First Ports Of Call

Singapore, an island around 276 square miles, at the southern tip of Malaya Peninsula, in 1954, was a British Crown Colony. At that time, it had less than a million people. It was and still is a multiracial society. There were Chinese, Malayan, East Indians, a number of Europeans, some Americans, and a  number of people from other nations. Now independent, it is called  the Republic of Singapore, with millions of people living there. It is now one of the world's largest financial centers. 
The first thing that I noticed was there was not a bit of rubbish in the streets. It was by far the cleanest place I had ever been. The law was such that people were fined or even jailed if you throw trash in the streets. Laws were enforced. However, being so clinically clean, it was a bit sterile, to me.
We were there just for the day, so Joyce and I made the best of it.
The weather was great. We took in as much sights as we possibly could. We visited the various Points of Interest, the gardens, the statutes, and so on. Every thing was so streamlined and proper. We did sample some of the Street Foods which Singapore was famous for. It certainly was a change from our Formal Dinners on the ship. Then, the time came and we returned to the ship. We set sail in the evening, heading West, Northwest.

Now, that we were more familiar with the routine of the ship at sea, we learned to allocate our time and made friends on board. So, time passed quickly for us for the few days at sea before we called on Colombo, capital of Ceylon. Ceylon, now known as SriLanka, is an island that lies in the Indian Ocean near India's southern tip. It was an English colony from 1802 till 1948. Now it is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
What a contrast Colombo was to Singapore!. The deafening noise on the streets; the many interesting architecture; the ox driven carts fighting for a space among weaving buses and automobiles. The many vivid and not so vivid yet beautifully colored attires of the beetle-nut chewing people, their teeth stained red, with their heads wrapped in dirty white clothes; and the elephants! Working elephants!
They were offering elephant rides for tourists, too. Of course, I had to try it. The elephant hide was really rough and hairy, even with a kind of Cushion/Chair for me to sit on, it was hard. It, nevertheless, was fun! In spite of the chaos and disorder, or may be because of the imperfection, Ceylon, to me was much more interesting.

Then back to the S. S. Asia to our mini cabin, and dinner was good.