Additional Trip info

2/10/2015

Everything that Sam said and more.   But we couldn't do this type of travel without a major support system at home.  It's good having a Brother and SIL, and adopted siblings that Mom can count on when we're gone..  Having the Brother and SIL house sit with Chuy, Bess and Prank...awesome Ann to take care of puppy Krack, and a great Doggy Day care keep the others also gives us a great peace of mind when we travel, we couldn't do it without them.

The cruise part was relaxing and fun.  I did spa days which I never make time to do at home, but when you are in the middle of a sea or ocean you have time.  You get the pool time you can't get at home, even when you own a pool.  Your phone isn't ringing, and you have to leave your iPhone alone, it doesn't do any good to look at it every 5 minutes - that was hard to do the first couple of days.  

It was a trip of a lifetime, I met wonderful people in these countries, made new friends, ate awesome food in places that you only see Anthony Bourdain eat at,  even learned how to prepare a Vietnamese meal and saw amazing sights that you only see in magazines.  I took over a 1000 pictures and can't post them all.   Yes, some were communist countries, 3rd world countries and yet 2 of the riches cities in the world were right next door to them.

I saw both sides of Hong Kong..the money side and the working man side.  In Vietnam, I relived history through Sam's eyes, and at the same time saw a new country and saw how the winners of war write history. 

In Cambodia,  I saw people that still have dirt floors, that live on dried fish and rice, and seeing the barefoot, diaper-less babies made me want to cry...but these kids weren't crying, they seemed happy to play in the dirt and run around smiling, saying "Hello - Money".  Kids jumping off a bridge into a river, made me cringe as a Mom, but they were having a blast.  There are 2 kinds of people there "Have" and "Have Not".

In Thailand, heard how when 2 political parties disagree the military comes in and runs the country - hmmmm is this where we are headed? 

I also learned to really appreciate our EPA, and laws that help protect the environment - our air and water, and people that say they don't want more government regulations need to go where people wear mask because of the air pollution.  Or the people that complain because they are going to be charged for a plastic bag because they don't want to use reusable ones....plastic trash lined the roads of Cambodia.   

Now all that being said....the next pictures are my adventures of going to the bathroom!  Aren't you glad you finished my side of the trip!

Narita Airport - This means regular potty, well sort of regular it will also wash your bum

Nartia - regular bathroom that I chose

Hong Kong - A squatty potty (this one is fancy, it flushed; the one in Cambodia had a water well so you put a bucket of water in it afterwards.)

Thailand - translation, this is a regular potty, don't stand on it, you might fall and hurt your bum!

Narita - This means regular, but also a place for your kid to sit while you go

Narita - also offers one to squat if you wish

Saw this one in Ho Chi Min City, and both for men and women in same room - just different stalls

HOME!

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February 4^th

Fly home day has arrived.  We leave on Wednesday fly a lot and get home on Wednesday but more about that later.  The hotel was spot on with their wake up call at 0330.  Up according to plan with only the most minor details to pack.  Call to the Bellman 0400 and car service at 0430.  Who said that I am part engineer?  But all that planning got us to the airport in time to get checked in and still have time to walk a lot.  Have I told you lately that Terrie is tied to a Fitbit?  No moving walk ways for her.  Or elevators on the ship either.  At least being on the 41^st flour of The Stamford made her ride or I would still be trying to get to my room the first time.  We did find out that there is a race from top to bottom once a year.  That is 75 floors up and down to name the Champion.  Walter we entered your name.

A little time to shop before we board the plane but this is the perfect time to take Terrie shopping as she can’t make up her mind at this early hour.  50 Sing Dollars that need to be spent and nothing of interest.  So they will fly to Japan with us.

Today is fast flying.  A little over 6 hours to do what usually takes 8.  Tail winds are wonderful things.  I think I have set my own person speed record with ground speeds of 650 mph on the first leg.  Little did we know that when we left Norita Japan those tailwinds would be picking up and the ground speed would be 797 mph, which is abnormal.   Woo hoo love the time saved.

We did our last shopping with some off the wall candy Wasabi Kit Kats, Green Tea Kit Kats and some other things that I have no clue what they are.  Nothing like loading up at the end of a long day.

Norita went well as I had one more important adventure to show her.  They have the best beer-pouring machine in the world in the Business Lounge.  Select a beer glass and place in the proper place.  Push start and watch it tilt the glass to the perfect angle, easily pour beer down the side so that there isn’t any foam because at the end it will add the proper foam level by straightening the glasses and dropping a separate tube so that there is the perfect amount of foam on your beer.  All this without any human hand touching and heating the glass.  Perfect pour, perfect head, with ice temperature maintained.  You just have to sit back and marvel at the Japanese talent to build a better machine.  (Secretly I don’t think Terrie is as impressed as I am).

Time for Houston.  Get seated and we have a delay.  Seems a Korean plane is delayed and since we have the extra time we can just wait.  But no delay will bother us today since we have cleared the last checkpoint and are on the plane home.  In 11 hours we will be landing.  So time for a movie or three.  A couple of meals.  A good nap and anything else we can think of to fill these hours.

Singapore Day 2

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February 3rd, Singapore     

Ok no matter how much experience you have traveling overseas you should remember to turn your phone off as there is nothing more maddening to have your sound sleep bothered by a cold call on your US number.  It is midnight so why are you calling to sell me a trip to Disney?  Don’t you know what time it is? (Ah now awake you realize that for them it is middle of the days).  NO I don’t want a trip.  Goodbye.  Sometimes I am not the friendliest of beings.

But we did sleep in a bit today and started breakfast about 10.  The Stamford serves a pretty nice buffet with India, Japan, China, and Western styles all available.  A great start to our last day of travel.  I guess I should admit that I treated Terrie to one of my top five best hotel rooms ever with this stop.  I got the corner suite, which has two balconies.  One facing north toward little India, and one facing west to the Singapore flyer, old harbor and the new Marina Bay Complex.  In the distance both directions you can see hundreds of ships parked waiting cargo operations.  Especially if your knees can hold you up as you stand 41 floors above the ground on a glass balcony.  (The marble bath isn’t half bad either)  It makes it easy to get a slow enjoyable start on the day.

Today we chose to jump on the Big Red Hop On Hop Off bus.  It was my way of learning more about the new parts of the city.  Little India, Orchard Road, the Quay’s and Chinatown are all things I had done before but the new stuff in the Marina Bay Complex I hadn’t experienced.  So hop we did and what a ride.

The weather was less threatening today so no rain but cloudy and a bit windy.  My Singaporean friend called it cold but that meant high 70s.  Terrie and her camera went to work capturing new and old alike.  We noticed the traffic as we entered Little Indian and Terrie said there must be festival today.  (She was right of course, as always) so we had a perfect seat above the crowds to view the Festival of Thaipusam.  A twelve-hour event starting in Little India and moving to the Orchard road area.  A pilgrimage from one Temple to another by worshipers highlighted by men each carrying an enormous 80-kilo decorated frame stabilized by wires stuck through their bodies.  About 200 wires for each man carrying a decoration.  Arms, chest, backs, legs, and head all poked through and through by these wires hold up 176 pounds of metal, feathers, beads, bells and bobs.  Not just one but 5 or 6 of them doing what they called “Praying the Pain Away”.  The men in decoration stood 10 to twelve feet high and 8 to 10 feet wide and on this windy day they must have felt it the entire way.  All along the way the Indian community was there to support and cheer them on.  Me I just wanted the band aide concession.

After Little Indian we headed on the bus to Chinatown where we had decided we would jump off.  The New Year being close the place as decorated in reds and golds.

A great area to shop in but we had decided we had enough for the kids and we done with that so after a stop at the ATM for more money we continued to help the local economy.  Crowds and crowds and crowds but by now this had become the norm and we pushed our way through with the best of them.  Thought about eating but you have to draw the line somewhere.

Now that eating had come up we decide we were just a brief walk back to Boat Quay as Terrie wanted a challenge.  Singapore’s signature dish Chili Crab.  Think of it this way.  A thick red sauce of chili’s poured over a Sri Lankan Crab the size of a normal dinner plate.    The shell and claws were separated but all the meat was still intact and covered in wheel grease consistency chili paste.  For her it was Terrible T against the Claw with the help of a Tiger or two.

Proudly she will display the Claw laid to waste and a smile of a job well done.  Rocky music played in the background as she waved her now red fingers in the air.  Wait…that isn’t Rocky music it is Cajun as we have returned to the place where yesterday we heard Cajun music.  Since this match of the Claw versus the Terrible T and her Tiger took longer that a few songs we even had Country and Western time come and go with Willie doing his part too.  Nice when you can conquer the world one crab at a time.

Full and victorious Terrie discovers that her steps are down so we head back to make a drop and stop at the hotel.  Last minute items begin to pop into our heads.  We haven’t found cooking chopsticks yet.  We haven’t found a toy we were looking for and we just haven’t found enough yet.  So off to the grocery story to discover whether they have extra long chop sticks.  Sorry not here but wait we did see an ice cream that sounds interesting.  Triple chocolate.  Ok last day we can do it but boy what a surprise.

We go up and order two triple chocolates.  “Here or to go?” came the question.  “To Go” please, waiting for the cup or cone question which never came.  She reached down and retrieved a small croissant sliced open on the side.  Into the slice she began to put two small scoops of dark rich chocolate with chips mixed in.  Wait!  Maybe we need to rethink the idea of going back to our room with this.  So we changed to “here” and sat to experience our first ever croissant ice cream combination.  From the look on Terrie’s face it was almost a Sally Met Harry moment.

Not much time now as I had made arrangements months ago to have dinner one night with a Singaporean friend that I had kept in contact with.  So we checked the watch, the map, the shoelaces and the fitbit.  All good to go for a last run to find the missing toy but alas we failed to find the toy but upped the steps and made my “hammies” sing.  (I save the explanation of that for later)

We used ever minute and had to resort to a taxi on the return but a quick change to freshen up and we were off again but this time not to a fancy place but a local street hawker.  Blonde chicken from beak to feet hanging in a row.  Oh we will take one.  Pork with sweet sauce and sesame seeds.  Yes.  Water weeds with chili peppers.  OK.

Clear chicken soups.  Rice, of course.  And two tall Tigers.  I am good to go.

It has always been an honor for me to have met and worked with a handful of very dedicated people.  Henry is certainly in that class.  A true Singaporean.  A gentlemen and a wonderfully hard worker.   Willing to tackle things that are new when asked.  To work way too many hours at a time but always willing to stay with me to see that things went well.  So it was a good evening to catch up on the latest news about Singapore and the work.  These are difficult times with many worries especially about who is playing the world with oil pricing.  Is it the US or is it the Arabs?  All we could come up with was to just hang on.

The meal was just what Terrie had hoped for, street food of the common variety even though we were never able to name that green.  Good yes but certainly unknown.  But who cares we are still kicking.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel and said our goodnights and again went to work packing.  Lights couldn’t go out until the packing was done since we had a 330am wake up call.  

Singapore Day 1

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February 2^nd , Singapore     

Never arrived in Singapore by water before but sliding in early the morning the waterfront twinkled.  No pollution or haze here, which has followed us throughout this journey.  The Exxon plant, which takes up an entire island, Jurong Island, which is where Dupont, Oiltanking and Vopak reside, is off in the distance.  We land next to the famous Sentosa Island where the cable cars go directly over the vessel from the main island to Sentosa. 

With a little delay because our car is at another cruise terminal we head off into the muggy morning air of Singapore.  Overcast with spits of rain but the coolest I have ever seen this city.  A pleasant temperature but still muggy and it is only 10 o’clock in the morning.

The Stamford a Swissotel is where we have chosen to stay and they amaze us by having our room waiting on us.  Nice as we had planned to go walking (I know.  No surprise when traveling with Terrie.) But today it would have been with a full backpack.  The luggage we could drop at the holding spot in the hotel but the backpack would have had to stay with us.  So it was a relief that I got to drop valuables and heavies and place them along with the bags safely in the rooms.

This hotel has been a stop of mine before and I love the location.  In walking distance of something no matter which direction to turn.  Immediately across from the famous Raffles Hotel and the main shopping street of Orchard Road.  Out the front and right to Chinatown, Boat Quay and Clarke Quay (both famous eating and partying districts).  Out front and left to little India and straight out to he Singapore Flyer (think the London Eye on steroids) and the new Marina Bay complex with the three towered hotel connected at the top with a huge pool, restaurant and bar shaped like a ship.

With the intermittent little rain we choose to head off to Orchard Street where you can always find a shop or mall to duck into to avoid getting wet.  The prize at the end of the street is the original Hard Rock Café where I have hung out before to avoid the oppressive heat and humidity.  Along the way we encounter those little know places like Prada, Cartier, YSL and Coach.  Terrie soon realizes that they are as many malls here in a short distance as there are in all of Houston.  For me it is all about the food options here.  Some I might choose and others to be avoided but all in a good day of walking.  We buy little but see a lot because the Lunar New Year is just around the corner and do they celebrate here.  Red and gold everywhere as is a Goat. 

After walking part way back from the HRC we catch a cab to avoid the rain and go back from a drop stop and go.  It is lunchtime so we dive into the attached shopping mall and head into the local food court.  Food places here are very clean but carry few if any of our traditional businesses.  You pick by reading the menu at each entrance.  Sushi, French, Japanese, Korean, Thai are all options.  We even find a “Handburger Joint” but Terrie balks at that thought and we settle for Thai food.

Off again this time headed toward the Merlion and hopefully a harbor tour.  To my surprise there is no more harbor tour because big changes have happened.   The Singapore Harbor is no longer a harbor.  Once the landing site of the ships coming in it is now jus the edge of a big pond.  The Singapore River that once emptied into the sea and was a mix of salt water and fresh water is now a reservoir capturing the fresh water.  The River’s access to the sea has been blocked by a dam that hold back the salt water and keeps boats from moving out.  The famous Singapore lightering boats are now electric powered and metal.  Gone are the handmade lightering boats as they have been replaced by the cleaner and newer bumboat look a likes.  We ride anyway and take Merlion photos for the ages.

Cruising the Singapore “River” you find out the old harbor has been filled in to make land for the new Marina Bay Complex that holds the Sands Hotel and Casino, a Mega Shopping Mall and the Gardens by the Bay.  Gardens by the Bay include tall fake trees and an arboretum that grows plants from sea level to mountaintops.  Yes fake mountaintops too.  Just shows you the changes here.  Old harbor gone.  Salt water gone.  Manmade lake now.  Manmade trees and manmade mountains, what will they think of next.  Oh wait a bigger than the London eye, London Eye.  Oh well we sail along the water thinking of the past.

We hop off the water taxi at the Merlion and begin our walk along the banks thinking of my history here.  Somewhere in the maze of tall building are the Stolt and Odjfell offices now lost in a sea of new taller shinier buildings.  Boat Quay begins with an Irish pub serving nice cold Guinness with tables along the way.  Thankfully in all the newness they haven’t torn down the original Chinese merchant homes even though they have long ago converted to restaurants.  A row of these narrow places with a bit of seating in the building’s ground floor and more seating just along the shoreline.  It is like walking through each place so you can read the menu board or picture boards, view their next dish still swimming in their aquariums.  Fish from tiny to huge, crabs the size of hubcaps from Sirlanka or Alaska’s Deadliest Catch, or clams that would make a Stallion blush.  Indian, Italian, French, Local, Chinese, Moroccan and some places I didn’t even know existed.  We just stroll by and get invited in to Happy Hour and discount Tiger Beer a 20 or so places.

As we exit Boat Quay and are about to cross under the road separating Boat from Clarke Quay we both stop in our tracks as music that was constantly changing from one nationality to another catches our attention.  Is it possible that we both hear this?  “Jambalaya, me oh my oh, Have some fun on the bayou”.  We are required to stop and listen and verify that we are now over 10,000 miles away, a few miles away from the equator and we are hearing Cajun Music.  Honest to goodness Cajun music.

Both of us break out laughing and sing right along.

Boat Quay is the original landing spot with many narrow buildings that are now preserved as restaurants.  Clarke Quay is the 20^th century version.  Bigger places, trendy, more cooperate.  Hooters, Chili’s, Harry’s Bar.  Big cooperate places that couldn’t stand the original’s limitation of space so the opened up further up the River in the downstairs of new hotels and shopping malls.  Disco’s as well a bar and a place to eat.  International bar brands just couldn’t stand to be left out when there was a crowd spending money.   Sure more air conditioned and expansive but not near as rustic and individual.  So we walked on stopping only to read the Mexican Food menu that sounded interesting but the timing was bad as we had much more afternoon to go before we stopped.

The rain began to start back up as we crossed the last street next to our hotel.  We jump in the first door we could and found ourselves back in this multistory mall again.  Fine watches, fashion, soup to nuts all under the same roof.  My goal quickly became a big 2 liter of Diet Coke.  It couldn’t be “my” hotel without my favorite brew.

Luckily the basement was the food court and grocery store.  If you have never had the pleasure of travel one highlight is a rainy day to wander the isles and read what they can buy.  Swiss Cheese flavored Lay’s potato chips.  Lichee flavored sodas.  And many things I had no clue what they were.  But they did have my almost 2 liter Diet Coke and I return to rest my tired feet with a well earned bottomless glass.

We were tired and if Terrie’s Fitbit was close to right we were bumping 30,000 steps and maybe over.  My only proof was my tired legs.  We were toast and all the best laid plans of going back out for a meal along the Quay fell to walking across the street to a place I had been to before that housed a variety of international places.  The building started life as a Monastery around a small beautiful Church.  The grounds have survived but also have been repurposed.  The Sanctuary is still in operation but the outer buildings are split into numerous eating places.  Tired and damp we chose an easy Harry’s Bar.  Nachos and Tigers for two with a split Fish and Chips main.  Just what was needed to top off the first day.

Last Sea Day

February 1^st

Last day and it is a sea day.  Much to do today with Terrie’s exercise and spa day on the top of the agenda.  For me, it is breakfast and thinking of packing and lunch and thinking of packing and a nap while thinking of packing.  Shipboard life is difficult.

We have lived in this room for two weeks now and everything has its place but today everything must jump back into the suitcases.  So thinking is hard work.

Actually about mid afternoon we actually started going though what we could pack once sending it home and what was needed in Singapore.  Luggage had to be out of the room by 1 am so all this had to be done alone with one more shipboard dinner.

We also had to close out our Casino accounts, which if taken together offered us a plus.  And we had to go pick out cruise pictures (which took more than our earnings).   One unusual thing had happen on this cruise but maybe a mark of my novice status as a cruiser.  They took our passports away from us from the first day so we now have to go retrieve them.  Didn’t like giving up my documents.  But getting all the business out of the way was a good thing and took me away from my first job of the day.  Thinking about packing.

Outside the seas were a bit rougher than we had come to expect but the dark blue water as highlighted by the ship throwing mounds of white foam back at the waves.

What we had been seeing were Vietnamese, Cambodian, or Thai fishing vessels before but today we began to pick up large container vessels north or south bound headed to or from Singapore.  We just gently rocked away occasionally meeting a wall of water that made the vessel surge a bit.  We all walked like drunken sailors bouncing merrily along our way.

Dinner was different in that our normal was to sit to ourselves but as luck would have it we encountered a table with 6 others.  Two other Americans, 4 Brits, and us.  We purchased a wine package when we made reservations and had carefully saved our last two bottles for tonight so we just invited all to join in.  Some others bought a bottle but it certainly got the party started on a good footing.

“Footing” you say.  Two Man U fans and two Liverpool fans at the same table always start a discussion.  Stories of Old Trafford starting coming out, as the Man U fans seemed to be regulars.  Golfing stories, travel adventures and talk of the about sports in general along with the impending Super Bowl teams were flying. 

Interestingly the other American gentleman was an oilman connected to an Exxon company, which had brought him to Baytown in the past.  All the time I could hear that Disney song “It’s a Small World After All.” ringing in my ear as dinner completed.

One by one suitcases were packed, sat upon, and tagged reaching their final resting place outside in the hallway.  We had completed the day on time and in fine style.  

Koh Samui

January 31

This is Terrie’s day and did it ever start early.  Seems there was a fire alarm at 414 am followed by silence from the crew.  When the fire alarm goes off in a ship you wake up.  Actually you wake up standing straight up.  We realized from the drill at the beginning that it was a first level of alarm and that meant we were to stay in our cabins and wait for instructions.  So what did some people do but put on their life jackets and head to the lifeboats.  About an hour later the Captain sheepishly came over the load speaker telling us that the alarm was for smoke from an air conditioner fan belt in the Crows Nest bar on the 9^th level.  So smoke but no fire.  While they were sounding the alarm the speaker system failed therefore there was no notification to the passengers about what was going on.  What the result of all that was for us was an adrenaline filled wake up call that had you totally awake way too early (except for Terrie and she went back to sleep).  Made for a very long day.

But again it was Terrie special day named “Sun, Sea and Sand” on the Thai island of Koh Samui.  We had never heard of this place when we booked this cruise but it turned out to be a vacation island with beach resorts along some nice sandy beaches.  We took a tender into land and then got on vans.  Seems the island roads can’t handle buses.  30 minutes and we arrived at the Hotel Ozo where Holland America had rented ½ their beach and set up chairs and umbrellas.  We used some rooms to change and spent the next 4 hours lying in the sun.

Well some of us did anyway.  Terrie will have to put a picture here to show you what she did for the first hour.  For me a chair and watching the natural beauty of the place was good enough.  Local beach merchants stopped by but couldn’t come in without permission.  The hotel had beach guards to keep them from being pest.  Things available at your feet:  scarves, swim suits, silk robes, bracelets, and ice cream.  All it took was a bit of bargaining.  We skipped lunch just so she had the maximum number of sun hours available.  The Gulf of Thailand is nice and warm and a nice place to hang out.

What a perfect day.   Sun, Sea and Sand…. Terrie was happy.

Thailand

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January 29^th and 30^th

We got in about 11 am to Thailand.  Really couldn’t call it Bangkok but rather a massive container port about 2 hours out of the center of Bangkok and with the traffic it can take 3 hours sometimes.  Our schedule for today as another big bus tour call Highlights of Bangkok and a River cruise.

First stop because of the late start was lunch along the river.  It was a Ramada Inn that had a buffet and a Thai beer.  Good but certainly not the normal food Thai’s would eat.  Back to the bus and off for a drive through the colorful Chinese district.  It is just a couple of weeks to the Chinese New Year and everything is brightly colored with Red and Gold.  Loads of gold shops here but we passed them by.  We did get to the flower market for a walk.  It certainly was the European style market all prim and proper but rather like all Asian street markets.  Narrow walkways with a mix of flowers, fruits, wares and fish.  Not really anytime to shop but didn’t really have the idea that we were there to buy.

Now down to the river to catch a Thai boat for the cruise.  We made one stop at the Templeof the Dawn.  You could climb it (which Terrie did) but I chose to take photos.  Definitely an interesting stop which we topped off with fresh coconut water straight out of the shell.

Back to the boat to watch the famous Long Tail Thai boats which were powered by car engines racing up and down the river.  Reminded me of a James Bond movie.  Along the river we saw houses on stilts where people lived and fancy place all mixed together.  Bangkok is a strange place with huge auto plants churning our Mitsubishi’s, Toyota’s, Kia’s and Volvo’s.  Money is everywhere with all the things they make and export here.  So different from Vietnam and Cambodia.  One by-product of the plants is heavy smog over the entire area.  Even though there were no clouds you couldn’t see the sky.  They may have jobs but they pay for it in so many ways.

From the river we jumped back on the bus for the rush hour trip back to our little spot amongst the containers.

Day two of our stop in Bangkok we chose to try a different patch and so to the Sanctuary of Truth.  A wooden structure that is hand carved to show how all religions could get along.  It is still under construction so we got to see the workers carving the pieces to be added. This was in the area of Pattaya.

Monks use cell phones!

Oh yes should I mention the stop at the Jewelry store.  All kinds of rubies, diamonds and sapphires.  It made for a interesting and quick stop.  Maybe the Queen could afford some of these but common folks could just stop and look.

Being a second day we were out early and watched the containers and car carriers load as we sailed away.