St. Andrews Anglican Cathedral is in the old Historical Area and represents the British rule of Singapore since the 19th Century. Today, it seemed to be a very progressive chuch with lots of signs of evangelizing. Outside it is all white and sits on a large piece of property in the center of the city.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Arrived Singapore Marriott orchard rd
Our ship docked in Singapore on Tuesday, February 28 at 2pm and we stayed on board till the following morning. That evening we did the Singapore Zoo Night Safari where you board a tram which travels around the zoo in the dark. The animal areas are natural and barely lighted so that you can watch the animals' nightime activities. Sounds better than we thought it was. You do not spend much time with any one group of animals. Sort of now you see them, now you don't.
After disembarking the ship, we took a taxi to the Singapore Marriott which is located on Orchard Road, a very fashionable shopping area. Singapore is really a modern, well organized city. The housing is very small for most people so they spend their time working (98% employed), socializing, shopping, eating out and only sleep at home. The malls are plentiful, modern, enclosed, and air conditioned. You can walk underground between malls and stay cool and out of traffic. They do a great job of separating the pedestrians and the car traffic with pedestrian underpasses under the major roads. They have a fabulous easy to use, and cheap subway system that takes you all over the city. People are very friendly and polite.
The lobby of the Marriott is undergoing renovation. We think the hotel is an older one that has recently been renovated. We have an executive room which is large, newly furnished and quite nice with access to t he executive lounge for breakfast and cocktails. Really nice life.
Old British Cricket Field/Clubhouse
This cricket field with the British club house is now their Independence Square. It is one of the old architectual remnants of the British colony. The tallest flag pole in the world is located here and flies the new Malaysian flag. There was also a giant outdoor TV screen which was showing an international soccer match when we were there.
Kings palace, Malaysia
They have just completed a new palace for the reigning king at the cost of $300,000,000 because they had extra money. The king position is rotated every 5 years among the several reigning Sultans of the different provinces of Malaysia. It is a ceremonial position with the Parliament and Prime Minister holding the political power. A very impressive ediface but you wonder about spending that kind of money on this.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Twin Towers, KL
The Petronas twin towers are the symbol of the growth and prosperity. They are the tallest twin towers in the world and the third highest structures in the world. Quite impressive. Of course, there are many other skyscrapers in this city with more being contructed. Traffic flow is a bit slow within the city. This was a British colony up until WW II and became independant after the war.
Lunch Federal Hotel, KL
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On our tour, we had a fabulous buffet lunch at the Federal Hotel, one of a Malaysian chain. Again, they are proud of their heterogenous ethnic population but have a constitutional monarchy which seems to be doing well in promoting the economy.
Lunch on the veranda deck
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Visit to Medan, Sumatra, Indonesia via the Port of Belawan
Medan is a large city on the Island of Sumatra in Indonesia. We docked at a port called Belawan, where we were greeted at 7 am by a costumed dancers and a band. They are trying to build up tourism. Instead of taking the ship's arranged tour, we were invited to join the Wilske's and the Lane's in a small van with a private driver which worked really great. We have become convinced that with only 4 - 8 hours in any location, guides are needed if you want to get a quick overview of the area. Medan is a working class city with lots of motorbikes and hectic traffic. Again, pedestrians are at their own risk walking along or crossing streets. Our guide was very helpful. As you can see, it is amazing what they will put on the bikes.
Medan is mostly Muslem and we visited an old Mosque. The women had to rent scarves to wear on their heads and the men had to have long pants. No shoes inside. On this day there were two weddings that followed each other with both the groom and the bride wearing white. Religious tolerance is preached though the Saudis are investing in religious movement to train the young Muslem boys to be more conservative, though not radical.
We encountered these school children outside the old Sultan's Palace which is now a museum. The children were very happy to see us, wanted their pictures taken with us, and sang songs to us in English. Really cute. The Sultan still exists but now has now power and lives like a commoner. We were told that the economy is really booming with a growing middle class but political power, particularly of the army, and corruption still maintains law and order, and hinders the growth of the courntry. It is a vast geographic area, with multiple ethnicities, tribalism, and varied religions. Hard to know how it will hold together over time.
Adrift at Sea
Mangosteen?
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Local market, Sabang
For sale in local shop, Sabang
Not sure exactly what this is but looked like little squares of cotton like women use to remove makeup!
Children preparing to greet us
Sabang, Indonesia, Thursday, February 23 – After another wonderful day at sea, we have arrived on the most northwestern tip of Indonesia, an island called Sabang. We were greeted at 7 am at the pier by school children dressed in traditional Indonesian costumes, music, and dancing. The local dignitaries officially greeted the ship and our officers with flower leis and speeches. They really are trying to build this as a tourist destination which features its beaches and forests. We were really celebrities in this community. We walked through the small town to get a feel for the daily life of these people. Lots of motor bikes. A large covered central market for selling the fruits, peppers, vegetables, chickens and other food items. The tsunami of 2004 really created damage loss of life here and at the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. There is still evidence in the harbors and towns of reconstruction of damaged properties which appears to proceed slowly. We are very near the epicenter of that earthquake. We are hoping that it does not strike twice in the same area. Following our self guided tour, we returned to the ship for our routine of lunch and an afternoon of reading and maintaining the blog. Tonight, as we depart, we will have cocktails, an elegant dinner either in the main dining room or up on deck, followed by entertainment if we can stay awake long enough. Tough life on board the Seabourn Pride. Tomorrow a relaxing day at sea. Margie warns me that there will be no "sea days" in Seattle. .
Getting local cash
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Children dancing, Sabang Pulau Weh, Indonesia
We were greeted to a "royal" welcome when we docked today, Thurs. Feb. 23rd
Sent from my iPhonep
Hors d'oeuvres
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Cellular Prison, Port Blair, Andaman Islands, India
Port Blair, India, Tuesday, February 21 – After a warm, comfortable day crossing the Andaman Sea, we arrive on Tuesday at Part Blair, India. This town is the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands that belong to India. Compared to our other experiences, debarkation here was very complicated with much paper work which was a reflection of the beaurocracy of India. Once ashore we went on a tour and learned a lot of its history and all about the aborigines who populate the different islands in the archipelago. Several hostile native tribes still exist on the outer islands who continue to live as they have for centuries and whom the Indian government has decided not to disturb, and in fact, to protect. The British founded the city as a penal colony for jailing Indians whom they were fighting on the mainland of India. They built a large prison with prisoner labor in the early 20th century and jailed each inmate in a single cell, hence the name cellular prison. The prisoner’s life for as long as they lived was extremely unpleasant. The prison closed when India achieved its independence in 1947 but was occupied by the Japanese during WWII. Now it is an Indian national shrine to the Freedom Fighters of India. Our guide was the grandson of one of these Freedom Fighters. The families of the prisoners would come and live on the island while during the imprisonment and many of the inhabitants now are descendants of these Freedom Fighters. Within the prison is a large white marble memorial to these men. The British were not very gentle to these folks.Relaxing @ Karon Beach, Phuket
Phuket, Thailand, Sunday, February 19 – Phuket is a lovely tropical island in the Andaman Sea that is a major resort area in Thailand. It is connected at the north end to the mainland by a bridge and has an international airport. There are a number of beach communities with both small and large major resorts such as the Four Seasons, Hilton, JW Marriott, etc. Rather than take a tour, we decided to hire a cab and go across the island to Karon Beach, a beach resort town with a large lovely beach, shops, resorts, and restaurants. We walked the promenade with the beach on one side and the street, shops and resorts on the other side. The beach is lined by two parallel rows of beach chairs and beach umbrellas, with each section overseen by a beachboy. We rented two chairs and an umbrella for several hours and enjoyed the warm water and relaxation of being at the beach. The clientele were all Caucasian. We learned that most of the tourists these days are Russian, then Scandinavian, then European and Americans. We sat between a German couple and a Scandinavian couple. You could order refreshments from a local stand on the beach. Vendors would pass by selling ice cream, corn on the cob, dough nuts, lamps, dresses, sun glasses, baskets, shirts, and other interesting items. Atop a nearby mountain was a very large white statue of Buddha which could be seen for miles around.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Feeding a sting ray
Langkawi, Malaysia, Saturday February 18 – Langkawi is a small island off the coast of Malaysia that is not used to a lot of cruise ship business. However, they did have a Star Lines ship docked there undergoing interior refurbishing. Cheap labor.
Our tour on Langkawi consisted of a bus ride through the countryside, past rubber plantations, to the Klim Geoforest Park, a UNESCO Heritage Site. Here we boarded an outboard driven skiff with our Seattle friends. First we went to see a bat cave. The cave had been carved from the limestone by the water. We crawled through it to see the bats sleeping on the ceiling of the cave. Some of the passages were quite low and narrow.
On the way through the bat cave we encountered some of the local inhabitants, long tail monkeys. They came out of the trees to greet us looking for food obviously. Quite noisy.
Next stop on the boat tour was the fish farm, operated by a local fisherman. He would catch fish in the sea and keep some small ones in pens until they got large enough to send to market. One pen had four sting rays, which were quite gentle and would eat out of your hand. Another pen had an eel, and others had archer fish which would spit at potential food above the water to knock it down into the water to be eaten. The final stop was a cruise through the park, consisting of mangrove forests lining large limestone rock formations. We say a lot of brown eagles and white belly eagles that the boat guys fed. The area certainly is beautiful and well worth the efforts to preserve them.
Docking Sat. Feb. 18th Langkavi, Malaysia
When we are not on the Bridge we both like to stand at our little balcony and watch as the lines are tossed and secured. Each country is so different--sometimes lots of security and other times seemingly none! Our ship security officer is always the first off and he walks the dock to see that everything is in order. (I guess!)
Ladies' Room, Eastern + Orient Hotel, Penang, Malaysia
This is the Ladies Room at the 5 Star Eastern and Oriental Hotel, Georgetown, Penang and NOT the typical "Happy Room!" which is what the tour guides call the facilities which are usually terrible.
Seaborne, Pride
This is a view of our "tiny" ship moored to a medium sized ship in Langkawi, Maylaysia. Being so small she can go in and out of all sorts of places. We like to go up on the Bridge Deck and watch as the Master and the Staff Captain give the orders to manoeuver. They stand outside the bridge and guests are able to stand right beside them. After all the lines are secure a deckhand comes out and places special boards on each line so the rats can't join our voyage. Our cabin is right above where the door is for the pilot to board so most often we awake early to watch.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Chong Fatt Tze Mansion, Georgetown, Panang
Friday, February 17, Penang, Malaysia. – Thursday was a day at sea as the ship sailed from Singapore up the Malacca Straits on the west side of the Malaysian Penninsula to Penang. Penang is an island with a million population and used to be a British center. We decided to take off on our own instead of taking one of the planned tours. The old city has a British fort, Fort Cornwallis, named for the same guy who surrendered at James Town. This blue mansion was built by a very wealthy Chinese industrialist who emigrated from China and went from rice fields to riches. A real entrepreneur. We had a wonderful lunch overlooking the harbor at the Eastern and Orient Hotel, built by the same Sarkies brothers that built Raffles. There are a lot of upscale resorts being built further out from town. We shopped in the local stores, many run by the Moslem population. Definitely more prosperous and orderly than Viet Nam or Cambodia. Lots of electronic manufacturing in the southern part of the island. A wonderful day seeing how people in this side of the world live.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
National Orchid Garden
Wednesday, Feb 15, Singapore – Our ship docked in Singapore early in the morning, right across from the newly developed recreational island, Sentosa, connected to the city by an aerial cable car. Since we were returning to Singapore at the end of our cruise, we decided to take a highlight bus tour. We saw the Arabian, Chinese and the Indian neighborhoods, the Raffles Hotel, the Marina district, the government buildings, the shopping streets, but the highlight was the Botanical Garden with its fabulous orchid collection. The Garden is a very large park, lush with plants and trees, wonderful walk ways, and exceptionally well maintained. Orchids are everywhere on display but they have a special orchid center where many different types are shown. Celebrities can have an orchid hybrid named after them. They appear to be naturally growing in some places and in arrangements in other places. We are definitely going back when we return for a more slow paced visit.
Singapore Marina
Singapore is a large modern city with iconic modern architecture for its new buildings. It is the busiest seaport in the world based on number of ships that visit. I have never seen such a concentration of sea going vessels with many ships at anchor waiting for their next cargo. Tourism is obviously large here with wonderful modern hotels in addition to the over 100 year old Raffles Hotel, traditional British, the home of the Singapore Sling cocktail. Transportation is easy with subways, buses and cabs. They discourage cars and promote ownership of your own condo or home. The streets are lovely with many trees and green areas. Everything is clean and orderly, which is promoted by the government, a benevolent dictatorship best I can tell. The city is an island at the tip of Malaysia, which separated peacefully from Malaysia in 1965. They grow their space by reclaiming the sea with land fill. Not much liberal environmentalism here though I do feel they are concerned about the environment. Economics comes first. The Chinese culture is predominant but they are proud of their pluralism. ,
We had lunch at a modern shopping mall near the harbor, It was a Japanese restaurant where you cook your own meet and vegetables over a charcoal grill set in the middle of your table. Very tasty.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
OUR AFTERNOON IN BANKOK
Our lunch was at a riverside restaurant, the Supatra River House. We had to take a launch from one side of the river across to the restaurant on the opposite side. It was a very lovely, relatively expense place where we had a beautiful multicourse Thai meal with sweet and sour soup, spring rolls, soft shell crab, chicken and beef skewers, spicy beef, guava salad, rice, and more, all taken with Thai beer. We were stuffed.
Our lunch was at a riverside restaurant, the Supatra River House. We had to take a launch from one side of the river across to the restaurant on the opposite side. It was a very lovely, relatively expense place where we had a beautiful multicourse Thai meal with sweet and sour soup, spring rolls, soft shell crab, chicken and beef skewers, spicy beef, guava salad, rice, and more, all taken with Thai beer. We were stuffed.
The day was concluded with shopping at Jim Thompson’s, a notable store specializing in silk cloth, furnishings, and clothing. Sort of like an upscale Tommy Bahamas. He was an American that revitalized the cottage silk industry in Thailand and is much revered.
In the evening, eight of us celebrated the birthday of one of our new British friends. We had couples from Scotland, Britain, Alaska, Florida and Seattle. We have really enjoyed our new friends. I am the oldest of the group, most being in their 50’s and 60’s. The ship served us their rendition of a Thai meal which also very good. I think we are now full of Thai food for awhile.
Bankok Flower Mart
We also walked through the Bankok flower market which consisted of continuous stalls going for many blocks with small vendors of flowers. Mostly this is a wholesale market. Flowers were gathered in bunches, bouquets, baskets, large piles, all with beautiful colors. Mostly chrysanthemums, roses, marigolds, orchids, water lilies, jasmine, and greens. There were also local fruits and street vendors selling lunch food items, such as fried fish, stir fried, skewered chicken, noodles and soups.
Temple of Gold Buddha
Sunday, February 12, 2012, Bangkok – We had a lot to see in only a day in Bangkok so we joined with two other couples with whom we have become friends and leased a van with our own guide. It was well worth the expense as he, “Sunshine,” really got us around town quickly and efficiently with a very organized itinerary. Fortunately, also, it was Sunday so the traffic was not as overwhelming as it would have been on a business day. First stop was the Buddhist temple of the golden Buddha. The 5 ½ ton statue is about 10 feet high and made of solid gold. It had been hidden underneath a concrete cover to prevent it from being stolen by invaders for many years and only recently was it discovered what was under the concrete. It is a gorgeous shiny gold.
Thai Royal Palace
Second stop was the reclining Buddha temple, 45 feet long. Again, very impressive. Then, on to the nearby royal palace of the King of Thailand. This is a large complex of buildings and temples surrounded by a wall. The Thai revere their king and there are pictures of him everywhere. He does not have any political power however. One king had about 30 concubines and 175 children but the current king has only one beautiful wife and four children. One temple in the palace houses the Emerald Buddha, which is really a three foot solid jade statue. It has three seasonal jeweled costumes adorning it. The stupas and other temple statues and buildings are covered in gorgeous tile and porcelain with precious stones mixed in. This is the major sight to see in Bangkok.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Ream National park-river trip
Cambodia, Friday, February 10 – After Saigon, we had a wonderful relaxing day at sea sunning in 80 degree weather with mild seas. We arrived in Sihanoukville, Cambodia on Feb 10. Cambodia is still a third world country. Very poor but getting investment from China to build factories. This is its only deep water sea port. It is a town of a couple hundred thousand, new port facilities, very poor people, a few new Chinese five star resorts, and lots of trash everywhere. Rather than spend time in the town, we took a tour to the Ream National Park which was very worthwhile. After a short bus ride, we got on river boats and ran down the river along mangrove forests. We again saw lots of fishing using nets and gathering of shell fish by people who spend all day in the water diving down to get them. We toured a small fishing village which had a Korean Christian missionary school. Then a 40 minute treck through the forest to a very lovely white sand beach with an Chinese developed eco resort. We enjoyed swimming in the surf and a lovely barbecued fish, shrimp and squid lunch with the local Ankour beer. On the way back, we stopped a Meditation Mountain to see the Buddhist temple and a “dead man” who was lying in front of one of the Buddhas, but was only sleeping it off. Cambodia is a kingdom with a king and a prime minister who runs the government. They clearly have a long way to go to catch up with Viet Nam or Thailand.
Margie and Rebecca
One of our favorite places to go after the tours is the Sky Bar on the top of the ship for a little refresher. The margaritas are great. We have met a lot of very nice people with whom we now regularly have dinners or go on tours.
Beach BBQ Ko Kood, Thailand
Ko Kood, Saturday, February 11, 2012 – After one day in Cambodia we sailed to Ko Kood, Thailand. This is a private island owned by a member of the Thai royal family. The ship anchored here this morning so we could have a beach party on a fabulous magical secluded white sandy beach with crystal clear water, swaying palm trees and jungle forest as a backdrop. The ship sets up lounge chairs, umbrellas, individual lunch tables with white linen table cloths, a bar, a buffet area, water sports, and music. We are ferried over to the beach in the ship’s tenders. Margie and I went kayaking and then enjoyed being in the warm tropical water. They serve caviar and champagne in the water to the bathers before lunch. As usual the food was fabulous with chicken, fish, ribs, steak, hamburgers, hot dogs, salads, breads, desserts, etc. By this time we are now being more discriminating about our eating. Yes we are working out in the exercise room when at sea. This was a terrific day in the warm water and sun on a lovely topical isle in Thailand.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Entering the Mekong River toward Saigon
Tuesday, Feb 7 – Early morning on the Mekong River. The Mekong River flows from China through Laos, Cambodia and Viet Nam into a broad delta before entering the sea. Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon is about 4 hours up the river from the sea. The Seabourn Pride is small enough to navigate all the way up to the inner city. Larger cruise ships need to dock in the industrial harbor. The river is a very busy place with lots of fishing boats, container ships, small cargo river boats, dredging barges, hydrofoil ferries, and house boats. The ship had to constantly be blowing its horn announcing its presence with the river boats not obeying any particular rules of the road. Eventually the ship comes to the city which has a very modern skyline with one building over 60 stories high. Of course, we think of the Viet Nam War and what life must have been like on the Mekong River with gun boats and in Saigon itself. It is now an emerging city of 8 million people with a rapidly growing industrial base.
Water puppets
Tuesday, February 8 – Water puppets. We took a tour of the sights of Saigon which included a stop at the local history museum where we had a demonstration of the art of water puppets. The puppeteers sit in the water behind a screen and manipulate the puppets in front by wooden sticks under water attached to the puppets. The action is kind of crude and dramatic. The stories are traditional dragon stories or other folk stories in Viet Namese so we could not understand them.
Other highlights of the tour included the oldest Chinese temple in Saigon, Reunification Hall, the French built Roman Catholic cathedral, the post office designed by Eiffel, and the US embassy where the Americans left Saigon. Our tour guide was a young South Viet Namese man who knew the history of the War very well and clearly was not a Communist sympathizer. He portrayed the events leading up to the surrender of South Viet Nam to North Viet Nam in terms of it being an unwinnable war. The Communist government tried to eliminate all cultural, societal and business aspects of the capitalists South but subsequently have become more liberal when they saw that their efforts were not working economically. Viet Nam is politically a single party socialist state that now has a capitalist economy. The Reunification Hall is where the South Viet Nam government operated during the War but is now a museum celebrating the reunification of Viet Nam into one country. It is architecturally very lovely with a somewhat modern open architecture. Outside are the two communist tanks that broke through the gates to seize the building and end the war.
Pedicab dwntwn saigon
Tuesday, February 7 - Pedicab. The entire tour group took the three wheel bike pedicabs from the historical museum to a lacquer factory. Saigon traffic is chaos. There are 4 million motor bikes or scooters in Saigon, one for every two people. There are very few cars and very poor public transportation. There are a few traffic lights but basically traffic is a free for all with everyone moving and avoiding colliding with anyone else. Trying to walk across a major thorough fare is literally taking your life in your hands. You have to start off the curve, keep a steady predictable pace and let the motor bikes flow around you. We had gone to the main downtown market in the morning and someone had to show us how it was done. The pedicab ride was a little safer but still very scary.
View me's pedicab
I took this shot as my pedicab driver pulled out of line and like the motor bikes pulled into the oncoming lane to pass the other pedicabs in our group. needless to say this was all a little hair raising but lots of fun nonethelessSaigon center
Mekong river resort
Wed, February 8 – We were in Saigon for two days. The second day, we took and all day tour to the Mekong Delta. We drove out of Saigon and into the country side which consists of rice paddies and vegetable gardens. They still farm rice with water buffalo and a lot of human effort.
We toured a part of the delta by boat and saw a floating market with boats loaded with fruits, vegetables and fish. The costumers arrive by boat and go from boat to boat to get what they want. Many people live on their boats or in houses along the river on stilts. Lots of fishing boats actively dragging their nets and people wading in the shallows gathering shell fish. We had a wonderful formal Viet Namese lunch at a brand new eco resort on the river with a whole fried fish, spring rolls, salads, rice, etc. We also got to see how rice wine is distilled, rice pan cakes for spring rolls are prepared, and coconut candy is made. A very different life style for sure.
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