Disembarkation, Singapore, & Return Flight Home

           We awoke to our alarm at 6:30 AM on Thursday, 24 Oct and joined another couple at a table in the Horizon Court to eat a quick breakfast.  Being the friendly guy he is, Jesse asked where they were from.  Their answer was Alaska.  She was born in Alaska, and had even lived in the interior for 10 years.  Soon, Jesse asked if they were Sarah Palin supporters.  The man answered that they were “a lot closer than that – we’re in-laws.”  Since we weren’t quite sure of his meaning at first, he clarified that they were Todd’s parents!  So-o-o, we didn’t know where to go from there, and they were finished with their breakfast, anyway, and left.  (Earlier during the cruise, we had asked another couple from Alaska the same question, and they said there are almost no Sarah Palin supporters in Alaska!)

After breakfast, we completed the last of our packing and exited our cabin at 8:05 AM.  We were only five minutes past the required checkout time, so we didn’t get yelled at by the cabin steward this time!  (That’s probably a record for us!)  After that, we waited in the Princess Theater until about 9:30 AM, when they announced that it was finally our turn to disembark.

A long line was waiting to go through Singapore immigration, and for some time, the line wasn’t even moving.  After we finally made it through Singapore immigration and found our luggage, none of the Princess personnel seemed available to provide directions to our tour bus; therefore, Jesse walked around the parking lot until he finally found it, and we were almost the last to board.  We had signed up for a Princess Singapore 6-hour tour, with a drop-off at the airport.  It was easy to remember our tour guide’s name (Jeremy) and the driver’s name (Andrew) because we have two grandsons with those names also.

Jeremy gave us a 5-minute history lesson on Singapore, which is a city, state, and country; it is the southernmost point of mainland Southeast Asia; and it is the financial center for the region.  During their WWII occupation, Japan killed thousands of people indiscriminately, and the city was practically leveled.  Except for Chinatown and Little India, today’s Singapore is a very modern city with numerous skyscrapers, expensive commercial districts, and stores.  Jeremy told us a lot about the strict laws and penalties in Singapore.  It is probably the only place in the world that has banned chewing gum.  Possession of 5 grams of heroin gets one the death penalty.  And terrorists are imprisoned without trial.  Needless to say, there is very little crime in Singapore, but it definitely lacks a lot of freedoms, including freedom of speech.  Their president earns 4 times as much as the US President, but he was elected by a 35 percent vote.

Singapore reportedly has the largest per capita percentage of millionaires in the world; however, according to Jeremy, 80 percent of the population lives in Government apartments, and only one out of every 12 people own cars.  Private 100 square meter apartments sell for $4 or 5 million US each.  You can expect to pay $75,000 US for a Toyota Camry and another $40,000 for tax and licenses.   Mercedes is the most popular car in Singapore, for a total price of about $220,000 US.  English is taught as their first language (though most people grow up speaking some other language), and signs of streets and stores are in English except in Chinatown.

National Orchid Garden

Our tour started at Mt. Faber, the highest point in town.  From there, we stopped for a photo stop with magnificent views of the harbor, Sentosa Island, and the downtown district.  Our next stop was the National Orchid Garden, perched on a hill atop the Singapore Botanic Gardens.  Although most people probably recognize an orchid corsage (even flower-ignorant people like us), it was amazing to see that orchids can have so many colors and shapes.  This world’s largest collection of orchids houses over 1,000 species and 2,000 hybrids of orchids, most growing in a natural environment with tropical trees.  Although Sally considered staying on the bus (because of her lack of energy and the hot climate), after thinking about how a couple of our plant-loving daughters-in-law would love the opportunity, she decided to participate.  (It was about a half-hour walk, partly in the shade.) 

Our lunch was at a Chinese restaurant, “Peony Jade,” where the food was served family style, with serving dishes placed in the center of the table on a “lazy Susan” as in other Chinese restaurants we had visited. Afterward, we visited the nearby Buddha Tooth Relic Temple.  Of all of the Buddhist temples we visited, this was the most beautiful, well-maintained, and comfortable (since it was air-conditioned).  We took an elevator to the fourth floor to the Sacred Light Hall which contains the Buddha tooth relic.  The relic is housed within a stupa (a mound-like structure) made from 420 kilograms of gold; the stupa is surrounded by gold tiles and covered by a gold canopy.  Only monks are allowed into the relic chamber, where they conduct daily services.  That large, locked room is closed off by bullet-proof glass, but visitors can view the relic chamber from the public viewing area.  Of course we had removed our shoes in order to view the interior rooms of the temple; except for the gold room, photos were permitted. 

At the end of the tour, we arrived at the Singapore airport about 4:00 PM, where we planned to patiently wait until our “red-eye” flight scheduled for 1:30 AM.  After collecting our luggage and finding restrooms, Sally changed from her hot-weather clothes to warmer clothes for our flight home.  Since there were relatively few chairs in the main lobby, we were careful to maintain our seats near the main entrance, where we sat watching people arrive.  We also noticed groups of soldiers, in sets of three, walking past about every 20 minutes in formation, patrolling the airport with automatic weapons.  At about 7:45 PM, we found a Quiznos in the basement (called Level 1, which initially confused us), where we ate our dinner.  When we returned to the main lobby, we discovered that our Japan Air flight to Tokyo had changed from 1:45 to 2:30 AM.  Sally began to experience some anxiety about basic survival through this long trip home.

Our tour guide had warned passengers of airport procedures, namely that passengers could line up for ticketing 3 hours before a flight and then proceed to the gate; one hour before the flight, people would be allowed into the gate area.   After seeing a large group of uniformed Japanese school kids enter the airport and line up for ticketing, Jesse (and soon Sally) lined up behind them, even though it was slightly before 3 hours.  However, we two were soon directed to a separate line where a few business class passengers had received tickets, and we proceeded (before the students) to Level 3 to sit near the gate.  Actually, when the students came to Level 3, they sat in a nearby Starbucks for a long time, which surprised us.  When the gated area was unlocked, we lined up for security and then sat for a half-hour more at the gate before boarding the plane.

Once on the Japan Air flight, we were shocked to receive seats on the front of the coach section, with about 3 feet in front of us, enough that Jesse could stretch out his legs.  (Jesse stood up to look at row numbers because he couldn’t believe we were given these preferred seats!)  In that row were 6 seats across the middle, with 2 seats on each side of the plane; and our 2 seats were on one side.   Although we wanted to sleep (if possible), Jesse tried to stay awake enough for the frequent serving of food.  Even Sally eventually slept for a while.

Our wait at the Tokyo airport was short.  On the next flight from Tokyo to Dallas/Fort Worth, our seats were in the next-to-last row on the plane in the center section.  The bright side was that we were nearly across the aisle from a restroom; and since the center section had 4 seats across (and we sat one side of the center), we could leave our seats without bothering a stranger.   We both slept some and we also watched movies to help pass the 11.5 hours – an eternity, it seemed!  Movies included “Man of Steel,”  “The Lone Ranger,” “White House Down,” and “The Way, Way Back.”  At 9:00 AM on Sat., 25 Oct the plane landed in DFW (but it was 10:00 PM on Fri., 26 Oct in Singapore); thus, we landed before we had taken off!

At the DFW airport, being the last ones to leave the plane, we were also last in line to claim our luggage, go through customs, recheck our luggage, and go through security.  However, soon an airport worker asked if we needed a wheelchair, and then he opened up priority lane for us as a shortcut to the security conveyor belt.  Elated about that good luck, I wondered if I looked 90 years old (like I felt) or what???  Jesse came up with the probable explanation: the worker didn’t think we were a married couple; instead, he suspected that Jesse, who was lugging all of our carry-on luggage, was helping an elderly lady through the boarding procedure.  (Well, that part was correct!)  Then, we had a long wait for our flight to Peoria (scheduled for 3:35 PM).

The flight from DFW to Peoria took only 1 hr. 37 min., landing at 5:20 PM.  Due to construction that closed one lane of traffic on I-80 before the bridge crossing the Mississippi River, the last part of our 2-hour drive home took about 20 minutes more than usual.  After that, Jesse was so exhausted that Sally coached him on every turn of the road (and other drivers passed him at every opportunity).  But we made it home safely before 8:00 PM Fri. (which was 9:00 AM Sat. in Singapore).  [We were gone so long that Jesse had forgotten how to use the TV remote, and Sally had forgotten how to use the microwave!]

It’s Saturday morning, 26 Oct 2013, here in Bettendorf now, with our EXTREMELY fast internet (when compared to the ship’s).  We weighed in and after 32 days of overeating and found that we had only gained about five pounds each, which should be easy to lose, once we resume our water aerobics next week.

Signing off at the end of another lovely (but exhausting) cruise!

At Sea

            On Tuesday, 22 Oct, Jesse awoke about 8:30 AM and started getting dirty clothes ready for the laundry (pre-scrubbing, etc); Sally awoke just as Jesse was heading for the laundry room.  Since Sally was still worn out from the previous day’s activities, Jesse brought her breakfast from the Horizon Court.  After finishing his laundry, Jesse went to dance class in the Club Fusion, while Sally worked on the blog.  Also at dance class, Lenata was Jesse’s dance partner.  The class reviewed the Cha Cha, the Jive (East Coast Swing), and the Salsa, which gave Jesse a second opportunity to master the new Salsa dance steps.  (Hopefully, he will still remember them when we get back home.)

We lounged around the cabin all afternoon, finally logging into genealogy DNA websites to use up some of our complimentary minutes that we still have left in our internet accounts.  Now, since we now have only 88 of our 1000 complimentary minutes left in our internet accounts, we won’t lose a lot of minutes like we did last year.

About 4:30 PM, Jesse went down to the Horizon Court to get soup for a light late lunch.  Although he brought back only a cup of soup for Sally, for himself he couldn’t resist also bringing back a cup of soup, a loaded baked potato, chicken/rice casserole, chocolate bread pudding, and ice cream!  (This is why we try to avoid eating at buffet restaurants at home!)

Tonight we had a formal dinner, with escargot, lobster, and prawns.  Afterwards we enjoyed a complimentary cocktail before retiring to our cabin for the night.  During the evening, we watched the movie “Mud” with Matthew McConaughey on TV, in segments.  The movie reminded us a lot of “Great Expectations,” except that there were two boys, not one.

As we thought more about our tour in Bangkok, Thailand, our tour guide, Wee, talked a lot about “sticky rice.”  Thai people love sticky rice, which is a good traveling food that lasts all day and can be enjoyed for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  A mixture of rice, salt, sugar, curry, and coconut milk is baked inside hollow bamboo sticks about 3 inches in diameter and 10 inches long.  The sticky rice stays fresh all day; in fact, it lasts even longer, since any leftovers can later be refrigerated at home.  At our last stop before returning to the ship, Wee purchased a few tubes of sticky rice and shared them.  Although Sally didn’t try any, Jesse did and thought it tasted a little like rice pudding.

Also, Wee talked about the rice barges that used to transport rice down the Mekong River many years ago before the good roads that they have now for transportation.  (He had grown up on a rice farm.)  Wee said that was nothing more scenic, pleasant, and relaxing than floating down the river on a rice barge.  Also, more than once he mentioned that inexpensive, interesting vacations can still be taken further north, away from the city.  Maybe for the young and adventurous!

On Wednesday, 23 Oct, we again slept fairly late.  After we returned from breakfast, our cabin steward placed a heavy vinyl strip on our bed for packing our suitcases.  Although it would seem to be easy just to throw everything into our suitcases to go home, it’s actually much more complicated.  We were advised to have most of our luggage outside our cabin door by 6:00 PM (before we leave the cabin for dinner).  However, we need clothes to wear to dinner tonight; another set of clothes to wear on our tour of Singapore tomorrow (when it will be very hot outside of the bus); and also comfortable, somewhat warmer, clothes to wear on the very long flight home.   And we always have to be careful to put bigger containers of liquids in a suitcase that will be checked. Packing is never fun!  Incidentally, the air temperature on this cruise has increased from about 45 degrees F in Alaska to at least 88 degrees in Southeast Asia – and now we will go back to colder temperatures again.

Jesse went to dance class where they reviewed the Samba, Tango, and Merengue.  Since Lenata wasn’t there this time, an Asian woman agreed to be Jesse’s dance partner, but only after he told her where Sally was!  Jesse didn’t recognize her, but she had apparently seen us together.

Jesse & Alass (Dance Instructor)

By mid-afternoon, Sally tired of packing and decided to take a nap, but then got up and packed more.  We managed to get two of our suitcases out into the hallway before dinner, as required.  After dinner, we danced to the Superfly band until they went on break and then returned to our cabin for a little while. 

With Niona & Dennis

We returned to the Explorers Lounge a little after 9:00 PM, where we were scheduled to meet up with Niona and Dennis.  We danced to a couple of songs, and then went to a quieter area for conversation.  We said our goodbyes around 10:30 PM and returned to our cabin to finish packing.

 

We have a 6-hour tour of Singapore tomorrow before the bus drops us off at the airport.  Unless we find free Wi-Fi in one of the airports, we’ll be making our final posting to our blog to cover disembarkation, Singapore, and our return trip when we get home to Bettendorf.

Bangkok, Thailand (Formerly Siam)

            Today, Monday 21 Oct, was another very busy day.  We awoke to our alarm clock at 5:00 AM; and while we were enjoying a quick breakfast, through the windows we could see our ship gliding slowly into dock at Laem Chaband, Thailand.  Again, another cruise ship was in port beside ours.  Very soon, we proceeded to our 7:00 AM tour meet-up point for a full-day exploration of Bangkok.

At 7:25 AM we boarded our bus, where our tour guide (Wera, or “Wee” for short) was waiting.  Although Wee has a very heavy accent, he spoke very slowly and clearly so that there was sufficient time to determine the English words he was trying to pronounce!

On our way to Bangkok, we passed by many coconut and tapioca trees.  Formerly rice fields were seen here, but the once low cost property has been bought by investors; now that the land has become valuable, it will soon be developed.  Jesse asked Wee about the trucks on the road that appeared to be fueled by natural gas cylinders; Wee responded that the fuel is liquid petroleum gas (LPG), which costs a lot less than gasoline or diesel fuel in Thailand.

Because of its canals and rivers, Wee referred to Bangkok as the “Venice of the East.” However, Jesse recalled that our tour guide in Suzhou, China, had made the same claim about that city – and after our ride on the Grand Canal there, Suzhou does seem more deserving of that nickname.  However, Bangkok has canals and a river, with barges, some of them quite large, as well as ferry boats and river buses.  Gold brightens up the scenery; even common houses might have a small gold temple with a Buddha in a corner of their yard.

Thailand has been compelled by its geographical position and relative weakness to preserve itself by maintaining a balance among its enemies.  Since they could not defend their frontiers, the Thais have for centuries either placated or defied their enemies, changing allies as necessary.  When all her neighbors were losing their independence in the 19th and 20th centuries, Thailand managed to preserve hers.  Through the arrival of Western traders and the French attempts to take over the kingdom, and as well as some natural disasters, Thailand has survived and seems a living museum.

In Bangkok, we rode through Chinatown, and then along the main street near the King’s residence, where billboard-size photos of the royal family appear at each city block.  December 5th is Thailand’s patriotic day (“our beloved King’s birthday,” as described by Wee), and the city already appears to getting prepared for the big celebration.  (Although Thailand’s king welcomes criticism, any disrespect towards him is punishable by 10 to 20 years in prison.  For instance, the movie, "The King and I" is banned in Thailand.)  The king has pardoned some of the offenders, but not all.)

Wat Po Temple

Our first stop was the Wat Po, one of the largest and oldest wats (Buddhist temples) in Bangkok.  Wat Po is home to more than 1,000 Buddha images.  The Reclining Buddha, one of the largest single Buddha images, fills most of the inside area of Wat Po and we walked along with others along the perimeter of the statue.  In order to go inside, we took off our shoes and placed them in bags, which we carried with us.  Before departing for Bangkok, we were given the following instructions about clothing acceptability in Buddhist temples: Women are supposed to cover their shoulders and knees; both men and women should wear shoes that don’t have open toes or heels, plus socks, since shoes must be removed to enter a temple.  (Some advice was conflicting, such as some that proclaimed sandals were accepted, if socks were worn under the sandals.)  Sally observed that people going into the temples generally were dressed up to code; however, two young women wore flip-flops with no socks, and still walked through the Wat Po Temple with the rest of the crowd.  In truth, there was such a crowd of people that probably no one was looking at feet; however, Jesse and I were both told to remove our hats when we were entering – hats were easier to spot than bare feet!  (Ship passengers had not been told about hats.)

Wat Sutat Temple

Our bus then continued to Wat Suthat, known for its Phra Sri Sakyamuni Buddha statue, an impressive bronze Buddha image that stands over 25 feet tall, and its magnificent doors and giant red swing.

 

Tuk Tuk Ride

Next we boarded a tuk tuk (pronunced “took took” with the “oo” sound in the word “moon” by our guide), a motorized rickshaw (a 3-wheeled conveyance), and traveled through the inner part of Bangkok for 25 minutes to the Royal Princess Hotel.  This ride was definitely the most entertaining part of our day.  Since a rickshaw can carry only 2 passengers (or 3, if they are small and wish to travel together), carrying our busload of people required quite an armada of tuk tuks.  Obviously very experienced, the drivers worked together to stay together as much as possible, using blocking techniques as much as possible to provide safety for the group from taxis, busses, and trucks traveling the same streets.

At the Royal Princess Hotel, we enjoyed a sumptuous international buffet lunch.  Separate tables held salad, sushi, main courses, and desserts, with plenty of all of those.  Each item was well labeled, and everything that we tried was delicious.  (Of course, Jesse went back for seconds.)

After lunch, we re-boarded our bus and stopped at the Jessadabordin Ground and witnessed a stunning Thai architectural-styled, open pavilion, and caught a glimpse of the Golden Stupa Mountain Temple, the highest temple in Bangkok.   During a conversation with one of the other passengers of our bus, we discovered that touring with us was a retired baseball player, Charles (Buddy) Bradford, who played for the Chicago White Sox during the 1970s.

Before the end of our day in Bangkok, the bus stopped for 40 minutes at the Royal Lapidary, where fairly expensive handicrafts, jewelry, and some souvenirs and gifts were on display.  This was the typical shopping stop that some otherwise interesting tours use to provide some “kickback” shared by the cruise line, the bus company, and probably the guide.  (All cruisers soon recognize this ploy.)  Because our guide said we should use the restrooms there before our long drive back to the ship, everyone left the bus.  When the two of us entered the store, a well-dressed sales clerk immediately attached herself to us, following us through all three floors of the stores, trying to show us jewelry, silk scarves, etc.  After about 10 or 15 minutes, we had walked through the store and used the restroom.  When we tried to re-board our bus, the bus driver would not allow us to do so, the first time we have not been allowed to re-board our bus when the driver was onboard.  (Since he was eating, we assumed he must have been on break.)  So we had to wait outside in the heat for another 20 minutes or so.  By then, we had decided we would not be giving the bus driver a tip!  That time could have been used driving down streets from a different direction so that we could see some sites that were only visible from the other side of the bus. 

Regarding the heat, free bottles of cold water had been provided with our tickets to the Wat Po, as well as large bottles with our lunch.  Although it was hot (at least 86 degrees, with very high humidity), it never rained on us (though it rained heavily in Laem Chaband, where our ship was docked).  We decided that we were less uncomfortable in Bangkok, and also less worn out, than we had been in Ho Chi Minh City, mainly because we had walked very little.

Our bus was caught in a traffic jam on the way back to the ship.  A big truck had a flat tire, blocking one of the 3 lanes of traffic, which delayed our bus by at least 25 minutes.  We arrived back in our cabin after 5:30, but managed to go to our dinner table by 6:15.  Until we arrived, Jeri was alone at the table.  In fact, the dining room was relatively empty, with several servers standing around with nothing to do.

After dinner, we went to the Explorers Lounge for some brief dancing, where the Diamond Princess Orchestra was playing.  Although the room was relatively empty, our friends Niona and Dennis were there, and we sat with them, also dancing to a few songs (including a tango).  When the band went on break, the few present in the bar started to play Multimedia Trivia.  Since we had played Trivia without embarrassing ourselves too badly a few evenings earlier, we played again, scoring 13 out of 21; since they considered this score pretty good, their skills and ours for that game seem about even.  When the orchestra returned from break at 9:30 PM, we decided to call it a night and retire to our cabins.

At Sea

            On Sunday, 20 Oct 2013, Sally awoke about 6:30 AM and was out of bed by 7:00 AM; Jesse slept until about 8:00 AM.  At breakfast, we shared a table with Nori and Tony form Chicago.  They are “Elite” Princess cruisers and have been onboard since Vancouver (even longer than us).  They told us how nice it is to have complimentary laundry service, which comes with “Elite” status.  After breakfast, Sally worked on our blog and Jesse went to a Merengue dance lesson.  He ended up with Lenata for a dance partner, and learned a few new steps, through which he should easily lead Sally; however, the Merengue is one of the dances that Sally doesn’t enjoy (too much jumping around – her view).

Lunch with Niona & Dennis

We met Niona and Dennis for lunch at 12:30 PM, where we found out that we have been spelling Niona’s name incorrectly.  Our conversation topics ranged from the Vietnam War to current real estate prices around the world.  After conversing until almost 4:00 PM, we returned to our cabin to get ready for dinner.

After dinner, we danced to the Superfly Band in the Explorer’s Lounge for 30 minutes before retiring for the night to rest up for another early morning and a very hot day in Bangkok, Thailand.  

Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), Vietnam

            Today, Saturday 19 Oct 2013, was a very busy day.  After awakening to our alarm clock at 5:00 AM followed by a quick breakfast, we headed down to the Wheelhouse Bar for our tour.  Although we had agreed to meet our friend Lenata at 6:30 AM, she wasn’t there.  We later found out that she had set her alarm too late, making it impossible for her to get to the Wheelhouse Bar by that time.   Although we waited for a few extra minutes before getting our tickets, she ended up on a different bus.

Even from the ship, we could see no buildings anywhere on land; the port seemed in the middle of nowhere, though for the first time on this cruise, there was a cruise ship already beside ours in the harbor.  Since it was a long bus ride of nearly 2 hours from the port to the city center, there was a long line of busses waiting for ship passengers.  We boarded our bus around 7:15 AM.  Our tour guide, Crang, soon announced that the bus was equipped with Wi-Fi, and he provided us with the access code.

At first, we drove through the Mekong River Delta, where we saw fields of rice.  Next, there were lots of rubber trees.  Since the liquid from the rubber trees is harvested at night, workers on these farms have high incidences of malaria.  We passed a military cemetery, in which only North Vietnamese soldiers are buried; South Vietnamese soldiers are buried in a separate cemetery.

Although we thought at one point that our bus was stopping to pay toll for a toll road, we soon realized that vehicles other than motor bikes had to stop to get weighed; then, possibly paying a toll, but we’re not sure about that.  Even though there were very few stoplights, there was not much open road where the bus could travel fast; instead, we drove through several villages on our way to Ho Chi Minh City, and we passed more and more shops and people buying and selling along the street. 

About half way to the city, we made a pit stop so the passengers could visit the “Happy Room.”  In these public places, most (if not all) of the toilets are not “Western,” meaning the shallow toilet bowl is at floor level.  In the ladies’ room, if someone spots a Western toilet, then most women line up for that one – making a very long line, so that sometimes the bus has to wait longer.  The men’s and women’s restroom entrances are often so close that it can be confusing; at this first stop, a man from our bus was following Sally in the restroom right up to the stall.  Obviously, he had made a wrong turn!

Our guide told us that the most popular means of transportation in Vietnam is the motorbike, and we quickly saw that they were all over the road; we saw very few automobiles.  He said it costs about $18,000 US to purchase a motorbike, although we later wondered if we heard him correctly since so many people rode them.  It was interesting to watch people on these bikes, often riding two on a bike, and occasionally a family of three on one bike.  (A few times, we saw two young children on one bike with their parents, one in front of the man who was driving, and the other between the man and the woman!)  Where there is space, two lanes on the right side of the road often are reserved for motorbike traffic, and there is much more traffic there than where the larger vehicles travel.  Despite the heat, many of the bike riders cover most of their bodies, especially the women.  Long sleeves, covered faces, and gloves are common – to protect them from the hot sun, our guide told us.  They often wear face masks as protection against the carbon monoxide or smog, or also if they have colds. On the other hand, quite a number of them ride with only flip-flops on their feet.

At the Reunification Hall

 Our first stop was the Reunification Hall (formerly, the Presidential Palace of the Republic of South Vietnam).  A Chinese-built tank displayed on the grounds is the same model as the one that crashed the gate of the palace in 1975 to end the 19-year Vietnam War.  (This was where American helicopters landed in great haste to retrieve the last remaining diplomats and staffers before the Viet Cong invasion.)  Inside, numerous propaganda-type photos were displayed on the walls, including one with the caption “GI’s were herding Vietnamese peasants into concentration camps in 1965” and another showing dead bodies following the My Lai village massacre.  Not air conditioned, the palace was extremely hot and humid, especially the basement, where the former President’s bedroom and some other rooms are located.  Although our guide said Vietnam is hottest in April and May, due to the very high (99 percent) humidity and heavy rains, we westerners were grateful to step back on the air-conditioned bus if only for a few minutes!

Thien Hau Temple

On our way to our next stop, the historic Thien Hau (Buddhist) Temple in Chinatown, we saw a vehicle elaborately decorated with gold and carvings giving the appearance of a coach out of fairy tales, which turned out to be a Buddhist funeral car.  (Later in the day, we actually saw a portion of a funeral using the vehicle.)  Since the inside of the temple was filled with heavy smoke from burning incense, our guide warned passengers who might be sensitive to smoke to meet us outside the temple after this portion of the tour.  The inside of the temple was elaborately decorated, and a few Buddhists were performing religious rituals as another Buddhist occasionally beat one of the temple’s drums.  Because of the incense and also burning candles, Sally couldn’t help but notice those similarities with the Roman Catholic Church.

 

 Next, we enjoyed an excellent buffet lunch at the NHA Hang Him Lam Restaurant, with soup, too many choices of meat and other food, plus fruit and cookies.  With a choice of local beer, soft drinks, or bottled water, of course, we chose the beer. 

National History Museum

After another short bus ride, we arrived at the National History Museum. Just inside, near the entrance, was a giant sculpture of Ho Chi Minh.   We were led to a performance of Vietnamese water puppets, where a sign on the wall there reads exactly as follows, except in all capital letters:

The Vietnamese folk water puppetry

Was officially certified the performance

Year of 1121 under the Ly Dynasty

We took seats in rows on 3 sides of a rectangular pool of water with a curtain on the fourth side; although the water was very dark, we could see occasional bubbles and once caught a glimpse of a 5-inch long fish near the surface.  Suddenly, two “dragons” startled the audience by emerging from the water.  The dragons danced and then fought over a ball; a man figure came out to fish (and then fought the dragons); a woman figure joined the man in a boat as they tried to catch “fish,” etc., until they ended up with a stack of fish in their boat.  At the end, five people who had been operating the puppets came out from behind the curtain and bowed.

  Sally was reminded of the puppets that German children grow up watching, or at least they were doing so 45 years ago.  If we had been able to understand the comments made in Vietnamese at various points of the performance, some of the puppets’ actions might have made a little more sense, but some of it was still drew laughs from us foreigners, and it was all entertaining.

After that, we walked through several other rooms in the museum, where there were old statues (many Buddha images), prehistoric carvings and implements, and paintings showing prehistoric times as well as battles from the 9th century and 11th centuries (just to mention a few of the items we observed).  During this museum visit after the puppet show, the temperature/humidity became almost unbearable, as it had in the basement of the Palace.  A few times, Sally tried to stand motionless underneath one of the few ceiling fans, where the air was slightly moving.  We westerners were sweating profusely!

After an extremely short, cool ride, our bus stopped again to visit the Minh Phuong Lacquer Factory.  By then, Sally was worn out and stayed on the bus for the remainder of the tour.  For about 10 minutes, Jesse watched the craftsman fabricate and polish their wares and then he walked through the shop where numerous lacquered items were for sale.  After that, luckily he returned to the bus.  Suddenly, it started raining heavily, with the result that most of the other passengers were soaked as they returned to the bus – though our guide’s assistant carried an umbrella to shield them somewhat from the downpour.

On our way back to the ship, we made short photo stops at the Rex Hotel, the Ho Chi Minh Park, the Notre Dame Cathedral, and the French Colonial Post Office.  The cathedral was built in 1898 by the French, but several of us wondered why it wasn’t demolished by the Communists.

Our guide said there is a big gap between the rich and the poor in Vietnam.  Also, Vietnam is still a little behind technologically, so that they import their technical and engineering support from Korea and Japan.  On the way back to the ship, a man sitting near us asked our guide if there are any hard feelings today lingering from the Vietnam War.  He replied that the wealthy people in the south were originally from North Vietnam and were rewarded for their “service” during the war.

At 5:30 PM we re-boarded the ship and quickly cleaned up for dinner.  Since Sally was exhausted, we skipped dancing for the night and retired to our cabin.

At Sea

           On Thursday, 17 Oct 2013, we awoke about 9:00 AM and went to a late breakfast.  On our way back to our cabin, we happened to see Neona and Dennis again.  They had been out and about since 7:00 AM which, though early by our standards, they said is much later than their usual 5:30 AM wakeup time.  After conversing with them for a few minutes, we returned to our cabin, where Sally resumed her napping and Jesse resumed watching the Government shutdown saga on television.  Apparently, the shutdown finally ended this morning (last night, USA time).

Although Jesse had planned to attend the end of a Samba dance lesson, when he arrived, the instructor was thanking the passengers for their attendance.  Sally thinks the Samba is a boring, tiring dance (of hopping up and down) and is not interested in learning more. 

After Sally’s nap, we walked to the other end of the Lido deck for a light lunch and shared our table with a couple from south Wales, UK.  After lunch, we lounged the rest of the afternoon in our cabin.

After dinner, we went to the Club Fusion for dancing, but very unfamiliar Latin music was playing again.  The common ballroom dance steps that we have learned don’t seem to fit that music.  However, the group of Portuguese-speaking passengers was having a great time, while controlling the choice of music!  One Asian couple was attempting to learn dance steps they appeared to be learning; the other non-Portuguese passengers (including us) left after a few songs.  Although there hasn’t been as much opportunity for ballroom dancing on this cruise as on previous cruises, the opportunities have now drastically shrunk. 

Anyway, since there was no other dancing available, we decided to go for a short evening swim instead.  The pool and hot tubs were empty, so we had them all to ourselves.  Near the end, an Australian gentleman joined us in the hot tub.  During our conversation, he warned us about malaria-carrying mosquitoes in Vietnam and some other parts of the world, including in parts of Australia.  He had contracted malaria twice during his lifetime, from which it took him only a few days to recover; however, apparently there are more severe strains.  We brought insect repellent with us and will use it during our visit to Vietnam.

On Friday, 18 Oct 2013, we awoke at a decent time, after setting our clocks and watches back one hour the previous night.  After breakfast, we returned to our cabin, where Sally resumed her napping.  The movies being shown on the TV are a repeat of the first segment of our cruise, from Whittier to Beijing, so there are no new movies to watch.

At 12:15 PM Jesse went to a Salsa dance class and learned a few new steps.  Afterwards, we had a light lunch, and later went to the 3:30 Tea Dance.  During the dance, we ran into Neona and Dennis, so we stayed with them afterwards in the Club Fusion for the afternoon Trivia Challenge.  We warned them that neither of us is very good at Trivia, but they were very persuasive – and we were able to answer 3 or 4 of the 20 questions.  One of the questions that we answered was the name of the US president was quoted as saying, “I am not a crook!”   Also, we figured out what “NATO” stands for, and who declared himself emperor of France in 1804.  We all knew the musician’s name who wrote the song “9 to 5” (Dolly Parton).  One of the questions that our Australian friends answered was, “How many stars are on the Australian flag?”  (However, since this apparently isn’t taught in school, it seems to be a confusing question for Australians; they have both states and territories.)  Also, Dennis knew the city with the most millionaires (Singapore).  At any rate, our total team score was 13 out of 20 points, which wasn’t too bad for us.  The winners tied with 18 out of 20 points. We stayed and talked with them until dinner.

After dinner, we danced to the Superfly Band for 30 minutes in the Explorer’s Lounge, where we just happened to run into Neona and Dennis again.  Since our meet-up time for our Ho Chi Minh City excursion is 7:00 AM, we retired early for the night.   

Hong Kong, China

           While we were eating our early breakfast on Wednesday, 16 Oct, we could see Hong Kong in the distance through fog – not a good view for photographs.  (It remained foggy all day.)   From our balcony at 8:00 AM, we were able to watch drummers and dancers on the pier below.  Five “creatures,” with heads that looked like dogs, danced to the drums for 15 to 20 minutes.  Each creature had a body of colorful material, with one person in the front and another behind.  (Jesse thinks they were supposed to be dragons.)

After 9:00 we lined up to leave the ship, this time needing only our cruise cards – not copies of our stamped passports as required for other Chinese ports.  (We needed our original passports for Japan.)  After walking a long distance through the zigzagging passageway from the ship to the main Hong Kong terminal, about 9:30 we boarded our bus.  There, our tour guide, Sue, told us that this new terminal has been opened recently; in fact, this Princess ship was the first one to use it (and it isn’t quite finished).  The terminal is built on land reclaimed land that had been part of a very dangerous landing strip at the old airport (where pilots had to turn at a 45 degree angle when landing).  Before now, ships docked at an older port and passengers had to ride ashore on tenders.

Sue speaks excellent English.  Although most of the people that we encountered in Hong Kong also spoke some English because it is their second language and is taught in Hong Kong schools, Sue said that people who don’t use English in their daily life don’t become fluent in it.  Hong Kong, which literally means “Fragrant Harbor,“ was acquired by Britain in 1898 under a 99-year lease, and returned to China’s control on 1 July 1997.  It is currently a “special administrative region of China.”  We noticed that Hong Kong flies both the Hong Kong and the Republic of China flags, and also that people drive on the left side of the road (not the right, as in the rest of China).  Our bus drove through two long tunnels, one very deep under water that cruise ships travel above and then one through a mountain.

As we rode through the city, Sue pointed out sites of interest including the Happy Valley Racecourse, the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the Catholic cemetery (where photos are on the tombstones), and the gate to Jackie Chan’s house.  Inside the racetrack, soccer and other games are played.  Land is extremely expensive in Hong Kong, resulting in small, very cramped apartments; but Sue said there are few complaints because life is so much better than it used to be.  Because no space is wasted in Hong Kong, these days even storage of ashes from cremation is difficult, if not impossible.

Our first stop of the day was the Stanley Market, one of the world’s great bazaars.  This fabled market features a dazzling array of stalls and shops that sell handcrafted souvenirs and jewelry, fashions, cameras, and toys at reasonable prices.

Hong Kong Jewelry

Next, we proceeded to the “Hong Kong Jewelry,” where we perused a stunning array of jewelry available for sale.  Though very attractive, the jewelry was very expensive.  During our visit, we were served Chinese tea.  Sally commented that there were more salespeople there than customers!

Jumbo Floating Restaurant

From there, we visited Aberdeen, a picturesque village that is home to thousands of “water people” who live aboard their junks and sampans (flat bottomed boats).  We boarded a sampan for a short tour of the calm waters of the Inner Harbor among the countless boats anchored there.  The sampan dropped us off at the famous Jumbo Floating Restaurant in Aberdeen to partake of a sumptuous, complimentary Chinese Dim Sum lunch with tea.  We also purchased two Chinese beers.

Victoria Harbor Cruise

After lunch, we rode to the Kowloon Public Pier, where we boarded a small cruiser for a cruise through Victoria Harbor.  We enjoyed a complimentary beer as we lazily surveyed the Hong Kong skyline from many angles.

Our final stop of the day was Victoria Peak, 1,805 feet above sea level.  We took an 8-minute tram ride from Peak Tram Station to the summit, which towered above all of the tallest skyscrapers.  Although the view was still impressive, it would have been breathtaking if the fog/smog had not hidden much of it; therefore, our snapshots don’t do it justice.  As the bus was about to start our return trip to the ship, it was discovered that we were missing three passengers.  Only one couple was missing initially, but then a friend went looking for them, leaving his wife on the bus.  After searching for them for 25 minutes, Sue received a phone call from her office that all three passengers were on another bus.  It was touching to watch the husband and wife finally reunite at the cruise terminal; they were obviously VERY glad to see each other again.

At any rate, we finally returned to the ship about 6:30 PM, too late to clean up and go to our regular dining room table.  Instead, we walked down the hall to the Horizon Court (buffet) for dinner, where we shared a table with a couple, Neona and Dennis, from Sidney, Australia.  After a long, interesting conversation with them, we finally returned to our cabin for the night.

About 9:30 PM, the captain announced that we had returned to Hong Kong waters to drop off a very sick passenger.  We watched from our balcony as the smaller boat docked with our ship to pick up the patient and return to Hong Kong.  Our ship turned and headed out to sea again.

At Sea (& Sally's Birthday)

Sally with Joey

            14 Oct 2013 – Happy Birthday to my lovely wife Sally, the second year in a row that we have spent Sally’s birthday on a cruise ship.  This time last year, we had been stranded ashore at Akaroa, New Zealand for the night.  But that next afternoon Jesse just had to tell the other passengers on the tender that it was Sally’s birthday (!), and so they sang happy birthday to Sally as we rode back to the ship.  This morning Joey, our cabin steward, decorated our cabin door with a happy birthday plaque and balloons.

On a sad note, we received the bittersweet news today from our daughter-in-law, Terri, that Sally’s brother, Joe, had passed away on the morning of 12 Oct 2013.  We were sad to hear that Joe is gone, but we are glad that his long suffering has finally come to an end.

After sleeping a little late this morning, especially Sally, we went to a late breakfast, then a 1.5 hour swim (not constant swimming!), then to lunch.  Since it was 85 degrees or hotter on deck, the pools and surrounding areas were more crowded than usual.  We missed the Cha Cha lesson at 11:15 AM (but didn’t think we would learn anything in a basic lesson, anyway), so we spent the remainder of the afternoon lounging around in our cabin.

Happy Birthday

Dinner Table

Tonight we enjoyed another formal dinner, with lobster on the menu.  Also, the waiters and dining room captain all sang happy birthday to Sally, joined in by the rest of our table and some of the other passengers, while a tasty birthday cake (with a candle) was served.  The frosting was like dark chocolate candy.  After dinner, we joined the other Captain’s Circle Members in the Club Fusion for our second cocktail party, where we enjoyed complementary cocktails.  (Since we didn’t finish dinner until 7:30 AM, we arrived after the ceremony started and missed the preliminary dancing.)  Afterwards, we danced to only one song in the Wheelhouse Bar before the Electrix Duo went on break – at which time we returned to our cabin.

When we opened our cabin door, we soon saw that our room steward, Joey, had decorated our entire bed for a final birthday celebration.  He had shaped our bedcover into a large heart, with many small, red chocolate candy hearts spread out along the cover.  Near the pillows were two kissing swans shaped out of blue and white beach towels. 

Thinking more about large cities in China that we have visited so far, namely Qingdao, Beijing, and Shanghai, Shanghai seemed the least attractive to us.  All three have a lot of high-rise apartments; Qingdao and Beijing both have many tree-lined streets.  Shanghai is the economic center of China and (our guide told us) the most modern city in China.  The cost of an apartment is twice as much in Shanghai as in Beijing, and a car license costs the equivalent of $4,000 to $5,000 in Shanghai.  In order to take the required driving test, driving class costs $600, plus an extra $200 in tips for the instructor.  Traffic is terrible Monday through Friday in Shanghai, often turning the streets into parking lots.

For these reasons, people might choose to live in Suzhou, if possible, but especially after they retire.  Both apartments and car licenses cost half as much in Suzhou, and there is a rapid transit connecting Suzhou and Shanghai.  In Suzhou, building high-rise buildings is not allowed because it would destroy the historical flavor of the city.

At any rate, our guide told us that we were visiting the Shanghai/Suzhou area in the best time of the year.  In spring there is a lot of rain, with flooding in late May and June; and summer is very hot.

We slept late on Tuesday, 15 Oct 2013.   After breakfast and a little more relaxing, we attended a Tango dance class in Club Fusion.  We may have finally mastered a new Tango dance step.  Since we still feel a little awkward doing the step, we’ll have to keep practicing!

There was a “Mexican Fiesta” buffet set up for lunch, so Jesse had two soft-shelled tacos, soup, peach cobbler, and ice cream for lunch, while Sally stuck with her usual soup and salad.  After lunch, Sally napped while Jesse did a little hand laundry and watched more of the Government shutdown saga on television.

The movie “Life of Pi” was shown on television today.  We managed to see the beginning and the end, but without the closed captions, Sally wasn’t able to hear much of it, so we will have to watch the whole movie again when we get home anyway.

After dinner (filet mignon and jumbo shrimp), we went to the Club Fusion for dancing, but they were playing very unfamiliar Latin music.   We weren’t sure of the language but, since there were several dancers there speaking what sounded like Portuguese, we assumed the music was Portuguese also.  The songs all sounded similar, but we couldn’t figure out how to dance to them.  After about 15 minutes there, we went to the Explorer’s Lounge, where the Electrix Duo was playing ballroom dance music and several other couples were dancing.  We danced until their 8:15 PM break, and then returned to our cabin for the night.

Shanghai (and Suzhou), China

            Today, 13 Oct 2013, since we were scheduled for an all-day excursion, we left our comfortable bed at 5:30 AM.  Although we intended to have a quick breakfast with our friend, Anna, another interesting woman (Zina?) sat down at our table.  Born in the Philippines, Zina has lived in numerous places in the USA, including North Dakota, Hawaii, and California.  At any rate, we became so engrossed in conversation that we had to rush away in order to be on time for the 7:20 AM meet-up for our tour.

Our tour guide, Gavin, a native of Suzhou, China, was very enthused about showing us his city.  Because he studied in Wisconsin, his English was very easy to understand.  Our tour started with a bus ride through Shanghai before taking the highway for a one-hour drive through the countryside to Suzhou, China.  Suzhou, settled about 600 BC, is famous for its silk production, legendary temples, and beautiful gardens.  The city also boasts more historic bridges and canals than any other city in China and was called by Marco Polo the “Venice of the East.”

Our first stop was the Suzhou Embroidery Research Institute.  Long renowned for its elegant beauty and craftsmanship, Suzhou embroidery has received international acclaim.  We watched artisans at work, visited the small museum where their masterpieces are on display, and browsed the very beautiful, but expensive, hand-woven silk merchandise in the gift shop.  If you think of “embroidery” as being simple cross-stitch needlework, you haven’t seen Suzhou embroidery.  Their small stitches are made with fine silk thread; tiny stitches of up to 24 colors are used in some parts of the “picture,” resulting in a true piece of art.  Both sides of the work are identical; there is no “back.”

Grand Canal Cruise

Next, we were driven to the Grand Canal, where we boarded one of three small boats available for our group and cruised along the largest man-made waterway on earth.  Built over 1,300 years ago to transport food and other products, the Grand Canal ranks alongside the Great Wall of China as the country’s greatest engineering achievement.  Originally, the canal served as a moat around the city.  Cruising on the canal offers the best views of the ancient city as well as the 2,500-year-old Panmen Gate. 

Chinese Lunch

After our canal ride, we were served a delicious multi-course family-style meal of traditional Chinese dishes at the local Bamboo Grove Hotel.



Humble Administrator Garden

Our last stop was the beautiful Humble Administrator Garden, the most famous garden in China, created in 1509 during the Ming Dynasty.  Stretching out over 12 acres, the Garden is divided into three distinct sections of pavilions, terraces, towers, and bridges set among a maze of pools and an island.  Gavin warned us that is was very easy to get lost in the garden and suggested that we stay with the group.  We did!

While eating lunch, we sat by a couple who lived in Bettendorf, Iowa many years ago.  And while following our guide through the Garden, we met a woman who graduated from Monmouth (Illinois) High School in 1966 (but did not live there very long).  Indeed, it’s a small world.  On the bus trip back to Shanghai, Sally conversed with a woman who was born in Berlin, Germany in 1935, but who has been a resident of Australia since 1954.  After a long, exhausting day, we returned to the ship.  Back in our cabin by 5:30 PM, we quickly cleaned up for dinner; and afterward, we returned to our cabin for an early night.