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Newsletter #8 - August 9-15, 1959 |
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Newsletter #8
Mailed Australia 8-28-59 Reed, Wilmington, Del. 9-2-59 Week August 9-15, 1959 Hello again, We're still bounding the ocean waves and it is nice and calm with the sun shining beautifully this Sunday morning, I'm sorry we can't go to Church but we will have to relax and enjoy our deckchairs today and just eat, sleep and exchange small talk with the passengers who are all very friendly. The Captain gave a very special dinner because the Colonel and his wife were disembarking at Singapore and it was their last night aboard. We had Sauterne Wine, a lovely roasted fowl and Baked Alaska as extras for this meal and everyone was in a gay mood. During our coffee in the lounge we all exchanged a few of our favorite jokes and had a full length movie called "The Good Humor Man" with Jack Carson which was most entertaining. We all stayed up quite late and walked the deck before retiring. Here it is Monday [August 10] and at breakfast the Captain tells us we will not be arriving at Singapore until early afternoon so we're all hurrying to get our odd jobs finished so we'll be ready when the gangplank is lowered. We took a taxi into town and mailed a package and letters at Singapore and then hunted for a photography shop to try to have Meredith's lens repaired, adjusted or whatever needs to be done. The shops are not nearly as nice as those in Hong Kong so I don't believe I'll do much buying. We returned to the ship and dressed for dinner and plan to take the night tour of Singapore City. Again we change our money to another monetary unit, the Straits dollar. It is worth about 1/3 of our money. In Hong Kong we had large bills called Hong Kong dollars which were about 1/6 value of our dollar. We began our night tour with a driver and guide. The guide was an Indian and the driver Malayan and we called them Bill and Joe as their names were quite difficult to pronounce. We went through Chinatown and then to see the Death Houses in Sogo Lane which sure gave you the creeps. From there we proceeded to the People's Park where all varieties of Chinese foods are sold and where all kinds of peculiar scents are going past your nose. We walked in this |
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area quite awhile and anything a native would wish to buy was for sale on the sidewalks. Singapore is quite hot so most people shop at night and stay out of the terrific heat of the day. We next went to Happy World Amusement Park where more shops were located and here we watched a Chinese Opera which is in Cantonese and lasts from 3 to 4 hours. We only stayed a short time as they are very noisy. They wear colorful costumes and fantastical head-gears and head ornaments (especially the principle stars). They sing out most of their parts with a loud gong being banged according to the meter they are singing in to keep time. When something sensational is said, attention of the audience is held by the continuous banging of the gong and the cymbals. You hear the saxophone, Chinese reedy clarinets, violins and drums used. The stage settings are simple but most gaudy. The same setting may be used throughout the whole opera, but there is always a small sign in Chinese on one side of the stage which tells the audience where the scenes are taking place. All the audience must do is stretch their imagination and picture themselves in the place where the scene then takes place. (It sure is drab in comparison to the Japanese stage productions). Next we watched the Malayan dances and they are quite different from our own. The men and women dance at least 2 to 3 feet from each other while facing one another and they have a very unusual rhythm. After seeing these dances we go to a dimly lighted nightclub and watch all kinds of natives dancing American style and we noticed the Chinese girls have their Cheongsam dresses split quite high, much to the delight of our American husbands. Journeying on we go to Sea View Hotel Roof Garden and enjoy the different lights and neon signs of the city and harbors. We can see across to Sumatra which is only 25 miles away. Next we go to Chicken Inn a very beautiful place where an aged Indian pins a lovely corsage of several orchids on my shoulder. The tables here were beautifully arranged with flowers and this nightclub had a most unusual atmosphere of tropical charm and a large dancing area. We pass many lovely municipal buildings and pass along Nicol Highway over the brilliantly lighted Merdeka Bridge where you get a splendid view of Singapore's waterfront. Our last stop was "Satay Club" where one can taste the Malayan form of barbecue or another Malayan foods. We continued back to the Ellen Bokke for the night. Tuesday [August 11] is another lovely day and after our breakfast we decide to take the Johore Tour. This is a State in the Federation of Malaya and a 40-minute drive across Singapore Island. To get there you pass over the Causeway spanning the Straits of Johore. Johore, like the nine other Malay states has banded |
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together as a protectorate; each State is ruled by a Sultan. We pass many rubber trees and plantations and stop to see the latex or milky white substance which rubber is made from, come from cuts in the tree and drop into a cup. Picked up a few rubber seeds as a souvenir. We also pass many Chinese vegetable gardens and pineapples before we reach the Johore Causeway. The Johore Causeway is about a mile long and links the Island of Singapore to the mainland of Malaya. At Johore we visit the Sultan's Palace and Gardens and we stop to admire and view all the beautiful surroundings. We also visit the Abu Bakor Mosque which is the largest mosque in Malaya and is about 80 years old. We had to remove our shoes before entering and they have their Sunday on Friday and pray to Allah 5 times a day by bowing and saying certain prayers facing always toward Mecca. They are very faithful and sincere people and have some wonderful rules which they follow to the letter. Their bible is called a Koran. As our driver proceeds we pass many tropical places and soon stop where some Malayan women are doing Sarong Weaving. The materials are very beautiful but most impractical for Americans. The Malayan men as well as women wear sarongs. The weather is very warm and the humidity is quite high so by the time our 4-hour tour is over we are glad to have a lunch at the Adelphi Hotel in an air-conditioned dining room. After lunch the men go their way and Mignon McLennan and I go shopping. We do lots of looking but very little actual buying as their wares are almost like Hong Kong's. We are due to sail at 5 o'clock so we taxi back to the ship and watch the Ellen Bokke leave the harbor which we enjoy very much. We begin to sail through the Straits of Malacca North toward Penang. We will be arriving in Penang sometime tomorrow afternoon. As usual our dinner is wonderful and we have our coffee in the lounge and meet the new passengers who have come aboard at Singapore. They are Mr. and Mrs. John Plunkett, Mr. & Mrs. James Bartlett, Mrs. Constance Khoo and a Mr. Gerald Glaskin. They are all Australian born but Mrs. Khoo is a Chinese woman who is a broker while Mr. Glaskin is a writer who is at present finishing his fourth novel. He is handsome not quite forty and very friendly. The other two couples are very nice and are retired and returning from a Singapore Holiday as the Australians call a vacation. [August 12] Another day and here we are docked at Penang, Malaya and the company Walla Walla takes us into town and we take a tour to the Chinese Temple and Monastery of Ayer Itam which is |
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the only one of its kind outside of Tibet and China. You climb about 1,000 steps before you are even near the top and it contains various large statues of Buddha. The four really large ones represent the north, south, east and west winds, each crushing under his feet figures representing the vices of the world, such as the opium smoker, the drunkard, the gambler and the thief, etc. Many of the pagodas and statues have been donated by the "Tiger Balm King", the very wealthy Chinese gentleman who built the fabulous gardens in Hong Kong and Singapore. Bought a few Malayan souvenirs and then went back to our ship for dinner. Later we took the boat back into town to see the shops. These we were quite disappointed in as their articles were not very nicely made. We did have a nice sundae in a very nice Dairy Parlor before returning to our ship for the night. [August 13] Another day in Penang and we spent the morning enjoying their stores where I bought a few Buffalo horn items and some rice straw pictures done on black satin which is a Malayan native art. My fellow shopper from Portland bought several pieces of Kelantan Silver bracelets and earrings which I didn't particularly like. Later we went to the top of Penang Hill which is 2,400 feet high and gives you a superb view of the harbor and city of Penang. There was no road to this hill so we took the Funicular Railway which runs approximately every hour and we had a light lunch at the top. You see many colorful three-wheel bicycle taxis in Penang and Singapore which are called trishaws and they give you nice rides. We later took a long drive along the coast of Penang and saw some lovely coves and swimming beaches with lovely tropical flowers, palms, lush foliage and spacious tropical homes painted white with red roofs. The official name of Penang is the Prince of Wales Island and was at one time called Georgetown but now is a beautiful little island about 15 miles by 10 miles off the West Coast of Malaya known as Penang. Back to the Ellen Bokke and soon we'll be going through the Straits of Malacca and see Java and Sumatra on either side of the ship. We are still having smooth sailing and everyone aboard is having a wonderful time as we all get along so well. The ship was to stop at Port Swettenham, Malaya but there was a change made so our next port is to be Geraldton, Australia. It is supposed to be a very dull place and quite |
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small so I guess we won't see too much. We are to be there about 1 1/2 days and then we disembark at Fremantle for our long trip through Australia. Here it is the end of another weekend and time to end another brief but interesting part of our trip. We are still well and happy and hope you all are the same. Charlotte and Meredith |