she was pain-free in every joint examined with the exception of a very slight tenderness in her right wrist, the joint that has consistently provided the physical manifestations of her overall inflammatory readings. 

 

Needless to say, the rheumatologist was also delighted with the results and our fabulous dinner outing at the Michelin Guide recommended Tian Tian Fishermen’s Pier Seafood restaurant on the riverfront with Jenny and Charlie off Lady, who we formally met in Indonesia, was the perfect way to celebrate, accompanied by Singapore Chilli Crab, Black Pepper Crab and Singapore Slings. Elaine, however, decided it was wiser to stick to her dietary requirements, enjoying a different Singaporean dish to everyone else, but she did take a small sip of Roy’s Singapore Sling. The views of the nearby Fullerton Building, the Marina Bay Sands Luxury Hotel in the distance and the beautifully decorated river boats made up for any deprivation Elaine might have felt. Having to say our goodbyes to Jenny and Charlie at the end of such a joyous day, though, was upsetting as they prepared to have Lady shipped and return to the USA. It did, however, bring home just how fortunate we were at getting a second chance to continue our sailing adventures. This farewell to Jenny and Charlie, though, wasn’t to be our last, although we didn’t know it at the time, but that’s a story for another article!

 

That said, though, eating out and eating away from home in general was proving to be a greater challenge than first envisaged, not to mention a tad infuriating, especially when specific confirmations were received and good money spent to include the breakfast option at the hotel. Turns out there were no special dietary provisions at all, leaving Elaine with the only option of eating some fruit and some bacon on a slice of dry gluten-free bread that the staff managed to scrounge from the kitchen; not even a muesli or granola cereal, oats porridge that wasn’t cooked with dairy milk or any non-dairy milks or non-dairy spreads; nothing! The excuse made was that we should have notified the hotel ahead of time of the special dietary needs. Well, isn’t that precisely what we had done with the phone call we made prior to confirming the reservation! The fact that they couldn’t even scrounge out a single teaspoon of  non-dairy spread or cup of non-dairy milk was proof enough that we’d been blatantly misguided! This right on the heels of confirming with another taxi driver that we had indeed been ripped off on our taxi ride from the hospital to the hotel that afternoon, when the driver doubled the metered fare, indicating it was an additional charge for city driving, something we had never been charged before, anywhere in Singapore. We were subsequently informed that there is no such charge and that we should have asked for a receipt and indicated that we were going to lodge a complaint. Good advice for any of our subsequent stays and any traveller visiting Singapore in the future. With all the good news we’d received on this trip, though, for which we were very grateful, it was, nonetheless, difficult to set aside the inkling of annoyance at being misinformed and deliberately juked on two separate occasions on this visit, but, after collecting the last of Elaine’s naturopathic supplies, we headed back to Paw Paw to enjoy New Year, delighted that we could begin the preparations for our departure from Senibong Cove Marina. 

 

Our return taxi trip back across “The Causeway” was not as quick as our bus trip the previous day, with traffic backed up for miles on the Singapore side, even before we reached “The Causeway” immigration booths, but, luckily, we’d secured a registered Malaysian transfer taxi this time, which took us straight to Senibong Cove Marina, cutting out the time to and from the Larkin Bus Terminal, where the Singaporean registered taxis have to drop off any passengers. That meant, by 1320, we were back on Paw Paw and, not a minute too soon, because Elaine was absolutely starving. However, in her effort to have something more substantial than her usual lunch of smoked salmon on buckwheat or chia seed crackers with a selection of fruit, she’d already consumed a half a bowl of granola and almond milk with her added nuts, seeds and dried fruit, before she realised the new packet of granola she’d opened was not, in fact, gluten-free; it was one we had in the Ship’s Stores and purchased long before there was any notion of a special diet. She may just as well have had a delicious gluten filled breakfast at the hotel! Breath, just breath; “om, shanti, om”! We won’t even begin to mention Roy’s frustrations with all of this dietary malarkey, especially since he was having to be extremely creative with our evening meals!

 

By the time the end of January had rolled around, it was time for our next visit to Singapore. However, so much had happened in this month; we had enjoyed a fabulous New Year in Senibong Cove Marina, sailed up the west coast of the Malaysian Peninsula as far as Penang Island, where we were berthed in the Straits Quay Marina, having enjoyed some wonderful adventures along the way and just as many awesome adventures on Penang Island, including all the Chinese New Year festivities and celebrations, not to mention, the wonderful surprise of spending time with Maria and Maurice off Cattiva, who were staying in a hotel in Georgetown. Also, by this time, Roy had completed the finishing touches to his “mystery” project and by the morning of Wednesday, 29^th January 2020, he had jumped through all the hoops necessary to get his project submitted for review and had received approval; it had officially entered the beta testing phase and we were looking for volunteers. It was definitely a job well done!

 

We were, however, also up long before sunrise to get to the airport before the rush hour traffic, although we still caught the school traffic; schools starts at 0700 in Penang State, which meant the students arrived in the dark, since sunrise was only at 0730. When we arrived at the airport, though, everyone, like ourselves, was wearing a mask; passengers, pilots, flight attendants, gate attendants, airport staff, services staff, although we did spot some completely clueless parents with both of them wearing a mask, but no protection for the most vulnerable; their children. The reason, of course, for all these precautions was the hot topic, the coronavirus, referred to as “2019-nCoV" at the time, but was later to bring the world to it’s knees with the global pandemic of COVID-19!

 

In chatting to family in various parts of the world, there was quite a discrepancy in the information being passed to citizens of the various countries, as well as a lot of misinformation being conveyed online, so we decided to provide the information that we were receiving, straight from the “horses mouth” so to speak; from SE Asia. Based on official research, the virus was believed to have developed from illegally traded wildlife at the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan, China. As of that morning, the various news media were reporting the death toll in China had risen to 132, including 26 new deaths from the previous day and another 1,459 new cases confirmed, totally 5,974, while another 9,000 suspected cases were being monitored. Besides China, the virus has also spread to Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Vietnam, Nepal, Cambodia, Macau, Australia, France, Germany, the United States and Canada. 

 

Particularly disturbing was that both Germany and Japan confirmed that they had cases involving people who had not travelled to China, but caught the virus from someone who had. This had previously only occurred in Vietnam, where someone was infected by his father who had travelled from Wuhan. The latest cases in Japan and Germany suggested that anyone coming into close contact with another infected person could catch it and, the German case in particular, could confirm reports of spread before symptoms develop. Experts were yet to weigh though. While the incubation period was believed to be anything from a few days to a fortnight, it was unclear at this time if the virus was contagious during this period; when an infected person showed no symptoms. Unfortunately, later developments proved this to be the most dangerous aspect of COVID-19!

 

That morning Singapore also confirmed 2 more new cases, bringing their total number infected to 7, the latest individuals having traveled from Wuhan about 10 days prior, none of which was very reassuring when we had no choice but to travel to Singapore for Elaine’s doctors appointments. We’d no sooner boarded the plane, when Elaine caused a raucous after asking to be moved away from a man coughing (with a dry cough), whom she had already distanced herself from in the terminal and ended up in the seat right next to him on the plane. We couldn’t make this up if we tried! Staggering! Since symptoms started with a fever, followed by a dry cough initially and then, after a week, lead to shortness of breath resulting in respiratory infections and pneumonia, as apposed to some reports of flu-like symptoms of running nose, sneezing, etc, there was no ways Elaine was sitting next to this man! Unfortunately Roy had no choice, but to remain in his seat, one seat away from this ill person. That later manifested in Roy getting ill too, but not with COVID-19, thankfully!

 

By now, though, China had eventually agreed for the WHO (World Health Organisation) to send international experts to the country to help understand the virus and guide global response efforts. A day late and a dollar short, given the global spread at this point and here we were, in SE Asia, during the Chinese New Year festivities, with millions of Chinese commuting between countries to be with loved ones and Elaine without an immune system to speak of, as well as the risk of her psittacosis pneumonia being triggered by all of this! Not very good odds! It was definitely time to be saying our prayers more regularly!

 

On a brighter note, we arrived in Singapore, the cleanest, most hygienic city / island country we could possibly be in during this time and they were screening everywhere; besides the airport, they were screening at the reception of the hotel, at the entrance to the hospital and everyone who could purchase a mask, before supplies ran out, was wearing one. We definitely got the feeling that this was all rather serious and was being taken seriously. 

 

On a completely different note, our hotel room at the Goodwood Park Hotel turned out to be a fully furnished and equipped apartment in the Parklane Suites, within a few hundred metres walking distance of the hospital. Ideal for the hospital, but not ideal with two flights of stairs in the apartment and a considerable walk to the hotel lobby and amenities. However, a quick, but tasty lunch was enjoyed at the Halcyon & Crane cafe before heading to the hospital for Elaine’s blood work. By the time we came out a little while later the heavens had opened and it lashed down; the first rain we’d seen since leaving Port Dickson on our sail up the Malaysian Peninsula. We eventually gave up on it abating, so, instead of walking to the closest mall to pass the time, we ordered a Grab to take us straight to Elaine’s appointment with the naturopathic physician, following which a celebratory dinner for Roy’s achievements with his “mystery” project was enjoyed at the Song of India, a Michelin Star restaurant, but that meant more Grab rides rather than walking, as the rain continued all day and well into the night. 

 

On Thursday, 30^th January 2020, we were up early to have breakfast and get to the hospital for Elaine’s doctor’s appointment. However, breakfast was the usual challenge for Elaine, given that there were no gluten-free nor dairy-free options, but she had come prepared with her own breakfast this time and had the option of some nice crispy bacon and a pork sausage to accompany her own offerings. 

 

Although the clouds had cleared, the rain had stopped and the sun was shining brightly, the issue of the day was yet to reveal itself; Elaine’s inflammatory levels had increased again instead of lowering as expected, definitely concerning the specialist at how quickly Elaine’s right wrist had swollen up since the previous Saturday. So, “throw everything at it again”; increase the corticosteroids back to 10mg and restart the anti-inflammatory medication, Celebrex, both to be taken morning and night, with the hope that everything would be back under control at the next appointment; set back to a fortnightly cycle, given the developments and, at which time, the various biologic options would be considered, truly the last resort. At this rate, asking for permanent residency in Singapore was looking like a viable option! Nonetheless, it was a very upsetting day as Elaine had done everything possible to have a better outcome with tapering off the corticosteroids this time around. At this stage she definitely felt doomed to remain on these awful drugs for the rest of her life, since no attempt to come off them had been successful, after two years of trying. The worst part was that they were becoming less and less effective with time, requiring a higher dose after every attempt to taper. In an attempt to regroup, however, we decided to enjoy another Singapore tourist attraction; Jewel at Changi Airport. While Roy had seen this delight before when he flew back to the US in December 2019, Elaine was amazed by it. The photographs Roy had taken previously hadn’t done it any justice and its doubtful any photograph could. 

 

Lunch at the top level overlooking the rainforest and waterfalls was a highlight before making our way to the gate for our return flight back to Penang Island. With the death toll of the coronavirus and the numbers of people infected continuing to rise rapidly, we weren’t surprised to see extra precautions being taken at the airport; large areas were cordoned off as flights from certain countries arrived, mass infrared screening facilities were erected, higher security screening on certain flights was occurring, including ours, etc.

 

Nonetheless, we returned to Paw Paw and a dinner at the Irish Pub, with the fight still in us. Guess there’s nothing like the motivator of wanting to fulfil a dream! As the saying goes: “Courage is not a loud roar, but rather that soft voice at the end of the day that says, I’ll try again tomorrow“!

 

Our trip back to Singapore on Wednesday, 12^th February 2020, returning Thursday, 13^th February 2020, turned out to be our last and was definitely the most bizarre, as well as very stressful. At the time, though, we weren’t to know that before we could get back to Singapore for Elaine’s appointments on 18^th and 19^th March 2020, all hell would have broken loose on the global stage as the ever worsening COVID-19 pandemic started to spread like wildfire around the western world as countries, even here in SE Asia, rushed to stave off further ramifications for their citizens and residents. 

 

By Saturday, 14^th March 2020, Thailand had revoked the “30-Day On Arrival” visa, indicating that visas could now only be obtained via their embassies, accompanied by a full medical clearance. This was swiftly followed by announcements from the Malaysian government that all social and religious gatherings and events over 250 people were banned until further notice and that Malaysian airlines were suspending flights to more countries. All of this was taking place amid talks in the sailing community that yachts returning from Thailand were now running the risk of not being allowed to re-enter Malaysia, all on the heels of information we received that Indonesia was allowing yachts to clear in, but cruisers were not allowed to go ashore while transiting Indonesian waters. It also hadn’t helped that, by now, we’d seen a steady flow of yachts arriving every day, mostly from Thailand, but no yachts leaving; everyone with similar concerns as ourselves. This prompted our decision to cancel our plans to depart for Thailand and to stay put on Rebak Island in the Langkawi Archipelago; a private island, housing the Vivanta Resort and Marina, where Paw Paw was located at the time, following our goodbyes to our friends, Justine and Paul, who had joined us on Penang Island on 23^rd February 2019 for a fews weeks of cruising.

 

By Monday, 16^th March 2020, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia had recorded their highest daily increases in COVID-19 cases and before the night was out, we received the news that Singapore was closing their borders to all ASEAN countries, amongst others, which included Malaysia. This was definitely something we hadn’t anticipated because, only a few days previous, the Singaporean government had indicated that it was not practical to shut themselves off from their neighbours, given their heavy reliance, in particular, on Malaysia. Singapore closing their borders meant Elaine has no access to her treatment and, to top it all, her medications were about to run out on the Thursday.

 

With that, a mad scramble ensued. First option was to try and get to Singapore before the deadline, but every flight was full, no matter which way we tried to slice it; fly direct, fly via Kuala Lumpur, take a ferry to Penang Island and fly from there. There was simply no way of getting to Singapore in time! While options were also pursued to get to Penang Island to see a rheumatologist there instead, by Tuesday, 17^th March 2020 Malaysia had announced it was shutting all its borders, effective midnight and by the Wednesday, 18^th March 2020, we were all under the Movement Control Order; a lockdown, with only essential travel permitted within 10km of one’s home and no interstate travel at all. It was definitely not the St Patrick’s Day celebrations we’d normally enjoy!

 

At the time of this writing, Elaine has yet to see a rheumatologist, but we were able to avert disaster by obtaining some of her medications with a trip to the Emergency Room of the local hospital on Wednesday, 19^th March 2019 and then ordered the additional ones through a local doctor’s surgery and pharmacy, both on Langkawi Island, a short ferry ride away, provided by the Vivanti Resort and Marina from Rebak Island. Fortunately, on our last visit to Singapore, we received brilliant news; all Elaine’s blood test results were back within normal range, including all her inflammatory indicators. It was such a surprise, given the numbers had shot up on the previous visit a fortnight prior. This in itself created a bit of a fuss, though, resulting in a “summons” back to the hospital just as we’d started our meander around the Singapore Botanical Gardens, having already enjoyed lunch at the Halcyon and Caine restaurant and completed our first visit to the hospital to have Elaine’s blood work done. It transpired that the rheumatologist wanted to exam Elaine prior to her appointment the following morning to ensure that, if other tests or procedures were necessary to assist with a treatment change, these could be scheduled prior to her followup appointment. It would be an understatement to suggest that the rheumatologist was surprised to see Elaine’s overall condition and even more surprised at the blood test results,  just as we were. Regardless, we were all delighted at her current treatment schedule being back on track and it couldn’t have happened at a more appropriate time, given everything that unfolded subsequently.

 

The oddities off this trip continued, though, adding to the overall stressfulness of our visit.  Arriving at Changi International Airport early, because there was very little air traffic, was only emphasised by the feeling of arriving in a ghost town; the runways, taxiways and arrival gates were deserted, apart from a few lone aircraft. The terminal was just as deserted as were the streets and motorways on our Grab drive to the hotel. Even the little “auxiliary police” robot had nothing to do. It felt like we’d entered the Lion’s Den and in many ways we had, given that Singapore had the highest number of coronavirus incidents outside China at the time and they were struggling to contain it, with new clusters and incidents popping up daily. What was more disconcerting was the lengths to which Singapore was going in their efforts to contain the virus, yet remained unsuccessful, and this in one of the cleanest, most hygienic and organised countries in the world! This fact didn’t escape the residents either.

 

On reaching the hotel, our second stay at the historical Goodwood Park, the atmosphere remained the same; deserted, except for a few caucasian guests. Temperatures were taken at check-in as per our previous visit, but taken again before we were allowed into the breakfast area the following morning. All staff in the dining areas wore special masks and surgical gloves and no guest was allowed to touch anything at the buffet counters, not even to lift a plate. Instead, we informed a waiter what we wanted as we meandered together along the buffet tables. Screenings were repeated at the hospital with every entrance and at the pharmacy within the hospital. Hand sanitising stations were everywhere we went and if we washed our hands once, we washed them a hundred times. Most people were wearing a mask as well and, if someone coughed or sneezed, a wide circle of avoidance developed around them within seconds. 

 

In the midst of all this anxiety, other odd events occurred. Although our hotel suite was beautifully appointed with “his and her” bathrooms, a separate lounge area, views over the courtyard swimming pool, a platter of fruit and nuts placed in the suite for our enjoyment, all we wanted was our bed after an exhausting day, but that simply element turned into a fiasco too. 

 

Since our afternoon was over by the time we exited the hospital following the “summons”, we opted for an early dinner at the Poulet and Brasserie restaurant in the ION mall, but that ended up a very disappointing meal, which was served lukewarm, not to mention Roy’s meal, which essentially turned up as a piece of chicken surrounded by corn on a cold tin plate. Elaine’s lamb shank at least had some mixed vegetables served with it on a ceramic plate. In an attempt to salvage the evening, we stopped by the closest grocery store and purchased some French pastries for Roy and strawberries for Elaine, to be enjoyed with our fruit and nuts platter in the hotel suite, along with some of Elaine’s banana loaf which she’d brought with us, followed by a nice cup of tea. Satisfied and time for bed, we flopped onto the fabulous looking king size bed only to nearly dislocate every joint in our bodies; the bed was rock hard. So hard in fact, that there was no way Elaine could sleep on it, never mind Roy, who had to sleep on his stomach all night to get a bit of shuteye. So, here we were in the middle of the night disassembling the sofa-bed in the lounge to place the mattress on top of the king size bed so that Elaine could get some sleep. We have never slept in such an uncomfortable bed in all our lives and we have no idea how any guest could possibly have slept on that bed. For the first time ever, Elaine completed the hotel Customer Survey and Roy gave a review online. It was the most ridiculous situation, especially given the cost and how well appointed the suite was, never mind that there was even a “pillow “ menu of every type of pillow you could request, yet the elephant in the room was completely missed!

 

By this stage all we wanted was for this visit to be over and to get back to Paw Paw uninfected and unscathed. Guess, like everyone else in SE Asia at the time, it would take 14 days to know if this was achieved, following which the countdown would simply start all over again, since we still had to interact with people during our stay on Penang Island and we were still awaiting the arrival of Justine and Paul. All of this, of course, since Malaysia hadn’t commenced its second wave of infections and the rest of the world was still clueless as to what awaited them! Worse, they didn’t seem to care!

 

On the brighter side, the breakfast staff were so sweet in getting Elaine some gluten-free and dairy-free food to eat, although she had come prepared with her cereal as usual, and the drive back to the airport revealed all the beautiful bougainvillea in full bloom, which definitely added to our good mood, after receiving the wonderful news on Elaine’s health, topped off with an early check-in and a light lunch at Maison de PB at Changi International Airport, before hopping on our flight back to Penang Island.

 

Unfortunately, regardless of all the galant efforts that Singapore went to in their fight against COVID-19 and which was proving to be a major success until a few weeks ago, they then had an astronomical and devastating outbreak in the dormitories which house 50,000 of their foreign workers, resulting in the highest number of COVID-19 cases in SE Asia, currently sitting at 19,410 confirmed cases and 16,289 people in isolation, as of 1138 on 6^th May 2020. However, 25 other countries are in a far worse situation than Singapore, with worldwide numbers sitting at 3,644,198 confirmed cases and 259,155 reported deaths and, unfortunately, the US is leading the charge with 1,203,673 confirmed cases and 71,031 deaths. Compare this to only 18 deaths in Singapore, a testament to the fabulous medical care, which rates as one of the top three countries in the world and one for which Elaine will remain forever grateful as it gave her back her life and has allowed us to continue with our vagabond lifestyle!

 

At this time, though, we have absolutely no idea when we’ll ever be able to visit Singapore again to complete our visit to the botanical gardens or undertake the list of other tourist attractions we wanted to see, but, more importantly, to get back to Elaine’s rheumatologist and naturopathic physician. In the interim, we’re adhering to all the hygiene and “social distancing” guidelines; staying at home to save lives, including our own!