We've been in five ports for the last seven days so we seem to be backed up in getting our post out.  We have posted all of our tales below in several postings and are now caught up.  Still no way to get pictures posted and the one day we were ready to post the ship's server was down for maintenance.  We hit two ports back to back then one day at sea and then three more ports for the next three days.  This vacation is getting a little tiring.  The old adage "I need a vacation from my vacation" is standing true.  You're out all day in the port, back on the ship to clean up, eat dinner, download pictures, study the next days port, pack your backpack, get to bed and then you're back at it again the next morning for another full day.  It's coming all so quickly it's hard for us to say what we did or where we saw something.  I thought it was just my memory getting to me but Candice is having a hard remember all this stuff too (Candice: I'm just having a hard time with what the currency rates were for a place).  That gives me a little comfort but not much!

We've been invited to eat with the Chief Purser and his junior assistant for Tuesday, the 30th.  We are still waiting for that next elusive Captain's cocktail party.

We are up to 11 golden tickets in trivia.  We weren't able to play while we were in port since we were out running around.  We just can't get enough of these!  They are suppose to get some new prizes for ticket redemption in Dubai.  

They postponed our pirate drill until after Dubai.  We understand that no one will be allowed on the 3rd and 10th decks since they will have the water cannon hoses laid out and everyone is to keep their curtains closed at night and most lights on the boat will be darkened with security on the outside decks.  Meanwhile I'm stocking up on food in the cabin just in case something goes down.  We suspect they'll tell us to lock ourselves in the bathroom if anything happens but either way I'll be ready!   

PS  Lucky cat is back to waving.  We'll see how he does!  Ha, ha.

Phuket was really a touristy island.  They seem to have recovered well from the 2004 tsunami in Patong and now have evacuation routes marked down on the waterfront and a small sign commemorating the event.  

We had to tender in from our ship and I saw a sign placed on our ship that said 'security warning - stay back 50 meters' for the first time.  Candice told me that they had been hanging that up in every port but it is usually on the other side of the ship where we can't see it.  Once on shore we stopped in a basement grocery store to stock up on some Cokes and Pringles for our beach excursion.  

Back out on the streets we found a Tuk Tuk which is an open air, covered truck, to take us about six miles up the road to Kata Beach.  On the way there was a section of roadway on a long hill but not too steep that had a bunch of temples placed on the side.  Most seemed to be broken down, tipped over and dilapidated.  They were mixed in with newer ones standing totally erect.  I couldn't figure out if they were memorials for people who had died in traffic accidents on the road or what.  It was something to see even if I didn't understand it.     

Once on the beach we rented more lounge chairs, a table and an umbrella for 200 Baht.  There were so many chairs they had to number them so you could find yours amongst the throng of them wrapped all the way around this 2 mile circular beach.  I couldn't figure out how they ran this system or who got the rights to operate these chair rentals but it was an operation and a half.  The heat was stifling to say the least.  Apparently it had just showered before we got over to the beach around 10 a.m. so the humidity was even higher than usual as the sun started barring down on us.  No sunbathing that day, just sitting under the shade of the umbrella trying to survive the heat.  We think it hit triple digits that day. 

As we sat there watching the waves roll in we tried to figure out if the weather was this way every day or if we just hit an usually hot day.  You could feel the heat surrounding you, not so much that you were hot because apparently the air around us was hotter than our bodies.  A lot of Europeans were vacationing here and I had a a nice conversation with an elder couple from Canada out in the water.  They had been in the area for 2.5 months and had 2 more weeks before flying back home.  They asked me about all the places we had visited and I told them what our favorite places were.  They asked me if I was worried about the pirates and the safety of the entire trip.  I told them I wouldn't let a few thugs thwart my vacation plans.  The lady said she really liked my attitude about that and was surprised I recommended some of the places like Vietnam since she had heard different stories.  I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder!

As I was coming back in from the water to the lounge chairs I was surprised to look up and see Candice had left our belongings unattended on the beach and was walking into the water.  I guess I had talked for quite a while and she was quite desperate to get some relief from the heat in the water.  She motioned for me to get up to our belongings and later told me that she was watching me the whole time and knew I was talking since my hands were waving around.  Bless her heart, even if I did look towards the beach I never would have spotted her amongst all those umbrellas.

There was an opportunity to have another foot massage on the beach but it was too hot to really enjoy it.  The only saving grace for the day was a nice breeze that blew too infrequently but when it did, it was great!  I found my myself trapesing down to the water every fifteen minutes.  We decided we'd start moving over to the next beach, Karon Beach back towards Patong, after the heat of the day passed.  So around 2:30 p.m. we packed up even though the heat hadn't subsided to any measurable degree.  We tried to pay attention as to how long the drive from Karon over to Kata was on the way there and decided we would try to walk it.

A few small hills and hot sidewalks later we stuck our heads in the first grocery store for a look around.  Air conditioning was good but nothing like the air conditioning in the 7-Elevens.  Everyone we have visited in our travels are quite the heat refuge, especially in the tropics.  I'll never look at another 7-Eleven pre-trip in states the same again.  Unfortunately their fountain drink machine was down so we settled on another bottle of Coke.

Walking through the shopping in this area, Candice found a dress to buy.  Starting price was 690 Baht and she passed it up but we got to the end of the stalls and had to turn around and go back to exit.  Upon strolling back by the price magically dropped to 250 Baht.  She bought it!   I felt sorry for these people having to hawk their wares just to make a living.  We prefer shopping with things priced.  We don't like having to ask for the price because it will tie you up for 15 minutes.  Everyone kept asking us where we were from, a conversation starter (and it's best not to start one-if you know what I mean), and once we didn't answer them they'd guess we were from Sweden.  Seems there is a direct flight from there to Phuket and Candice had the coloring.  I don't really look like I could be Swedish but our first room steward thought I was, so maybe I could pass for Swedish.

Trying to get a Tuk Tuk back to Patong proved to be a little challenging.  We preferred to split the fare with someone going that way and after walking to and fro just trying to find a driver I spotted an older couple that looked like they were also looking for a ride.  I shouted across the road and asked them if they wanted to share a Tuk Tuk.  They were French and didn't speak English but apparently they understood Tuk Tuk and agreed they would split the fare.  Three hundred Baht later we made it back to Patong.  Our first mission was to find a happy hour bar followed closely by a foot massage place.  

Seems we stumbled across the foot massage place first since the happy hour 2 for 1 bars were not as plentiful as they were on Kata Beach.  One hour of foot massaging for me and a pedicure for Candice with air conditioned air was right in line.  I actually stepped inside to see how air conditioned it was before we said 'yes."  They gave us a nice cold cup of sealed water to drink, unlike the Hong Kong massage where they gave me the medicinal hot water to drink.   I wasn't about to drink that water since it was hot much less whatever they put in it to take the edge off of the painful foot massage.  I made it through that one with some pain but it felt good at the same time.  I thought this one was going to be less painful since they were just serving ice water but she really worked the center of my feet good and I thought I was going to come up out of the chair a couple times.  I think my feet thanked me both times!  

A little more shopping along the street front where the tsunami rolled in and then to the bar for a drink.  One vendor had the actual video of the water coming on the beach at this particular spot.  It was pretty weird watching it and looking around seeing exactly where the water went.  At the hotel street bar we choose the 'My Dear' drink which tasted a lot like the Singapore Sling but was actually a little better.  It was a perfect way to spend the rest of the evening until our ship sailed at 7:30 p.m.  With what little Baht we had left to spend we revisited the basement store and bought two cans of Pringles then made our way back to the tender pier. (Candice: 110 Baht = two cans of 55 Baht. Perfect!)

We always thought we'd like to go to Phuket on vacation for a little longer stay but the weather proved us wrong.  One thing for sure is our hotel would have to be air conditioned to the hilt.  There is so much to do and see on this island and you would definitely want to rent a motor scooter to get around.  There are plenty of smaller islands to take boats out for snorkeling and beach visiting.  They have some of the most beautiful beaches in the world.  It seemed to be TOO touristy and packed with too many tourist too, especially around Patong but we'd give it another whirl in a heartbeat but maybe after researching a cooler month to visit, if there is such a thing!

Pulverizing heat in Phuket is a no go but Phuket in and of itself is a GO! 

Sandy   

Kaula Lampur was another port with an hour bus ride into the city.  These long trips into the cities are on our tab so we have to pay Cunard anywhere from $50 - $80 each depending on the city for the transportation but the 30 minute or less shuttles are taken care of by them.

The highways are modern, clean and wide with three and four lanes going each way at certain times.  Most of the roads are toll roads and motorcycles are not allowed.  They ride on the outside on a small pathway.  They had about 30 toll booths lined up all the way across the freeway.  As we approached the city our escort told us not to carry our bags on the outside shoulder due to people on motorcycles driving by and grabbing your bag off your shoulder and speeding away.  He also warned us about pick-pocketers.  After being in 'safe' Singapore the other day I didn't have my handy money holder in my backpack that goes around my neck so I had to be on heightened alert all day.

Our bus dropped us off at a monorail station and we made quick time to get purchase our tickets over to a subway stop and then buy tickets over to the Petronas Towers at the other end of town.  There is no cost to go up the Petronas Towers but they only hand out 1,700 tickets a day for the bridge visit.  We quickly made our way to the line that starts forming at 6 a.m. everyday with tickets being issued at 8 a.m.  Sad to say that there were only 14 tickets available before the 2:45 p.m. scheduled time to be back on the bus according to their TV monitor so this was a bust.  No way, no how were we going to be able to get up there without a ticket.  Too much security and not enough time.  We knew it was a long shot to get tickets for that day but we had to try.  You're only here once, right?  The only redeeming aspect was we didn't waste any time in line only to find out our time frame tickets were all snatched up.  Tours left every 15 minutes but we understand one person could ask for 60 tickets if they were a tour company hosting 60 visitors and we didn't even get into town until 9:50 a.m. then had to make our way across town.  So we did the second best thing; we took pictures from the outside and they had a Formula One car sponsored by Petronas displayed in the front of the building.   Petronas Towers was built with oil money and they also had a private hospital across town.  Seems we are running a little ahead of the Formula One circuit over here.  April 4th is race day.  We choose to skip the KL Tower located up the hill but did snap a couple of pictures.

There is a huge, modern mall in the basement of the Petronas Towers and we stumbled across another Aunt Annie's.  Time for a little taste of home.  These pretzels only cost the equivalent of .75 in US dollars.  Too bad that's not the price in the states!  After our mid morning snack we took the subway over to the central part of the city to see the world's tallest flagpole in Merdeka Square or Independence Square.  The Union Jack was lowered on August 31, 1957 and the Royal Selangor Club which only allowed the British in sits across the street from the Sultan Abdul Samad building which now houses government offices.

Once again the heat was on and the humidity was high.  By the time we walked down to the National Mosque, the KTM Building and the KL Railway Station built in 1910, we were melting.   The walk was nice with some shade but by the time we got over there I think every Cunard tour bus was there too.  We heard that you couldn't go in the Mosque unless you were a worshipper and that was okay with us.  

We made our way over to the Central Market that has been there since 1888 for some shopping.  On the walk over we were on some side street of the highway and every 25 feet there was a storm grate.  We came across one that was missing its cover and if we had been looking up and not paying attention it would have been a bad accident.  It was about 2.5' square and it would have been about a 15' drop to the bottom.  No safety regulations in this country; no tape, no barricades, no nothing, just a big hole in the middle of the sidewalk.  In the market we did a lot of browsing but only purchased a Coke for a cool down.  Thank God for Coke and its international sales!    

We walked over to Chinatown and strolled down the sales stalls complete with knockoffs of every namebrand you can think of.  They had a couple flower stalls located in here with some pretty flower arrangements but I'd hate to see what they would have looked like by the end of the day and the heat.  We then caught a subway over to the Sentral Station to visit a shopping area and the National Museum.  Seems they knocked down the shopping area and were busy building with a major construction job.  Getting over to the National Museum was quite tricky since we had to cross over some interstate roads but we finally made it over there.  Nice grounds and good air conditioning.  Very nice displays and pieces inside including items from shipwrecks around Malaysia.  They had money made of tin and in the shape of grasshoppers and elephants about four inches long and two inches high.  Too funny to imagine carrying a bunch of that around in the days.  And I thought Australia's money was cumbersome!  The Modern Malaysia gallery had a timeline on how they stamped out the communist movement in their country in the 1950's and some modes of transportation.  We had a very good visit and welcome rest from the heat.  

Finding our way over to the monorail station was a little more difficult than it should have been but that was the system we needed to be on to get back to our bus.  You'd think all you had to do was look up, find it and follow it but it is actually pretty low to the ground and hidden between the buildings.  Once back over in the vicinity of our bus stop we stopped for some more Cokes and spent the last of our Ringgits in a supermarket on Oreo's, a Twix and a can of Pringles.  There were no benches in the mall so we went downstairs where the little food restaurants were located and sat down in one just waiting for someone to come along and tell us we had to leave since we weren't eating their entrees but that never happened.  I had 60 ringgits, a little more than $20 USD, left from Kota Kinabalu and it lasted all day.  Not that we have bought a lot of stuff this entire trip, we are about shopped out.  I look around and think who is going to buy all this merchandise they have on the shelves.  We can't figure out if they just replenish as quick as they sell it or if they are not selling much.  Seems like everyone has the same merchandise to a large extent too.  Chinatown is ironically on Petaling St. but I think it was supposed to be called Peddling St.  I think the spelling was lost in translation.

KL is very cosmopolitan and inexpensive.  On the ride back to the container terminal in the suburbs there were numerous new and large housing condo/apartment complexes about 4 stories high set on large plots of land that were previously undeveloped complete with play grounds and small parks.  They looked very modern and livable out of all the housing we've seen lately.  Very American looking but with an art deco flare.  If you wanted to do some serious shopping here you could do some minor damage on your credit card and get some major purchases.  

Seems like everyone has left their mark on Malaysia's largest city.  The Chinese, the buddhist, the Hindus, the British, Islam; they're all there living in harmony.  Modern high rises, temples, mosques and colonial era buildings.  Malaysia is the only city in the world to have a million-year-old primary forest within the heart of the city.  I would have liked to have gotten out to the Batu Caves which are located 13 kilometers outside the city.  They are made of limestone, 400 meters long and 100 meters high with 272 steps to the top.  I think we could have made it there, up to the caves and back but I don't know how much else we would have been able to see.  Lots of stuff we didn't get to see as usual not enough time.  Wouldn't mind coming back if it crossed my path along the way to another place but probably not on its own.       

Sandy

Candice's Title "Clearly, you've never been to Singapore!"

Prior to getting into Singapore, we were given our passports and strict instructions on what not to do in order not to get arrested.  Jaywalkers to be fined on the spot.  No littering, smokers beware.  Drug peddling serves you up a death sentence.  Back in 1994 Michael Fay grabbed headline news when he received a judicial canning for violating the law but it seems that Singaporean law enforcement has eased somewhat since then.  A guy on the elevator told us that he had lived there for quite a while and most of the warnings were overblown but we made sure we didn't jaywalk even though we didn't really see any police presence. 

Nothing like a few tough laws to get a city looking clean and spiffy.  Singapore was VERY clean and orderly, and a far cry from the days of the pirate's rule.  I guess when you are your own island state you can pretty much control your borders and illegal immigration.  Sir Stamford Raffles arrived in 1819 and claimed it for the British.  He laid out a plan for the city giving the Chinese their Chinatown, the Arabs their own area and the Indians their Little India center.  The average yearly salary is equivalent to $35,000 USD.  Unlike other large cities you can walk fearlessly down the streets any time of the day.

Our 10 minute shuttle bus from the container terminal dropped us off at the Harbour Center and from there we caught the subway into the center of town for a look at the Fullerton Hotel which use to be the old post office.  It was a very fancy hotel with open air cafes and restaurants in the center on the bottom floor with all the rooms looking down the atrium.  I didn't get to check out the bathroom but I'm sure it would have been 'orange-eating' worthy by the looks of the Rolls Royce out front.  This hotel sat on the Singapore River with wonderful views of old time white bridges that still had the signs up saying no oxen or cattle can cross.  It looked very Disney-esque.  

Stepping into the Empress Palace Museum before moving on helped to relieve a little morning heat.  We walked over to the Old Supreme Court and on the backside of this building was the futuristic looking, flying saucer New Supreme Court Building.  We then strolled past St. Andrew's church but didn't go inside since it was closed.  Next was the old building of City Hall.  Very elegant and commanding over looking the Padang which is an open grassy area used for sports and special events.  

Making our way from the War Memorial and under the street tunnel, a young guy passing by us read my forehead.  He shouted over the tops of our dinner mates heads, Lee and Joe, pointed to me and told me that I was very lucky.  I asked him how he knew and he told me he was reading the lines on my forehead.  He told me that April was going to be very lucky for me and asked were I was from.  I just wish I was as confident as he was about my luck.  We'll see what happens!

Out to the waterfront we saw the Merlion, the city/state's recently adopted symbol.  There was water shooting out of his mouth and into Marina Bay.  Whenever we saw this on t-shirts or elsewhere in the city I pronounced it in a deep ZooLander movie fashion - Muuur Lion.   Across Marina Bay they were building a three tower building that was connected all the way across the top with a deck that over hung the buildings by about 100 feet.  On one side the buildings base swooped up with the back side of the building going straight up.  An architectural feat in and of itself.  Not quite done but almost there.  

From there we walked passed the Victoria Theatre which is used for concerts and special events over to the Singapore Flyer which is a large glass enclosed ferris wheel.  It just so happened that the flyer shut down for maintenance ten minutes before we got there and they said it would be down for at least one hour.  We took a break from the heat and Candice got a biscuit and a Coke at Popeye's.  I pulled out my some chocolate chip cookies from the ship for everyone to share and drank some water.  After that the flyer was still down and we decided we wouldn't want to get stuck on it and waste our time just looking down on the city.  

Once on the move again we walked up the road past some construction (ah, the sound of progress) and even the construction areas were well maintained and peculiarly clean.  Underneath their major intersections you will find new shopping centers and access to the subway.  What a great and COOL (literally) way to get from one side of the street to another.  It is really a whole city underground and we spotted a Godiva Chocolate store down there.  We marveled at the thought of being able to go shopping in the rain and not getting wet at all; right off the subway into the stores and back out again!

       

We then made our way over to Raffles Hotel, which was built in 1887 and is one of the last great 19th century hotels in the world, to experience the Singapore Sling at the Long Bar.  Funny, small peanuts to eat and throw the shells on the floor made for a perfect compliment and we took some pictures to remember the event.  It was a beautiful hotel that covered nearly an entire block.  The lobby was only open to the guests but the bar and the courtyard bars were open to anyone willing to pay $25 for the drink.  Candice and I split one and it was roughly $18 USD which Joe and Lee treated us to since we were giving them the royal tour of the city.  They were just shocked to see how much ground we covered that day and they still talk about it today.  They bought a tour off the ship in Ko Samui for a five star hotel and beach resort for $79 a person that included lunch but I think the hotel was built back in the 1950's and their beach had murky water.  Not too fancy and I know Lee was very disappointed but she did say they had a good pool.  We told them we just caught a mini bus over to a different beach and they DID drop us off at a 5-star luxury hotel with gorgeous water.  After that experience Lee didn't want to buy another trip so I offered to let them run with us in Singapore.  I think they feel like they got their money's worth with us.  We do seem to be cheap dates! (Candice: Candice and Sandy tour company to be starting soon. Book now for the best excursions!)

After Raffles we jumped back on the subway and went over to Little India for some shopping and to see Sri Veeramakalimman Temple but it was closed from noon to four, so only pictures of the outside.  From there another subway ride to Orchard Rd. which is the high-falutent area for shopping.  From there we walked out to the Botanical Gardens which were mostly tropical and very relaxing.  Made me want to make my yard into a tropical paradise with tropical plants, waterfalls and goldfish.

We split with Lee and Joe since they wanted to stay longer at the gardens and we headed back to the subway for the trip back to the Harbour Center via shopping at a mall on Orchard Rd.  We ran across an Apple Store and checked out email, Candice's Facebook and looked up a few websites all in about ten minutes.  This would have taken us at least 30 minutes on the ship. 

Back over to Harbour Center for more shopping and spending the last of our Singapore dollars before catching the bus.  We ended up buying a 28" suitcase for $21 USD.  It was an I-Polo brand - no knockoffs in this country, just made up names.  We tried this back in Vietnam since we saw some luggage for sale at the pier but by the time we made it back from the city it was all snatched up.  With this bag we can put both our garment bags inside this suitcase and have less bags to handle while traveling though London.  Right next to this store was a store selling t-shirts showing all the things you can not do in Singapore in a grid style with graphics and the words "Singapore, A City of NO."  I didn't buy one but I did snap a picture which I hope to post later.  At least the locals have a good sense of humor about the laws. 

Lying just 90 miles north of the equator Singapore was a delight to tour even in the heat.  There is plenty we did not get to see so we would definitely put this place down as a return visit.  It was my kind of city; clean, modern and well laid out.  Only drawback on their subway system was always having to get our $1 deposit refund from our last subway ride before buying a new fare.  We should have been able to recharge the card but something wasn't working and the machines did not give more than $4 in change which was another small hassle.  Even though the laws are rigid and the media is scanned at the state level with inappropriate websites blocked it was by far the most 'western friendly' city we have experienced.  Meaning you could identify food, stores, and tastes from home in a far, far away place all the while speaking English!  Singapore again for SURE!

Sandy

Candice and I declared Beach Day on Ko Samui.  This was the second port in a three-in-a-row port days so we decided we'd hang out at the beach and take it easy.

Story from Candice: Beach day had been decided. We're up early, in line for our tender ticket. Got to get off the ship bright and early. Mission completed: tender ticket one. Once on the dock, we are off in a sequestered area, roped off from all the taxi drivers. I tell mom to get an idea of what a taxi ride is going to cost, so we walk up to the rope. Taxi driver one flips his sheet over, one way to Chaweng $35 US, round trip $70 US. We look at each other with the expression of he is crazy. So we step back under the tent, away from the rope. Sandy and I discuss prices a little and get a game plan down while still in our "safe zone." The last thing I say to her before we exit is "I don't care what price they give us, just a straight trip to the beach. No tour. I don't want to get snookered into a tour." Waited for her confirmation, she agreed because we had had this conversation while on the ship too. But I said it one more time, "No tours! Just get me to the beach."

So we walk out and approach a guy, Sandy is haggling about prices. All the while, I'm looking around for someone to split the cost with us. I keep approaching people, asking what are you guys trying to do today? I think they thought I was a taxi/tour guide myself. I mean, I didn't look like anyone else getting off of the ship. They didn't really answer me, but then we found a German couple. He told Sandy this taxi/covered seats on the back of a truck will take us around the island for $10 a piece. "But I just want to go to the beach." Sandy asks driver, "Can you drop us off at the beach after a half-island tour?" I look at her, wondering if she was paying attention to our conversation we just had. The Germans and the driver tell us we have to wait for a bus load of people to leave though. 

I pulled Sandy aside, "What did we just talk about not five minutes ago? No tours. I refuse to get snookered into a tour. Plus we would still have to wait, and or pay for a taxi back from the beach once we were let off this tour." Logic won out so we continued to look, bumping into another set of Germans. A minibus taxi to Chaweng for $80 round trip. Sold! The first set of Germans actually joined us, coming to 9 Germans and us for $100 return trip. After haggling $10 a piece sounded pretty dang good.

Back to your regularly scheduled program:

So, after getting the 9 Germans and the two of us loaded up in the mini van we headed over to the north side of the island to Chaweng Beach.  I asked the driver if there was a hotel were we could rent their lounge chairs and use their pool.  He said he'd take us to a good one.  I was hoping it wasn't another Fiji deja' vu.  There for a while we were driving past 'Beer Town' and 2Much4U clubs on the back alleys of this small beach town with no beach in sight but much to my surprise we popped back up on a paved road and drove up a nice hilly drive to this 5-Star Resort called Centara.  This place was exuding swank and at first I didn't think they'd let us walk through their lobby and down to the beach but we did.  Our driver pointed and said the beach is 'that way.'  

We got out, walked across the lobby and check in desks, snapped a few pictures  and walked down some marble stairs and out to the terrace with the natural rock pool with a bar in the middle just beyond the eating area.  There were nice gardens and walkways out to the beach and everyone had yellow towels on the lounge chairs.  No way would our blue Cunard towels would pass mustard so once we walked out on the beach Candice and I continued walking down shopping for chair rentals.  

We ran across a shaded Thai massage place along the way and told them we'd be back.  We walked a little further and found two chairs and an umbrella for 100 Baht - SOLD!  After getting set up I grabbed 250 Baht and headed back to the massage tent for a Thai massage before I got all sandy and sweaty.  One hour of pure massage delight with a breeze blowing was well worth 200 Baht plus a tip.  They had four beds a breast and the bed next to mine was some old guy from Belgium who must have weighed 275 pounds.  It was funny to see a guy this size getting a massage but I guess he was there for some heavenly delight too.   As the girl got done with him I heard her tell him she would see him next year.  He must come to Ko Samui every year.   A Thai massage involves a lot of compression and contortions, not really muscle manipulation but it all felt good to me!  

By the time I got back to base camp Candice was ready to jump in the water.  Once out of the water we purchased a Coke for 30 Baht and pulled a bag of peanuts out  of our bags.  Fresh out of Pringles!   We spent the day hunkered down at our lounge chairs with frequent visits to the water and more Coke purchases.

Towards the end of the day we packed up shop and Candice got a foot massage while I waited.  She was laying down getting her foot massage and I took a couple of pictures of her and this young guy laying next to her getting a manicure and pedicure.  It was quite humorous!  These two girls were working feverishly on him and the nail fragments were flying right and left.  His hands and feet must have been a mess but he sure did look like he was enjoying the pampering!  So funny I had to sneak the camera out for funny photo.  

While I was waiting a man after my own heart came along with a bag full of aluminum.  He sat down under the shade tree and I noticed he didn't have any hands.  They were cut off at the wrist.  A guy from down the way came up to him and gave him some money which he took between his wrist.  He carefully opened up his pants with his wrist and somehow secured the money within his baggy pants.  I watched him press on the bag of garbage in front of him listening for the familiar rattle of aluminum but there were none in the bag.  I got my last 100 Baht out of my bag and walked over to him to give it to him.  He stretched out his wrists and even though I knew he didn't have hands I half expected to see a hand come out to take the money.  Then it dawned on me that I would have to place it between his wrist for him.  Once again he opened up his pants and secured the money within.  He was an old man and I would have loved to have chatted it up with him but I don't think he spoke any English.  It was a very memorial moment and it will stay with me for the rest of my life.  I really liked this guy's work ethic and survivor skills.  He was doing what he could to make money; very industrial and very humble.

We had to meet our Germans back at the resort at 3:15 p.m. for the drive back to the pier for the last tender at 4 p.m.  The area on the other side of the beach was what I would like to call 'early primitive party spots.'  it was rustic but apparently it held all the paraphernalia for a good nightlife time with some shopping mixed in.  We all pitched $10 in a piece for the $100 cab fare and a $10 tip for the driver.  One older German guy spearheaded the job of collecting the money and after everyone paying in he was short $10.  After quite a bit of German words were spoken another guy figured out he didn't pay for his wife the Germans all rolled with laughter.  They were really funny and they certainly spoke more English than we spoke German.  Germans are really fun people.  Put me in a 15 passenger van with them any day of the week and I'll be just fine even if I can't understand them.  

Later as we sailed out of Ko Samui the sun was setting and it was just gorgeous as we passed smaller islands for about an hour or so. The fishing boats were out and  in the dusk of the evening you could see the smaller ports in the distance lit up with a few of the surrounding city lights.  What a perfect ending for the perfect day!   Ko Samui would be an ideal place to vacation to get away from it all and possibly try out the 2Much4U place since you I don't think you could get enough of Ko Samui but I'd like to try!   

Sandy and Candice

Well, we took our first "real" tour with the ship. This was only because they decided that we weren't capable of taking care of ourselves in Bangkok while protesters were roaming around. We were signed up for "Bangkok On Your Own," but a day before we arrived in Bangkok we got a letter advising that this tour was canceled on account of the protests and that the other tours could be altered to avoid them. The next best option was "The Grand Palace and Shopping." 

The tour started out with a two-ish hour drive into the city. (Sometimes I really think I'm back on a track team with as much time as I'm spending riding a bus) But the "exciting" part of this ride happened in the first ten minutes. The tour guide comes over the microphone, "Yes, today we will be seeing the Grand Palace, Emerald Buddha Temple and then shopping in Pattaya." Sounds fine, but Pattaya was back at the ship, not Bangkok. A lot of people were using this tour just to get into the city due to the aforementioned cancelled tour. So after the word Pattaya, my head snaps to see if others heard what I heard. They looked confused too, but no one was saying anything. So shy, little Candice pipes up and yells halfway down the bus to tour guide, "Whoa, we are suppose to be shopping in downtown Bangkok." That's all it took to get the British started. We almost had another episode of mutiny. Tour descriptions were pulled out, while tour operation headquarters was called.

We had pulled the bus over on the shoulder while all this was going down. When everything seemed somewhat settled we still weren't moving, Sandy starts saying "Let's get going, figure this out on the way." Everyone joined in, bringing the tour guide back to the present. The bus started to roll out and the air conditioner above the seat next to us starts to leak on these British people I met standing in line. The wife was fusing over her husbands pants that were now wet with dirty water. He moves to the front. Not two seconds later, she is having her own shower of a/c rain. "Oh, bloody hell." Then it was our turn to get a little wet, but we didn't get it near as bad. It was priceless, what a way to start the day.

The day eventually turned around. The drive didn't seem that long, we were on very modern (the most American-like road system) interstate with at least four lanes the whole way. Had a "connivence" stop and encountered one of the worst bathrooms on our trip so far. (Best being a toss up between Exchange Square in Hong Kong and Rex Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, fyi) It was not a western toilet and it didn't flush, had to use a bowl to pour water into the porcelain hole in the floor to flush (I use that word very loosely). A quick stop at 7Eleven (they are everywhere, more so than McDonalds), and we were on our way.

The Grand Palace was a sight to see. Think "The King and I." This is where it all really happened. It was a pretty big complex, a lot of different temples and buildings that were intricately decorated. A person could spend two days there and not see everything; we had a little over an hour.

We had to be completely covered (shoulders and ankles) for this little trip; okay except for the heat. I think Arkansas weather prepared us well for this. We had a woman go down towards the end of the tour, she was pretty dramatic about the whole thing. After Sandy poured some water on the back of her neck to cool her down, she comes up to me, "This isn't any worst than when I mow the lawn." Like these Cunardians mow their own lawn. 

After rounding up a bus load of tour #17s, we were off to shopping. Out two to three hours of shopping on our own turned into cram something else that is in the area into our tour. Luckily, right down the road was Jim Thompson's House, which is  a collection of six different traditional Thai houses from around the country. Jim, who reinvigorated the silk business in Thailand in the 50's, had these houses relocated to Bangkok and westernized them. He later went missing while on vacation, and his houses were turned into a museum. All of his belongs are still there, including some very old buddha statues and dishes dating back to the 7th century. It was actually his birthday, so they were celebrating. 

We did do a little bit of shopping. Nothing like knockoff Hurley shirts for six dollars. If we really liked shopping, we could be doing some serious damage. We almost needed a calculator while out to determine the exchange rate. In Thailand we had to divide by 33 to get one US dollar. The prices can throw you off, just due to instinct. I'm not paying 100, all the while it's really $3. Had an Auntie Anne's pretzel in the mall and DQ blizzard. I was really in need of some comfort food, and it was a little taste of home at just the right time. 

While waiting for the bus, we did see some protesters drive by in the back of two trucks shouting and clapping. I'm just glad we didn't see any blood being pour over walls in protest. I don't know if I could have handled that. 

With the little time that we had, we were really pleased with the day. The tour company was good, too, aside from a leaky a/c unit. They had water, cool towels, and bananas for us. Wasn't expecting all of that.

crj

We finally hit some land-ho on Thursday, March 18th!  We took a bus into Saigon from our port, Phu My.  It took us one and a half hours that included a bathroom break to drive in to Ho Chi Min, aka Saigon.  The bathroom break was a new experience for me.  A porcelain pit on the floor with water constantly running through it!  Note:  You must pick up your toilet paper outside the stall before you enter.  Thank God I had tissue on me!  You can be sure that I'll remember that rule and I suspect this stop will be an oasis compared to some of toilets we'll run across before this trip is up.  Candice decided she didn't need to go until she found a set of 'western style' toilets.  Oddly they were named "Nu Woman."  Ha, ha!

At this rest stop, which every bus stopped at, there was a group of people hawking their wares.  The security guard came over and kicked them outside the fence but one guy stayed in between the buses and was able to avoid the guard.  Once the guard was distracted with something else the people came back through the fence, scatter and starting hawking for more sales.  The whole bus was watching all this go down and we clapped for them once they made it back inside the fence!  It was great theater for a while until we had to pull back out on the road.

Once our tour bus rolled into Ho Chi Min City we were handed a nice, warm bottle of water (yuck) and a map of the city.  We were turned loose with instructions to meet the bus at 3:00 p.m. for departure and we got down to the brass tacks.  With the heat rising from the streets and the sun beating down, we set out to became millionaires by exchanging our money.  No passport needed in this country.  Ten US dollars rate $198,000 Dong.  Why with a $100,000 bill in my hand it was picture taking time!  Have you ever heard of the movie "A Fist Full of Dong?"  I think we were starring in it, ha, ha!

First stop was the War Remnants Museum.  It was chalk full of propaganda which I expected to take with a grain of salt but I think they went over the top when they showed that a guillotine was used in the prisoner camps.  I'm no war history buff but I don't think this 18th century device was used in modern warfare.  They had a static display outside in the courtyard and that was pretty neat to see the tanks, helicopters, and airplanes.  I did take objection to their recreated version of the prisoner camps which Candice opted out of viewing.  The entrance fee was less than $1 to get in and that was about all it was worth but on the other hand I did get a good lesson on how to produce propaganda; don't talk about your role in the war, only the enemies.  The Vietnam War was an historic event in our time and I felt we needed to visit it since we were in the heart of Saigon but Candice made me promise that I would keep my comments to myself.  So self control was the rule for the moment!

The US Embassy, something I really wanted to see, is no longer standing but the Presidential Palace that the Viet Cong overran with tanks and smashed the gates down in 1975 is still standing.  It has been renamed Reunification Hall.  They conduct meetings on the first floor on a daily basis but we were able to visit the other three floors which were the living quarters of the last president before Saigon fell.  Everything is the same as it was back in 70's and it was too weird to see all the old radios, desk and telephones in the basement.  There were also map rooms and reception halls for international and local guests on the second floor with a special room for receiving ambassadors.  The third floor had a gambling room with a bar and a billiard's table with the family's living quarters on this floor too.  Fact:  The gentleman that was president in 1975 now resides in California.   

Next stops included the Notre Dame Cathedral, which didn't open until 3 p.m., so we didn't get any inside pictures but plenty of the outside.  The bricks and the stain glass came over from France when it was built in 1877-1883.  The post office was a gem.  Nothing has changed in there since it went up except the picture of the current president.  You could make phone calls from there, exchange money and post some mail too.  Taking a step back in time allowed us some time for cooling off a bit.  Oh, no air conditioning but the fans worked rather well and it was time for a cold, $20,000 Coke!  Later in the day we found them across town for only $10,000 a piece.  I think this was the tourist trap price but who's bickering when it's 37 Celsius degrees outside and a little over a dollar in cost.  By this time our shorts were wet with sweat and starting to droop and drag, not to mention our backs were soaked from the lack of ventilation from our backpacks.  

Back tracking to the center of town we ran across the Opera House which was very classy looking but unfortunately the communist use it for some of their meetings.  I didn't think you were suppose to mix business with pleasure!?!  Along the streets we took pictures of the 'wire' situation hanging over our heads.  Thousands of wires bundled together and running the length of the streets converging to look like a manmade accident waiting to happen.  I think there were as many wires strung on the poles as there were motorbikes on the road.  I'd hate to be the person that has to trace a problem on those lines.  

Saying Vietnam is Motorcycle City is an understatement to say the least.  Racks and racks of motorcycles parked along the side of the streets, you'd think you were at a motorcycle factory.  Crossing the traffic was a game and we can safely report we won every time.  These motorcycles on the road don't stop for anybody!  You just have to be brave, commit and start walking across the street.  They just weave in and out of the people.  Mr. Magoo wouldn't be in any danger here!  The key is for you to not stop walking once you commit.  A blind person could cross the street easier in Vietnam than they could in the US.  I think Vietnam has a great Olympic dodge ball team in the making!

Honda was the first motorbike to be sold in the country and all makes are referred to as a 'Hon Da' no matter who manufactures them.  We saw someone transporting a washer on one and another one had a plasma TV still in the box going down the highway.  Not only were the 1000's of motorbikes on the street amazing but the wardrobe these people were wearing was a little dumbfounding.  It was equator hot and these people had on long pants, jackets and we even saw one wearing gloves.  I guess the heat WILL make you crazy!  Ha, ha.

Next stop was the shopping market and a market it was!  Stalls so close together you barely had any room to maneuver down the aisles much less with a backpack on your back.  What a hot operation this place was.  Vendors carrying trays full of soup and food running through the crowds and somehow all of it being delivered without a drop split.  Little plastic stools were pulled out and offered up for us to sit on while we browsed their goods leaving hardly any room for anyone to pass.  I felt like a little kid having tea while we were looking at the ceramic ware.  This was the only sitting for the day except for the bus ride and a small stop in the Rex Hotel at the end of the day.

As if we didn't get enough of the market and bargaining that took place inside, we found we had to contribute to the street vendors income too.  Candice actually partook in the ceremony this time.  With bags loaded and almost out of 'funny money' we headed for the Rex Hotel for some air conditioning and a peek in the lobby.  

This was a very nice hotel and was used by the war corespondents during the war.  While Candice was in the restroom, I started to peel an orange in my lap with a hand towel laid over my lap.  Since we hadn't eaten all day (no Pringles around - only a knock off version) I was pretty wiped out and hungry and I didn't want to sit on the bus for an hour and half with orange all over my hands.  Well Candice came out of the restroom and was not too pleased seeing me peeling this orange in the lobby.  She asked me what I was doing.  I told her I was about to eat an orange.  She wasn't having any of that but I was too drained to care what anyone thought.  I guess the heat not only makes you crazy it also makes you 'just not care.'   After Candice's exit I packed up my towel full of orange peel and headed to the restroom myself.  Let me tell you the bathrooms were nicer than the lobby so I washed my face, my hands and my orange and ate it in there all by my lonesome.  Candice came in about 5 minutes later yelling my full name and telling me we only had 5 minutes to get to the bus.  I offered her a slice of orange but she said NO.  I immediately thought, good, that's more for me!  Once we got on the bus I heard this guy tell his wife that he wasn't late and still had seven minutes.  I told him to tell that to this one pointing towards Candice.  She was just thankful I was on the bus at this point in time.

The ride back to the ship was great for observing everyday life in Vietnam.  Whole rows of storefronts lined the entire highway with breaks every so often almost all the way back to Phu My.  The people were very friendly, resourceful and ingenious.  They are hard workers and seem to be quite happy.  The country seems to be prospering and China now outsources some of its manufacturing to them.  I could hang with these people but they'd have to do something about all the dirt on the roads and sidewalks.  Thank God we visited on a sunny day because if it did rain it would be one big muddy mess.  The Saigon River had plants growing in it or washing down it and this made it look more like a large creek instead of a river.  Small temples were erected outside people's houses and things were quite colorful.  They seem to have a good sense of family especially when a family of four all rode on the motorcycle at a time.

Sorry to say there were no McDonald sightings at all in Saigon, only KFC, Coke and Oreo's. 

All in all It was a good day even if we did have to keep picking up our saggin' shorts all day all the while grinding out that new hit wonder 'Pants on the Ground.'     

Sandy

We finally started moving at 6 a.m. this morning and no one was more relieved than the captain.  I think he caught a lot of flack but it was totally out of his control.  He said that in the forty years he has been at sea he has never been delayed by fog for that long.  He did tell us that we were given first passage down the river, so that was a good thing.  We will have to miss the port of Halong Bay which is a pity but at least we are moving towards Ho Chi Minh and back on schedule.  We'll be there by Friday.  That means we will be going to Bangkok, so keep your TV's tuned in to the news.  We'll be there March 21st, riots or not although they looked very calm today.  I don't think I'll be wearing a red shirt that day!

It rained last night and I think that helped cut the fog down but we are still surrounded with fog even after sailing all day.  It's still cold and overcast so we are looking forward to returning to warmth and sunshine.  A little bit of heat wouldn't hurt either. 

Now that we are looking at Shanghai in the rearview mirror I can look at the city in a different light.  The weather didn't help our view of the city since it was cloaked in gray, damp, cold, foggy skies.  It really was the kind of weather Hollywood paints when filming a communist country scene, so the setting wasn't the best and sunshine would have gone a long way!  We also read in our port of call information that Shanghai is called the Queen of the Orient and the Paris of the East.  We can't quite see that but they are currently building a skyscraper that will be slightly taller than the Dubai's Burj Khalifa when completed.  Future plans call for another building almost twice as tall as, 4,000 ft high.  I don't know if I'd trust that height but China is going for it.  No Chinese engineering went into the Maglev train but Chinese labor built it.  So the city is trying to make its mark in the world and currently they are under construction everywhere in the city trying to get ready for their 2010 Expo.  So, our views were not glamorous or bright but they might have been with a little sunshine and no fog.  

Joe and Lee had been to China before and we told them about our map experience at dinner.  They said we had a 'bad' map.  I really didn't think there was such an animal.  Our map looked legit with advertisements, glossy paper, and the correct main streets but apparently there is no quality control in making them.  So things would have been much easier with a 'correct' map.  We, honest to God, thought we were loosing our minds trying to find our way around!  Joe and Lee told us we didn't get to see a good representation of China and we should really look into visiting again.  My mind is so foggy right now I can't even entertain the thought.

The funniest thing was that I bought this 'Lucky Cat', the kind that waves his paw back and forth, in Shanghai.  We saw them in HK and we really don't care for cats but for some reason I thought to myself this is probably the last place I could buy one of these classic cats so I did.  I got back on the ship, pulled him out of my bag and set him right next to the TV with his little arm waving.  He ran all night and all the next day but after dinner that night and being stuck in Shanghai for 26 hours I decided HE just might be the problem.  So I pulled the plug on him and took his battery out to see if we could get underway.  Well, I guess it finally worked - seven hours later.  I am very leery of turning him back on since there are storms scheduled to hit Vietnam.  What part, I don't know but I don't want to chance it.  Right now he is just sitting by the TV and that's all I'm going to let him do for now!   Ha, ha! 

By the Numbers

13,901 Nautical miles traveled so far

251 United States Passengers on board since HK

515 UK passengers on board since HK

481 Australians on board since HK

185 Germans on Board since HK

34 Hours delayed by fog

1 Port of call missed

$88 HKD foot massage at 10:30 p.m. + $12 HKD tip makes for best $100 HKD spent!

5 Golden tickets won in trivia out of last nine sessions!  (We're starting to kick -A)

1 Pirate drill to go

3 Empty washers and 3 empty dryers found on our floor at the same time!

1 Ring lost

1 Ring found in the vacuum cleaner

1 New British couple self-removed from our dinner table (they didn't like Americans) 

1 Happy dinner table!  (We miss our Aussies, Nan and Betty)

1 Ship - finally moving!

1 Happy Captain!

5 Days of no sunshine - boo!

Sandy

Tourist Friendly Hong Kong

Loved, loved Hong Kong. It is has been one of the most navigable cities on this trip. The metro ticket system was slick (one of Sandy's words). All you had to do was touch the map of where you wanted to go and it told you how much. Rode the Star Ferry across the harbor, a must do. Actually, after reading the Hong Kong guide books in the library, we did/saw about 8 of the top ten things to do/see in Hong Kong. Rode the escalator up past SoHo. 

The night market was fun. I did a little haggling, got a good deal. Was quite proud of myself, I usually had Sandy do that for me. The highlight of Hong Kong was on the second day. Went out to Lantau to see the Big Buddha. And big it was. It was nice to get out of the city and see the mountains on Lantau. Way less populated, on top of the Buddha you couldn't see any other towns/villages other than the one right at the base.

We survived on a healthy diet of McDonalds. The golden arches never looked so good. They were everywhere and I was thankful. French fries and coke were so much more appetizing after seeing the markets and nameless foods. There was so much more that we could have seen, or things more in depth. I wish we had had more time, but very pleased with the day and half that we had. 

A Whirlwind 5.5 Hours

Could have done without Shanghai. We were late getting to the port (that was an hour away by bus). The tour book is a little deceiving on port hours. It said 8am to 8pm. Two days out that changed to 10am to 8pm, with the last bus from the city leaving at 6pm. It is all very misleading. So we were down to 8 hours in Shanghai. That was until the fog, oh the fog, moved in, pushing our docking to 11am. We queued up way early to be the first of the ship, which was 11:20. First bus out of the container dock, how luxurious for these Cunard people, right?

So all day, I had a ticking clock in my head. It was quite nerve wracking, trying to get our money's worth of Shanghai. Well, this turned out to be even more stressful, because of language barriers, faulty maps, and the crowds. No one spoke English, aside from "Watch? Gucci? Just look pretty lady." That got really old, really quick. I was stuck in a crowd of asian women in the Yu Gardens, "Excuse me" got no results; I basically contorted myself through them. Mom watched the whole thing go down and said that my face was priceless, should have gotten a picture. This was all down in Old Town, where the crowds were close to unbearable. I'm talking worst than Disney World in the height of summer tourism season. Nobody moved, much less moved fast. I was in agony. I am quite surprised I didn't breakdown earlier than I did (see following paragraphs). My bubble is getting a workout.

We've discovered Sandy has a much shorter stride than me while walking. And mine gets about a foot longer when I'm angry, lost, or simply flustered. So Sandy's new nickname is Short Stride Sandy, triple S. So I'm trying to navigate us through Old Town with a horrible map, while Sandy keeps asking people for directions. I kept telling her to stop, it was just wasting time because no one spoke English. And I was right. She kept entertaining street peddlers, too. I kept yelling at her to stop talking to them, I'm sure she was upset with me too for walking too fast. The only driving force I had all day was the countdown clock and the last bus to get us back to the ship. So here we were on a time crunch, Sandy is chatting it up with peddlers, who chased her across busy streets and into convenience stores. This slowed me down, making me more jittery. It was a vicious cycle. Talk about stress, I didn't want to be stuck in China.

The final straw was the trip/trek back to the buses. Getting a taxi was a feat considering the language barrier and me slightly flipping out. I knew where we picked the cab up and were we needed to be on the map, but I instantly got turned around and couldn't find where we were going. After a long while, I finally found a street and knew we were going in the right direction. But then we turned in the opposite direction, my heart sunk. I almost made us get out of the cab and run to the buses (we had five minutes to get there). The more I waited on this decision, the further we got from the buses, the more my heart sped up. In the end we got there, I have come to the conclusion that one way streets forced us that way. But honestly who knows.

So the taxi driver lets us out. I still have a little yuan to spend (actually 100 yuan/14 dollars). Convenience store=a couple of cokes. I have a one track mind, get in-get out, get on the bus. Sandy on the other hand starts haggling with yet another peddler. She is asking me for money, I'm asking her for small bills. All the while I'm picking up little snippets of their conversation and getting really frustrated with the guy. Well, I get a couple of cokes and run back outside to catch the bus. Well there was a long line of buses and it starts dawning on me that none of them are on, they don't have drivers in them, they don't have the "Cunard Shuttle" signs that we've grown accustomed to. My heart starts racing like crazy. And here is my breakdown. Guy is still talking to mom, she is saying no. I think he isn't getting the message, so I turn around while running to the front bus and yell like a crazy woman NO! I think he still followed us, but I had finally reached the door of the bus. Frantically asking "Cunard?" When I saw a bunch of old people sitting in the front seats, I praised the Lord. I heard some people chuckle, and looking back, I am sure I looked crazed. Sandy seemed pretty lax about the whole thing, but I was not going to be stuck in China. If she knew how much it would cost to get us to the next port and that we were losing the time onboard (ie food and lodging costs already paid for), I think it would have made her move a little faster. (She says she is aware, but I wasn't chancing it.) Little did I know we would be stuck in China, sitting dockside more than 24 hours later. Got very antsy.

Anyway, I did have a good time on the MagLev train. And apart from the crowds, Old Town was very authentic, neat Chinese architecture. There was a Dairy Queen there, would have gotten some ice cream if it haven't been so cold. We probably had more good times than what I'm recalling, but the horror stories just stand out more and are easier to tell. Shanghai would probably been a much better experience, if the circumstances had been different (ie longer time, not so rushed, docked closer). All this taken in to account, I probably won't be back. That was really the whole point to this trip, see the world and learn where I wanted to go back.

"No Clue"

That is the name of the trivia team we are on. Every sea day there is trivia three times, 10, 11:15, and 4:15. Our old dinner table mate, Ruby, has had a team all along, but people dropped off in Hong Kong. We said we would take their spots. Sandy and I alone would not do so well, but let me tell you we are quite an asset to the team. The first trivia after Hong Kong (where we picked up new segment cruisers) was back to mutiny on the trivia hostess. I leaned into Sandy, "The British are back." We got a good laugh out of that. The last segment was quite calm, at least during the late night trivia we had gone to. The prize for winning is a golden ticket, to later be redeemed. Before we joined Ruby's team, she had 6 tickets since SanFran. In three and half days we have won 5 quizzes, with no British people to answer the British questions. We've knocked the British team "Babettes" off their winning streak. Twice we've gone into a tie breaker and lost, one was a very British question, when did Duchess Fergy get married in 1986. Honestly!? Props to Arkansas State for helping with a question, what two colors can wolves be? Gray and red, ASU Red Wolves native to the area. Sandy knew it, I backed it up with ASU knowledge, table really wasn't sure about it. But we got the point. Also, on a quiz challenge that wasn't played for a ticket, what is added to diet coke to make a geyser? Mentos, thank you Michael Miller! 

crj

Visiting Hong Kong in 30 hours and sleeping just 5 of those thirty hours makes for a hectic schedule.  I don't know how these older people are doing it.  Although we did hear that some of them booked a hotel in downtown for the night instead of taking the shuttle bus back to the container terminal where the ship was docked.  We only had one day at sea before hitting Shanghai and we could have used two days to recover.  We now have three days at sea before we hit the mean streets of Halong Bay, Vietnam but right now we may miss that port because we still haven't left Shanghai due to fog and we are 19 hours late leaving Shanghai!  Damn Communist - you can get in their country but they won't let you leave!  Have they heard of a GPS system?  The longer we sit here, the more the river traffic gets backed up.  The captain has requested preferred treatment but we were denied.  They say it's too unsafe for us to travel down the river and out to sea.  I think someone is just waiting for payment/bribe - politics as usual.  I swear it was foggier when we sailed in but they say the fog is even worse at the mouth of the river.  Ahem, we could be here for days!  

Hong Kong - crisp 60 degrees with sun coming through the pollution haze!

HK was a breathe of fresh air, figuratively speaking.  The air quality was horrible and the pollution hung in the air like a thick fog, but it wasn't fog.  Don't believe those photoshopped pictures of HK; I'm almost positive it's never that clear.  Quite a few people were wearing the surgical face mask and some of them had a designer flair to them.  Now the refreshing part.  Practically everyone spoke English, the transportation was very navigable and quick, and it was a very clean city.

I think the HK subway is the best thing going.  All the stations are enclosed in glass so there is no wind blowing through the tunnels, which means the dirt and hot/cold air stay on the outside and it's very clean.  There was a touch screen when purchasing the fares and it was as simple as touching the station that you wanted to go to and the price would pop up, you'd insert the money and out would come the ticket and your change.  No need to write a book called 'HK subways for dummies' - just do it!  The machines accepted bills up to $50 (unlike Shanghai only $20) and I don't believe I ever saw an attendant since there was no need for one.

The ferry system was also a delight.  The Star Ferry Line ran from Kowloon over to Hong Kong Island about every ten minutes and the fare was roughly .28 US cents.  What a bargain!  One thing I really liked about this ferry line was a sign that read 'watch out for moving platform.'  This is why the ferry ran so efficiently.  When we were in Australia they'd take 5 minutes tying up the ferry and securing the platform before anyone could get on or off.  Here in HK it was a 'passenger beware - we're running a tight ship operation' which I agree with, so watch the platform as you are exiting.  Time is money and in HK even more so.

We took the mid levels too which is is an escalator system that runs from downtown HK Island up to the mid level neighborhoods.  It only runs downhill until 10 am and at 10:15 am it runs only uphill until the wee morning hours when everyone has to come back down for work the next day.  There were longer stretches of the escalators at the bottom but as you got to the middle of Mount Victoria they would end on a flat street where you would have to walk across the street and maybe up a few steps to continue on up the hill.  I think we had so much fun riding them that we actually rode past our stopping point to pick up the tram that ran all the way to the top of Mount Victoria for a panoramic view.  So we got lost up in the hills but thank God it was all downhill to get to the tram.

Mount Victoria was very nice and modern with beautiful views, we only wished there wasn't so much pollution in the air because we really would have been able to see for miles around.  Just the skyline over to Kowloon was murky and you wished you could have taken a rag and wiped away the fog on the camera lens but it wasn't fog.  Now this place was a 'good' tourist trap - if there is such a thing!  There was a Madam Trausseaux (sp) wax museum at the top and, of course, Disneyland's name and paraphernalia were all over the place along with gift shops selling everything and a swanky shopping center housed inside the "Wok" which was a modern building shaped like it's name.

After going to Mt. Victoria on the tramline that had run since 1888 we headed over to the back alley street vendor to pick up our stone stamps that we had ordered with personalized names in Chinese characters.  Now the back alleys were where the sightseeing was at!  Let's just say I wouldn't be doing any dining in this area for numerous reasons but probably the biggest reason would be that I didn't recognize much on the menu.  These people use every bit of every animal, fish, and vegetable - every bit.  There is no waste but I think they took the 'Sandy' thing too far!  Sandy would never eat fried fish stomachs.  Those would be garbage in my book.  These back alleys and the way these people operate are a true wonder.  One vendor would have old machine parts spread out in a small place and right next to him was a kitchen for a restaurant and a dishwashing operation and next to that was a vendor selling clothes and hardware.  Truly amazing and spectacular but I would have to say the US Health Dept. would have their hands full in HK!

After Mt. Victoria it was time to head back over to Kowloon and up to the Stanley Market for some shopping.  We rode the city double decker bus up top for a bird's eye view.   Another very efficient system with no big loops to all parts unknown in the city; buses 6, 6X, and 6A all went to Stanley, and only Stanley, via different routes; we choose the most scenic.  The modern waterfronts on both HK Island and Kowloon are built on reclaimed land and you can definitely see where the original waterfronts started back in the day.  The difference was remarkable; old meets new, east meets west.  We saw the original post office and passed Happy Valley, which is a huge, all grass horse racing track that is the busiest of any in the world with big races happening on Wednesday, the day we were there.  This valley, which is about the only flat land around, is draped with cemeteries and graveyards up the hillsides.  It's very pretty and old but I'm not quite sure if they call it Happy Valley for the cemetery, the racing, or just the flat land.  We also ran across Repulse Bay (odd name since it was so nice) which is a modern resort and residential area.  It was funny to see all the businessmen down on the beach in their business suits and barefoot.  We drove past a modern building here over looking the bay that had a nice architectural effect to it.  In the middle of the building there was a huge open hole/deck about 20 floors high that you could see through to the mountains.  But it wasn't for aesthetics my dear, it is so the dragons can come down from mountains and get a drink of water!  Later the next day we saw some more of these buildings out on Lantau Island.

We shopped for a while through Stanley Market and finally ate a little lunch at the McDonald's which consisted of french fries, a coke and an orange for me.  Thank God for potatoes.  Between the Pringles and French Fries, we are subsisting.  After lunch we walked across the courtyard to one of the oldest temples in HK, Tin Hau, which was a female goddess who protected sailors (if my memory serves me correctly).  If you travel, you know McDonald's are always located right by the world's great landmarks or almost in them - St. Mark's Square in Venice anyone?   Just outside the temple was the beach that wrapped around the Stanley area and the maritime museum, which was the original Murphy House in downtown that they brought over brick by brick to Stanley.  Seems there were extra parts/columns that they had left over after reconstructing it, so they just set them up along the sidewalk outside.  They look nice but there is no telling which floor is missing their supports.

After another Mr. Toad's wild ride back into town on the double decker bus we headed over to the Avenue of the Stars which is like the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  Lots of stars and hand prints but we only recognized about three of them.  Next up was the Symphony of Lights which started at 8 pm  and we heard the best place to watch it was from the Avenue of the Stars.  But first we headed up Nathan St. for some shopping and dinner, which was guess what?  McDonalds!  After walking back to the waterfront we were set for a show and half with lasers, lights, and music, plus this is the Guinness' World Record for a permanently fixed light show.  It includes 36 buildings and I don't know how many lights but it spans both banks of Victoria Harbor.  Well were we ever disappointed!  They couldn't hold a candle to a Disney production.  First the music was lame-O.  Secondly, it wasn't loud enough and lastly it needed new choreography.  They had the right tools but no va-voom!  We ended up leaving disappointed after 10 minutes but on a brighter note we beat the crowd over to Temple Street for the night time shopping market.  We caught the midnight bus back to the ship and ended up getting to bed about 1:45 a.m. after some room service.  Man cannot subsist on McDonalds only!

After about 5 hours of sleep we caught the bus back into Kowloon.  Today's schedule would take us out to Lantau, an island southwest of downtown, to see the world's largest Buddha and a Buddhist monastery.  After a ferry ride, and a subway ride to the end of the line we made it out to the gondola.  Since the ship ran out of Hong Kong dollars we went to a bank to get some more money exchanged.  First they told us it would cost us $50 HKD.  Okay, that's roughly $9 USD and we were in a time crunch, then they wanted our passports.  What?  We've got these Cunard Gold Cards.  Will these do????  Apparently not.  All I got to say is if you are a foreigner in a strange country (because this happened in Shanghai too) you had better have a passport on you if you want money exchanged!   At the time the money exchange didn't open until 10:30 am but it still wouldn't have done us much good since we would have needed our passports and the ship requires us to leave them in their offices for port inspections.  We got to the ticket window and I just ended up puttng the tickets on the credit card in order to save our subway money and shopping dollars.  

What can I say?  This was the highlight of my HK trip.  The gondola ride was probably 25 minutes long; first over to the island that the new airport sits on and then again across the other side of the bay up to the top of the closest peak of Lantau and then we were dropped over the mountains into the village.  There was a bit of a wind kicking around but the heights alone and the thought of a plane hitting our wires and everyone falling to the ground was a scary thought.  The views were fantastic and no exception to the rule of high rise apartments and condos along the base of the mountains.  A jungle of buildings just like downtown HK.  The Buddha was enormous and we set up pictures with us giving him a 'high five' from below.  There was construction going on at the base and I recognized 'the sound of progress' going on.  They are having an expo this year, so I think they were making some improvements to the garden area.  Making our journey up the steps of Pow Lin where the Buddha sits on top was quite nice and the views from top were awesome.

Due to our time constraints we didn't have time to walk over to the monastery, which was 30 minutes away but we did have time to buy some merchandise and for the first time I felt I might just need to buy a buddha for good luck.  To our surprise (wink, wink) we found Pringles and Coke and stocked up with a few cans.  We had a gondola car all to ourselves on the way back down, so we popped a couple of tops and feasted on the way down.  There was a hiking path all the way up to the village, very long, but we decided if we ever came back and had the time, it would be neat to hike out to the Buddha.  

Back from wince we came but instead of taking a ferry we rode the subway as close as we could into Kowloon.  The ship doesn't buy back coins so we stopped at a 7-11 to use them up and made it back to the shuttle bus just in time for the 2 pm last bus.  On the way we saw the Russian Olympic Team touring HK on their way home but we didn't have any time to snap a picture.  Too bad!  They looked snazzy in their bright red uniforms.

Not only does HK have the world record light show and Buddha, they have the largest suspension bridge too and we sailed under it as we let HK drop out of sight.  As we sailed north towards Shanghai we could see all kinds of fishing boats anchored along the way and other boats hawking their wares to the fishermen.  My only regret was that we did not get out to Aberdeen to see the 'boat people.'  These people live on their boats and make their living on the boats.  Some of them never step foot on land if you can imagine that.  Most boats go out during the day to make their living and then come back into the harbor for shelter at night, so maybe we wouldn't have seen much.  Maybe next time!

Even though HK started out as an opium trading center, and to the British's advantage they let it continue in the colonial period to ensure their continued foreign presence, it is now the the trading capital of the world.  Hong Kong has 266 islands, Lantau being the largest with HK Island being the second, and quite a bit of land all the way up to the Guandong Province called the New Territories.   Even though HK was handed over by the British in 1997 they are a Special Administrative Region and as long as the communist let them run their 'one country, two systems policy' things will go well for the people of HK.  We saw as much as we could in 25 hours but there is plenty of nooks and crannies that we would like to come back and see.  It's worth a second, longer visit! 

Shanghai - cold and overcast with heavy fog!

It's living up to its name!  We have been Shanghai'd, which means 'up river.'  We've been sold up the river and can't get back out to sea.  I think the fog combined with the pollution is a double whammy for us.  

So the Chinese officials got on the ship in HK and we all had to go visit them with our passports and fill out a health questionnaire the day before we came in to port.  Cunard also told us that we must carry our passports with us at all times.  My little red flag started moving up my flagpole...wonder why that is???  In case we miss the boat?  In case we get arrested?  In case we cross some imaginary line???  Glad to say we never needed to show them.

  

Shanghai was pretty much a navigational mess.  We had to be bused in from an hour away to downtown Shanghai from the automotive terminal.  Now guess what we saw at this terminal?  Lexus, Mercedes, and BMW's.  We also saw a Mazarrati dealership in town and Morgan saw a Porsche dealership.  Who in China is buying these cars????  Must be some government officials (wink, wink).

So we get into town after an interesting drive and nothing seems quite like the maps we had studied or have in our hands.  The information desk at the bus drop off was a card table with a folded piece of paper with 'info' written on it - nothing else!  The maps showed up momentarily (we managed to get the first bus off the boat since we were two hours late arriving in port due to the fog) and they started charging for those.  How much we don't know but entrepreneurship is healthy and alive!  Next came the watch sales people.  I'll give it to them, I like their spunk!

I heard this girl say they wanted to go to the Maglev train and I told her we were headed to the same place and we would share a cab ride with them.  Then I remembered we'd need a taxi out to the Teahouse Gardens and Old City from the Maglev train so the four of us set out to find the subway and decided to take the taxi later. This was 'Amazing Race' comical.  No one, and I mean no one, spoke English.  I did spot an American by himself and asked him if he knew what the subway symbol looked like.  He offered us his 'free map' from his hotel and told us he hadn't ridden the subway while he was here on business but he did at least point us in the right direction that he understood the subway to be.  As we walked down the street we found out he was from right outside of San Diego and he has a brother who lives in Pine Bluff and a cousin in Sherwood, AR - small world, eh?

Did I tell you that signs are not in English either?  It would make sense since no one speaks it.  Very little English to be found.  Well, we finally ran across a sign that said subway in English and it showed a picture of stairs going down.  Great, we thought we found it.  Wrong.  It was only an underground passage to the other side of the busy boulevard.  So we were right back to square one.  Well, we finally spotted the metro but now we were on the wrong side of the street.  Once down in the subway the next step was to study their system and try to maneuver our way out to the correct subway station to pick up the airport train, the Maglev.  On our way out there we did bump into one other person who spoke English and took the opportunity to ask him a few questions about our plans.

Upon getting to the terminal we purchased a ticket, 80 Yuan, for a trip out to the airport and stood there on the platform waiting for the train when we realized we didn't even know the names of our travel companions.  We were so focused on getting down the road that we failed to realize that we missed the customary introductions.  Their names, Colette and Keith from Liverpool - Good British people this time - their young, so maybe that's the difference!  The Maglev is the fastest train in the world and just as luck would have it we got the afternoon train which travels at the top speed of 431 km per hour and that converts to 267 mph.  You cover 25 km in just 7 minutes.  Once we got there we sat on the train for the ride back, ha, ha.  It felt funny not to get off but that was what we came for - to go back!  The scenery along the way was pretty awesome too.  We saw buildings in ruins right next to other houses that were whole.  We couldn't tell if there had been an earthquake or if they were just falling apart or if they were knocked down but not hauled away.  Hard to tell but it was a sight to see no less.           

Once back in town we went over to the Pearl Tower, the world's third tallest radio tower, but we didn't buy a ticket to go up due to the fog.  We then headed over to the '88 Observation Deck in the Hyatt Hotel but it was up in the clouds too.  We then shared our cab ride out to the Old City and parted ways with Colette and Keith.  We visited the Old City and bought tickets into the Yu Gardens.  Both were very large and you could get lost in either one of them.  Wall to wall people since it was a Saturday AND we were in a city with 20 million people. 

Candice and I got off the beaten path and saw the real Shanghai down the narrow streets.  Shopping was fun and very adventurous!  I'll let Candice tell you about the guy chasing me back to the bus trying to sell me watches!  I didn't mind but Candice got fed up and shouted at him - well I guess I just told you the story but her story will be more elaborate.   While we were shopping the back streets and running into streets not on the map and not finding streets that were on the map, we ran across some foul smelling food cooking.  We've been told it's fermented tofu but who knows.  They say you need to acquire a taste for it.  Let me tell you something, if you have to 'acquire' a taste for anything, best thing is not to start at all.  I never saw it but there was steam coming cooking off the wagon and people standing around waiting to buy it.  Needless to say, the smell is still haunting us back on the boat every now and then, even after two showers.

After feeling our time slip and slip and slip, we decided to make our way back to the ship by taxi.  What an adventure!  We had the address preprinted for us from Cunard so we thought we should have no problem getting them to understand where we wanted to go but, no, it took us 3 taxis for someone to understand where we wanted to go.  We understand the taxicab drivers can't read.  Oh yeah, traffic jams are common in Shanghai too around 5:30 p.m.  So when our woman driver ran into a jam she quickly turned around and hit some side streets and, of course, more traffic but probably quicker than the other way.  We kept checking with her to make sure we were still going to the right place and between no English and us turning the map every which way and pointing to where we needed to be, we finally became confident that we would get back to the buses by 6 p.m.  

We finally arrived and a shuttle bus never looked so glorious to me!  Well we had quite a bit Yuan to get rid of so we ran into the c-store for some Coke purchases and that's where I ran into the man with the watches.  I didn't really need a watch or want a watch but I entertained the guy but in the meantime I was losing points with Candice!  

We got back to the ship and went up on the Lido Deck for dinner, took a shower and hit the bed with a movie.  We got a couple of announcements from the captain telling us that we would be delayed in leaving but we woke up this morning and here we still are, sitting in Shanghai port!!!  Now we are close to 24 hours off schedule and I see trouble brewing.  We will have to drop a port to squeeze the time.  I'm up for knocking out Bangkok since there is civil uprising there.  Let's hope the captain makes the right call.  

Even though we ran out of time and didn't make it over to the Bund, another historical section of town on the other side of the river, I don't think there is much to bring me back to Shanghai and this departure situation is leaving a bad taste in my mouth.  Captain just came across and said nothing is moving up or down the river so we suspect it won't be until tomorrow at noon before we start moving.  So...who knows where we will be in another 24 hours!  The captain has forewarned us that we will need to go through a 'special' - read pirate - drill before we get to Singapore so maybe this delay is a blessing in disguise with the timing of pirates, civil unrest, typhoons, etc.

One city - YES, one city - NO - that's the tale!

Now everybody sing .....Sittin' in the dock of Shanghai.... 

(Candice to post later)   

   

Sandy