Adventures in Singapore

Ray and Traci originally planned to tour coastal Asia in April 2020, embarking on a long cruise from Tokyo with stops in Hong Kong, Taipei, Shanghai, Vietnam, Thailand and ending up in Singapore. Unfortunately, the world changed with Covid and their Asian adventure was put on hold. They finally decided to make their first foreign overseas trip post Covid in December of 2022 – spending time in Singapore with a 4 day cruise to Malaysia and Thailand.

Flying to Singapore is quite a challenge – even on their non-stop Singapore Air flight from Seattle it took 16+ hours. Singapore is a nation-city smaller than the geographical size of New York City 10,000 miles away from Seattle. Fortunately, the airline had an extensive library of both current and classic movies to help occupy the time, and both Ray and Traci were impressed by the fine service. Leaving snowy Seattle at 8:45 am, the travelers found themselves in tropical warm Singapore at 5pm the next day. Despite December being a holiday month for many Singaporeans (the schools take December off), minimal crowds were noted and Ray and Traci breezed thru immigration and got a taxi which brought them to their hotel, the Marina Bay Sands. During the 20 minute ride, the riders noted that every sign was in English (with no other languages printed). Everyone they encountered spoke English, but many seemed to have another primary language. Perhaps that reflects the rich history of immigration in Singapore.

The Sands Hotel consists of three tall buildings with a “surfboard” on top connecting them. Their claim to fame is having the world’s largest “infinity” pool.

The whole complex parallels a Las Vegas mega resort with shopping mall, casino, and lots of hotel rooms. Check in was fast (no line) as the resort had an army of front desk personnel ready to handle many customers. Luggage was taken directly from the taxi and brought to the room rapidly. Although they booked a basic room, Ray and Traci received a complimentary upgrade to a nice spacious 28th floor room with a great view of the waterfront as well as the Gardens by the Bay. Sands’ rooms were among the best “run of the house” rooms they have ever stayed in. Another bonus – the minibar, snack drawer, and supply of bottled water was all complimentary. Try finding that in a US hotel! Their balcony was also quite large and they decided to watch the Gardens by the Bay light show from it. Set to seasonal Christmas music, a choreographed light show entertained viewers. Afterwards, Ray and Traci walked around the Sands Shopping mall, enjoyed a soft ice cream sundae and then went to the Marina waterfront to watch Spectra, a musical water fountain show complete with lasers and lights – similar to Las Vegas’ Bellagio fountains.

The twice a night (8pm/9pm) 15 minute Spectra show was quite amazing and something no visitor should miss. Tired from the 16 hour flight and time change the visitors returned to their room for much needed sleep.

One thing struck the tourists as quite odd – despite being the December holiday season with kids on break, the mall and the light shows crowds were surprisingly small. After reading reviews and watching videos, Ray and Traci expected Disneyland like crowds but didn’t encounter any. Ray woke up around 4am Singapore time (his mind was still set for Seattle’s noon time) and went to the 24 hour exercise room joined by other early birds presumably also stuck on US time. The Sands exercise room is on the 55th floor of tower 2 with great views of the terrain but surprisingly small size given the monster resort size – presumably people don’t go to Singapore to get a workout in this relatively basic gym. Afterwards, Ray went to the rooftop infinity pool to swim and watch the sunrise. The heated pool was cool but comfortable (the enormous pool must use an awesome amount of energy to heat). 

Clouds blocked the sunrise but the setting moon was visible. Ray and Traci started the day by walking across a pedestrian bridge from the Sands to the Gardens by the Bay, a horticultural Mecca in Singapore. The Gardens are a collection of indoor and outdoor facilities with species of plants harvested from around the world. Features like holiday lights and a current movie promotion of the new Avatar film further highlight the natural exhibits. Their first stop was the Flower Dome, a huge glass and steel conservatory that has different flora from various places around the world. Flower Dome is a bit of a misnomer as most of the foliage wasn’t flowers, but was quite inclusive with the understandable exception of huge trees. The next stop was the Cloud Forest – a 220 foot tall glass structure turned into the whimsical world of Pandora from Avatar. Visitors are greeted at the entrance with a huge waterfall that extends far up into the skydome, then take an elevator to the top for a trail down ramps and platforms showing a forest populated with characters from the movie.

Some tech heavy exhibits and theaters also entertain visitors as they make the journey downwards. After leaving the two domes, Ray and Traci went to the Supertree Grove – a collection of man made structures resembling trees connected by platforms. Visitors can take an elevator in one tree and ascend to the Supertree Observatory to get nice territorial views – just make sure you climb the two flights of stairs after getting off the elevator to the top level which Ray and Traci almost missed during their visit. The views are unobstructed from the top in contrast to the elevator level which has wires and structural branches everywhere. After leaving the observatory, Ray and Traci took the Skywalk which is a narrow platform that connected several of the tree tops. That was probably the weakest of the four pay experiences at the Gardens by the Bay. Fortunately, the Singapore dollar during their visit was only 75% of the US dollar, so it was like getting 25% off everything. Before leaving the Gardens by the Bay, the visitors saw the interesting statue of a baby named Planet which balances on its hand.

After a morning of touring, Ray and Traci checked out of their beautiful Sands hotel room and took a taxi to the Royal Caribbean Spectrum of the Seas ship which berthed nearby. They previously sailed out of Beijing on the Spectrum’s sister ship, the RCL Quantum of the Seas so they pretty much knew what to expect on this Asian cruise. Meal choices were heavy into Asian foods, and they expected fairly crowded conditions with many kids in this holiday timed 4 night voyage. Unlike their previous Quantum voyage, Ray didn’t expect to take advantage of some of the same entertainment features such as the flow rider surfing simulator and the iFly skydiving simulator due to the large family crowds – cruisers interested in these things should take a cruise during the school year when there are less kids on board. Right after the ship left Singapore, rain constantly fell so Ray and Traci felt fortunate their transit coincided with pretty miserable weather. Before leaving Singapore, they only experienced overcast skies with humidity and temps in the 80s which was relatively ideal for touring. After enjoying dinner (Traci had the black cod and Ray had the beef tenderloin) they watched the RCL production show “The Silk Road” which combined the technology in their Two70 lounge with singing, dancing, aerobatics, gymnastics. Ray and Traci appreciated the many talents of the American performers as did the very entertained audience, but wondered if some of the themes and characters (Chinese, Persian, Indian) may raise some racial stereotype concerns if performed in the US – the Spectrum is the only RCL that has this show, and is also a ship that only sails in Asia.

After a restful night, Ray awoke very early to blustery and rainy conditions delaying his planned run on the Spectrum’s 15th deck track. In the late morning, the rains subsided and he joined a few other runners on the long (3.5 laps per mile) and fairly unobstructed track. Unfortunately the sport deck hosting the track was congested after the breakfast crowd decided to get some fresh air. Strong winds also made running upwind quite difficult. From the track, Ray and Traci enjoyed brunch at the Windjammer, the Spectrum’s main buffet. Heavy with Asian dishes but also with some Western staples, Traci enjoyed oatmeal and a pancake while Ray feasted on scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns and rice. Spending the rest of the morning blogging and surfing the web, the tourists had a light lunch before the ship docked in Penang, Malaysia on their first afternoon.

Penang was cloudy with drizzle. Ray arranged a private tour from a company named Active Dynamics using the ubiquitous travel company Viator, and had no problem meeting their guide at the terminal. Their guide, David provided to be a very knowledgeable resident of Penang with much experience to share with his customers. He first took Ray and Traci to Kek Lok Si, a large Chinese Buddhist temple which sits on a hill surrounded by apartments and a quite modern looking hospital all owned by the temple.

Fortunately, for whatever reason, visitation was light on this Friday and the tourists had no problems visiting all of the areas for worship, purchasing a blessing (we will see how effective it was during the 2023 World Series) and ringing the huge good luck bell. Climbing the steps to reach the top of the dome, visitors are treated to great views of the city. After leaving the Temple, David drove Ray and Traci back to Georgetown, a UNESCO World Heritage site where their ship originally docked. On the way, David stopped at a popular chendul food stand - chendul is a sweet, layered, iced dessert containing green worm-shaped jellies (made with either rice flour or green bean flour), coconut milk and a sugar syrup – it was quite refreshing. One of the highlights of Georgetown are the many street art murals painted on buildings and often photographed by tourists – the longest lines Ray and Traci encountered in Penang were to take photos with popular murals.

Ray and Traci visited the “Street of Harmony” in Georgetown which hosts several coexisting houses of worship in this Muslim country – St George's Church, Sri Mahamariamman Temple, The Goddess of Mercy Temple and Kapitan Keling Mosque representing Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim faiths. Along the waterfront, housing sometimes turned into businesses are found – the “Clan Jetties” where typically families (clans) built floating villages from the shore into the seas. One of these villages, the Chew Jetty is open to the public and in addition to providing residences, also has various businesses providing goods and services. 

Ray and Traci thoroughly enjoyed their glimpse into Penang life, and the drizzly overcast 82 degree day made the walking tours much more pleasant. Thankful to have such a helpful guide/photographer, Ray and Traci returned to the Spectrum for the evening. Forgoing fancier meals in the dining rooms, Ray and Traci went to the main buffet where Traci enjoyed some Indian dishes and Ray sampled the Sorrento’s Pizza and took a Cheeseburger and fries from the buffet area called the “Kid’s corner.” Sorrento’s Pizza is routinely panned in ship reviews, but Ray found it to be on par with the pizza served in the hospital he works. After dinner, the couple watched the RCL production show Effectors – Musical actors dressed in superhero costumes with high tech videos, swarms of drones flying over the crowd, a magical disappearing act and music originally performed by artists including Bonnie Tyler and Kelly Clarkson and you get Effectors. It was certainly unique!

The next morning, the Spectrum stopped at Phuket, Thailand. Phuket is located west of Bangkok. Cruisers had to be transported by ferry from the Spectrum to a dock on the Patong Beach. Ray and Traci booked an excursion thru the cruise line that brought a bus full of visitors to various spots in Phuket. Their guide, KD, started the tour by bringing the group of 32 to Promthep Cape at the southern tip of the island. A site offering beautiful terrestrial views, it is a popular site to watch sunsets. 

A large floral clock sits above the parking area. Heading north, the tour group next stopped at Wat Chalong, or Chalong Temple (officially Wat Chai Thararam) - the largest, most revered and most visited Buddhist temple in Phuket.

A unique feature of this Buddhist Temple is the frequent sound of firecrackers - This activity is meant to symbolize chasing evil spirits away and to acknowledge granting of wishes and good fortune. A special furnace sitting in front of the temple is staffed by persons designated to explode the firecrackers. 

The next stop was at a cashew nut factory where the group learned all about Thailand’s production, complete with samples and a large shop selling a wide variety of cashew products. The tour group stopped at a huge souvenir complex selling everything from T-shirts and magnets to giant Buddha statues and furniture. Ray and Traci thought it was pretty ridiculous to spend as much time at this tourist trap as we did at the Chalong Temple! The final stop was at a restaurant above the coastline giving beautiful views. Ray wished Royal Caribbean would have the tour operator drop the souvenir stop and instead visit the famous Giant Buddha statue briefly passed by during the tour, but many of the tour group bought bags of goodies to bring home. Once back at Patong Beach they stopped by the food court. After their guide KD gave sage advice about only buying food that they watched being cook, and beware of food being sold in uncovered containers that insects could contaminate, Ray and Traci decided to forgo eating and instead returned to the ship where a dinner at the ship’s steakhouse awaited. Ray had a bone in rib-eye steak and Traci had the grilled branzino. With the side dishes, bread, appetizers, and dessert, it was a fine way to end a busy day.

Sunday was a day to relax as the ship was at sea, making the return journey to Singapore. Ray and Traci started the day on the running track followed by brunch. In the evening they watched another production show Showgirls: Past, present and future. The costumes (and ability to change so rapidly) were quite impressive, but Princess uses recorded music instead of a live band and that took away from the experience. Ray and Traci finished the evening with dinner – Ray had another steak and Traci enjoyed the salmon.

The Spectrum of the Seas docked early Monday morning. Ray and Traci leisurely disembarked and took a taxi to their hotel – The Conrad Centennial Singapore. While not as opulent or famous as the Singapore Sands, the Conrad gave them a very nice room with water views and lounge access. The Conrad is also conveniently located next door to the Promenade subway station. Fortunately, their room was ready despite arriving early in the morning. Their morning plan was to visit the Singapore Botanic Gardens. First Ray and Traci needed to get transit cards to pay their fares. A 7-11 across from the Conrad sold them EZ-link passes which serve both as transit cards and payment cards accepted by many merchants. Next, they entered the Singapore MRT station near the Conrad and boarded a train ending up at the gardens. Two things became apparent very quickly – Singapore has the most organized and easy to understand subway system Ray and Traci have ever experienced. Second, everyone on the subway wore masks. The free Singapore Botanic Gardens highlighted a collection of plants and animals representing a variety of countries and climates.

Inside the gardens is the National Orchid Garden (not free) – Many of the 28,000 different orchid species are found. Botanists make new orchid hybrids by cross breeding existing species and name them after VIPs who have visited. President and Mrs Obama are two such dignitaries. Visiting the gardens required a lot of outdoor walking – Ray and Traci were quite lucky because heavy cloud cover all day made walking much more pleasant. Temperatures were only in the low 80s but with 84% humidity, it became quite tiring with the long walks. Leaving the Orchids, Ray and Traci stopped back at the hotel for late afternoon drinks and snacks in the lounge. Next, they went to Sentosa Island which is Singapore’s version of Coney Island – food, fun and amusement. A combination laser, fountain, and fireworks made up a show called Wings of Time.

Stomachs empty, the couple ate at a gigantic food court making up most of the bottom floor of the huge Vivo City mall. Traci heard about a restaurant called Go-Ang Pratunam Chicken Rice. This Thailand eatery was awarded the prestigious Michelin Bib Gourmand Award – Traci and Ray sampled their award wining dish – Thai style chicken rice. Traci loved it, Ray thought it was good but just tasted like some sliced chicken over flavored rice. In any case the whole meal cost $19.50 Singapore dollars (less than $15 USD) which was quite a deal for a Michelin honored dish. Afterwards, the tired travelers returned to the Conrad for much needed rest.Tuesday was Ray and Traci’s first full day in Singapore. Ray started the day by trying to run around the Marina Bay but despite the cloud cover it was warm and very humid so he ended up walking a fair portion of it. The travelers enjoyed a buffet breakfast at Oscar’s, the Conrad’s restaurant – Ray especially liked the chocolate and strawberry gelato that completed the meal. Ray and Traci took a taxi from the Conrad to the airport (two days before their flight). Why? To visit the Changi Jewel, an amazing shopping mall connected to the airport. Highlighting the Jewel is the Rain Vortex, an unbelievable 130 foot fountain that looks like something out of a computer graphics imaged movie.

Water cascades in a circular shape downward into a big drain, creating the world’s tallest and grandest fountain. On the top floor, an artificial playground called Canopy Park entertains visitors with a maze created out of hedges, a second maze created out of sheets of mirrors, slides, nets for bouncing and climbing and a skywalk at the top of the fountain. The huge mall is also filled with typical stores like Apple and Nike. Ray and Traci had lunch in the mall at Tsuta Japanese Soba Noodles. Tsuta’s claim to fame is being the World’s First Michelin Star Awarded ramen shop. Ray and Traci both tried this award winning ramen – it was good but Ray couldn’t quite identify why it was so special but S$21.36 for two people to enjoy such a honored dish is pretty amazing. Many restaurants Ray and Traci visited have online ordering – you sit down at a table with a QR code. Using your phone, you enter your menu selections on line and the server brings you your food and beverage. At the end of the meal you just go to the cashier and pay. From the Changi Jewel, Ray and Traci took another taxi to Chinatown. The metro does service Changi Airport but for whatever reason, in takes 4 times longer on the train due to required transfers than it does to taxi/take a ride share from the Marina Bay area. The ride share industry is very popular in Singapore, even more so than in the US. Taxi stands are pretty much replaced by on demand apps Grab and Zig. Hotel staff hail taxis for their guests using an app. Ride share prices are considerably cheaper than in the US as well. In Chinatown, Ray and Traci visited Maxwell Food Centre, a famous hawker station of Singapore.

Hawker stations are huge collections of mostly outdoor but covered food stalls providing inexpensive and tasty food of any imaginable cuisine. Lunch time is extremely busy, Ray and Traci visited in the late afternoon with many stalls already shut down after running out of food. Some famous vendors like Tian-Tian Chicken Rice have lines regardless of what time you visit. Visitors to Chinatown should also visit the street market – a permanent flea market of goods including all sorts of souvenirs. Traci was disappointed to find the magnet we purchased at the Jewel was available for 75% off at the street market (even before bargaining.) Before hopping on the metro, the travelers stopped at the nearby Buddha Tooth Relic Temple which rises high in Chinatown. Rain started falling in the evening which was disappointing as Ray and Traci had non-changeable timed tickets for a unique Singapore attraction – the Night Safari at the Mandai Zoo. Offering a unique perspective by allowing night visits to their animals, Ray was intrigued and purchased advance tickets online from the travel site Klook to this reportedly very popular attraction. When they arrived, the safari patrons were surprised by the relative paucity of children present despite the school holiday. The zoo is a bit out of the way, you need to make your way to the Khatib metro station, take exit A to the Mandai Shuttle bus stop. The S$1 shuttle bus runs every 10-20 minutes during park hours and drops you off at the entrance to the park. Fortunately, Mandai is used to dealing with Singapore rain and you can stay dry walking from the bus stop and while in the queue for for zoo tram ride. Most of the major large animals (elephants, rhinos, hippos, lions, bears) were visible despite the darkness as the tram made its way thru the park during the 40 minute excursion.

Due to the rain, Ray and Traci decided to forgo the animal demonstration show and walks along the various habitat and instead return home picking up dinner at a Japanese chain restaurant called Sukiya in the Suntec mall next to their hotel to end a long day.

Wednesday marks the last full day of adventures in Singapore for Ray and Traci. Ray started the morning by wandering around the Marina Bay Area and taking pictures before the crowds started forming at places such as Singapore’s signature Merlion. A Merlion is a mythical creature formed with the head of a lion and the body of a fish, being the official mascot of Singapore. Seattle has its Space Needle as the most photographed icon of the city, and Singapore has its Merlion

Even at 7 in the morning people are noted to be taking photos. Ray and Traci enjoyed a final buffet breakfast at Oscar’s in the Conrad – Ray found the breakfast fried chicken wings to be a very tasty addition to the buffet. Afterwards, the couple went to the Fountain of Wealth which is one of the world’s largest water fountains and walked around the fountain three times for good luck. The next stop was Orchard Road, the famed Singapore shopping district. Side by side Singapore malls contained the usual high end designer brands, raising the question how many Cartier or Versace stores does one street need? Certainly bargains were few and far between, Ray noted his North Face fleece was 40% higher in Singapore, while Ralph Lauren Polo shirts were S$200 in Singapore. Despite the high priced designer goods upstairs, most of the malls had huge food courts where it was rare to find entrees priced above S$10. From Orchard Road, the travelers walked to Lau Pa Sat, another large collection of Hawker food vendors. After refreshments, Ray and Traci walked by the Merlion for photos and then got on the Singapore Flyer, the giant Ferris wheel along the Marina Bay Waterfront. While meeting all of the criteria of a tourist trap, Ray decided they should ride one of the cities icon’s after flying 10,000 miles. The decision was regretted later after having to ride the wheel in a cabin with two young people who insisted on continuing a disruptive zoom call during the entire 30 minute ride. Apparently, the past few years of work / learn from home has harmed normal social etiquette. Ray and Traci’s final dinner in Singapore took place at a Food Republic food court. Patterned after the hawker stalls, Food Republic has locations all over with individual vendors selling cooked to order meals – Ray and Traci visited the one inside the Suntec Mall adjacent to the Conrad – Ray went with Wafu Japanese which served a bento box containing rice, fruit, teriyaki salmon and teriyaki chicken. Miso soup was also included, all for the princely sum of S$7.50 ($5.62 USD)

Traci ate at Formosa Delight, and ordered a S$7.20 knife shaven noodle with chicken meal. It is quite remarkable how inexpensive quality restaurant meals cost! Ray and Traci returned to their hotel room for their last night in Singapore and taxied to Changi Airport in the early morning hours for the flight back to Seattle.

Singapore is a modern, safe, clean and interesting place to visit. It only became an independent nation in 1965. It does have some questionable laws - $500 fine for chewing gum. Drug traffickers are executed by hanging – 11 so far in 2022, and critics say some are low level couriers / users, not Pablo Escobar level drug lords. The rapid development of the city has resulted in some chaotic navigation problems – It is impossible to cross certain streets and you just have to know where the underground passages are. The area in Marina Bay is particularly confusing, and more than once Ray and Traci were simply lost inside a shopping mall. Even with Google maps as a guide, walking becomes difficult due to impassable streets. Singapore does have its problems – homeless are seen camping out in public places, transit riders watch anti-terrorism videos, and posters warning about subway molesters getting 2 years in prison and “caning” – a corporal punishment practice still used in Singapore. The cleanliness and modern construction makes Singapore look like an real life Asian Disneyland, one which Ray and Traci found intriguing and enjoyable during their visit.

Post COVID Conference in Philadelphia

During 2020 & 2021 most big gatherings were changed to virtual due to the pandemic. With improved COVID conditions, Ray decided to attend an in-person medical conference organized by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Neither Ray nor Traci had ever visited Philadelphia before and looked forward to learning more about America’s political birthplace.

After flying from Seattle to Philadelphia on Alaska Airlines, Ray and Traci boarded the SEPTA rail car at the airport and 5 stops later found themselves at the Jefferson Station in downtown Philadelphia, less than a block away from their hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn. Their hotel was located above the Philadelphia Convention Center parking garage, was centrally located for tourists, and provided a spacious well furnished and organized clean room. The biggest deficiency was the lack of an in-room safe – Ray couldn’t remember the last time he was in a hotel without room safes. Like many similar class hotels, housekeeping was limited and didn’t service the room until after Ray and Traci departed Philadelphia. With a microwave, small refrigerator, and lots of storage areas, the Garden Inn was a great place to stay.

After settling in, Ray and Traci ventured into the neighboring Chinatown to a ramen shop called Terakawa Ramen. Although the online waiting list projected a 30 minute wait, Ray and Traci ended up waiting an hour to dine. In the intervening time, they walked to nearby Franklin Square – one of Philadelphia’s original five squares. This park held a carousel, a collection of colorful art, and a water fountain much like a miniature version of Las Vegas’ Fountains of Bellagio. Every thirty minutes music accompanies a show of shooting water from moving jets. 

The travelers left the beautiful park and entered Terakawa Ramen for dinner – the restaurant was tiny, but you could see even on a Sunday night that there were many take out orders being prepared by the 6 cooks working on the opposite side of the counter. Ray enjoyed shrimp tempura udon and a side of chicken karaage while Traci had Hiyashi Chyuka (cold ramen) with an appetizer of chicken served on a bun. The food was excellent as a crowded restaurant at 9:30 on a Sunday night would suggest.

Walking around Philadelphia, one sees the usual social problems of big cities including homeless living on the streets. Philadelphia has its share of violent crime – a mass shooting of 15 people occurred the evening before Ray and Traci arrived. The grittiness is balanced with the deep history embedded in the city – the birthplace of the United States.

The conference started on Tuesday so Ray planned on touring Philadelphia Monday. He purchased Go City Philadelphia 3 day passes in advance for $91 each which covered entry fees to most of the attractions in Philadelphia – the passes turned out to be a great deal for Ray and Traci. They started out with a 2 hour guided tour by a very knowledgeable history teacher named Bill organized by the company Grimphilly.com – the walking tour covered the Independence Hall National Park.

Philadelphia was the center of American government before Washington D.C. was even imagined, and Bill led everyone back in time when the rebellion against the British was first organized, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the creation of the Constitution and the first Federal Government. The remarkable career of Ben Franklin was also highlighted. Ray was especially intrigued by the story of Robert Morris who was a self made tycoon who personally financed Washington’s army but later went bankrupt from real estate speculation and ended up in debtors prison. Clearly he was man who lived before his time – now days one can go from real estate bankruptcy to the White House. After the organized tour, Ray and Traci explored many of the attractions in and around the park – Independence Hall, where a park ranger showed off the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed followed in a few years by the Constitution. The Liberty Bell with is legendary crack has its own exhibition housing nearby. 

The first Supreme Court, the first Congress, the first Pentagon are all located in the park. Nearby, the Museum of the American Revolution showed off many artifacts including George Washington’s Tent. The National Constitution Center (NCC) has many historical and current day exhibits giving perspective on the American Constitution – its aspirational goals and the times it falls short. One of the more popular attractions in the NCC is Signers’ Hall where life size bronze statues of James Madison, George Washington and the other founding fathers are captured in action drafting the Constitution. 

Philadelphia’s Reading Terminal Market (pronounced redding) is found a block from the convention center/Garden Inn Hilton and is a great place to pick up lunch and treats. The hungry can find a huge range of foods from cheesesteaks to pizza, deli food to many ethnic selections, and many bakeries serving donuts and all sorts of cookies, cakes and pies. Bassetts Ice Cream established in 1861 and Famous 4^th Street Cookie Company are notable places to get dessert. The eateries have extremely limited seating so on the go items are popular.

As part of the Go City Philadelphia pass, tourists get to ride on the tour buses that circle the city. Ray and Traci boarded the double decker bus and rode it to the Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site. The structure looks quite odd – think Tower of London in the middle of an upscale neighborhood. While vastly overshadowed by the younger prison Alcatraz, Eastern State Penitentiary which opened in 1829 is the world’s first true penitentiary which put prisoners in isolation as a form of rehabilitation. Each prisoner had a tiny room with a small individual outdoor exercise yard surrounded by high walls making communication with neighbors impossible. Al Capone was once imprisoned in Eastern State although it isn’t clear if he was being punished or was using the secure prison as refuge from his rivals.

Near Eastern State is the Art Museum of Philadelphia, otherwise known as the Rocky Steps forever in Hollywood lore. While the Museum would most likely rather be known for its rich collection of works from Rodin, Cezanne, Picasso, and Monet among many others, it has the stairs climbed by the fictional Rocky Balboa that inspired many an Instagram selfie. The statue from the third Rocky movie was relocated from the top of the steps to a much less conspicuous location to the bottom the stairs on the right and has lines all day from photograph seekers. Ray and Traci both enjoyed the museum and took photos on the ‘Rocky Steps’.

Running in the middle of any large city is a challenge, fortunately Philadelphia has the Schuylkill River which has a paved boardwalk providing a great place for runners and cyclists to exercise free of traffic concerns. Brownish slow moving water filled the river. Occasionally, people fishing were seen along the banks.

 

Ray’s conference was at the Union League of Philadelphia, a private club originally founded to support President Lincoln and the Union during the Civil War. The beautiful ornate building was elegantly furnished giving attendees a feel for its rich history. During the lunch break, Ray walked down the marble steps, slipped and took a nasty fall landing flat on his back. Although quite painful, he believed he avoided any fractures and returned to the Hilton, attending the rest of the conference virtually.

Ray and Traci were scheduled to take a night tour of Philadelphia focusing on ghosts, criminals, and other sordid details in Philadelphia’s past but cancelled after Ray’s fall. Fortunately, the injury seemed more of a contusion rather than something more serious and although it made the long flight home more uncomfortable, it hopefully will resolve over time. After the second day of the conference they took the train back from Jefferson station and had a smooth flight home having learned a great deal about the founding of America’s government.

Reunion with Chicago

Due to Coronavirus, many social events were cancelled – Ray’s 30^th medical school reunion in 2020 was one of those events. While the pandemic was not technically over and cases of the latest variant were on the rise, Northwestern scheduled a “multiyear” 30^th reunion in April 2022. So Ray and Traci decided to travel to Chicago, the couple’s first trip east since the pandemic started. Making things a little more interesting was the end of the Federal mask requirement on airplanes a week before their trip. It was refreshing to walk around the Seattle airport and fly for four hours without having to wear a mask.

Ray and Traci’s flight was an uneventful 4 hours although the plane had to wait 45 minutes on the tarmac behind 22 other planes before departing Seattle. At O’Hare, they took the airport tram to the rental car facility to pick up their rental car. At the rental counter, they found out Dollar didn’t have their car ready and, along with a handful of other customers, Ray and Traci waited 40 minutes before being assigned their car. As with their fellow car renters, Ray and Traci could not recall ever having to wait for a car to be prepared – some felt Dollar was short of cars and probably overbooked their rentals. In any case, their Nissan Versa was finally ready to enter the Thursday evening rush hour traffic of Chicago.

It took about 75 minutes to travel the 16 miles from O’Hare to downtown Chicago in mostly stop and go traffic – Google Maps navigated a route on many side streets before finally getting on I-90 into the loop. Ray and Traci arrived at the Water Tower Place in Chicago’s North Loop, at the heart of the “Miracle Mile.” Ray used spothero.com to reserve a parking spot at a next door garage which charged $20 a night rather than $75 at the Water Tower Place. The Ritz Carlton, located in the middle portion of the very tall Water Tower Place, had a reunion group rate so the couple decided to take advantage of it and booked a room at the hotel. After checking in at the 12^th floor lobby, Ray and Traci found that their new Chicago home on the 25^th floor was located right across the park from Northwestern’s Lurie Childrens Hospital and had a nice view of Navy Pier and the Chicago waterfront. 

Their room was quite spacious with a combination chaise lounge/couch, a nice sized dining table and chairs and a well-equipped bathroom complete with double sinks. Since the Northwestern rate was half of the typical room price found on the internet, the couple was quite impressed with the deal.

Ray figured since they would still be on west coast time, he booked a late dinner reservation at Gibson’s Steakhouse on Rush Street. Gibson’s is a well-known Chicago institution – despite arriving at 8:30pm, the place was packed with people waiting for tables and hanging out in the bar. The décor was very similar to Seattle’s Metropolitan Grill – and the lively atmosphere with very professional wait staff served some amazing food. After sharing a Caesar salad, Ray had their Australian Grass Fed Rib Eye steak and Traci had Chilean Sea Bass – both were excellent! They ordered a side of mashed potatoes and received 1 lb of the buttery treat which made Ray glad there would be a lot of cardiologists at the reunion. With no appetite left for dessert, they walked back to their hotel.

Friday morning brought the start of the reunion activities – Ray went to register and attend a presentation on Chicago’s Lurie Children’s Hospital – built in 2012, the prestigious facility is nationally ranked as a center of excellence for Pediatric Care. Unfortunately, an in person tour was not offered so attendees had to settle for a video presentation. Afterwards, Ray and Traci decided to have brunch at Wildberry Cafe, a popular breakfast/brunch spot next door to the Ritz Carlton. The restaurant is typically quite busy especially in the late morning, but they only had to wait 20 minutes for a table in the packed restaurant. While waiting, Ray and Traci noted some people lined up behind a rope barrier set up by the Ritz Carlton staff. They realized a sports team was staying at their hotel. Soon it became clear the Los Angeles Angels were leaving for their game against the White Sox – to Traci’s disappointment, they did not get to see MLB’s latest phenom – Shohei Ohtani, but they did see Ryan Tepara get on the team bus and Mike Trout get into his private SUV. Hopefully the small crowd of fans managed to get some autographs. Once seated, Ray ordered a ham, egg and cheddar cheese breakfast and Traci had French toast. Both were excellent, making the couple 2 for 2 in outstanding meals. Service at Wildberry Cafe was very fast and professional. After leaving Wildberry Cafe, the couple walked down the famous Michigan Avenue. Lately downtown Chicago has made the news for roving gangs of thieves that smash windows and doors to steal high end goods. Evidence of this was clear – jewelry stores along the “Miracle Mile” had signs stating their storefront displays had replicas of items like Rolex watches and if you peek into the store, the display cases were often empty. On the other hand, unlike Seattle, Ray and Traci did not encounter any tent dwellings and found the area to be very clean. After crossing the short bridge over the Chicago River, they entered the Art Institute of Chicago. The famed art museum has a large collection of a wide range of art including ancient Chinese and Egyptian artifacts to some “interesting” modern art. The displayed art is housed in a 3 story spacious complex – one could spend days looking at the different things but it is well organized and the map handout gives one a short list of exceptional items to see in a limited time. Ray didn’t know Claude Monet painted 250 works of water lilies – he saw individual paintings in places like the Met in New York, but in this museum they had 3 water lilies paintings side by side. Traci enjoyed seeing Van Gogh’s “The Bedroom” which she once sketched many years ago. From a more recent era, large stained glass windows titled “America Windows” by Marc Chagall were very impressive. 

From the Art Institute, Ray and Traci walked across the street to Millennium Park – a beautiful expansive area in the heart of the city and a definite Chicago highlight. At the Chicago River, they took the stairs down to the Chicago Riverwalk – a long pedestrian path along the South side of the river. Restaurants, shops, and especially the many boat tour companies are found along this very popular walking and running path that extends from the river outlet in Lake Michigan well into downtown. 

From the Riverwalk they went back to the Northwestern Chicago Campus and attended a dinner held at the school atrium. Fortunately the dinner was catered by Gibson’s so they got another chance to sample delicious food including salmon, beef and chicken. This night, the highlight was the desserts – Traci loved their carrot cake and Ray thought their chocolate mousse cake was excellent. After returning to their hotel room, Ray received a notification on his phone from Alaska Airlines that their flight home on Sunday was cancelled. The notification stated they would be rebooked on a different flight and to watch for an email with the details. Ray called Alaska Airlines and found out their automatic rebooking was for Tuesday, 48 hours after originally scheduled. Ray told them that was unacceptable, and the helpful Alaska reservation agent managed to get the couple on a United Airlines non-stop flight leaving 1 hour after their original Alaska flight. Alaska has been troubled with flight cancellations due to pilot shortages, and the lesson learned is to immediately call the airline for rebooking as you will likely get an automatic rebooking that you don’t want.

After feasting for two days, Ray decided to start Saturday morning by running along his favorite path during med school – north along Lake Michigan and into the Lincoln Park Zoo. The cool morning was made colder by a strong breeze bringing waves up along the concrete wall separating the city from the lake. The zoo was closed early in the morning so all Ray saw were some Canadian geese in a pond. On the way back, he stopped at Stan’s Donuts on Rush Street to pick up a morning donut treat. After the run, Ray and Traci attended a school luncheon, this time held at the Ritz Carlton. While they served the typical “rubber” chicken lunch, the Ritz’s rubber chicken was definitely better than most. They also had a nice selection of desserts including strawberry cheesecake, chocolate mousse, and purple (in honor of Northwestern) macarons. After the luncheon, Ray and Traci took their rental car up to Evanston, home of the Northwestern undergraduate campus. Ray had not been back “on campus” for over 30 years. He was amazed at all of the improvements – visitors center, performing arts theatre, new school buildings and especially the athletic facilities. Despite the new facilities and development which mostly occurred along the Lake Michigan waterfront, the grassy areas which gave the school its charm remained intact.  For whatever reason, the northern campus was attacked by clouds of gnats making Ray and Traci glad they had masks to wear. Ray asked some of the students why the bugs were taking over and they said it had something to do with the change to warmer weather. Ray and Traci visited the Grosse Pointe Lighthouse north of campus before returning to their car and driving back to Chicago.

During the 30 minute drive, dark clouds were visible in advance of expected thunderstorms. Ray and Traci decided to pick up food from Chicago’s celebrated pizza house, Gino’s East. An institution located next to the medical school, Ray remembered enjoying many great pizzas back in the day. Ray placed an online order and along with Traci, walked the three blocks to get their pie. Chicago deep dish pizza is legendary for having thick and tall crust surrounding heaping amounts of toppings, cheese and tomato sauce. Gino’s provided a crisp flaky thick crust, not oily. It was as good as Ray remembered it. Fortunately, the expected Chicago thunderstorm held off until Ray and Traci were back in their room to enjoy their pizza dinner. For 90 minutes, frequent lightning flashes illuminated the dark sky with thunder and rain also making an appearance. Nature put on quite a Saturday night show for the travelers.

On Sunday, Ray again traversed the waterfront and ran thru the zoo. The weather and lake were much calmer after the previous evening’s electrical storm. Back at the hotel, Ray and Traci packed up and made the hour long Sunday commute to O’Hare – even on a Sunday afternoon, the highways get quite congested in Chicago! After returning their car, they checked in on their new airline – United – and fortunately had an uneventful trip back to Seattle.