Scroll for total final expenses for one week in Singapore…Tomorrow, an early morning flight to Hanoi, Vietnam…Tom’s haircut in Singapore…

Historical building.

We sorry we weren’t able to explore Singapore as we’d intended based on my injured spine during our entire week in this lovely country. It’s unlikely we’ll return when we still have so much of the world left to see.

The street outside Chinatown at dusk.

Right now, our biggest concern is getting me able to handle walking for several hours a day based on the many tours upcoming on the Mekong River Cruise beginning in four days. 

The bright lights in Chinatown at night.

Of course, we have a backup plan. If I’m only able to walk only short distances, we’ll go on the shorter excursions and decide at the time for the all day excursions which as of today, I can’t imagine being able to manage.

A popular eco friendly office building.

However, each day there’s a little improvement. Tom’s been a huge help literally waiting on me for absolutely everything, whether it’s filling the tub with hot water for me to soak several times a day (which really helps) or pouring my iced tea, he’s “Johnny on the spot” with never a scowl or complaint for getting something for me one more time. This makes recovery a whole lot easier.

Sunday morning we took a walk through a section of Chinatown before the crowds.

I want to thank all of our readers who sent emails wishing me a speedy recovery. My inbox was full this morning with suggestions, prayers and good wishes. I managed to respond to each before beginning today’s post which contributed to yet another late posting.

Its appealing to some business professionals to purchase clothing in Singapore but prices were high although the service was quick.

We went for our final breakfast in the hotel which has been quite a treat each day. On several days, we were so filled by the huge and delicious meal, neither of us were hungry for dinner and only nibbled on our cheese and nuts into the evening when we felt like a little something.

Most of the locals wear flip flops on casual days. Tourists purchased this shoulder bags.

We’re disappointed not to have dined out more often, but when I think back to our old lives, when one of us was under the weather, we never thought about going out for dinner. 

Many products for sale are wrapped in plastic, most likely imported from China.

We’d stay “home” continuing to nurse back to good health.  Same here. The thought of going out most nights wasn’t appealing, although we did do so on a few evenings. Rest has seemed to be the most logical solution at this point.

These popular plastic chickens scream. Why? We never quite figured it out.

Luckily, when we arrive in Hanoi tomorrow afternoon, we’ll still have three days to continue my recovery before the cruise/tour begins. During that period, we’ll head out to get our final visa needed at this time, Indonesia, for the upcoming return to Bali in a few months. 

There are areas that reminded us of the French Quarter.

There’s no way we want to go through that awful three days of travel back and forth to Lovina for the visa extension in Bali if we can avoid it. With the three days in Hanoi, we should be able to accomplish it, plus the cruise includes two more days in Hanoi for sightseeing. This gives us a five full days to get the visa and for me to recover if necessary.

Tom was thrilled to get a haircut at long last.

Sure, it will be disappointing if we can’t go on the tours in Hanoi, but what else can we do? It’s the way our life is. We accept it fully. Tom, bless his heart, never for a moment has made me feel badly over money we may lose not taking advantage of our location. We’re together. I’m improving each day and we continue on with love and hope in our hearts.

A good cut by a stylist in a pricey salon.  The haircut was SGD 44, US $32.74 which included a 20% discount and was more than he paid anywhere in the world thus far.

Based on our late return to our hotel room after breakfast which included a lively conversation with a lovely couple from the US that we met in the restaurant and sorting out our hotel bill today instead of tomorrow morning, it was a late start.

Lots of tourist trinkets.

Our taxi will arrive at 6:45 am tomorrow for the 30 minutes ride to the Changi airport. Our flight is at 9:20 am, almost four hours on Singapore Airlines. We should arrive at our hotel in Hanoi by 1:00 pm.

Insect jewelry. 

Once we’re situated in our hotel room in Vietnam we’ll prepare a new post with a few photos of Hanoi we’ll have taken during the taxi ride. Thus, you won’t see a post until several hours later than usual. 

Colorful statues atop the Sri Mariamman Temple.

Here are the total expenses for the seven nights we spent in Singapore. Included is the cost for the visas we acquired for Vietnam and Thailand. 

Our food expenses were considerably less than average travelers may spend based on the fact we only dined out for dinner a few times and for breakfast everyday. (Please excuse formatting issues on char below).

Expense
SGD –
Singapore Dollar
US
Dollar
Hotel – 7 nights                 2108.03                            1568.00  
Airfare –Bali to Singapore                   223.10  $                            165.95
Taxi                    177.53  $                            132.06
Visa Extensions (2)                    562.07  $                            418.10
Tips/Laundry/Misc.                              
WiFi                              
Groceries                      36.11  $                              26.86
Dining Out                    320.85  $                            238.67
Clothing                          –  
Pharmacy/ Dental                    217.68  $                            161.92
 
Total                 3,105.34  $                        2,309.92
   
Avg Daily Cost-7 Days                     443.62  $                           329.99

See you tomorrow after our arrival in Hanoi!

Photo from one year ago today, July 5, 2015:

The Cattana Wetlands in Australia offered excellent expansive views. For more photos, please click here.