The Copenhagen Express, and its BBC News cargo of Chivas Regal Whisky, are now reported, after a few days of silence, to be in Singapore. I have been to Singapore many, many times and, humidity aside, it is always a pleasure to arrive after what is undoubtably either a seven hour flight from Japan, or an hour flight from Hong Kong. Singapore is a beautiful city, and it is very impressive to see its massive container shipyards (you can’t miss them since the major road passes right by them or, alternatively, if you are conducting business from one of the office towers you look over them).

It is unclear if cargo was exchanged in Singapore, but most likely it was. Right now it appears that Copenhagen Express is in a “waiting area”.

Imagine illustrating concentration of vessels (red, in Singapore, being the highest) for the region.  Image courtesy of AISLive.com.

I imagine we will be seeing Singapore again before the end of the BBC News “The Box” journey ends, so I will save some of my favorite pictures for later occasions and only say that the Swissôtel’s The Stamford in Singapore is one of the tallest hotels I have ever stayed in (over 70 stories high) with sweeping views of the container shipyard and downtown.

But in my experience there really are no bad hotels in Singapore.  Somehow the city knows that it is accommodating weary travelers and always has a very comfortable room to recuperate.

And, of course, Raffles Hotel.  Home of the “Singapore Sling” not to mention a great deal of history with visitors over time including Joseph Conrad, Rudyard Kipling, Noel Coward, Charlie Chaplin, Ava Gardner, and Michael Jackson.  Looking at this picture reminds me of how VERY humid it is as you walk from one store to the other in its interior courtyard.