Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Dubai, UAE - Day 2



We were up and off the ship by about 9:30. It was POURING rain. We encountered a line for taxis that we hadn't expected. The day before the taxis had been lined up waiting for us. The Queen Victoria had arrived that morning, so they had even more passengers to deal with. We had to wait, in the rain, for about 20 minutes before getting into a cab.


We headed straight for Ski Dubai! That was on Mel's list from the time we first planned this trip. It seemed so strange to have a ski area in a desert. Of course we were in Dubai when it was cold and rainy, not that much of a difference!


We arrived at the Mall of the Emirates where Ski Dubai is. We went in to get Mel's lift ticket. Since hurting my back 6 years ago, I haven't skied and decided not to risk it there either. If I hurt my back again, there goes all our Africa ports! We were happy to discover that I could get a pass to ride the lift once, so I could see Mel ski and join him going up the hill. Included with my ticket was a long parka and boots. Included with Mel's tickets were skis, boots, jackets and snow pants. We brought our own gloves and hats, we were ready. This was funny...the day before the ship's hostess, Jackie, who has a cabin near ours, mentioned to Mel that she was going skiing. Mel asked if she had gloves or anything. She didn't, so borrowed mine. She'd borrowed a snorkeling mask in New Caledonia also. Glad I can help. She's a very nice young lady.


Once we were outfitted we went into the ski area. It was much larger than I'd imagined or seen in pictures. It's one of those places that you have to see to believe! The lift had seats for 4. There was also a small Snow Park with a "magic carpet" lift for those who were tubing. There was also a short course of some sort, snowboard or bobsledding?, not sure. I rode 1/2 way up, to the Avalanche Cafe in the middle of the hill. There I had hot chocolate with the music director from the ship. No matter the size of the city we're in, we always run into others from our ship. Mel took a couple of runs on the beginner hill then we both rode to the top. He got off, I stayed on to the bottom. We agreed to meet at 1, and I left for the mall. I did find a store that looked almost like Pier 1. Perfect to buy a few souvenirs. We shopped for a few minutes after we met up then found a taxi back to the ship. We had a tour scheduled for 3, so we were tight on time. We raced up to our cabin, then the Lido for a quick lunch, then back out to meet for our tour.


The tour was Arabian Nights Safari. We were divided into groups of 4 and led to Toyota Range Rovers. All the vehicles started out of town. We met at a gas station for a rest stop, then headed out into the desert. We went off road where they deflated the tires for a better ride thru sand and off we went. It was worse (better?!) than Indiana Jones at Disneyland. We went straight up, straight down dunes. We went down dunes going sideways, kind of scary. The desert is HUGE, filled with these dunes with some plants here and there. There were about 15 vehicles all following each other. Our driver would go off to the side once in a while, just for an extra thrill. Fortunately I was in the front seat so had good support for my back. Mel traded with me because I couldn't tolerate the woman's perfume in the back seat. She and her husband were delightful though and we had a great time with them. All the vehicles stopped in the middle of the desert for pictures, then back we went to the freeway. Across the freeway was a large enclosure full of camels. My first glimpse of them. We stopped at a camel farm. They were all eating out of a long trough, so all we saw were camel butts. Pretty funny. There must have been 50 of them.


Our last stop was a "camp". They had it set up with a number of activities. First was to ride a camel. Mel and I got on the same one. Sure was interesting when that thing got up and down again. It was a fun experience. Next was smoking water pipes. Huh? LOL They had light flavored tobacco in them. We passed, although I did get some pics reminiscent of my youth. There was a lady doing henna designs on your hands, I did that. There was also a place where you could dress in Arabian clothing. Since I feel it's demeaning to women in the first place, I avoided that area. We were served a buffet dinner, then sat inside straw cabins, sitting on cushions on the floor. The food was OK, not great. The atmosphere was very fun. It started pouring while we were eating. It cleared up just in time for the belly dancer who had a patio area in the middle of the camp. She was OK. We stayed at our table with a number of others who didn't venture out. We arrived back at the port at about 9:15. Long day!


During our 2 days, we talked to many people who lived and worked in Dubai. None of them were from Dubai. They were from India, China and the Philippines. Our driver for the safari was from India. He works 7 days a week for about 5 or 6 months, then goes back to his wife and new baby in India for 45 to 60 days. Almost like working on a cruise ship! We heard that many of these workers can't afford much rent so end up rooming with 3 or 4 in the same room. I don't think we ever met anyone who was actually from Dubai. All the buildings were new, and right along the coast, so one major highway. It was a strange, almost artificial country.


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Dubai, UAE - Day 1



Dubai is one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates on the Persian Gulf. It is the most populous and second largest after Abu Dhabi. With enormous construction and development in various industries, Dubai has attracted world-wide attention through innovative real estate projects, sports events, conferences and Guinness records. It is unusual in that its population is comprised mainly of expatriates, with UAE nationals constituting the minority. The government does not allow any form of naturalization or permanent residence to expatriates, however foreigners are permitted to purchase and own property without a local partner or sponsor.


We sailed into Dubai at about noon. It was nice to see a sail in for a change. They are usually so early in the morning that I miss them. Unfortunately it was overcast and misty, so it was hard to see the buildings on the shore. We had reservations for tea at the Burj Al Arab (the sail shaped hotel), so were dressed and ready to get off the ship as soon as it was cleared. I think we were about the 5th and 6th persons to leave! We checked out the shops in the temporary terminal they've set up while they are redoing the port. It's a tent and with the downpour, was a bit flooded, but OK. I mailed several postcards from the post office there.


We met with 2 other couples and a nice lady from the ship to go to the hotel. We were able to find a van that held all of us. On the way we passed tall buildings, one after another. Some were very beautiful, many were not completed. Once near the hotel, we had to show our reservation at the gate to the island. They looked for our name on their list. You are not allowed onto the island without a reservation of some sort. We entered the huge lobby and were greeted by women handing out fresh dates. Very good. Mel and I had to ship a Fed Ex package, so went to the concierge. They were very happy to help until they asked us for our room number. They accepted the package, but weren't quite as happy to do so when they learned that we were only there for tea.


We had arrived early so we could look at the shops before eating. The jewelry shops were unreal, with HUGE pieces with HUGE stones. The people were very nice even though I think they knew we were just tourists! We did buy a couple of things in the gift shop just to remember our visit. The day we were there was the day of the huge horse race, the Dubai Gold Cup. We were able to watch people heading out for the track. The ladies had on all sorts of funny hats. Fun to watch.


We had tea on the 27th floor. The elevator was all glass on one side so we could see the water as we went up. We should have been able to see the World development, a group of man made islands in the shape of the world, but it was too overcast. Tea was delicious, starting with a slice of meat, followed by small sandwiches, cakes and scones. We each had a choice of about 30 different teas. Some sounded very exotic. I chose the Iced Lemon Tea. We were there for about 2 hours. They kept coming around to refill our plates. We certainly didn't need dinner after that feast! It was very good. Nice to take pics from the 27th floor also. Too bad it was such bad weather, but good in a way, it was also cool! We were expecting a very hot sun, instead we had cool and wet. It only rains in Dubai maybe 4 days a year. We were there for 2 of them.


We went back to the ship to change then headed out to the Gold Souk. That is the same as a market. I was expecting a "market" instead we encountered jewelry store after jewelry store FILLED with gold! Amazing to see. Who the heck buys all that stuff??? Seemed like the only people actually buying were the young women dressed in those awful burkhas. I felt like it was so demeaning to women to have to wear those things. The women had tried dressing them as much as allowed with crystals and some embroidery. They were covered from head to foot in black. Sad. We went into a number of stores looking for the perfect piece to buy as a memento. I finally found a beautiful enameled gold camel. Very nice. We were at the shops until after 9 pm. It was pouring rain when we went out to look for a cab. We had to talk to about 5 of them before we could get one willing to return us to the port. We could almost see the ship from where we were but you had to drive around, back and forth thru construction to get there. Not possible to walk. We finally just jumped into a cab before telling him where we were going, hoping he would be an honest one. He turned on his meter and off we went. Other's had told us they weren't using the meter at night. It was an interesting day.


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Friday, March 27, 2009

Mumbai, India - Day 2



We saw so many different things in Mumbai that I've had to go thru our pictures to remember what we saw when. We met up with Freni at 9 a.m. again. First stop was the Jain Temple. It was covered with colorful figures and flowers, really beautiful. We had to remove our shoes to go in. Mel and Joan opted to sit on a bench in the entrance way while Tom, Freni and I entered. There were people coming and going constantly while we were there. The Jain are all about peace and harmony. They don't allow any killing, including roots, so no potatoes in their diet. No leather is allowed inside the temple. Some of them even had face masks on to prevent them from breathing in microbes in the air and killing them...a bit extreme? It was a beautiful temple though and there was a great view of the city from the balcony. Unfortunately it was pretty smoggy, so we could barely see the large buildings on the other side of the bay.


We went to see an Anglican Church what was built in the 1500's. It was quite beautiful. While there I ran across the street to an ATM. The tour required cash in rupees at the end of the day, each day. I'd gone to an ATM the day before also. While at the first ATM on Day 1, I forgot to mention that we saw some men with Tiffen boxes. They are stainless steel boxes that stack that are used for lunches. Every day, a man picks up boxes from wives to take to their husbands in Dubai. The carriers take the train into the city and distribute the lunches there. Each day 6 MILLION boxes are transported to the right person! We went to take pictures of some of the carriers with these boxes on the back of their bikes--20 or 30 of them on one bike! There was also a hand cart loading some on to return to the wives. That cart must have had hundreds on it. We asked if we could take a picture with one of the bikes. I gave the man a dollar for letting us. He didn't want it because it was only ONE. Several other carriers came up to inspect the bill. Freni finally took a 50 rupee note out and gave it to him. He handed the dollar back to me. I indicated that the dollar was the same value as the 50 rupee note, he asked for it back. It was very funny. Amazing to find a group of people who had never seen a dollar bill before. We've used mainly dollars at pretty much every port we've visited.


We had finally finished seeing the main sites in Mumbai and headed to shopping! Freni took us to a beautiful shop that had small drawers along one side. We were able to open any drawer to look at what was for sale inside. They had a lot of beautiful silver pieces. Since we were in the area and wanted to shop more after lunch, we went into Leopold's (I think that was the name), an open restaurant near the back of the Taj Hotel. We had several Indian dishes that were delicious. I enjoyed that lunch better than the day before. As we were leaving, Freni pointed out the bullet holes in a marble doorway as well as one in a mirror on the back wall. That was one of the places hit by the terrorists last November. Scary. We continued to shop along that street then went to the Taj Hotel. The shops there were beautiful. I bought a People magazine that turned out to be the Indian edition. It was all about Indian celebrities that I'd never heard of.


After more shopping, we returned to the car. Freni asked if we were ready for just one more neighborhood. She took us to a place that had been kept as it was originally built over 100 years ago. We left the car on a busy, noisy street and in less than a block it was almost quiet. The neighborhood had been built by the Portuguese. During a plague epidemic in Bombay in 1899, it was the only neighborhood not touched by it. Seems that their way of life was cleaner than other areas, so they were spared. In turn, the neighborhood was preserved. There were 2 story cottages next to each other for several blocks. They were in need of repair and restoration but we could see that they were once really beautiful with porches on the first and second stories. They were painted different colors. There were people on the porches, as well as a lot of cats. It was a nice little neighborhood in the middle of a bustling city.


We headed back to the car to return to the port. It was just after 6 by the time we boarded the ship. Our visit to Mumbai was so full of sights thanks to our terrific guide. I'm really glad we decided to do that. Not sure I need to go back any time soon, but seeing it once was pretty interesting.


On another note, we saw a report from Jakarta, Indonesia that a fruit picker was killed by 2 Komodo dragons. Apparently he fell out of a tree while picking and was attacked. The article said they had had a string of attacks recently. Hmm, wonder if our "attack" was included in that "string"? Someone from another ship that was in port at the same time as ours told a friend of ours that they had heard someone on our ship was eaten by one. How rumors fly!
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Mumbai, India - Day 1


Mumbai was built on a series of seven islands that now form the city districts. An extended land reclamation program linked the archipelago into a peninsula. Formerly known as Bombay, it is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and is the most populous Indian city. It's estimated population is 18 million, making it the sixth largest metropolitan area in the world. The city has a deep natural harbor so has become the largest port in western India, handling over half of the country's passenger traffic. The name was officially changed from Bombay to Mumbai is 1995.
 
I had found a tour company online called Mumbai Magic before we left CA. I'd arranged a guided tour for the 2 days we would be there, hoping to meet another couple on the ship who would be interested in joining us to cut the cost in almost 1/2. We were lucky enough to meet Joan and Tom in the first few weeks of our trip.
 
We met them on the pier at 8:45 a.m., then looked for our guide, Freni, who was going be there at 9. She was early and we found her without a problem. I gave her a short list of places we knew we would like to see and asked that she add whatever else she thought we would enjoy seeing.
 
First stop was the Gateway to India which had been built in 1911 to commemorate the visit to India of King George V and Queen Mary. There is a large plaza in front of it which was full of people and pigeons, as well as a few vendors selling peacock feather fans and large balloons. Across the street was the Taj Mahal Hotel which was attacked by terrorists last November. It appeared to be restored but our guide pointed out the boarded windows on the second floor which had been a Japanese restaurant.
 
Our next stop was a small fishing village in the heart of the city. There were modern sky scrappers all around it. The residents had fought being relocated and won, so they are still living pretty much how they have lived for the last 100 years. They were bringing in a catch when we arrived. Many women were around the area with baskets of ice to keep the fish. There were large nets everywhere, some being repaired. The boats were moored in the harbor with fish being brought in on bundles of Styrofoam. Hard to explain. Some of the fish was loaded on carts which would be taken to a market, other in baskets which would be carried on women's heads thru neighborhoods and sold door to door. We walked down the main street in the area. They have their own barber, grocery, tailor, etc, in what we would call hovels, but where their people had lived for years. Our guide, Freni, explained that the people who live there are not poor. They have jobs and choose to live there.
 
Next stop was a temple that looked like a big, dirty pond. It was rectangular with steps leading down to it on all sides like a stadium. Apparently in ancient times a god had wished for fresh water and had shot an arrow into the area. A bamboo pole in the middle of the "pond" marked the exact spot where the water had appeared. People pay homage to their dead by the pond. We saw a procession while we were there. They also spiritually cleanse themselves in the water. We also witnessed that...after which the guy rinsed off with real fresh running water. That pond was filthy. Around the "pond" was another residential area filled with very small homes. Again, there was a barber, flower shop, etc. Seemed like each neighborhood was fairly independent. We walked to an area that looked out over the bay, and all we could see was tin roofs of slums next to the water. In every neighborhood were small marble temples for people to worship close to home. We saw a beautiful Brahma calf tied up near it's mother. Strange to see cows in a huge city. They are sacred, so are allowed to wander freely.
 
While we were on Malabar Hill, site of the "pond", we visited the Hanging Garden. It's built on the city's water reservoir. Because of this there were no trees but many topiary shrubs and pretty flowers. In a park across the street there was a giant shoe for children to play in, after the Old Lady Who Lived in The Shoe. 
 
The dhobi ghats is a very large open air communal laundry. You have to see it to believe it! There are about 200 stalls where men stand in water almost up to their knees and wash clothes. They beat them against the cement, like the laundry we'd seen in Cochin. With limited lines for drying, there were clothes laying on the roof and surrounding areas to dry. These men would pick up and deliver wash from their customers through out the week, using the dhobi ghats one or 2 days. Freni said that many still use them for linens and such even if they have a washer and dryer. Under roofs around the wash area were women who did the ironing.
 
We headed across town to visit Gandhi's House. Turns out the house never belonged to Gandhi. He just stayed there when he was in Mumbai. They had turned it into a library and museum. The first floor was filled with books relating to Gandhi, and is open to anyone doing research on the subject. The second floor had his room as it was when he stayed there, a mattress on the floor and not much else. There were also copies of documents and letters he had written in his lifetime. One was a letter to Hitler asking him to choose peace rather than war (my words). On the third floor, someone had created a series of dioramas, telling of Gandhi's life. The figures inside were about 6" tall and very realistic. There must have been 50 complete scenes. Very nice.
 
We were given a choice of restaurants for lunch, included in the price of the tour. We chose the vegetarian one for the first day. We were each given a large stainless steel tray with small stainless cups on it. There were a number of condiments on the table, which we put on the tray. Servers brought containers of food to put in our cups. One was a vegetable stew, another a kind of garbanzo soup. There were about 6 different items. We were offered as much as we wanted. It was OK but not my favorite. The experience was worth it though.
 
After lunch we headed to the Prince of Wales Museum. It was in a beautiful building, built just for the museum. Inside it centered around a central area with a beautiful marble staircase and floors. There was a lot of ancient Hindu art as well as a nice display of Chinese art. We next went to Crawford Market or the Fabric Merchants Market, passing by the Victoria Terminus on the way. It is a HUGE Victorian building that houses the train terminal. Quite beautiful! The fabric market was packed with people! We went to one fabric store on the street. It had fabrics and scarf's from floor to ceiling. The salesman took me up some very steep stairs to the second floor where there was yet more fabric. The colors were amazing, beautiful stuff. After the store, we went into the market building. The aisles were about 4' wide with booth after booth of fabric. Each booth was built up about 2 feet so the vendors were all sitting in them, on large mattresses. I asked if they slept there too, but Freni said they don't. We didn't see any other tourists there, just dozens and dozens of Indians. Very interesting.
 
Back on the street we were very interested in a large gray spotted bull pulling a cart. I asked about it since I knew cows are sacred. Turns out cows are, not bulls! So the females can wander the streets while the bulls are put to work. We headed back to the port, passing an area with women sitting in the street with baskets of vegetables and many hand carts full of merchandise. It was a very interesting but HOT day. We ate in the Lido since we'd missed our dinner time. Had to have an early night to be ready for another long day tomorrow.

Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make dinner for $10 or less.
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Monday, March 23, 2009

Cochin, India


Cochin is on the southeastern tip of India. After Vasco de Gama visited the city in 1502, the Portuguese established a settlement. The Dutch captured it in 1663 and the British in 1795. It has a very diverse history!  It also has a long history in the spice trade. Although they produced some of their own spice, a huge amount of spice traffic passed thru the port en route to Europe. It is located where many rivers converge, so has very fertile soil. Their main crops are coconuts, rice, cashews and mango.
 
We were warned by a number of people to not view India with western standards, as though what we would see would be so atrocious that we just couldn't comprehend. We weren't sure what to expect after that! We did grill someone at our dinner table, Dorothy, who had been before and knew the ins and outs. She advised us to get a tuk tuk (huh?) just outside the port and ask to go to the synagogue. There are a number of shops behind it where you can buy many items including elephants on a string (another HUH?). But we felt more comfortable having a plan since we were going out on our own and not taking a tour.
 
The Indian government has put up extra security everywhere since the recent attacks on Mumbai. We had to carry special cards with us, to be stamped when we left, then stamped when we returned to the ship. They were not as organized as at most ports so we encountered a long line getting off the ship. The Captain later apologized for it and hoped that our next port in India, Mumbai, would be better. It was only a 15 to 20 minute delay, so not that big a deal. Once off the ship, we went thru their 2nd security check point and headed for the gate. A young man approached us and asked if we needed transportation for the day. We bargained him down from $20 to $15 with the promise that if he did a good job, we'd give him the $20. We boarded his tuk tuk and off we went. A tuk tuk is pretty much an enclosed scooter. It has 3 wheels, room for 3 in the back of the driver. Well, 3 small people.....or 2 people with a lot of packages which we later discovered. It has handle bars like a scooter, but they are behind a windshield. Very interesting. They drive those things with their horns! Whom ever honks first has the right of way. And here are a LOT of them on the streets. Locals use them as much as tourists. Our driver assured us that he's very experienced...after I'd almost screamed at one close call. That settled my nerves - yea right!
 
Our first stop was a beautiful cathedral built by the Portuguese in the 1500's. Since it was Sunday, it was packed with worshipers. I took a peek inside and saw all men on the right, women and children on the left. Shoes were left at the entrance...at a Catholic church. Guess we're in India! It was a beautiful structure. Vasco de Gamo was originally buried on the grounds but his remains were later returned to Portugal. Next we went to see the Chinese Fishing Nets. They believe that these structures were originally brought to India by Chinese merchants in the 14th century. They are still being used today! We watched them lower the huge nets into the bay then lift them again using rocks as counter balance. Very interesting. They were catching dozens of small fish, about 6" long. I was surprised to see them catching so many until I saw the location from the ship. They are located on both shores of the narrow entrance into the bay.
 
We left the nets then went to the laundry. During this time I repeatedly told our driver, Sayno, that we wanted to go to the Synagogue. The laundry was very interesting also! It was a long cement structure with individual stalls. Each stall had running water with men inside beating the clothing against a rock. There was another building with a woman ironing with an iron that looked about 100 years old. There were several blankets on the ground with neatly folded clothing put out in the sunshine. I looked at the collars, they weren't very white. On the other side of the building were rows and rows of lines with clothing drying. Some sari cloths were on the ground drying. Can't imagine they would be very clean drying like that. I guess we'll see this same type of laundry in Mumbai, but there will be 5000 men there!
 
We asked to go to the Synagogue next. Sayno said we should stop at a store first. It was a very nice store and had a lot of nice merchandise. I actually picked out several items I'd like to buy, but since it was our first stop decided to buy one thing, then come back for the rest if we didn't see something we liked better. The man who had followed us around from the time we entered (this happened at every store, we were assigned a sales person) refused to give me a price for that one item, wanted to give us a great price if we took it all. After asking for the price 3 times, I left with nothing. It's just not fun dealing with situations like that.
 
Back on the tuk tuk, Sayno said there was another nice store we should go to. I said we wanted to go to the Synagogue. After we had been taken to about 5 of these high end stores we refused to go in the next one. We wanted to go to the Synagogue NOW. We understood that Sayno was getting a commission from each store as well as money for gas if we just showed up. But we didn't have all day and wanted to shop at the tourist traps...I mean shops we'd been told about behind the synagogue! We finally arrived at the area we wanted to shop in. There were street vendors and merchandise out on the street in front of each shop. I bought a string of elephants for $2. It has bright colored fabric elephants on a string with beads in between. Not sure why I needed it but Dorothy was so enthusiastic about them, I needed one too. It is very cute and colorful. Probably should have bought more than one. We shopped there for about an hour, then headed back to the ship.
 
Sayno had apparently paid a bit extra to be inside the gates of the port in the morning. He couldn't go back in when we returned. I wanted to buy a fan made of peacock feathers anyway. Something else we were told to expect to find. As we were making a deal with that vendor, Sayno kept begging for more money (we'd given him the $20). He then asked if we would give him shampoo from the ship for his daughter. I did give him another $5 but told him I only had large bottles of shampoo that I'd brought from the US, no small ship bottles. It would have been a long walk to get them and take them back out anyway.
 
It was certainly an interesting day! We didn't feel like we'd seen anything that we hadn't seen in other countries though. Actually, Lombok, Indonesia was a LOT dirtier than Cochin had been. We did see cows walking around the streets and a lot of goats. There were a lot of people walking around with no shoes and quite dirty, but we never saw a beggar or children asking for things. It wasn't crowded which was partly because it was Sunday. There were women walking the streets in beautiful, colorful saris. We took some great pictures. It was a good day. We were back at the ship and showered in time for dinner. 

Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make dinner for $10 or less.
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Saturday, March 21, 2009

Phuket, Thailand


Phuket (pronounced pu-ket) is Thailand's largest, most populous and most visited island. It was visited mostly by back-packers until the 70's when developer's arrived building beautiful resorts along it's beaches. The main industry is tourism (they get 5 million visitors a year!) but the inland area still has rice paddies, rubber, cashew nuts, cacao, pineapple and coconut plantations.
 
We had signed up for a tour in the morning we arrived in Phuket. The maximum size for vessels calling there is 690 feet. The Rotterdam is 780 feet so special permission was needed to dock at the wharf. Looking outside, we could see that the pier held a large market, as do most piers. Since we didn't have to meet for our tour until 9:30, we went out to do some scouting to see what types of products are sold there. I made a couple of purchases then returned to the ship for our tour.
 
Entitled "Siam Elephant Safari", we boarded a bus to the elephants! It was about a 30 minute ride. We were dropped at a complex with a number of different activities. As we arrived, there was a water buffalo standing there with steps next to him. I sat on it for pictures. There were 2 small carts hooked up to Brahma bulls. We had a ride in those also. We met Mr Phuket, the first elephant born on the island. He had been taught to bow, pose and paint! It was the first time I'd been up close and personal with an elephant. He had very wise eyes and coarse hairs.
 
Next was our "safari". They had a platform built so all you had to do was step onto the elephant. The driver rode on the back of his head while we were seat belted onto a chair. There were about 5 elephants who all went out together. We'd been promised a 1/2 hr ride thru the jungle and they delivered! The first part was on a path thru a field. It totally reminded me of trail riding when I was a kid only I was a lot higher off the ground! We circled around, down a steep hill (glad we had a seat belt!) into a jungle area. Our driver got off the elephant and walked down the path to take pictures. He even took a short movie of us with my movie camera. He was a good photographer too, the pictures turned out great. We were on our own on that elephant for at least 15 minutes. It was really a fun experience.
 
After the elephant ride we were taken back into the jungle area to learn about rubber trees. They tap the trees just like my Aunt used to do to her maples. The sap feels rubbery immediately. They mix it with vinegar and run it through wringers to make thin mats of rubber. It is sold in that form. We have been trying to think of what uses there are for real rubber these days. Most items that used to be made of rubber are now synthetic.
 
We were taken into a small building with bleachers for a monkey show. Before the show started we could line up to have the monkey sit on our lap. We were supposed to keep our arms at our sides, but I kept touching him. He was VERY soft. I stuck my nose in his fur also, just like I do with Koda. He made a funny face when I did that. I think Mel caught it on film. The monkeys had been trained to pick coconuts, put balls in a basket and ride a bike! One even dove into a small pool to retrieve something from the bottom. They swim well. While watching the show, it started pouring. They sure do get a lot of rain in Southeast Asia! They handed out ponchos and we headed to the next activity.
 
In an open building, there were tables and chairs set up. They did a Thai cooking demonstration then served lunch. There was fruit, rice, a chicken stir fry and a veggie stir fry. It was very good. We boarded the buses after lunch and were taken to a HUGE jewelry factory. It was a big tourist trap, so we walked thru quickly to find a taxi into town. The store was providing free shuttles which was nice. We were dropped off next to a large department store and a street full of souvenir shops. Perfect. We shopped and shopped. At about 5 we decided to take a break for dinner. We found a small restaurant which turned out to be the lobby of a hotel. Several back packers came in while we ate so it must have been a low rate hotel. We ordered Thai noodles, a specialty soup and veggies. The noodles were delicious. The soup was awful. The veggies were OK but not what we'd expected. I also drank a can of lychee juice then a can of another type of fruit juice. Our total bill was less than what they'd take VISA for...less than $8. We told them to just charge us $9, big tippers! :)
 
I'd really liked the shirts the elephant handlers had on. The servers at the restaurant had the same ones only with flowers rather than elephants along the bottom. We asked where we could buy shirts like that. We were pointed in a direction away from the tourist area. We found a store with some Disney clothes, unlicensed of course. Very cute. Also some nice applique tops. Bought a few things then had to follow the girl who helped us about a block away to a different store that could take our VISA. That store was inside a HUGE market full of clothing. I'd left Mel at a store on the street so I retrieved him then showed him that market. We were on a hunt for those shirts with no luck. We did, however, finally find a shirt Mel wanted. He'd looked at them all day w/out buying. I also found a shirt that says "Long Live The King!". They are very patriotic there. I took out dollars to pay the woman, she shook her head NO. Asked if she'd take VISA, again, NO! We were bummed that we were unable to buy the shirts and left the mall. Right on the corner was an ATM, so we withdrew 500 baht (about $15, the service fee will probably be more!) and returned to make our purchase. The ATM gave me one 500 bill. Funny.
 
By this time it was dark and about time to head back to the ship. I wanted to return to a store where I'd purchased some items earlier to buy a box I'd seen. Mel had been looking at wood elephants all day also, and finally decided to purchase one from that store when the shop keeper went down to a very low price. I asked her if she knew of a good taxi. She said her uncle has one and immediately called him to come get us. Mel examined the elephant's tusks which were separate, made of bone, then she wrapped it up and off we went in a nice car that wasn't a taxi! He dropped us at the pier where the market was almost packed up. Looked around for a minute then boarded the ship. I opened our purchases to see what we'd bought, like I always do. Mel discovered that the girl in the shop had failed to pack the tusks back with the elephant. We have a tuskless elephant! He was devastated. I figure it's a baby, haven't grown in yet. But now we are on a mission to find tusks in India. They'll probably think we're poachers of some kind and get arrested.
 
 

Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make dinner for $10 or less.
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Friday, March 20, 2009

Singapore Slinging


Singapore is an island country and the smallest in Southeast Asia. It is located off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It was colonized by the United Kingdom in the 19th century and occupied by the Japanese Empire in World War II. It has few natural resources so with foreign investment and rapid government-led industrialization, it has created an economy which relies on exports of electronics and manufacturing. Singapore has the highest standard of living in Asia.
 
This port was the first one where we were required to carry our passports and go thru a formal customs area. That was attached to a large shopping center, a bit like Hong Kong. We disembarked at about 8:30 and took a taxi to the Jurong Bird Park. Singapore has excellent public transportation using both buses and a subway, but we decided to just use taxis as our mode of transportation.
 
We bought a 3 park pass, good for the bird park, zoo and night safari. We first watched a show with trained eagles and hawks. It was OK. Then we boarded the monorail to see what is in the park. Our first stop was a huge aviary full of lories, bright red, yellow and blue birds. I purchased a small cup of nectar to feed the birds. They would sit on my hand or arm to drink out of the cup. One of them refused to leave and left deep marks on my finger. They were VERY cute and fun to watch up close. We then walked the path to see other birds in cages. I felt sorry for the bald eagle whose cage was hardly large enough for him to fly. The park was immaculate though, not even evidence of bird poop anywhere! They all seemed to be healthy and well cared for.
 
By this time it was raining. We grabbed a cab to the temple in Chinatown. The driver asked if we wanted to go to the Chinese or Hindu Temple. We weren't sure but when we saw one just said that was fine. It was a beautiful Hindu temple with ceramic animals and people all over the roof. Next to it was a street full of vendor booths with all the same items we had found in Hong Kong and Singapore. We shopped a bit then stopped in an outdoor restaurant for lunch. We had heard that Chili Crab is a Singapore specialty, so we ordered that as well as another dish. By the time our food arrived, it was pouring rain. We were safely under an awning, but we saw several tour groups traipse by with ponchos on. Looked like an uncomfortable way to see the city.
 
After lunch we shopped a bit more then grabbed a cab to the Raffles Hotel. It was in that hotel where the original Singapore Sling drink was created. It was built in the 1800's and added on to since then. it is a grand old hotel. We went to the Long Bar to have a drink. It was PACKED, many from our ship. We were invited to share a table since there were none available. They had ordered a snack tray which was served on a tower, looked nice. Peanuts were served and there were shells all over the floor. The drink was excellent, with little alcohol taste and made with fresh pineapple juice. After our (my) drink, we walked around the hotel a bit. There was a nice little museum on the third floor. Turns out that one of the main ingredients in a Singapore Sling is Cherry Herring. That brought back a lot of memories! I'd traveled to Denmark with a friend when I was 16. We were introduced to Cherry Herring, a wonderful cherry liquor, created by Peter Herring, and each of us brought a bottle back home with us. At customs they weren't quite sure what to do about 2 16 yr olds carrying booze! They kindly took it from us and gave it to our parents who were waiting on the other side of the door. That wouldn't happen these days!
 
We shopped in the hotel then got a taxi to a market area we'd heard about called Bugis Street. We went thru about 1/2 a block and decided to get the heck out of there. It was full of clothing for young people and was FULL of young people! Not the type of shopping we were looking for. It was getting late, so we got yet another taxi to take us to the Zoo. Unfortunately we were headed there, on the other side of the island, at about 5:00 and it was bumper to bumper. By the time we arrived, it was 5:45, the zoo closed at 6. They told us we couldn't go in. I asked if we could at least visit the store which was inside the gate. We went into the store, went out the other side. There were still a lot of people coming out of the park, so we figured we were OK as long as we weren't the last people there. We were able to see some lemurs walking on a rope over our heads and watched some small otters running around chirping at each other. That park was also immaculately clean.
 
The Night Safari which was right next to the zoo, was set up to give visitors an opportunity to see nocturnal animals out and about. We boarded a tram and rode around for almost 45 minutes. It was a big park! Only disadvantage was you couldn't get pictures because of the dark. But they had a large variety of animals from tiny deer to rhinos. After the tram ride we went to an animal show. They had lemurs walking on a rope above our heads, a coyote who was supposed to come out on a rock and howl. Poor thing let out a wimpy "oooo", very cute. They were "missing" Molly, who ended up being a python, hidden in a box under the floor of the row behind us. They had a short talk about the importance of recycling and brought out otters who put paper, cans and bottles in the correct recycling bins. Nice to see that other countries are doing the education.
 
We had a nice discussion with the lady cab driver who drove us back to the ship. She referred Singapore as a FINE city - they fine you for chewing gum, for spitting, for U turns, you name it. Guess why that is why it is so safe and clean. The shops were still open back at the pier. We went to a grocery store and bought a sauce to make Chili Crab when we get home as well as a Ginger Beer, made in Australia. That was good! There was a line to get thru customs, so when we finally boarded the ship, it was 10:20. All aboard was at 10:30, guess we just made it and used every minute available to enjoy Singapore.
 
Since we were still up and about, we decided to go to sail away in the Crows Nest, the 9th level bar toward the bow of the ship. We ran into some friends up there. I decided I should try one of their Singapore Slings to see the difference from the "real" one. I must say, the ship's version was a LOT stronger! Wasn't as good either. We went outside to watch the lights as we sailed thru the straights between Malaysia and Indonesia. We were sailing for almost an hour while passing refinery after refinery. I asked Mel if one of the flare ups was the Olympic Torch. Actually I asked him that 3 times, just so he would really think I was drunk. Wasn't far from the truth. We didn't get to bed until after 1, a very late night for us! I was wishing I'd stuck to one Singapore Sling the next morning.

Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make dinner for $10 or less.
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Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Kemaman, Malaysia


Malaysia is physically divided across two land masses. Most is on the Malay Peninsula but East Malaysia is on the northern part of Borneo. Kemaman is on the peninsula portion, along the coast of the South China Sea. The economy is based largely on petroleum and oil.
 
We were going to meet up with another couple to see what we could see, but he was ill so Mel and I headed out on our own. There was the usual market on the pier, which we looked at a bit, before boarding a shuttle bus into the town. It was raining a bit but by the time we reached town, it was a downpour. The guide on the bus told us that they only get 2 cruise ships into port each year, so the entire town was aware of our arrival and setting up a special greeting for us. We were dropped off in a parking lot where they had set up yet another market as well as a stage and several tents with chairs to view the ceremony. They did a typical Malaysian wedding for us....in the pouring rain. All the cruise folks were bunched under the tents while the poor performers were marching to the stage in the rain. The costumes were very colorful and beautiful. Sad to see them soaking wet.
 
We asked a couple we knew from our table if they'd like to join us in search of a batik factory. I'd never found one in Indonesia, so today was the day. One was included in one of the HAL tours, so I knew there was one near by. We asked where we could find a taxi and were pointed in the same direction by several different people. I had the name of the village where the factory was, given to me by our port lecturer. She'd written Cherating Village. I asked the bus guide to write it in their language. She wrote Cherating Batik. We cracked up.
 
We headed in the direction indicated to find a taxi, which took us thru the local market. We saw dozens of types of fish, some really large with their heads cut off, dripping blood into a bucket on the ground. The next area was full of beef and chicken, being cut on the old stone tables. Further on was the vegetable market, with everything stacked neatly in rows. There were also a number of spices available. The next area was the merchandise market where they had a lot of batik fabric and clothing. I bought a couple of pieces of batik then we finally found a taxi dispatch area. We once again had a driver who could say "I speak English". Maybe they just don't know the English word for cannot? We asked to be taken to Chetering Batik and off we went. The countryside looked a lot like Central and South America. Not very many modern buildings, but very good roads.
 
We reached Chetering and were taken to a store that said "Batik Showroom". We looked around a bit, but everything was priced very high. Turned out, this is a resort village and that was just a store. Our driver spoke to someone across the street who was from San Diego or some such place. He told him where the factory really was, another 30 minutes away. I think I was the only one of our group of 4 who really wanted to go, but I insisted, so off we went again! Seemed sad to be so close and not go.
 
We drove into a parking lot with several tour buses. We knew we were in the right place. In the back of a large warehouse type building was an area where they were producing hand made batik fabrics. There were cups of dye, vats of wax and patterns hanging on the wall. It was exactly what I'd wanted to see, finally! While I was shopping the other couple when to get something to eat. She's diabetic and needed lunch. They returned to report that the cook was still asleep so they needed to get back to town for food. I did speed shopping in that store! I was in such a hurry that an item I'd decided not to buy ended up in my bag, but everything was so inexpensive that it was OK. I did get 2 meters of the fabric I'd seen them make while there. Mission complete!
 
Back in town we asked where the restaurants are. We were pointed in a direction in back of the market. We'd been told by the port lecturer that they have restaurants where you serve yourself, then pay when you're done, according to how much you'd eaten. We found one of those restaurants. It was the most disgusting meal we've had to date. YUCK!!! Amazing that none of us got sick. We first looked around for a table. Some of the local men got up so we could use their table, ordering the owner to clean it first. The food was in metal containers like other buffets. Mel chose a large squid and a drumstick. I took a smaller squid, a few shrimp, some bean sprouts and 2 slices of pineapple. (Mel had brought his lunch from the ship.) They appeared to all be cooked in the same type of sauce. The shrimp was so dry, it was inedible. I dropped a piece on the floor and even the cat wouldn't eat it. It was a scrawny kitten that had been licking my foot. The pineapple would have been good without the sauce. The squid, I can't even say...Mel bit into his and it had some things sticking out of it. The bean sprouts were good. The kitten loved the piece of chicken I gave to  it. The owner came and counted the shrimp heads (yes, we had to remove the skins and heads) and bones and charged us $2. It wasn't even worth that!!! Guess it was an interesting experience and a good story.
 
Back at the pier it was pouring rain again. We went under the tents where there were still a few vendors set up. Bought more batik then made a run for the ship. It was a very wet but interesting day. As the ship left the pier, it left a trail of clear water where all the oil and scum was displaced. Pretty dirty port. Good to get out to sea again.
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Friday, March 13, 2009

Fun in the Sun in Viet Nam



Nha Trang, Viet Nam is located on the shores of the country's curving midsection. The coastline stretches 1800 miles. Nha Trang has become a destination for international tourists with pristine beaches and excellent scuba diving. It used to be a sleepy fishing village but recent government and private investments have changed it into a thriving beach-side resort town.


We had no idea what to expect when we arrived in the port of Nha Trang. We were up and ready to go by 8:15. There were the usual vendors set up on the pier, so we browsed a bit, then went out of the port area to grab a cab. We first visited an interesting temple. Our driver spoke English when we got in the cab but was really only able to say "Yes, I speak English!". We'll do better at interviewing next time. So we didn't get much information about the temple from our "guide". Next stop was a large white Buddha. It was built in memory of the monks who burnt themselves in protest of the Viet Nam war. A nice man attached himself to us when we first arrived. He kept saying he had the keys to something. He would lead us to the best places for pictures, then take pictures of us. There were 150 steps up to see the Buddha. At about 1/2 way, we went to a terrace off to the side where there was a large bell. The clapper was a thick log that hung from a chain. When released, it hit the bell. The key was to the lock that held it in place. Our guide was the bell ringer! We continued up the hill to the Buddha. It was big. There was a temple inside. I didn't feel like taking my shoes off to go inside. I could see well enough from the door. Our bell ringer took his shoes off, took my camera inside and took pictures for me. It was quite amusing. When we got back down to our taxi, he asked for money, we gave him $2. Seems like the best deal of the day.


Next stop was the market. It was really hot, so even hotter running around a market set up in the middle of a street. I bought something in one of the first stores we went into. A woman from that store proceeded to lead us around the market, asking us what we wanted to buy and would then take us to the proper shop or booth. She was with us for at least 1/2 hour. She didn't request money. We returned to the port, shopped at the pier for a while, then returned to the ship for lunch and to change into our swim suits.


A local hotel, or the local tour department or someone had supplied shuttle buses to a nice hotel in town. We got on that and immediately crossed the street (taking our lives into our own hands with how the dozens of scooters zipped in and out, not stopping for anyone or anything!) to the beach. The beach was very clean, the water OK. There were a few things floating around like plastic bags, but not too bad. It felt heavenly after our very hot morning. The waves were large enough to ride a bit. I started with my mask and snorkel to save my eyes from the salt. Then I got water in my eyes anyway and discovered that the salt really didn't bother me. Wonder if the South China Sea has less salt than the Pacific? I couldn't see for a few minutes if I got salt water in my eyes while in the Galapagos Islands, off the coast of Ecuador. But it made it much better. I was diving into the waves and having a great time. Now we've been swimming in the South China Sea. That's cool!


We were back at the pier by 3:30. We had to be on the ship by 4:30, so shopped the market there again. While I shopped, Mel was talking to different people. He ran into the Capt who said we should have been staying the night in Nha Trang, it was such a nice port. He's right, it was delightful. I would definitely return to Viet Nam if given the opportunity. Very glad to have a sea day tomorrow. It'll give me time to rest up before 2 port days to come.

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Thursday, March 12, 2009

Shanghai Day 2

After comparing notes with many people on the ship, we discovered that the day before, Sunday, was Ladies Day, Mother's Day, something like that. Thus the HUGE crowds! We were hoping it would be less crowded today.
 
We again used the shuttle bus to the Embroidery and Arts Store. This time I tried on and bought some beautiful silk clothes, a jacket, blouse and pants. We hurried back on our path from the day before, thru the park and to the Sofotel Hotel where we were to meet our friend. It was a lot less crowded, but there were still many people out and about. Our friend was a no show so we headed to the store where Mel's pants were being hemmed. They hadn't been done yet. Our friend had called to say he was at his home on holiday, or some such excuse. Just as well, we now knew where to go. They sent Mel with another "friend" to get his pants hemmed. The seamstress was less than a block away. There were 2 of them in a corner store that was no bigger than 3' x 6'. She came out and measured Mel in the middle of the sidewalk. To press the pants, she stuck a board out the window and did it on the sidewalk. That was an experience in itself! I waited in the store where many of our fellow passengers were coming and going. In a city that large, we ran into Suzanne, our friend from the library, 3 times! More on that later.
 
We grabbed a taxi and returned to the knock offs building. We hadn't visited the 2nd floor the day before. Guess our friend's friends were only on the third one! Spent several hours there then got a taxi to the Yu Yuan Gardens. We had visited these gardens on our visit in Oct. The actual gardens were built years ago and had beautiful pools with fish, bridges and carved walls. This time we didn't go in, we just shopped at the shops around the gardens. This place was packed. They were having a food festival that week so had set up temporary booths in the open spaces. The food looked delicious. Brigitte had asked for a shot glass from Hong Kong (she and Randy collect them), but we'd forgotten so figured we would find one in Shanghai. They do not exist! We spent an hour just wandering the small shops looking for one with no luck. I told Mel I wanted something to eat. He said we'd just passed all the food booths. To heck with that, I wanted Hagen Das! LOL It was delicious.
 
After 2 days of running around we were quite tired and the ship was to sail at 8 pm, so we again grabbed a taxi and headed to the port. When we gave the card with the ports name in Chinese to the driver, he made a sound exactly like the ship's horn, very funny. Between the Bund, an area built by the English years ago and preserved, and the port was a lot of construction. Traffic was pretty much bumper to bumper. The driver had to go the wrong way to do a U turn and get going the right way. I was wondering where we were going! Closer to the port we saw Mia and Debra walking along. I told Mel to ask them if they wanted a ride. He stuck his head out the window and did just that. They both said "NO, go get Suzanne, she's late for work!" and Mia proceeded to run to tell Suzanne that we'd give her a ride. They had all been together but Suzanne had started running to get to the ship in time for work at 6. Mia and Debra, like all crew, had to be at the ship by 6 but they didn't have to work. Our driver must have understood English because he proceeded to follow the running Mia, in the bike lane. When we finally reached Suzanne, we told her to jump in, which she did while the taxi was still moving. The door swung open a bit after she thought it was closed and a scooter rammed into it. Must have been slight because the door finally closed securely and the scooter went on their way after letting loose with some loud bad language I'm sure. Suzanne made it to work on time, we successfully completed a rescue on land. :)    
 
Sail away at 8 was interesting. I watched from our verandah along with two neighbors. The ship went backwards for over 30 minutes until we reached a bit wider part of the river where he did a 180 and on our way we went. The Capt said we wouldn't clear the river and surrounding fishing area until about 2 a.m. There were many fishing boats still around the ship when Mel was up at 6 the next day. While cruising the China Sea, we passed more ships than we'd seen before, fishing vessels, cargo ships, etc. Some passed quite close. The next day I was doing my usual 7 laps around the promenade deck and was almost done so had slowed down. A man at the side of the ship said something to me so I stopped. He said "My first authentic junk", pointing to an object in the water. I replied that it was a ROCK! Poor guy, he thought he was having this great experience and I crushed it. He said his eyes weren't that good. I told him to just tell everyone that he'd seen a junk, no one would know the difference.
 
We've now almost completed our third day at sea. Tomorrow Viet Nam. Should be very interesting.
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Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China


Shanghai sits on the banks of the Yangtze River Delta in East China. It is the largest city in China, the seventh largest in the world. It is also one of the world's busiest ports, becoming the world's largest in 2005. It was originally a fishing village but has become one of China's most important cities. It is the third largest financial center in the world after New York and London. And what a city it is!

Several passengers had told us that we might be docked at a sea side pier rather than in Shanghai, a few miles up river. We had seen a cruise ship docked right on the river in Shanghai when we were there in Oct, so were hoping that's where we would be docked. I guess you have to hit the tides right to bring a large ship like ours that far up river, and that's exactly what our Capt did. We woke up with a view of endless sky scrappers and construction!

A local Embroidery and Arts Center provided shuttle buses to their store from the pier. They were located in the center of Shanghai, so a great way to get started. We went into the store when we arrived and admired the gorgeous embroidered pictures. Some were very expensive, but so beautiful, guess they were worth it? We didn't buy anything, but left the place to go to the Shanghai Museum. There was quite a line, but it moved quickly. Turned out to be a security check, entrance was free. We'd been to the museum in Oct, but only had a short time to see anything. This time we went thru every room. They have some gorgeous jade pieces, lacquer, and old bronzes and ceramics. The building itself is beautiful also.

After the museum, we walked thru the adjoining park, headed to Nanjing Road for shopping. The park was very busy with locals enjoying the beautiful sunny day. Shanghai was to be our only "cold" port. It was chilly, but very nice. We had to fight thru crowds to get to where we wanted to be. It was amazing how many people were out and about! When we were at a cross walk, we left the curb and headed to a HUGE wall of people. We just had to weave in and out to get to the other side safely. We had a couple of blocks to walk and it was packed with people. I must say they ALL looked just like Mel, only with hair! I stuck out like a sore thumb, with some people staring at the "round eye".

No 1 Department Store was at the corner of Nanjing Road where the walking part starts. We decided to go in just to have a look. I was half on a mission to find some shoes with dragons on them, that we'd seen in an airplane magazine in Oct. We went up the escalators looking for shoes. I saw a beautiful jacket on a mannequin, and decided I should try it on. After debating on size and color, I chose the one I wanted. I had to give it to the sales woman, she gave me a ticket, then I had to go to the cashier to pay. There were 2 people working the cashier booth for the entire floor, what a line! And people kept going right up front and getting helped. I was finally able to pay, took my receipt and picked up the jacket. There was a big sign with "5" on it, had no clue what that meant. It was 50% off, what a nice surprise!

Went back down the escalators on our way to the basement. There was a line about 10 across, 30 ft back, to get on the up escalator. The down was on the other side of that. I just grabbed Mel's hand and said "Going in!". I pretty much pushed our way thru and we made it before being forced onto the up escalator! Quite an experience.

Back on Nanjing Road, we were looking for an address we'd been given for a knock offs building. We found the address, but no knock offs. We kept walking. A young man approached me and asked if we were looking for watches. I said yes, and off we went, following him to a side ally, then an unmarked, locked door, into a small room filled with handbags and watches. Didn't really find anything there, so he continued on to 4 or 5 other rooms just like that one. We went thru a narrow passageway to a small opening with a wash tub and laundry hanging. Too funny. At the last store, we spent quite a bit of time. They seemed to have the best variety. Mel bought a suit! And I bought a handbag.

Our friend then suggested we go to a building with a lot of knock offs, ah, the one we were looking for! We could walk or take a taxi. We told him we needed to eat since it was approaching 5 and we'd never had lunch other than some food Mel had brought off the ship. He took us to a hole in the wall place. The handrail to get to the 2nd floor was straight up and down, the stairs were so steep. We settled on the second floor and tried to order. They finally brought over an English menu with pictures. We ordered 3 dishes, he ordered 2 along with a large beer. He ordered a drink for me which turned out to be coconut juice, it was very good. All of the food was excellent. Our friend (we asked his name several times but could never pronounce or remember it) took Mel upstairs to the restroom, then me. He made someone wash the toilet before I went in then handed me a towel after I washed my hands. What service. He must have been hungry because he finished every plate we had plus my bowl of rice and his beer. It all came to just under $20.

Ten minutes in a taxi and we were at a large building, 580 WEST Nanjing. We'd been on East Nanjing. We went up the escalator to the third floor. Our friend took us to "his friends" booths first. By this time we had several packages and he was carrying them all! We spent several hours in this building. You would enter a small booth filled with handbags. They'd push on a wall full of shelves and a door would open up w/nicer handbags in the back! Some places had 2 rooms in the back. They had everything from Rolex, Coach and Billabong. Mel even found some golf clubs. Great shopping. And the bargaining, wow! It was almost sad because they were excepting prices that had to be less than their cost just to make a sale. The bad economy has hit China big time. After several hours we grabbed a taxi back to Nanjing Road where we left our friend, then went on to the ship. He had spent about 6 hours with us! It was a nice experience. Wish he had spoken English better but what we did learn is that he is 25 years old. He is paid a monthly salary by the big boss. Big boss owns almost all the stores we went to. Our friend gets credit for bringing in shoppers. What a system. We were back at the ship at about 7 pm.
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Wednesday, March 11, 2009

On The Way Home!

It's sad really. Today is day 64 of our journey so it is all downhill after this. We're half way thru our trip and it has flown by. We still have so much to see, simply amazing.
 
While I'm talking, I'll mention some of the events they've had for us on the ship. The CEO of HAL boarded in Hong Kong. Because of his visit there were special cocktail parties, dinners and events. He spoke in the Queen's Lounge one afternoon. Told us about HAL's plans for the future and their fleet of ships. He was very approachable during his visit. Seems like a great cruise line. We'd never been on a HAL ship before, so good thing! The officers were all in dress blues, looked really nice. They gave an Asian Market event on the Lido deck, expecting most to dine there rather than in the dining room. They had a HUGE dragon which extended the entire length of the pool area. They had a small boat in the pool with 2 men in typical dress "fishing". Drinks were on the house, so by the end of the evening, a passenger decided to get in the boat. She ended up in the pool, with her beautiful silk Chinese jacket on! They had different booths set up with food and merchandise. There were fresh flowers everywhere. It was a huge effort and really nice.
 
As for the flowers, there are 2 full time florists on board. It is a couple from Holland. They do an incredible job of placing fresh flowers all over the ship, using very creative arrangements. I've taken pictures of most of them. I've heard that they have a $7k per week budget. It shows!
 
Today they had a Mongolian Buffet at the Lido. They had chopped veggies, meat and seafood for you to select on your plate, then you stood in line to have someone stir fry it for you. My cook was dressed in a maintenance uniform. Guess they were short of real cooks. My dish was delicious so I guess he did just fine. They have done this several times during the cruise. There was live music on deck also. They have live music all over the ship in the evenings from a piano bar to a string trio.
 
For lunch in the Lido, they have a made to order sushi bar EVERY day. When I first saw it I figured it would be for that day. Nice touch if you like sushi. They have really gone all out to make this Grand World Voyage extra special....and it is!
 
Passing by the Hong Kong Harbor just now, we dropped off 2 engineers who were on board doing some repair work. A small vessel came up beside our ship and they hopped off. During most of the day we had ships passing us or we were passing them, traveling at 20.5 knots. A very busy shipping lane. Outside Hong Kong Harbor were at least a dozen ships that looked like they were just anchored, with nothing to move. Result of the economy. It's been overcast and foggy all day. Sometimes the ships pass fairly close. Glad we have a good Capt on board.
 
A week or so ago we were having a private viewing of 11 Faberge eggs they had on board in the Mirabella, the fine jewelry store. The eggs were beautiful, fun to see, but not something I need to take home with me. While in the store, Jackie, the ship's hostess, came in to return a beautiful pearl and gem necklace and earrings that she had worn for the evening. Well, tonight was formal night and when I put on my dress, I decided that I needed a little sparkle at my neck. If Jackie could do it, I could do it so we went to the Mirabella looking for the manager. He was at dinner, but Mia, who was in the other store, asked "What would you like to wear?!". I pointed out a beautiful gold necklace with tiny diamonds dangling, hard to describe. It was 18k gold, $6000. Another item I don't need to take home with me but it sure was fun to wear for an evening. Mel dragged me to any table where we knew someone at dinner time to show off my necklace. Guess it shows how well we've gotten to know some of the crew. Another crew friend said "They usually only let crew do that!" :)
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Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Hong Kong Day 2

We were to meet some friends at 9, but declined so I could sleep in. Yesterday killed me! So much walking. Even the bottoms of my feet hurt. We finally left the ship at about 10, but had some business to take care of, so didn't really get moving until 11. We had agreed to meet our friends at the top of the Mid-Levels Escalator which goes down in the morning then up after 10:30, bringing workers to Central Hong Kong then back home again in the evening. It was 1/2 mile of escalators! The Star Ferry hauls thousands of commuters across Victoria Harbor to and from Kowloon. Their pier was right outside of Ocean Terminal. We took the ferry over then walked for blocks on elevated walkways until we arrived at the first escalator. We didn't realize how many series of escalators there were when we started. We had about 20 minutes to get to the top on time, we did a short marathon to get to the top! I was totally sweating by the time we made it, and at the top was.....nothing! It really was just for commuters, ending on a neighborhood street. Our friends had gone on long before since there was no place to wait. We started the walk down, headed for Hollywood Road which is full of antique stores. When we finally arrived there, after MANY stairs, it was about time to get a taxi to meet for lunch, so we didn't really get to visit the antique stores. It was nice to just look in the windows though and see something of the area.
 
We met up with HM, a friend of Mel's brother's, whom we had met when we were here before. He took us to a wonderful restaurant in the hotel connected to the Convention Center. HM ordered a number of Dim Sum dishes. I commented to Mel that I'd never had BBQ pork that good in Chinatown. The waiter smiled, like what a tourist I was! Sad but true. The lunch was excellent and HM's company was nice. He had to return to work, so left us there at some shops. By then it was POURING rain outside. We were able to follow covered, elevated walkways for blocks again, visiting a couple of stores then going to the Star Ferry pier to return to Kowloon. One of the stores we visited was the Chinese Arts and Crafts Store. It has the best of every arts and crafts item done in China, and the prices reflect it! There are some jade carvings priced at over a million dollars! And gorgeous silk clothing, ceramics, rugs, anything made in China. It was almost like visiting a museum where you can touch and try things on.
 
By the time we reached Kowloon, the rain and pretty much stopped. We returned to the ship to leave some packages, then went out on the street again. Mel wanted to try to find a tuxedo, so we visited almost every men's store in the Harbor City Mall, which is attached to Ocean Terminal. They had all the high end name brands, so tux's were $1k and up. We wondered why we hadn't ordered one from a tailor the day before so we'd be able to pick it up that day. We then headed to a tailor recommended by the dance instructor on board. Within an hour, he had both of us measured, with fabric picked out, Mel for a tux, me for a cashmere coat. Should be at Mel's office in another week or so. Would have been fun to have them on the ship, but we just didn't think of it the first day, we were too busy visiting markets.
 
Sail away from Hong Kong was spectacular. It was raining until just before we were to pull out. HAL had hired a troupe of dancers and drummers to wish us farewell from the roof of the Ocean Terminal, right next to the ship. I realized that they would be standing right outside of our cabin, so we watched them and sail away from our verandah. The lights were incredible as we sailed out of the harbor. What a great city. Glad we had 2 full days to enjoy it.
 
With 3 sea days, one would think I'd have time to post to my blog, but never did get to it until now, the day after Shanghai! Hopefully I won't get this far behind again. It's stressful. LOL
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Shopping, Shopping, Shopping aka Hong Kong



Hong Kong consists of a mainland on China's southeastern coast and about 235 islands. It was a British dependency from the 1840's until July 1, 1997 when it passed to Chinese sovereignty as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It had be under British rule for 156 years. The main city on the mainland side is Kowloon, Hong Kong or Victoria City is on the largest island, across the harbor from Kowloon.


To us, Hong Kong was one big market! We actually visited there for the first time on our Honeymoon, almost 24 years ago. I returned on a shopping tour in 1991, then we were just there last October at the end of a 3 week tour of China. We basically knew where we wanted to go. There are many specialty markets on the mainland side, in Kowloon. I'd always wanted to visit the Bird Market, but never had, so that was our first destination. We took the subway, which Mel's brother Calvin taught us to navigate in Oct. After walking a few blocks, we entered the Flower Market which was on the way to the Bird Market. There was an amazing array of flowers! There were fresh cut, plants, house plants, pots and vases. It was very beautiful, especially all the orchids. That market lasted for about 2 blocks. At the end there was a sign for the Bird Market. Apparently it used to be very quaint, in a back ally, but had become so popular that they created a location for it. There were hundreds of birds of all different sizes and colors. I just wanted to open the tiny cages and let them all out. The cages were so small while they waited for a proper home. We even saw a toucan and several cockatoos there. Some booths just sold supplies, like tiny ceramic bowls made especially for food and water for cages. And cages there were, large and small, simple and extravagant! They were made of plastic, bamboo and even rosewood! Of course I had to buy one to take home. We spent some time selecting a beautiful one of rosewood. Now what to do with it, both in our cabin and when we get home. We'll figure it out, I'm sure.


The next market was the Ladies Market, but on the way we went to the Goldfish Market. On that block there were fish and pet stores, one right after the other. They had fish ready to go home, hanging in plastic bags on a board outside the doors. It was fascinating seeing so many stores with so many different kinds of fish in one single location.


We kept walking and were then in the Ladies Market. It used to sell just women's clothing, but over the years has turned into a general market where you can buy most anything, mainly clothing. We looked a bit then stopped for lunch. The restaurant was called Shanghai Restaurant, guess it was supposed to be Shanghainese style. They took ages to serve Mel his smoked duck, but I guess the wait was worth it. I had a delicious noodle soup and fresh lemonade. We sure did get a lot of stares. I think they were looking at Mel. LOL


We decided to walk back down Nathan Road to the ship. We were docked at Ocean Terminal which was right next to a huge upscale mall. Nathan Road is the main shopping street in Kowloon. That was after a visit to the Jade Market of course! We had been there in October, so knew what to expect. We picked up a few things, then walked home. We had dinner on the ship when met up with Kelly, our Internet Manager friend, and headed out to the Night Market. She had never been to Hong Kong, so rather than take the subway, we walked back up Nathan Road. It was lit up and full of people. We ran into several people from the ship on our walk. The Night Market had something for everyone. I found a few Disney toys that I hadn't seen in the States and some pretty boxes at a good price. Around the building where the Jade Market had been open during the day, were many booths with items from Tibet! I was laughing when I saw the "unique" dragon pot I purchased in Tibet in October, in several different booths. Too funny. I love it anyway. We walked back down Nathan Road yet again, arriving at the ship at about 11:30. Late night!

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Sunday, March 1, 2009

Semarang, Indonesia



We docked at the port in Semarang, but the major attraction on the island of Java, is Borobudur, a large temple about 2 1/2 hrs away. There were 8 bus loads of passengers going to that site. Semarang is Indonesia's 5th largest city with approx 1.5 million inhabitants. It's history is complicated with kings and the Dutch, so I'm not even going to touch on it. We exited the ship at about 9 and immediately boarded a bus headed south for Borobudur. Indonesia's capital and largest city Jakarta is also on the island of Java.


The HAL buses had a police escort which was good with the awful traffic on the island. There were 3 buses traveling together and at times cars or SUV's would get between them to take advantage of the escort. People seemed to heed the police car's siren, as they would pull over or even stop when our caravan drove on the wrong side of the road to pass others going in our same direction. We were sitting in the 2nd row on the bus so I have pictures of the bus in front of us driving down the middle of a 2 lane road with cars and trucks having to use the shoulders on each side. It was quite an amazing journey. What was really amazing about it is that no one was hurt and no accidents.


We arrived at the entrance to Borobudur at about 11:30. We'd made one stop for coffee and the rest room which had the usual vendors. I purchased some nice batik pictures.


Borobudur is the world's largest Buddhist temple. It was built in the 8th and 9th centuries. According to records, tens of thousands of workers (more than 5 generations) were involved. Unless suggestions of extraterrestrial aid are true, the builders used only human effort. (Just copying from our literature!)


Our guide took us around to the opposite side of the temple, then started to lead us up. It is possible to get to the top by following the "ramp" walking around and around until you reach the top. There are 6 square levels, then 3 round ones at the top. On every corridor are relief carvings telling a story. There were also large steps to reach the top, which we used. We were expecting a lot of steps, so were surprised when we reached the top quickly. It was interesting I guess. It seemed similar to the pyramids in Guatemala, a lot of large stones piled on top of each other. Worth seeing ?!


We descended to some steps which led to a nice hotel on the premises. We had a buffet lunch there, then shopped the vendor area. Things were so inexpensive that it was hard to say no to anything! Back on the bus we could see a very black cloud in front of us. It soon started to rain. We were taken to an old train depot to board a train that was built in the early 1900's. The cars were totally open, so it was nice that it was raining, cooled it down a lot. A number of boys jumped on to enjoy the ride while others ran along side for miles. It was very picturesque with clouds in the mountains and lush green rice paddies along side of the train. We ended up at a train museum, which was nice, but were again accosted by vendors. Some got in my face so much that I just hauled out my camera for a picture. Made them stand back a bit. More bus ride, then we arrived at the port at about 6. There were vendors there also, so instead of boarding the ship we headed to the market.


The market itself was set up for the Indonesians, with many small booths cooking native food. It was cramped, dirty, and very unappetizing. We just took pictures. The vendors were outside that place. By the time we were done, we had a batik duffel and back pack all filled with our purchases. A lot of fun. We had dinner upstairs at the Lido since we'd missed our 5:30 time in the dining room. It was another good day in Indonesia.

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