Trekking the Globe with Bill & Mary Ann on the 2017 World Cruise - 126 Days

[Hawka]

Thanks for all of your fantastic comments.......makes our day!

 

In re-reading our reports, we are noticing that many words are running together, and some really strange symbols are showing up in unexplained places. We are not doing this, so there must be a gremlin in the works.

 

Will try to figure out what is happening here, and hopefully correct it.

 

Stayed tuned.....more to come,

 

Bill & Mary Ann

yeah the words running together has happened a few times to me too , found if i notice it while i am typing the message [if i look up from key board on the computer] i clear what i am typing hit the enter button that takes me to the next line then go back and i find it seems to stop it from happening weird thing it did it to this post so had to re do it all to get the gaps .

[bettty45]

Great reviews as always and thank you!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[WCB]

Report #65 SailingTowards Nha Trang, Vietnam March 5,2017 Sunday Partly cloudy & 77 degrees 9 Pictures

 

 

It was much warmer today, even humid as we have sailed in asouthwesterly direction along the long coastline of Vietnam. The capital of Vietnam, Hanoi, is in thenorth. The population is about87,000,000 Vietnamese-speaking people livingin 127,847 square miles. A long, skinnycountry, Vietnam has two distinctive parts…..the north with “tight-lipped”Hanoi, and the south with go-go-go Ho Chi Minh, formerly Saigon. It has been described as a mini-China thesedays, with the north offering hill-tribe villages and limestone cliffs ofHalong Bay. These must be similar to thelimestone spires and peaks we just saw on the Li River out of Guilin. We can only go by pictures we have seen,since we have never been to Halong Bay. In the south, you will find white-sand beaches, some historical sights,and thousands of vendors. That is whatwe will find in Nha Trang tomorrow.

 

 

The best time to visit happens to be now, in March andApril, and also September to November. That way you avoid monsoon season.

 

 

Top things to see are Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, dragon-shapedmountains, and blue to green waters in Halong Bay. There are miles and miles of terraced ricefields and traditional homes. Last yearwe had the chance to tour Hue, Hoi An, and Da Nang on a two day stop there. Verydifferent from the coastal cities, we saw more of the old way of living there.

 

 

Things to do are eat pho noodle soup….bring it on. Or have tailors make shirts, dresses, orsuits in Hoi An. You can take boat toursin the Mekong Delta to see how the river people live. What’s to eat? Number one – noodles, steamed rice rolls withminced pork, or summer spring rolls. Itis all supposedly better and cheaper than anywhere else abroad. Want a special drink? Try their draft beer…..don’t mind if wedo. It is cold and cheap, we understand.

 

 

Trademarks are conical hats - you will see all of the women,young and old, wearing them. Also theywear beautiful clothing of traditional silk-like long sleeve jackets with longtails and loose-fitting long slacks to match. They look way better on the local girls, since they are so slender. You will never see so many scooters andtraffic gridlocks as here. Everyone hasone….that is, scooters.

 

 

A random fact is Hanoi turned 1000 years old in 2010.

 

 

Ship excursions run from $70 to $80 for 4 to 4 ¾ hours. They include city highlights, a cooking tour,shopping, and rickshaw rides. Or you cantake advantage of the free shuttle which will go to the center of town, more orless. The bad news is that all aboardwill be 1:30pm, not much time to explore no matter how you do it.

 

 

So today was a perfect one to continue catching up onceagain. And take a walk. It was disturbing to see so much bits andpieces of garbage floating by the ship. We are many miles off shore, so it must drift a heck of a long way to beout here. It was not uncommon to seepaper, plastic, bottles, and pure rubbish drifting by. After we got our morning walk done, we cameinside to continue working on the computer. Seems to never be enough time to keep the research going. Before we realized it, lunchtime hadarrived. So off we went to the diningroom to meet Barb hopefully.

 

 

We forgot today was Sunday and brunch day in the diningroom. It began at 11am, but our tablewas still waiting for us at 12:30pm. Barbjoined us, happy that her trivia team had come in first today. With a group that large playing the morninggame, we are most proud of her grasp of so much trivial facts. If you get a group of six that all know alittle something about everything, then you have a better chance of scoringbig. That is her team.

 

 

Lunch was good with my favorite dish and Barb’s too…meatballsand spaghetti, topped with lots of shredded parmesan cheese. Bill had a small salad and the beer buttchicken, mostly to find out what it was. We figured it was the whole chicken cooked upside down over a can ofbeer. Yes, it was, and it was delicioushe said.

 

 

While we were away overland, Barb had asked Endrien, ourhead waiter, if he would save us a cluster of ti plants in a vase, that wasused as decorations at the Mariner Party we had missed. So he saved one, took care of it, andpresented to us after dinner last night. It is a nice addition to our window garden, and we thanked him and Barbfor being so thoughtful.

 

 

While we were in Hong Kong, we were handed a pamphlet on vector-bornediseases common to this area. Japaneseencephalitis, malaria, dengue fever, spotted fever, and scrub typhus are themain diseases people easily get here. They are all transferred by insects like mites, ticks, and mostly mosquitoes. It advises you to be careful while outdoorswhen hiking in vegetated areas, around pets, or recreational and outdoorworkplaces. They give further advice towear loose clothing, good shoes, and long pants. Using deet insect spray is a must, andvaccinating at least 6 weeks prior to traveling is a good idea. The suggested things to do are shots oranti-malarial drugs. Since we are notgoing into these areas on safaris this year, we don’t have to worry too much.

 

 

The afternoon was spent listening to the band in the OceanBar, while visiting with friends. Laterin the afternoon, we took a walk to watch the sun go down. It was a most unusual sun set with mostlycloudy skies, but also a pink haze that casted the same shade on the silkywaters. The ship was moving so slowly,that we were leaving ribbons of inky water in the wake. We enjoyed this sight while chatting with ourBritish buddies about all of our experiences in this part of the world. You can always learn some interesting thingsfrom each other, especially about awareness and safety while in the upcomingports. They had some hair-razing storiesabout tuk-tuks and taxi rides. The sunhad set and it was almost time for dinner for all of us.

 

 

There were two difficult choices to make for dinnertonight. On the menu were prime rib and gingerpork, among other items equally as good. Since we can get prime rib more often, we chose the pork entrée. Glad we did, it was most delicious. Left a bit of room for carrot cake with adelicate cream cheese frosting. Marthahas been missing two nights now, so we hope she has not come down with the coldthat has been traveling around the passengers. Martin seems to have contracted it as well. We teased him that he hasbeen hanging out with Martha too much. Got a laugh out of him, as he denied it. Hard to avoid colds with a full ship.

 

 

The show this evening was a quite unique one. A fellow by the name of David Meyer played axylophone with a twist. It was connectedto a laser light that performed a light show with his music. Pretty cool with great music.

 

 

Tomorrow……Nha Trang, Vietnam.

 

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

[NordicPrince]

Love following your blog.

 

I was wondering, though, if you could take a moment of silence in memory of all those brave American men and women who went to Vietnam as their government told them to do and never came home. Also for all the men and women who came back mere shells of their former selves.

 

I would consider that a great honor to my fallen brother-in-law.

[easyboy]

Enjoying your review. Following.

[WCB]

Report #66 Nha Trang, Vietnam March6, 2017 Monday Mostly sunny, humid, & 89degrees Part #1 Of 4 87 Pictures

 

 

The Amsterdam sailed into the Nha Trang Bay well before 7amthis morning. The skies were almost gray, but not with fog. It wasmore of a haze of humidity that is typical to this part of the world. Theforecast was for mostly sunny and possibly up to 91 degrees. And that waswhat we got later in the morning.

 

 

We had to make the best of our time here, because all aboardwas 1:30pm….so not fair, since this city is a nice place to be able to tour aswell as linger over lunch and beer in the afternoon. We figured we coulddo what we planned if we got an early start.

 

 

Breakfast in the dining room was first. We kept it aslight as we could, because that lunch with beer was on our minds. Not toomany people were here at 7:30am because the ship’s tours that were 4 to 5 hourshad to leave early. Friends Rich and Peg, who always sit across from us,said they were heading off early in hopes that the free shuttle bus would beginearlier than the promised 9am. We all hoped they would start early, so weleft shortly after they did, went back to our room, and gathered ourstuff. We had to make sure we took the landing cards they issued a coupleof days ago. They would be stamped as we left the ship by the localauthorities. Without them, we would not be allowed off of the ship. It is proof that we have our ship-purchased visas. Still don’t know howmuch we were charged, since we never received a statement of our account forthis segment.

 

 

We got off the ship around 8:15am, and realized that we hadmissed the first shuttle to town. No problem, another bus was there andwould go off at 8:45am. It filled rather quickly, and we left for the 20minute ride to town. The walk to town may have been do-able on foot, butwe did not have the pleasure of time to do it. Not sure if things wouldbe opened in town this early, we found that the city was quite busy already.

 

 

Nha Trang is one of Vietnam’s most popular seaside resorts,with 5 miles of white sandy beaches and a gentle green-blue surf. Towering mountains were in the backround, but with the haze, they werehard to see today. This area is sometimes referred to as theMediterranean of Vietnam. Over 300,000 people live and work here.

 

 

It was also a popular spot for US servicemen during theVietnam War back in the 1960’s. As far as we can tell, there is nomention of the war these days, as most of the current population of Vietnamesepeople are too young to remember it.

 

 

Today, this city still has the feel of the fishing villageit once was, with the presence of dozens of blue and red boats in theharbor. They are used as fishing boats as well as ferries. Yearsago, we took a tour on these small boats that took our group up the river tosee how the locals live. Now we see international resort hotels, souvenirshops, restaurants, and chic bars. The number of motor scooters isunreal….they almost outnumber the people that live in the city. Cross astreet here? You take your life in your hands, as no one stops,especially those on the scooters. We learned years ago, that you justcontinue walking, and the motorbikes will go around you (full speed). Yikes! Perhaps the taxis and cyclos (a one-man- driven bike for twopassengers) will slow down in case you are looking to hire them for a ride or atour. Stop lights are a good thing here too. Drivers have to stopat these.

 

 

Speaking of taxi rides, the drivers will always get yourattention by offering rides for $1. They do not know where you want togo, but it will be $1. But when you get in the cab, suddenly it is $5,$10, or $20 per person to go anywhere. Like other areas of the world, itis just their way of making a living, so as long as you are aware of thepractice, you cannot get mad. We just laugh, and say, yeahsure….$1.

 

 

The 5 miles of beachfront is across the street from most allof the nice hotels. People that stay in these hotels will come across tothe sandy beach for the day, enjoying the sun, lounges, and swim in the water,which did look clean. If not, they have the option of using the hotelpools. No need to go far for food, since there are hundreds of cafes andrestaurants in town.

 

 

The shuttle let us out at Tran Phu Street ShoppingMall. The bus would run until 1:15pm, coming every 20 to 30minutes. From this drop-off point, we were halfway to the Cho Dam Market,the city’s largest open-air market selling clothes, fresh food, and localhandicrafts. On the way there, we ran into friends Shirley and Jack, whowere already walking back towards the shuttle. They always get off asearly as possible, and walk as much as we do in most ports. Havingvisited here as many times as us, they were also doing the quick-tour today.

 

 

We passed the Dr. Alexandre Yersin Museum, which was theLouis Pasteur Institute back in 1895. He was the doctor famous fordeveloping pasteurization of milk, as well as many other things.

 

 

Following the ship’s map, we navigated or way to the Cho DamMarket, not realizing that we had a group of fellow passengers followingus. Guess we sort of remembered where we were going, but these streetsare not simple to figure out. A taxi driver, trying to get us to use hisservices, pointed out the correct street to find the market.

 

 

They sell everything at this open-air market, but the mostinteresting was the food part of it. This time of day with all the localsshopping, it was a demented ant nest. Cramped for space, this market isloaded with stalls of fresh produce, with the center portion reserved for thewet food. That would be the pork, fish, and fresh produce. Chickensand ducks were for sale, freshly butchered and plucked clean. Neversaw so many varieties of fish, small to large, and mostly smelly. Youhave to have a strong stomach to view this, because at some points, we werewalking in water on the concrete that was mixed with fish blood.

 

 

There was barely enough room between the plastic tubs filledwith produce and fish and meats for the people to walk. But you add themotor scooters racing through, it was impossible to see everything. Youalways had to watch your back, because the bikers were right and left andeverywhere. Most of them were women with little kids, buying their foodfor the day. We did get some fantastic pictures with the vendors smilingand showing off their products. Time was getting away from us, so we hadto move on.

 

 

There was more we wanted to see on the way back to the beachroad, so we checked out the menu at the Sheraton Hotel, and the patio caféwhere we had lunch two years ago. As it was only 10:30am, the kind waitersaid to come back at 11am or later, and there would be pizza for us. Gooddeal….yes, we would be back soon.

 

 

From past tours, we remembered there was an embroidery shopon this street. So we walked and walked until we found it a mile or so upthe road. The walk was nice as we strolled the beach where flower standswere lining the park side facilities. Special signs were in place due to thefact that APEC was meeting here in March. Many folks were enjoying theclean sand and fresh seawater. All along this stretch are undergroundpublic restrooms, which may have a slight charge, but it is convenient for thesunbathers. From what we remember, many food vendors come to this areawith Vietnamese food they have prepared at home to sell to thesetourists. With a new sign posted on the beach, this practice may beillegal now.

 

 

We finally found the XQ Historical Village, where a modernand air-conditioned shop displaying the embroidered art was located. Andit was full of “sticky” people from the shop, or the bus people on a tour. They all have the bus number stuck on their clothing. Thisplace is always a stop on every tour. It was wonderful to go inside totake advantage of that cool air. It had heated up to 90 degrees outside,and the humidity was getting to one of us.

 

 

The framed pieces of art included seascapes, flowers, birds,portraits, and countryside scenes…all done with the finest silk thread inbeautiful colors. The work is all done by young skilled girls, workingupstairs on the second floor. Bill went up to watch some of them do thistedious stitching, bent over a canvas, working with single strands of silkthread on their projects. They have to be so exact, that they areliterally inches away from the piece. Must have really good eyes to dothis. For that reason, prices are steep, but understandable when yourealize the time involved in completing the art. Smaller size art goesfor $400, and that is without the frame. If you purchase a piece, thefabric is taken out of the frame, and rolled carefully, then put in a longtube. Many of the large displays were thousands of dollars or millions ofVietnam dong, their money. Can you believe that it takes 23,000 Dong to equal$1 US dollar? So, all we took were photos today.

 

 

Time for lunch. We made our way back to the restaurantat the Sheraton Hotel called Toastinos. We ordered Tiger draft beersfirst, followed by a most delicious margarita pizza. Two years ago, wediscovered this outdoor patio café, and were delighted to find pizza sogood. It is all in the dough, which they do well here, because they alsoexcel in French bread making. The first bites were wonderful…..hot cheeseand crispy dough….doesn’t get any better. We had to add two more beers,since it was so hot. The bill ended up being under $25 US foreverything. Best lunch so far. An hour had flown by, and we had anhour to get back to the ship.

 

 

But before we left, we had one job to attempt. OurKindle Fire had games that needed refreshing. Knowing that we needed tobe online to accomplish this, the waiter connected us to the Sheraton’sinternet for free. Then we figured out how to refresh the apps. Nowwe are set to continue to play games for at least 2 months now. Gooddeal.

 

 

So what did we miss seeing today? The Po Nagar ChamTowers are a temple complex dating back to 781AD. Also, we missed LongSon Pagoda, originally built in 1886, and re-built after a typhoon destroyed itin 1900. Two hundred and eight steps will take you up a hillside to thelarge white Buddha. We had to pass on numerous museums, and a picturesquebridge over the Cai River. Lastly, there was no time for French breadwith seafood in clay pots, baked shrimp, noodles, lemongrass chicken, lobsters,crabs, scallops, prawns, and BBQ pork. Just not enough time…… but then wehave been there, and done that.

 

 

Wanting to check out the pier shopping, we jumped on thewaiting shuttle bus, but not before buying two large bamboo fans on the way.They make the best ones here and they were $5 for two…..another good deal.

 

 

Back at the ship, we strolled through the covered stalls,finding a four piece lacquer painting. Another good deal, although wewere not planning on buying anything, it was too good to pass up. Morebus tours were coming back by now, we decided to leave before we weremobbed. This is one place where bargains can be had quite easily. And theguests as well as crew were buying big time. By the way, all canned beerswere $1 US.

 

 

Sail away was held on the lower promenade deck, because theyfelt it was too hot for most folks on the aft deck. Not for us, or manyothers who joined us back there. The ropes were dropped before 2pm, andwe were off going under the gondolas that connected a resort back to this sideof the bay. In fact, the Captain said that the cables had to be tightenedup to insure the ship fit under them. During our exit, the gondolas werestopped until we left.

 

 

Thank goodness for the nice breeze that came up once weleft. It had been a hot morning, but a most fun one. After we leftthe city behind, we headed back down to our room to work on the computer forthe rest of the afternoon.

 

 

Dinner tonight for us was in the Pinnacle Grill at8pm. Usually on a port day, this venue is never crowded. Buttonight it was near full of customers. Even though we had asked for atable by the window, none were available yet. People sitting where we weresupposed to, were lingering with wine. Who knows how long that couldlast. So we gladly took a table in the back room, and found it to be evennicer. There was no one who could stare at us through the window, whilewe were eating. Also back there were the two visiting Wine Guys, who weremember from last year’s world cruise. They were dining with Jacques thewine sommelier, and Gene and Jody. Towards the end of their meal, one ofthe Wine Guys came over to our table with two glasses of a 20 year old portwine, compliments of him and his partner. Meant to be sipped withdessert, we thanked him, and ordered cherry Garcia ice cream to enjoy with sipsof the port. The powerful aroma hit you before you even had the firstdrink. Not bad, even though we are not wine experts, it was a thoughtfulthing to do.

 

 

Tomorrow’s port is Phu My, but since there is nothing to dothere, we probably will stay on the ship. We have gone to the city of Ho ChiMinh at least three times that we can remember. We will not be alone, sincemany others we know are doing the same thing.

 

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

[WCB]

Report #67 Phu My,Vietnam March 7, 2017 Tuesday Partly cloudy & 92 degrees Part #1 Of 2 57 Pictures

 

Today’s port of call was Phu My, but mostly for the city ofHo Chi Minh (formerly Saigon), Vietnam. Basically, there is not much in Phu My, except a place for the ship todock up the river. This is a workingriver and all of the docks along it are for cargo ships and freighters, or likeus, occasional cruise ships. Also dockednear us is one of the Celebrity ships.

 

The destination of some folks will be Ho Chi Minh, a city ofover 9 million people. It is estimatedthat the drive to and from there is 2 hours, but we have known it to takecloser to three hours to come back, due to too much traffic. Ho Chi Minh can be described as a freneticFrench colonial city filled with cultural history that has recently evolvedthrough Communism. We have found someplaces, such as the Reunification Hall (President’s Palace) has displays of warhistory very difficult for most American tourists to handle. It all depends on the attitude of the localtour guide taking groups on excursions. Manyyears ago, on our very first visit to Saigon, we had the best young tour guide,who lectured all the way to the city. Hetold the history with an unbiased knowledge that explained where the country wasbefore and after the war. Funny thinghappened when we turned around to check the rest of the guests on the bus, wefound they were sound asleep. On theother hand, when our tablemates took a shorter tour to Vung Tau a few yearsback, they had the opposite in the tour guide, who blamed those on the bus(assuming they were US citizens) for all the problems in Vietnam. They said it was the longest ride ever. Also said they would never go back on any tourhere.

 

We think the better sights to see in Ho Chi Minh are NotreDame Cathedral, Ben Thanh Market, the museum, and of course, any lunch buffetat local hotels. Most all tours willinclude a stop at a lacquer shop, which can be interesting if you see theprocess of the creations.

 

Other tours were trips to see the Cu Chi Tunnels, aVietnamese cooking tour, and two shorter excursions. One went to a seaside resort of Vung Tau(been there), and Ba Ria Province to visit a typical home and mix with thelocals. Lastly, there was a bus transfer,which Martha and Barb planned on doing. They always have a shopping and out to lunch day in the city. The prices ranged from $50 to $150 for 3 ½ to8 ½ hours….more if there are traffic accidents.

 

So, what did we do today? Not much. We treated today as a sea day, mostly because we have takenthe tours, some three times. No desireto get stuck in that PM traffic again, or put up with the passengers thatinsist on going on long tours despite the fact that they are sick with thecurrent cold and deep cough going around. And then there are the dreadedbathroom stops, necessary, but take too much time, especially on 8 or 9 hourtours.

 

The good thing is that our room is facing the river traffic….somethingto watch while we were catching up on computer work. Also nice to have the Kindle Fire workingagain. Games can be so entertaining andrelaxing.

 

Forgot to mention a couple of things. Last night we got a note from King Neptunestating that since the Amsterdam is going to be too far north of the Equator,he is unable to do his normal pollywog to shellback ceremony. Forget the fact that this had been on ouritinerary since day one, and would have been nice for those who have never seenone before. It’s only 90 miles or so,north of the line, and if it was always planned, that is too bad.

The other thing was that when we turned our lights out lastnight before going to sleep after midnight, we noticed that the ship wassurrounded with small fishing boats from shore. It was like seeing lights of cars on a freeway. So strange, but a way of making a living here. The fish must be easier to catch or net atnight with the boat lights on the waters.

 

At noontime, we took a walk on the pier and to thegates. Realizing that this is adifferent dockage than last year, it was pretty much the same thing. Taxi drivers were waiting to offer a ride tothe nearby village. However, after talking to some walking buddies, Mike andBarb, from the lower promenade deck, they said the village was a 20 minutedrive one day, or about 20 miles inland. They negotiated a $50 ride for four hours, and saw a village where timestood still. They saw much of the sametype of markets we saw yesterday in Nha Trang, but they also had a chance toget haircuts for cheap, we assume. Theydid look nice though. It was their firsttime here, so they felt $50 was a good deal. Yes, it was compared to the ship’s tours.

 

Knowing we would not be getting off of the ship again, wedeposited the Vietnam landing cards we had been carrying for the last couple ofdays in the box on the official’s desk on deck A.

 

As we mentioned earlier, the Amsterdam was not the only shipin town, as we could see the Celebrity Constellation in our other spot in theriver. Built in 2002, that ship is 90,228 gross tons with a passenger capacityof 2450. Several years ago, we sailed onher sister ship, the Infinity, and discovered that it was a very nice vessel.

 

We spent the afternoon visiting with friends and finallygoing to the sail away on the aft deck. It was nowhere near 92 degrees today, because the river winds picked up,and cooled the decks off. Spicy chickenskewers were served while we chatted from the sail away at 6pm until it gotdark. The sunset was pretty neat tonight,seeing it from the river instead of the open ocean. As we left the river later on, we could seethe lights of the night time fishermen once again.

 

All of us were present at dinner tonight. Martha was hit hard by the cold bug, but hadreturned to the table last night. Martinwas re-covering from his all day tour in Ho Chi Minh, and the rest of uscompared our day while spent onboard the ship.

 

On stage this evening was David Kidd, with the voice andsongs of Tom Jones. From his photo, healmost resembles the singer, and he stillsounds much like him, as we also saw and heard him the last time he was on theship.

 

The clocks went ahead one hour this evening, something noneof us like to do. Singapore is on theirown time, which is not where we are now. In a few days, we will that hour back, and more.

 

One day at sea, and we shall be in Singapore, one of theabsolute best places in the world, in our humble opinion.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

PS In answer to afew questions, there are separate gifts we describe. Those passengers that are full world cruiserswill receive each gift that arrives at no specific time for the whole trip,while those who do segments will get the gift handed out during thatsegment. Other gifts we talk about arefor the President’s Club members. Theyare given every two weeks and caninclude alcohol, beer, wine, sodas, or water. In place of the liquid varieties, you can get a bouquet of flowers.

 

NordicPrince – it is a done deal.

[NordicPrince]

Thank you.

 

Continued good sailing.

 

Bet Singapore's cleanliness puts my NYC to shame.

[bettty45]

Thanks again for doing this. I love reading your posts

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

 

 

Are you living in Arizona and if so where? By any chance are you doing the Grand Asia Cruise this fall? There are several from AZ going on that cruise and we are getting together before the cruise tondo some excursion planning. Beth

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[WCB]

Report # 68 SailingTowards Singapore, Singapore March 8,2017 Wednesday Partly cloudy & 84 degrees

 

Why do we say Singapore, Singapore? Because it is an island city and a state allin one small, powerful country. It is aneconomic superstar with a whole lot of history.

 

The population is 4,658,000 people of many cultures thatspeak Chinese, Malay, Tamil, and English. All these folks reside in a total area of 269 square miles. Crowded, yes, but a most wonderful place tovisit. You may guess that this city isone of our most favorite stops on the world cruise.

 

Earliest records show a civilization in the 11th centurylived here, and it was still a small fishing village when Sir Stamford Rafflesarrived in 1819. Around that time, thesultan made a deal with the East India Company for Singapore to be a tradingpost with England. Eventually, Singaporewas under direct control of the British Crown in 1867.

 

The Japanese forces occupied this city during WWII, a verypainful period for them. British rulewas restored after the war. In 1965,Singapore separated from Malaysia, becoming an independent republic within theCommonwealth of Nations.

 

What you will find here now is a wealthy and vibrant city with people of multiplenationalities – a worldwide attraction. Andthe rules are strict. Bringing drugs andother illegal things into this country can be punishable by death. Lesser offences are dealt with by caning. Also not nice.

 

The best time to visit is from February to October,considered the dry season. However,being located so close to the Equator, rain and thunder storms can occur at anygiven moment.

 

There is so much to see and do here, it would take a monthto do it. But in two days, we could seemany museums, churches, temples, or mosques. They have them all. Actually, wehave seen them all, so our plan will include other attractions.

 

There are various markets, old and new. Fabulous over-the-top shopping malls can befound on Orchard Road, and even underground. You could shop forever, and never see the light of day. Also here to tour is Chinatown, Little India,and Arab Street to name a few. ClarkeQuay on the river is a great place for afternoon beer, perhaps after visitingJurong Bird Park or the Singapore Zoo. Definitestops for us will be the Singapore Botanical Gardens and the Marina Baycomplex, the newest attraction in town. If you have time the Night Safari Zoo is fun or a visit to try aSingapore Sling at Raffles Hotel. We heardthat parts of the hotel may be closed due to a restoration project. However, you can spend a day on SentosaIsland and the amusement park by taking the monorail or the gondola ride overthe harbor.

 

Speaking of harbors, we will not be in the usual one at theHarbourfront Mall. For some unknownreason, we will be docked at the Marina Bay Cruise Center, because we suspectanother ship has our spot for the next two days. Wonder if it is the Pacific Princess? We will have to go there and check it out.

 

Our day was closer to our regular routine today, since thesun was out and it actually warm enough to put the swim suits on again. The rest of the regular sun worshipers werealso on the aft deck, either swimming in the Seaview pool or relaxing on thelounges like us. Being able to read abook while taking in the warmth of the sun was wonderful. It was much warmer than two days ago, but notunbearable yet. There was enough of abreeze to keep us comfortable.

 

We ended up staying much longer than we planned, since wehad some company….friends who came back to chat with us until after 3pm. Good thing we had gobs of sunscreen, sinceour tans have faded quite a lot since we last did this. In fact, it must have been around the time wemissed Saipan on February 8th that we last came back here…exactlyone month ago. Gosh the time is flying…….

 

Lunch was room service salads and a split sandwich whileanswering emails. We went up to deckfive to listen to the band, and visit with folks passing by on their way todinner. Sometimes that is the only wayto visit with the early dining friends we know. They are on a whole different schedule than us, and that means our pathsdon’t always cross.

 

Dinner for us tonight was with friends Bill & Leta. They have a table for four, and invitefriends every now and then. It is alwaysa pleasure sharing a meal with them as we catch up on news. We are also free to talk about all theforbidden subjects at a large table…….namely politics. We think that is one reason we bonded back in2002, when we first met on another cruise. Been good friends ever since.

 

After dinner, we all went to the front desk to pick up ourpassports, which have the landing cards in them for Singapore. When we go off the ship, we are required tocarry our passports with us in Singapore. We had intended to get some Singapore dollars at the front desk as well,but the “bank” had closed, so we would need to do this tomorrow. We could wait until we get into the terminal,but since this will be our first time at this terminal, we are not sure wherethe money exchange is. Sometimes it is not worth searching onshore,when we can buy the money on the ship. Sure there is a fee, but it is not that bad…it can be worth theconvenience.

 

Our tablemates filed past us and said hi. Some of them were on their way to the Queen’sLounge to watch the show of Sun, the young singer, and David Meyer, who performedlast night. We heard that the night wewent to the Pinnacle Grill for dinner, the singer Sun joined our table. Everyone said she was delightful. If we had known she was coming, we may havecancelled dinner. Usually, these thingshappen at the last minute.

 

Got to rest up for Singapore tomorrow and the next day. Can’twait…..

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[easyboy]

Enjoying your review,

[WCB]

Report #69 Singapore, Republic of Singapore March 9, 2017 Thursday Partlycloudy & 89 degrees Part #1 Of 2 87 Pictures

 

One of the best places in the world has to beSingapore. And we have the pleasure ofspending two days exploring this neat city. It is also the only place we know of that you cannot bring chewing gumashore. Nor can you bring chewingtobacco, imitation tobacco products, pistols or revolver-shaped cigarette lighters,controlled drugs or psychotropic substances (not even sure what thoseare). Endangered species, firecrackers,obscene videos and articles, or knock-off videos are also not allowed. Offenders are subject to severe fines and/orincarceration. Sometimes….death. And they mean it.

 

Also, when going ashore here, you need passports with thestamped landing cards for the security check. And room keys of course. By law,we all needed to carry our passports with us while visiting here.

 

Now, the clincher…..we were docked in a very different porttoday. Located at Marina South Terminal,the Amsterdam was almost in the middle of nowhere as far as accessibility tothe malls we are always attached to. HarbourFront is our normal spot, right across from Sentosa Island, wherewe were connected to a huge series of malls. Most important, we were very close to the MRT, the underground transitsystem. Guess we were spoiled and didnot know it.

 

There was only one other time, no actually two times, thatwe were docked in the container port. But both times, a shuttle was run back to HarbourFront, where we alwaysgo. Today, at this different pier, wehad two options. One was taking acomplimentary shuttle to Millenia Walk Shopping Center, or walk 600 yards undera covered walkway in the heat to the red line of the MRT (North and SouthLine). We had been advised that thetourists passes could be purchased at this station. Well, that was incorrect. The 2 day Tourist Pass was not availablehere, so we had to buy a one-time card that would take us to a station that didsell them at a ticket office, manned by a real person. There were about five of these stations. We had to buy a ticket to HarbourFront, sincewe knew where the ticket office was located. Luckily these short ride tickets were available at a machine that was inEnglish with good instructions. By theway, the ticket offices were opened at 8am to 4pm at all locations.

 

Since this stop was the end of the line, we had no problemfinding the train. We would have to transferat Dhoby Ghaut and go on the purple line to HarbourFront. All of this took time, and we were mostannoyed that we all had to do this to buy our 2 day passes. Not only that, it would be difficult forthose passengers that would be using canes, walkers, or wheelchairs, if notimpossible to follow this path, especially in this oppressive heat andhumidity. Anyway, that is our 2 centsworth. Obviously, the Amsterdam had beenbumped by another ship, and we lost.

 

Did we mention that another cruise ship was also dockedacross from us? We certainly did notrealize that until we got mixed up with so many passengers disembarking insidethe terminal. It was like anotherbeehive of folks lining up to pass through security and the xray going intoSingapore. In this city, you have to gothrough exiting the ship, as well as getting back on. Like everything else in Singapore, securityis extremely tight. Anyway, the ship wasthe Norwegian Star, a 91,740 gross ton vessel, holding as many as 2,846passengers. Built in 2001, the ship isdescribed as a family-friendly, multi-choice vessel for active types.

 

Finally with our bargain MRT cards, a deal at $16 Singaporedollars and a $10 S deposit (returnable), we could ride these trains non-stopfor two full days. So for a little over$11 USD, we got a great value for our two day stay. So we began our journey today by going toChinatown on the purple line. We neededa couple of pocket calculators, and we found them here in Chinatown. You knowthey are hard to find, since everyone and their brother has one built intotheir cell phones. That is, except us.One of us really liked the Maneki Neko, the Japanese beckoning luck cat. You know the sitting cat that waves his left pawup and down (battery operated). It was easyto find a small one for $5 Singapore, and the vendor even put a new batteryinside the box for us. What abargain. This little gold kitty will bea reminder of our fun time in the Orient, as we have seen them ever since westopped in Japan, as well as all through China.

 

Chinatown was originally created to house the Chinesepopulation in the early days. Now it isa busy multicultural area where we found markets quite similar to the veggie,meat, poultry and fish markets in Hong Kong. We felt like we were back in the Chinese cities we recently toured. At People’s Park, there is a cafeteria-stylefood court where we watched while fresh dumplings were being made by hand. Some cooks were crimping them with a plastic “crimper”,while others were pinching the dough with their fingers, leaving a special markon them identifying their ingredients. Many stalls had the finished glazed chickens and ducks hanging in thewindows, while other places had a full array of Chinese food in tubs,buffet-style, that we have come to enjoy here on the ship. This time of the morning, folks were busyslurping noodles for their breakfast. Thinpancakes were being grilled, but filled with veggies and meat. They were folded in half, and eaten liketacos. Steamed buns were for sale by thetons…the purple ones were made with purple sweet potato dough.

 

Next stop was further up the line at Little India, where wewent mainly for colorful photos. It ishome to many shops selling spices, snacks, saris, glittering jewelry, Indianclothing and purses, and brassware. Determined not to buy any fabric, we strolled through our favorite shop,mostly to cool off from the heat. Naturally, the shop girl was folding saris for a table that would be ½ off. One of them was MY color, and gorgeous. And on sale. And since one of us forgot to pack a sari for the gala Mumbai night,this one will work just fine.

 

On the way back to the MRT, we looked for a money changer,but only noticed that there were pawn shops every other store. We had left over yen from Japan, and the bestway to exchange it directly, is here. Onthe ship, they will change it back to the US dollars, then make another commissionselling you the Singapore money for instance. We are getting better at this, although we still resist using an ATMcard while overseas. Only in anemergency.

 

We walked through Tekka Center where locals were deep intoeating lunch…all Indian cuisine, fast-food style. Located there is the Wet Market, with aveggie market and meat and fish stalls. Took a bunch of photos as we made our way back towards the station.

 

One last stop was at a jewelry stall, where we purchased a 3piece set of gorgeous “diamonds”. Dripping in “bling”, but at an affordable price.

 

Next stop….the Botanic Gardens of Singapore. We got there by taking the blue line fromLittle India to the Botanic Garden stop. We love walking this park, but realized that it was getting later in theafternoon, and perhaps we could come back tomorrow…early, to enjoy it. Besides, it had to be near 100 degrees out,without a breeze. So we headed back tothe MRT, going down the escalators like moles. By the way, it is almost always cooler down there. One thing we observed, is that the streetsare not overly-crowded, since most everyone stays inside the malls, which areeither in tall high rises, or underground several levels. By using the MRT, you never need to gooutside at all, if you choose.

 

Lunch was on the agenda, and the best place we know is theHard Rock Café at the Orchard stop, the red line, which we accessed by goingback on the blue line. Once we went outto Orchard Road at Wheelock Place from the mall, we ran right into friendsShirley and Jack. What are the odds thatin a city of millions of people, that we would cross paths with ourbuddies? They were able to point out amoney changer as well, where we exchanged yen for Singapore dollars. Easy, and way cheaper than on the ship.

 

It was a short walk to the HRC, where we gladly ordered CokeZero (re-fillable for free), nachos, and a burger to share. Also added a sliceof mud pie to split. It was wonderful relaxing in this fun setting. Three waitresses were waiting on us, andloved hearing about our journey so far. Wecome here every time we are in the city, and always get the best food andservice in town, even though prices are about the highest of anywhere else wehave gone so far. Usually we buy a city tee, but the design was the same aslast year. We decided to wait and getone next year. Time was flying, and we wanted to make one more stop before goingback.

 

So we continued on the red line to City Hall to see forourselves what was happening at Raffles Hotel. We heard they were under renovations, and much of it was closed to the public. Well, they were correct. Only the Billiard Room was opened forSingapore Slings (about $25 Singapore), and the restaurant for afternoon teawas opened. Also only one store wasopened, Raffles Shop, but few folks were in there. A sign said that the new hotel will berevealed mid-2018.

 

Back on the red line, we took the train to Marina Bay, theend of the line. But we needed to gofurther to Marina South Pier, so had to wait for the next train at a differentplatform. We got back to the terminal after 4pm, goingthrough the same security, only in reverse, as we did this morning. Exhausted, one of us worked on reports whilethe other downloaded all the photos of the day.

 

Thinking we may be alone at dinner tonight, we were happy tosee the two fellows, Barb, and a guest, Carol, or watercolor instructor on theship. We have known her for years, andshe has always been a frequent guest at our table over the years. Food was good too, especially the mud pie,which was mislabeled as calypso torte. Hadto give it a try, just for a test. Yep,mud pie, and the second one of the day, no less. Oh well, someone has to do it. Carol agreed, so she gave her vanilla icecream away to Martin, and also ordered mud pie….loved each and every bite. Our entrees were one Indonesian (risjtafel?)and one BBQ pork with skewered shrimp and noodles (Chinese). Both excellent as was the company. As always, we all shared our exploits of thefirst day in Singapore.

 

There was a one- time local show at 8pm in the Queen’sLounge, Singapore Music and Dance. Unfortunately, we missed it because it was our dinner time. Maureen and Jim will have to tell us aboutit, since they opted to eat earlier, and go at 8pm. Sometimes, the timing of these shows cannotalways please everyone. Would have beennice at 7pm, but what do we know? Thebest show had to be the view of Marina Bay at night and the ferris wheel thatwe enjoyed while eating in the lower dining room tonight. Priceless…..

 

Looking forward to another day in Singapore. Too bad all aboard will be 5pm.

 

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[MMDown Under]

Thanks for taking me back to Singapore. Like you, I love Singapore and used to be a regular visitor en route to London.

 

What a find - a sari in your colour and half price! I hope it brings you joy when you wear it.

[WCB]

Report # 70 Singapore, Republic of Singapore Match 10, 2017 Friday Partly cloudy & 89 degrees Part # 1 of 3 86 Pictures

 

During breakfast this morning, we noticed that a new shiphad docked on the opposite side of the terminal. It was the Mariner of the Seas, a 137,276gross ton vessel with 3840 passengers. Christened in 2004, the Mariner (RCI), isdescribed as a large resort ship for family-friendly casual cruising. Kind of made us look small in comparison, asthe Amsterdam is a little under 63,000 gross tons. And at the moment we arewell under 1400 passengers. It appeared that the Mariner of the Seas wasdisembarking guests, and beginning with a new itinerary with new guests. Around 5pm, we saw the ship leave the dockand head out to sea.

 

Since all aboard was 5pm today, we had to leave as early aswe could to squeeze in the places we wanted to see today. Since it was a Friday, we waited until thebulk of the commuters would be on their way to work. So we left the ship around 9:30am, and headedoff for the MRT. There was a nice breezeblowing today, and we hoped it would be a bit cooler than yesterday.

 

We had a long wait for the train to come, as not all of themwill go to this end of the line stop. Itdid provide an opportunity to visit with some new friends, and share info onyesterday’s exploits. We had met anothercouple yesterday that went to the Chinatown MRT ticket office to purchase the 2day tourist pass, only to be told they had run out of tickets. Checking the list we were handed yesterday,we counted 9 possible MRT offices that sold the special passes. The best passes are the white ones that giveyou unlimited MRT train rides, but without the connecting buses. The prices were a 1 day pass for $10Singapore, a 2 day pass for $16 S, and a 3 day pass for $20 S. All these tickets had an extra $10 S(refundable) deposit. We realized thatwe had been paying for a higher amount card (the red one), and never used anybuses that were included. The problemwas that not all of these nine stations sold both types of cards. Strange thing - we were advised yesterday thatwe had to go to another station, which for us was at HarbourFront by choice. A lucky guess for us, as we bought the rightcards. Today, there was a sign posted atMarina South Pier office saying they only sold the red cards, a sign that wasnot there yesterday. Perhaps theyprovided some cards to sell here, since our ship was in port for two days. Guess we will never know. But something we know for sure, is that therewere some very unhappy campers yesterday.

 

A larger group had begun to form for the ride to the BotanicGarden. Since most all of them had notbeen there before, they asked if they could follow us. So we were like the Pied Piper, leading thisgroup, hopefully the right way. It wasthe red line to the blue line, and off at Botanic Garden. However, it did involve going up escalators,around and about the card gates, and back down two levels to find the blue linegoing the right way. We had done ityesterday, so everyone stuck close as not to get lost. All you have to do is follow the signagealong with the map in a booklet, and you are OK.

 

Have we mentioned that all of these trains are unmanned….nodrivers, except for people-operated computerized panels with cameras as the navigators? When the red lights begin flashing, signalingthat the doors will close, you better be clear of them. Sometimes they are opened and closed withinone minute, so you need to move quickly, and follow what the locals do.

 

We all made it to the gate at the Botanic Gardens, and offwe all went. Spending two hours here, wefound our way from the Bukit Timah Gate through the trellis garden, thebougainvilleas and bamboo collection, and the eco garden past the herbs andspices. Near the parking garage, we sawa new place called Bee’s Knees, a spot for tea and coffee, we think. Cute name, it is a phrase our parents used tosay many, many years ago.

 

Continuing to the visitor’s center and park headquarters, wefollowed the main road to the Symphony Lake. On the way there, we saw some folks lookinghigh into the canopy of the trees. Eventually, we saw what they had spotted…..afish owl. It was perched up so high, youcould barely see it. Did cause a littleback-up with other folks curious to see what we were looking at.

 

Taking the long way around the lake, we went down to see theturtles and fish in the waters. On thebackside of the pond, we saw a few monitor lizards crawling around thebanks. Then looking harder, we saw onemonitor that had to be at least six feet from head to tail. A big one. Almost did not look real, until he blinked his eyes and puffed out hisneck. Had we not been looking, we would have strolled right past him as he was partiallyhidden along the grassy banks of the pond.

 

A bit further up, we saw a group of young ladies posingclose to the water. One cute girl hadbent over too low, and lost her white cap in the murky pond. When we came upon them, they were all tryingto figure out how to get her hat before it went under. Looking for a stick, we handed one girl afoot long branch, which was all we could find. They keep this park so manicured, there is no litter around. Not even green litter. Just as the girl went to grab her hat, a hugecatfish appeared and grabbed her hat and her fingers, scaring her todeath. You could not see it coming. We were all laughing so hard, that a parkworker came running with a long pole and net, and scooped her hat out. She was most happy to get it back. Well, that was fun.

 

Located nearby, was the famous National Orchid Garden, whichwe never miss when we visit here. Itcost one Singapore dollar for a senior’s ticket. Good way to use up the loose change we hadcollected. There are over 1000 speciesof orchids and 2000 hybrids. Needless tosay, we spent an hour in here alone, taking many photos. The best spot in the garden is the CoolHouse, where you go through double doors into a mountain-like setting, manydegrees cooler than outside. The plantsand orchids in here represent what you may find at higher elevations in a mistytropics.

 

Across from the Cool House, was the Tan Hoon Siang MistHouse, not really a house, but a netted display with overhead misters. It is designed with tropical foliage withdisplays of new orchid cultivators and award-winning species. Last year, we came upon two naughty smallsquirrels that had gotten under this netting, invading the plants. They are known to dine on these exoticflowers, so we figured they would be gone by now.

 

To our surprise, after exiting the display, we spotted twoof the squirrels scurrying up the pine and palms. Perhaps they have a nest here, and are not asdestructive as we originally believed them to be. They are so quick, we lost their path within aminute.

 

We knew we had to move on, so we back-tracked to the gate wehad entered, and went back down to the train. Pizza sounded good to us (what a surprise), so we went to the CaliforniaPizza Kitchen at the Orchard Road stop. It was very near the Hard Rock Café. Today we ordered a margarita pizza with one root beer, and one icedlemon tea. Sure was nice having ourglasses filled complimentary, since it was also hot today.

 

After lunch, we asked where the restrooms were. Our waiter said go out the back, turn left,and turn right at the end of the lane. Ever since our cute little waitress in the Pinnacle Grill admired my newdesigner purse from Hong Kong, we have been on the lookout for the “real” thing. Found it on our way to the restrooms. The store was named Bao Bao Issey Miyake, anew one for us. Pricing a similar bag,we were shocked to see that the prices were between $430 to $530 or $305 to$376. Wow. Now I really like my new purse that I simply boughtbecause I liked the colors of silver and red.

 

Figuring we still had enough time to stop at Marina BaySands Hotel and Shopping Mall, we headed that way on the red line. It was on the way back to the pier, but notso easy to access. We had to go to MarinaBay, then transfer to the gold line to Bayfront. There we saw the massive mall, the huge hotelwith the Skypark on the roof, and a view of the Singapore Flyer, the Merlionfacing Marina Bay, and the 250 acre Gardens by the Bay across the way. There was only time for some pictures, thenwe had to go back to the Marina South Pier stop to get back to the terminal.

 

Going out the last set of gates, we turned in our passes andgot the $20 S deposit back. All of ourrides for two full days had ended up costing us a tad over $11 USD each. A bargain, considering how expensive the ship’stours in Singapore are. We like this so much better, because we callthe shots, and our time is our own.

 

After passing through the final immigration check, we gotback on the ship, but did not surrender our passports as requested at **********. We had to put the other passportwe carry with the India visas in them back with our current passports. No problem bringing them to the front deskpeople, who gave us the receipt for them. Later, closer to 6pm, well before the planned sail away time, severalnames were called for guests to bring their passports to the front desk, or else. The Singapore officials would not release uswithout everybody accounted for.

 

We spent the rest of the time in our room , which was notlong, since we wanted to go up to deck eight before the sun went down. Few people were there because the scheduledsail away was in the Crow’s Nest at 7pm. Eventually, after calling several more folks to bring their passports tothe front desk, the ship left before 7pm. We are now heading towards Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, arriving earlytomorrow morning. This is one time wewished for a few sea days to rest up.

 

Carol, the resident water color teacher had joined us onceagain for dinner. First time we have hadsuch a full table in a long time, and even though we were all exhausted, we didhave a nice meal together.

 

Doubt many of us will go to the show of a singer by the nameof Clare Langan, who was going to sing music from the Beatles and beyond. Perhaps we will catch her the next timearound.

 

Sorry to end our stay in Singapore….the time always go byway too fast.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[WCB]

Report #71 PortKlang, Malaysia March 11, 2017 Saturday 90 degrees & chance of rain Part #1 Of 2 87 Pictures

 

This morning we woke up in another Asian country…..Malaysia. The capital is Kuala Lumpur, with apopulation of over 1 million. The totalpopulation in the country is 25,716,000 people, who speak mainly BahasaMalaysia. Total square miles are 127,321,however it is split into two different areas. Peninsular Malaysia has huge cities, forests, and fringing islands. East Malaysia is on the northern half ofBorneo island. They are famous forrainforests, a haven for orangutans and lost native tribes.

 

A true melting pot, Malaysia also have Indian and Chinesecultures tightly woven into their society. It has been decribed as a “steamy” colonial country where the heavyhumid air hangs over the mainland cities of Penang, Melaka, Kuala Lumpur. The contrast to this is Malay Borneo, aplayground for divers, trekkers, and explorers.

 

The best time to visit is May through September mostly for abetter chance of seeing clear skies.

 

Things to see are the Petronas Towers and the walkway that linksthem together half way up. It was famousafter a popular movie was filmed there several years ago. Think it was a Bondmovie. Besides this set of towers, theyalso boast the KL building. The tea plantationsare a must to see, as are the colonial grandeur and dragon tiled temples ofPenang. They also have the bestChinatown with bustling shops and restaurants.

 

Things to do include staying in a longhouse on Borneo’s BatangRejang River. Or how about diving withsharks and turtles on the reefs of Sipadan? You can enjoy a tropical island experience at Pulau Perhentian of Pulau Langkawi. That’s where our camera was made inoperable dueto the extreme humidity, while filming fish eagles diving for chicken bits on ariver boat trip. Totally shut the cameradown, making it necessary for us to locate a new lens somewhere in South Africa.

 

A visit to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centersounds exciting. A trip we would like todo someday, after hearing about it from someone who did it several yearsago. Perhaps the next time the shiptravels near Indonesia, which it did not this year.

 

If nothing else, you could visit the 66 modern malls inKuala Lumpur alone. The shoppingexperience could find you buying either knock-off designs, or the real thing. Luxury boutiques carry the finest silks,traditional batiks, silver jewelry, Chinese medicines, or wood carvings. At Royal Selangor Visitor Center, you cantour the factory and see the production process. It includes the casting, filing, polishing,soldering, hammering, and finally, the engraving. There is a shop for souvenirs too. And you can see the largest beer mug in theworld, which sits outside at the entrance to the center.

 

What is there to eat? A treat for the locals is nasi lemak, a coconut rice steamed in bananaleaves. Or try flat bread with a currydipping sauce called roti canai. For aspecial drink, try the Tarik, a pulled tea with condensed milk. There is also tuak, a rice wine fromBorneo.

 

Trademarks are the Petronas Towers, orangutans, densejungles, logging, colonial relics, and hawker food.

 

A random fact is that Malaysia is home to the world’slargest flower, the Rafflesia, a foul-smelling bloom up to three feet indiameter.

 

Ship tours ran from 4.5 hours to 8 hours, and cost $60 to$135, rather affordable for a change. Onour first visit here on the Seabourn Sun, we had the best guide, who happenedto be a Sikh. He explained thedifferences between Sikhs and Muslims, which was very informative. We learned he had never cut his hair, and itwas tradition to wrap it up in a turban. Much the same as the doormen at Raffles we saw yesterday.

,

Since we have been on tours to Kuala Lumpur (three of them),we chose to take the complimentary shuttle later this morning. It took guests to the Aeon Bukit TinggiShopping Center, about a 30 minute drive away from the pier. The buses ran from 9:30am to 4:30pm. The last time we were here, a few years ago,we did the same thing, and happened to find some pretty good pizza. So that was our plan for today as well.

 

Two days trekking through Singapore had left us a bit wipedout, so today, we were in no big hurry to get up early, and go at itagain. A nice breakfast was enjoyed inthe dining room first, then some computer work in an effort to finisheverything from our two fabulous days in Singapore. We had assumed that some passengers left theship at the last stop, but after asking Endrien, we discovered that no guestshad left….only crew members, whose contracts were up. It was not a designated segment. Quite a number of stateroom and dining roomstewards look new to us, although the rumor has it that fewer replaced thosewho went home. Continued stories say that many of these crew members are leavingHAL, taking jobs with other cruise lines instead. We do know for a fact that several familiarHAL fellows turned up on the Disney Cruise we took a few years ago (PanamaCanal re-positioning). They had left becausethey could get a shorter contract, four months at a time, and better pay andperks. Can’t say we blame them, sincefour months is a long time away from their young and growing families.

 

Not sure we mentioned that a couple of folks had missed theship while we were in Hong Kong. Theyhad to fly to Singapore to rejoin the ship, spending those extra days at ahotel, we assume. The ships waits for noone, except maybe ship tours and the Captain. This is definitely not the first time we have seen this happen.

 

Right before we headed out at 11am, a delivery of President’sClub gifts arrived. One 30 inch tallflower arrangement has been added to the fresh one we still have, and 14bottles of vitamin water were brought to us by Nestor. We thought it strange that he took a moment totake a photo of the water bottles and the card with our name on it with hiscell phone. Wonder if they have hadproblems with people complaining about the numbers delivered? The only problem we have had is with the datesof expiration. Upon checking, these aregood to May 2017.

 

The complimentary shuttle took us to the Aeon Bukit TinggiShopping Center, the same place we had been to. It is one of the 66 plus modern malls that you can find around the KualaLumpur area. The only thing is that theonly money they accept, besides credit cards, is Malaysian ringgit, at 4.44 tothe $1 USD. From what we calculated, wegot some good deals with that exchange rate.

 

There was a money changer on the second level, and we hadSingapore dollars left over to exchange. No problem. Something we havebeen noticing, is that when the conversion cards had been printed back at theend of 2016, the rates may have been higher. Now, the USD is stronger, enough that when we buy other foreigncurrencies, we have not lost hardly a nickel in the process. Not so if you do this on the ship. They will buy back the foreign money, butconvert it back to USD. Then you can buythe next country’s money with the US dollars, paying the fees again. We are learning how this works finally, andare certain we can find money exchangers everywhere we go. In addition, the ship has a time limit onbuying back your left over foreign money. If you miss the deadline, you are out of luck here. That happened to one man, who was not happythat he had a large amount of Hong Kong dollars, and was refused the chance tosell them back. Understandable, the shipis only a temporary convenient bank, not the same as land-based companies. Of course, they deal with the USD all of thetime.

 

A funny thing happened while in the money changer line. A fellow was listening to us talk about theship’s exchange, and he agreed, but also added he worked for HAL. Arriving to Singapore a few days ago, he saidthe airlines had lost all of his luggage, and he happened to be packing chewing gum and cigarettes. He claimed he had two choices when confrontedabout the infraction. One was a $1000Singapore fine with jail time, or sign a paper saying he would never enter thecountry with such contraband. He instantlysaid, hand me a pen. Fast. Now thinking back on this, we wonder if hewill show up on stage, as possibly a comedian, and this will be part of hisact? Time will tell.

 

What does the world have in common that ties us to eachother? Shopping malls. Every high end shop and boutique, andfamiliar restaurant chains can be found in most every mall throughout the world,we think. This shopping center had itall on four or five levels, including a gigantic supermarket.

 

After walking to find the money changer, we strolled pastall of the stores, window-shopping only. The prices were not outrageous, and it was apparent when we saw many ofour crew members with bags full of their purchases. Our best deal was lunch at Vivo Pizzeria,where we dined once before. Get this…..a14 inch thin-crust margarita pizza with two large sodas for the equivalent of$11.34, including taxes and service charge. Wow. Other restaurant choiceswere Indian, Chinese, Malay, Pizza Hut, and McDonalds among dozens of others. One fellow passenger said he had a hankeringfor a Big Mac, and indulged here. Happycamper…. he was lovin’ it.

 

We still had ringgit left over, so the best way to spend itwas in the grocery store. Guess what wesaw for sale? Tim Tams from Australia,no less. Picked up five packages, whichwill last until May for sure. For morehealthy room snacks, we purchased some blocks and wheels of cheese. Not sure if there would be extra tax, we stillhad some more money left. So we wentback for Snickers and a soda, leaving us one ringgit in change. How fun was that?

 

The shuttle bus was waiting at the drop-off, and once weboarded, it began to rain big time. Apassing shower, but heavy, making the rest of the guests run fast. Our timing had been perfect, byaccident. No doubt, this is the tropics,the “chance of rain” in the newsletter had been right on.

 

By the time we got back to the ship, it was cleared up, andwe actually saw the sun. The haze hadblown away. We spent the rest of theafternoon doing photos before we headed off to the sail away on deck eight aft. We had successfully gone floor-to-floor inthe cruise terminal without buying any souvenirs, which we heard were really goodbuys.

 

Thank goodness, there was a nice breeze blowing across theaft deck, or else we could not have stayed outside too long. All aboard was at 5:30pm, with the sail outof the area by 6pm. We would be headingnorthwesterly through the Straits of Malacca tonight and tomorrow. It is a place known for dangerous sailing,due to many pirates going after the cargo ships and tankers. However, we believe it is heavily protected byallied forces as well, out of sight, but there never-the-less. One good thing, we will be in the shippinglanes with many sightings of various vessels.

 

Dinner for us was at a table for four with friends Susie andWoody. Six of their tablemates had goneon overland trips, so that gives them a chance to dine with other folks for aweek or so. We had a wonderful timesharing our adventures of the past years we have sailed together. Many happy times.

 

The carpet-layers have been busy replacing well-worn areas ofthe ship. Namely, the aft stairwell. Itlooked so much better seeing the elevator landings and stairs covered in newdark blue and beige carpeting….spongy under our shoes. About time….

 

Some familiar fellows took the stage tonight with hits fromthe Temptations, Four Tops, Nat King Cole, and Lionel Richie to name afew. They were familiar, because theysat across from us on the shuttle this morning. Most definitely, they were fromEngland, judging from their accent.

 

The clocks went back one hour tonight….so welcomed byeveryone.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[easyboy]

Things to see are the Petronas Towers and the walkway that linksthem together half way up. It was famousafter a popular movie was filmed there several years ago. Think it was a Bondmovie. Besides this set of towers, theyalso boast the KL building. The tea plantationsare a must to see, as are the colonial grandeur and dragon tiled temples ofPenang. They also have the bestChinatown with bustling shops and restaurants.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

The walkway connected between the two towers is really one of the amazing structural engineering works.

[NordicPrince]

You're not only world travelers but you're a lot more adventurous on where you eat pizza. I limit myself to Italy, New York and Chicago lest my Italian grandfather come back and bop me on the head.

 

Enjoying and following.

[WCB]

Report #72 SailingTowards Colombo, Sri Lanka March 12,2017 Sunday Partly cloudy & 85 degrees 14 Pictures

 

If it is Sunday morning at sea, it is brunch in the diningroom. Not that it affects us, because wego at our regular breakfast time anyway. The only difference on today’s menu is that ifyou come at 11am, you get order some breakfast items as well as lunch entrees. Not asbig a deal as the Sunday buffet brunch that was offered before, when you couldget some nice seafood, according to Barb, who never missed it. Since we are not particularly fond of a lot ofseafood, we usually stick to the bacon and eggs.

 

Today as we sail north, we are traveling in the Strait ofMalacca, full of ship traffic. We spentthe major part of the day relaxing at the aft pool. It was warm, but also quite windy. Despite using tons of sunscreen, one of useither got sunburned or wind burned. Pretty much the same result……rosy cheeks. Oh well, reading a good book while outsidewas worth it. Never get the chance to dothis at home. We lost count of the shipsthat passed us going in both directions.

 

Bill had taken a walk, while I was working on thecomputer. He had the pleasure of seeinga pod of energetic dolphins flying into the air in the distance. Figures….no camera. Just had to enjoy it while it lasted. Come to think of it, we have seen very littlesea life this trip. The last bigsighting was when we left Honolulu in January.

 

Lunch was room service around 3:30pm. Tried to keep it light, since dinner would beearly this evening. Captain Jonathon andhis staff had sent a reminder that dinner would be served in the Pinnacle Grillat 6pm for another set of full cruise passengers. We had the best table, because we arrange forour same group to dine with Peter, the purser, as we have done for severalyears now.

 

Upon entering the room, we paused for a few seconds to begreeted by the Captain, and have our photo taken with him. Then we were all seated at one of the windowtables that seats up to five guests. This was perfect, because we all get to sit in the chairs, instead ofthe bench seating. If you have a badback, it can become torture after sitting there too long. Even 10 minutes can be too long.

 

The meal began with a Snoqualmie Chardonnay from WashingtonState. We toasted to yet another worldcruise spent together, then we were served the first course of a crab appetizerwith caviar and crostini. One of us hasa shellfish allergy, so a vegetarian appetizer was substituted.

 

A creamy green asparagus soup followed. It was sprinkled with the tiniest bits ofprosciutto and drizzled with truffle oil. Quite delicious we may add. Instead of a green salad, we were served atomato dish with sliced cherry tomatoes with goat cheese, wild rice, andbasil. Again, very good.

 

The main was a beef tenderloin that had been rolled in herbsand pepper. It was a bit under cooked,but tasted fine. There was what wethought to be a potato stick, but it turned out to be deep-fried risotto with acreamy mozzarella on the inside. Thatwas the best. The plate was smeared withgreen pea puree, and dotted with some tiny vegetables. A mushroom gravy was served over themeat.

 

Finally, dessert was served…a red velvet cake with raspberryice cream and fruit leather. Tasty, anda good way to end the meal. But wait….itwas not over yet. Tina delivered a “hat”box to each guest. It was a set of six appetizer plates with various paintings ofHAL ships on them. They are not Delft,but are made in China. Peter said theywere good porcelain china, and each plate had the 2017 World Cruise Logo andDate printed on the backs.

 

We were back to our room 10 minutes after 8pm, but it hadnot been turned down for the evening yet. We should have remembered to put the “service please” tag in the door,as our room steward did not know we were gone. So we took a walk on the lower promenade deck and discovered that themoon was about full tonight. Seems thatthe haze that has plagued us since getting into Beijing, China, has left us, asthe skies were partly cloudy, but you could see stars. The moon was shining brightly in the water,just like the old time beer commercials we grew up with.

 

The only thing that could make tonight better was puttingthe clocks back another hour. Withdaylight savings time taking place in the USA, we figured were are only 11hours ahead of Pacific time now.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[jig]

Following you trip like I do every year. See you got Tim Tams in Malaysia. Were they the real ones made in Australia or the fake ones from Indonesia ?

 

 

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[dchip]

You two have the ability to make your travels come alive. The orchid photos were amazing! Also, the crane you captured in flight was an awesome image!!

 

Cheers, Denise and Howard

[WCB]

Report # 73 SailingTowards Colombo, Sri Lanka March 13,2017 Monday Partly cloudy & 84 degrees

 

Never thought we would see any more dolphins, but we didthis morning. What a way to begin theday while making our way towards Sri Lanka. This time, we noticed a couple of medium-size flying fish, then a fewdolphins swimming under the bow of the ship, obviously chasing those fish. Since they never broke the surface, no oneelse saw them. Sometimes stopping tocatch your breathe can reveal some nice surprises.

 

We spent another nice, relaxing afternoon at the SeaviewPool. The wind was a bit strong, but itdid keep us comfortable. It has beennice using our spray bottle that we have filled with ice water forspritzing. Usually, we take a dip in thepool, but with so many people down with the super-bug cold virus, we hesitateeven sharing pool water. Been noticingthat the water has a tint of green, and is probably due to be changed.

 

Barb joined us for a while, and we caught up on cruise news. Later on, Ellen came by and shared somemore info, so we are never bored back there. As we are sailing in a shipping channel, we were surrounded once again withmany types of commercial vessels. Ourfriend Aart is a collector of ship photos, keeping track of the names andregistrations. They can be tracked allover the world. A ship that we seetoday, may end up in the Suez Canal or in the Mediterranean.

 

We caught up with Barbara H’s talk on Sri Lanka today. Sure brought back memories of our recentvisit there last year. That’s when wewent on an overland safari to see the leopards, the UNESCO World Heritage Siteof Galle, and a tour and overnight stay in Colombo. We flew to Dubai and re-joined the ship. Certainly hope that Sri Lanka is not going througha heat wave like last year. Staying inthe luxury tent was like going into a sauna. OK for a short time, but overnight for several evenings? Not so good. It was an adventure, however, that we will never forget, but in apositive way. Never saw so many leopardsin the wild before, so it was well worth it.

 

Due to popular demand, we see that the movie shown in theWajang Theater has a description now. Onthe other hand, we need to log our objections to totally foreign films beingshown in the theater as well as on TV. These are not even dubbed, but spoken in Chinese. Dubbed are bad enough, because it is next toimpossible to read the lines on the small TV’s in our rooms. It has been recommended to us to discuss thiswith the cruise director. But from past experiences,we think the better way to go is writing it on the new “as we go” cards thatget turned in to the Seattle office.

 

We have heard that there is a large group onboard that hasreserved the Wajang Theater on sea days for early afternoon lectures. This travel group has their own privatelecturers onboard for their group. Neverheard of this before, but we are sure that many folks that liked the 2pm movieslot are not happy campers.

 

Tonight was another gala evening for us, and everyone elseon the ship that cared to dress up. Thedecorations were bowlers and bumper shoots. You may say what the heck are those, as we did last year. We found out at breakfast this morning, whenwe found the bumper shoots or umbrellas were decorating the ceiling. Appeared at first that there were leaks inthe ceiling. Nope, just the theme ofdinner tonight. It is celebrating thefact that we will be traveling to the Commonwealth Nations of Sri Lanka andIndia. The bowlers? They are the round British hats that theEnglish are fond of wearing. Each one ofus had either a silver or gold bowler.

 

It was nice to be back at our friendly table, and even moreso tonight as we had the florists, Eddy and Calista as our hosts. Sitting next to them was nice, since we areon the same page with being able to discuss gardening during the meal withthem. You will never find such talentedkids as them. They have continued theireducation, bringing new ideas each year with their creations. We shall try to take some more photos ofthese floral creations before we leave this area, since many of them are Asianin design.

 

We missed the show of the Wojciechowsky Trio last night, butthe singers and dancers were on this evening with a rousing show called That’sLife with music from Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. The crowd loved it, as most everyone is quitefamiliar with the swinging jazz of that era.

 

Tonight the clocks went back that odd ½ hour. Something we do in very few places of theworld.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

PS Konnie and Del……pleaseknow that we are thinking of you both. Getwell soon!

 

Barbara andOrlin – Singapore has got to be one of the best places to visit in the world,don’t you agree?

 

Bill H –English may be a second language in Singapore, since most everyone speaksit. Officially, we are not sure.

[jig]

English is THE official language of Singapore. All gov business is transacted in it. All signs are in English. Like on the metro English comes first then in smaller print you'll see Chinese. Malay. Hindi. And Tamil. I always say it's and English speaking country that no one speaks it. Within an ethnic group it will never be spoken. But inter group it's the only way as it's very very rare for someone to speak another ethnic groups language.

 

 

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[WCB]

Report # 74 SailingTowards Colombo, Sri Lanka March 14,2017 Tuesday Overcast, rain? & 81 degrees

 

Today started out much the same way as yesterday. Although, breakfast was a half hour earlierdue to the clocks being put back last night. Not one person complained, especially the waiters. They appreciate every minute that they canget, and most times, they wisely use it to sleep a bit longer.

 

At breakfast, we had the chance to ask Oscar, one of ourfavorite head waiters, about the absence of “formal” ice carvings that were alwayspresent in the entrances to both the lower and upper dining rooms. Cannot believe it took us so long to discoverthis, but while watching TV ship commercials on the new Koningsdam, beautiful icesculptures were shown for their “gala” evenings. Oscar confirmed our suspicionsthat the ice carver from the Philippines was no longer traveling on the worldcruise, as these niceties have been eliminated thus far. Since we had missed eight days during theMariner Appreciation Days, we were certain there may have been at least onenight with the usually fabulous lit-up sculptures. Nope, Oscar said no. Even further information from him, revealedthat even the crew that creates the vegetable and fruit carvings have beenreduced. Also, artists trained in thePhilippines. That is such a disappointment,and for whatever it is worth, we will write another as-you-go card, perhapsrequesting their return on the four grand voyages at the very least. Another reminder, as Bill & Leta said isthat the Signature of Excellence logo has bit the dust, replacing it with Savorthe Journey. Does that mean that it isall about the destination, and not the niceties we have come to know and loveon the HAL vessels?

 

Spending some quality time at the aft pool, we were lucky tospot some whale spouts in the far, far distance towards the shoreline of SriLanka. Thought we were seeing things fora minute, because we were the only ones to see this display. All the other sunbathers were sleeping or reading,so we kept quiet.

 

Many clouds were out today, and some of those were rainclouds. It did begin to rain heavily,but since we could see blue sky a couple of minutes ahead of us, we simplycovered our heads and stayed in it. The waterproof pool bag we pack is greatfor storing books, so nothing got wet. Just us, and enough for it to be wonderfully cooling. The decks and the two of us were dry withinminutes, once the sun came back out.

 

Listening to the Captain’s pm talk, he said the plan fortonight was to get to the pick-up point for the Sri Lankan pilot at 10pm. Then we would proceed to the docking atColombo, arriving several hours earlier than planned. A few groups will be going on four day, threenight overland tours from Colombo to India. Some booked with HAL, while other are going with travel agency tours andindependent groups. Guess their onlyflights to take tomorrow, will be at the ungodly hours in the early morning. We are guessing 2am? Further information, included that once theship is cleared with customs and immigrations, any passenger who wishes to goashore with the proper documents will be allowed off the ship. That will NOT be us, thank you.

 

We enjoyed a room service lunch, salads only. One of us was feeling under the weather, andtowards the evening, it was apparent we would not be going to our dinnertable. Hoping to feel better, we took awalk on the lower promenade deck at 4pm, to see more whales spouting closer toshore. You needed a good camera and lensto capture the moment, which was, of course, in our room. This time, many folks were enjoying theunexpected sight, some with cameras and others with binoculars. The walk did not help with the cold, darn.

 

Finding Ratno, we asked him to turn down the room. No problem. It was done right away., while we took a walk. While out on the deck, we watch a lighteningshow in the sky over the shoreline of Sri Lanka. Rain began to fall steadily by 7pm.

 

We were not sure if we could order items from the dinnermenu, as we could not find it printed in the new Orange Book in our room. A call to the room service staff settledthat, as they said yes, indeed, we could order whatever we wished as long as itwas before 9pm. Good thing, becausesplit pea soup was on the menu, along with the carne asada beef entrée. Itarrived in less than 30 minutes, with one order of what used to be calledGrandma’s chicken noodle soup with crackers and dinner rolls with butter. It was perfect, and not too much.

 

Hoping a good night’s sleep will help get rid of thiscold. By the way, since all of ourtablemates had already gone to the Crow’s Nest by 7pm, we placed a call to the front desk, asking if they could informthe dining room manager, Philip, that we would be absent tonight. Sure do hope they follow through.

 

Who were we missing in the Queen’s Lounge tonight? Comedian, Buzz Sutherland, who we have seenmany times on this ship. We arepositive, he was the one behind us in the money changer line in the shoppingmall in Klang. Hope someone goes to seehim, because we know he will use the line he gave us while waiting to getmoney. You know….the cigarettes andchewing gum in the lost luggage story. Got to admit, it is plausible…..

 

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[jig]

We were on the noordam and there are no more ice carvers. Also the florist was very candid. The flower budget gas been cut by about a third so they floral displays gave been cut as well. Did not realize he gets a weekly budget.

 

 

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[WCB]

Report #75 Colombo, SriLanka March 15, 2017 Wednesday Chance of Rain & 88 degrees Part #1 of 3 80 Pictures

 

Today’s port of call was Colombo, Sri Lanka, formerlyCeylon. The capital of Sri Lanka isColombo, and the population of the island country is 21,325,000 people. The total area is 25,326 square miles, andthe natives speak Sinhalese and Tamil. Much English is spoken as well.

 

The best time to visit is December to March to avoid themonsoons. Of course, much later in theday, we would get a taste of what a monsoon looks like.

 

Sri Lanka has had its troubles in the past. It is a country of political turmoil, evenwith the presence of Buddhist Temple throughout the island. In contrast to this, it is an island ofbeaches, cinnamon and tea plantations. Or jungles full of leopards in Yala National Park. They boast the highest density of leopards inthe wild than anywhere else in the world. We know, as we saw many of them while on safari last year.

 

You can see the Asian elephants at Pinnawela Orphanageeither by bus or train. We loved thetrain, even if it did take many hours to get there. You can also see the Temple of the Tooth inKandy, but only accessible by floatplane , a $2000 tour today. Been there, donethat, once was enough.

 

You can eat hoppers, pancakes made from fermented rice andcoconut milk. Or drink toddy, anotherfermented palm sap wine. Ceylon tea is amost sought after tea here.

 

Here is a random fact: Cinnamon was introduced to the world from right here in Sri Lanka. It has a recorded history all the way back to2000 BC.

 

We have been to Colombo numerous times, and have taken most allof the tours. Usually, we do a tour withour travel agency here, and the funny thing is that the local tour operatorsrecognized us from previous trips. Incredible.

 

Barbara H. gave some hints while visiting this country. Such as displays of affection, kissing orhugging, is not proper while here. Seatsin the front of the bus should be given to monks or priests if they arepresent. No photos of sensitivelocations, especially around the Fort area. Lastly, do not turn your back ona Buddha statue….no posing for photos in front of the Buddha either. OK to take a photo as long as all persons arefacing it.

 

So, what did we do today? No tours for us. This was thefirst time we ever attempted to walk out of the gates by ourselves. Never saw so many tuk-tuk drivers that wouldnot take NO thanks for an answer to their constant begging us to take a rideanywhere. The prices were all over the board…..one dollar, five dollars, tendollars. Don’t believe it. You can agree on one dollar or more, but whenyou get out, they will say $30. Here isa hint that has worked for us in the past. Have the driver write down his price on a piece of paper before you getin his vehicle. That way, he will have aharder time making it higher mid-stream.

 

Before we left the ship, we stopped at the front desk to seewhat the tour info folks from Colombo had available for tourists. One fellow handed us several colorfulbrochures and a handful of useful maps. You will never find a better place for information with fantasticphotos. So we had brochures on thewonders of Asia, their heritage, thrills (outdoor activities), festivals, andthe best, wild life.

 

Taking only a good street map of Colombo with us, we headedoff through the nearby gate to go exploring. The only thing I should have remembered taking was an umbrella, forpossible showers, yes, but more for blocking the unrelenting sun. It was a killer today. Good thing we took along a bottle ofwater. Once through the gate, we wentright, along Marine Drive. This waswhere we began to be approached by the taxi and tuk-tuk guys, who did not understandno, thanks. We would find out tomorrow,that we could have turned left, then found a stairway and overhead tunnel thatby-passed the Marine Drive fiasco, taking us back down near the Hilton Hotel,across from the Kingsberry Hotel. Now weknow for the next time we come here, which may be next year.

 

Even though we had not gone too far yet, one of us needed tocool down for a few minutes, So weducked into the Kingsberry. Before wewent up that street, we encountered a clean-cut Sri Lankan business man,well-dressed with a white shirt and tie. Well, we assumed he was a local businessman from the nearbyoffices. He flashed a badge that was ona neck lanyard, indicating that he was an official tourist guide. He claimed to be helping all the cruise passengerstoday, since another ship besides ours was in town…..the Norwegian Star. She had come here like us from Singapore, Malaysia,or even Thailand. Anyway, this fellowbegan telling us about a one day festival that was happening within the hour atthe Gangaramaya Buddhist Temple. Well,that caught our attention. He continuedsaying that it involved a procession of elephants with music and dancing. It would make for nice photos. But then, he offered to get us a taxi ortuk-tuk to take us there. He insisted itwas too far to walk, although we knew exactly where it was. And yes, we could have walked there. Also said that many vendors would be sellingthe precious gemstones there. Some aslow as $1.00. OK, what gives? We thanked him for the info, then continuedon our walk. Was this real or not? We would find out later.

 

As he walked in the other direction, another man dressed thesame, approached us with the same info. They must have been brothers. This time we just said, yes, we knew, and we might go and check it outlater. Now we did see some road blocksready to go up on Marine Drive, but there was the Presidential Secretariat onthis road, and some important officials were expected soon. The place was swarming with armed militarymen, so we did not question that something was going on.

 

We slowly walked the length of the Galle Face Green alongthe seawall, which faced the ocean. Onone side was a chance to film some water birds like Dalmatian pelicans, storks,cranes, and egrets. They were allforaging in the smelly fresh water streams going out to the sea. Must have been full of fish that we could notsee. This is the biggest concentrationof birds that we have seen so far on this whole trip.

 

Along the double seawall, we spotted someone with a coveredstraw basket. He asked us if we wantedto see the cobra snake, which we instantly said, no thanks. Made us walk even faster actually.

 

Signs posted on the water side said that it could be deadlyswimming here. There were many warning,like undertow, toxic water, or poisonous species in the surf. Not sure, we intended to ask someonelater. Towards the middle of thisstretch, we did see some fellows surfing and swimming. Guess they don’t read.

 

We began to pass green tents with vendors selling packagedsnack foods, drinks, and crabs. Onlyhalf of them were occupied. At the veryend, some were selling toys for the little ones.

 

Finally, we ended up at the Galle Face Hotel, an older iconiccolonial hotel. It had been underre-construction for several years, but it was finally finished. What a wonderful place to stop for a longlunch. We sat outside under the balconywith fans overhead, and a breeze blowing off of the ocean surf. Starting with ice cold Lion Lager and a soda,we waited for a club sandwich to share. The kind waiter, dressed smartly in a white jacket and black slacks, broughtus a bowl of real potato chips seasoned with a chili curry. Suddenly a chipmunk-sized squirrel waslooking at us from the railing….eye-to-eye. Got a good photo before he scurried off to high ground.

 

Bet we spent up to two hours here without feelingrushed. A few folks from the ship werehere as well, catching up on their computer work. Like most nice hotels, you can use their internetif you buy food and drinks. We do not dothat ever. Hate taking the computer offof the ship, so we use the ship’s network instead. A lot of our minutes are complimentary forbeing in the President’s Club.

 

During lunch, we asked our nice waiter about this festivalhappening today. He said whatfestival? He was not aware of any. WE explained what we had been told, and heasked us if these guys looked like businessmen with nametags. We said, yes, and he said to ignore them,since they are “touts”, a fancy name for hustlers that are digging up customersfor taxis and jewelry shops for a percentage of their sales. Now we get it, although further research backin our room, did indicate that a festival happens in March, where 100 elephantsare paraded during the day from a park, followed by a celebration at theGangaramaya Temple in the evening. It isa popular tourist attraction. It beganas recent as 1979, and does draw a big crowd. But today was not the day. Another thing we asked about was the danger in the ocean water. He claimed it was the undertow, but knewnothing of poisonous species. Thatremains a mystery.

 

Just as we were getting ready to leave, a ship tour groupentered the veranda. Happened to be alot of our friends on our agency’s tour. They were going to have an hour lunch here, which was a delicious buffetthat included wine, beer, soda or water. Looked like some of them were getting grumpy (they had not eaten for acouple of hours), so we said goodbye to our friends, and headed back towardsthe Oceanside.

 

If it was not so darned hot, we may have explored a bitfurther, but one of us was still fighting off this cold virus, so we took ourtime walking back. By now, there werekids flying kites and eating all that snack food.

 

Further up the road, we found that the barricades had beenput up, stopping traffic in both directions. Someone official was on their way to the government building there. Since that was our only way back to the ship,without going around Galle Face Green, we hoped we would not be stoppedtoo.

 

Following a group of four Sri Lankans, we slipped around thebarricades without anything said. However, one we stopped to take a photo of birds on the opposite side,we heard the guards start grumbling, we think, about letting all of usthrough. They may have closed off thataccess after we walk by. That’s when weremembered the warning about photographing police actions. Oops.

 

We got back to the ship, but not without being pesteredagain by the tuk-tuk guys. They nevergive up. Once through the gate, we wereOK. We had 420 rupee burning a hole inor pocket (a little under $3 USD). So wenegotiated a small sequined purse for the money. The young vendor had to ask inside his shopthree times before someone said OK. Thatwas our one and only souvenir of theday.

 

Cooling off in our room with a lot of water and sodas, webegan to catch up on computer and photo work. Sail away was set at 6:30pm, all aboard time. Funny thing happened while talking withMartin on the aft pool deck. A massivewall of black, black clouds had been forming in the sky. We assumed it was headed for the highestpoints on the island, but no. By 6:45pm,it began to drizzle, at which point, we all scattered for cover. Down on deck seven, the shower began inearnest, blowing water against the back windows and us. Having the good camera, we went down to six,which was just as bad.

 

OK, the last idea was go to deck three and find Jack andShirley. By the time we came out thedoor, the rain was torrential…..a solid sheet so intense, you could not seefive feet from the decks to the shore. We started hearing thunder, and soon we saw lightning. This was exciting, so we stayed with our friendsenjoying every minute. There was onlyone spot against the wall, and under a large lifeboat that was not wet. A giant lightning bolt let loose a thunderousexplosion, which sounded like a bomb. Musthave hit very nearby. Just by a miracle, we happened to get a shot of anotherlightning bolt right when it struck in the sky near the ship. Most times youcan only guess when and where the next strike will be, but for once, it wascaptured with one quick shot. This downpour continued for hours, causing alot of problems on the ship, we heard later. Needless to say, the sail away had been moved to the Crow’s Nest.

 

The Amsterdam was late in leaving. Instead of 7pm, it was closer to 8pm. Two tours were late in returning, and we hadto wait for the Norwegian Star to leave first. Good thing the tours were HAL ones, because they may not havewaited. Seems that the drivers had takenthe buses to the other ship by accident.

 

Jim and Maureen were absent tonight at our table. We heard later that he had gotten sick. We ordered the boneless ribs with mashedpotatoes, while watching the lightning happening on all sides of the diningroom. The rain got less, but the stormcontinued through the night.

 

The entertainers were the fellows of the Fly Rights, the Britishsingers. We were about dead, mostlydone in from the intense heat today, sowe missed the show.

 

Really looking forward to two days at sea, as we head forIndia.

 

Bill & Mary Ann