the travels of stacey

A Fresh Start

2011-02-03T12:10:00.000-08:00

That's it, I've moved! Come and greet me at Wordpress.
See you there!

Still around!

2011-02-01T12:05:00.000-08:00

Hi everybody! Thanks for all your comments. I'm still here.. I've been off the cruise ships for about a year and have some nice gigs on land. I am also learning to be a piano tuner which is quite exciting for me! I haven't felt much like blogging lately but it seems a shame to quit. I guess the advance of social media has filled the gap that this blog used to fill. So maybe it's time to get started again slowly. I might move to wordpress, I like their designs.. I still have a lot of great stories to tell.
Stacey

Maybe it's because I'm getting older?

2009-09-15T17:53:00.002-07:00

Maybe my Japanese friend knows I just had a birthday, because today after the show he presented me with a new variety of Stockings:

Piraeus, Greece and the end of Asia

2009-09-12T00:03:00.001-07:00

The biggest excitement of Pireaus was that it marked the fact that we were finally leaving the Asia season for a small stop in the Mediterranean before our long Scandinavian summer. Were we ever weary! We were resolute not to spent a penny in Europe as it was so expensive. Even though we had no qualms spending on all that seafood in Asia.

I didn't go into Athens, see the Acropolis, or anything. Me and Sherwin had some time for Greek food at my favourite Pizza place (we must have forgotten the camera!) and later I just took a short walk from the ship as I was busy working most of the day.

I did see an interesting display case belonging to a seafood restaurant!

And I believe I saw a big Greek wedding.

This bonsai in a nearby store was lovely. It looked a little like a Baobab tree.

Kusadasi and my Turkish Favourites

2009-09-10T00:27:00.001-07:00

Long time no Blog...

I am very busy, mostly with packing for my first long vacation in I don't know when! As you can tell, my blog is about 3 months behind the times. I just had a really great tour in Iceland that I am eager to show you! But I guess you will have to wait. Here is one post to appease the masses so I can go about my packing. See you folks at home in one week!

I was eager to go ashore as soon as possible in Kusadasi - I love Turkish food, and the shopping, and a Turkish bath would have washed off all that grime from Asia. No offense.

But of course the first thing on my mind was finding that elusive geocache.

Pigeon Island is a nice little escape about a kilometer walk from the ship's dock. It is a small circular island not far from shore, with a causeway leading to it so no need for ferries.
It is home to a few restaurants, a swimming/suntanning place, and a large old fortress. It is nice to enjoy lunch there and of course it's free to walk amongst the ruins.

The geocache was found easily, somewhere in the ruins, but this is not important.

I took my bike to town in search of some of my favourite Turkish breakfast foods.

I finally found the elusive Burek, which usually disappears at noon. Below they have many varieties - but basically it is a breakfast pastry of different shapes filled with meat, cheese, or spinach.

I took a lot of Burek to go, for only $5. It was a big bag of all different varieties, which I was hoping everyone onboard would share my enthusiasm for (they didn't)

Right nearby I found my other favourite Turkish fast food and sat down and had it for breakfast. I am not sure what it is called, but it is a flatbread filled with spinach and cheese. They cook it on a surface that looks the same as what you might cook a crepe on.

After this, it is time for a turkish bath.

I walk past the mosque to the baths. Unfortunately there are no pictures of the bath. I went into the beautiful little bath room with marble slabs and a white domed ceiling with light filtering in through small moon-holes in the dome. I picked one of the many running fountains to sit beside and soak myself, running water over myself with a small bucket, waiting for the lady to come in and wash me. When a giant hairy Turkish man walked in with another male, and announced that he would be the one to wash me, it was time for me to leave. I was pretty insulted - It had always been an only-women's experience in the past, and no men entered the women's side of the bath. I have no idea what they were thinking but apparently this bath doesn't have seperate sides, which they told me I should have deduced from the picture in the brochure. I left that bath so fast, and can you imagine they asked me to pay for my 40 mins wait.

I got an ice cream to soothe the trauma. It is a special hand-made Turkish kind, which was quite gummy and I couldn't really finish it.

And finally, for some shopping.

This man had a very interesting store, with all kinds of antiques and knick-knacks.

He had an amazing collection of old rings, some heram rings, and some from Sultans no doubt.

I really like the Turkish designed pottery and I have never seen hot plates before!

Alexandria, Egypt, where we didn't go.

2009-08-31T00:35:00.000-07:00

We never made it to Alexandria this year, due to a strange combination of pirates and swine flu.

It is usually the base for our tour departures to the Pyramids, but the guests instead did an overnight tour and missed the Suez canal - however they did get to see the light show on the pyramids!

Alexandria was a very famous city in the ancient times, holding one of the seven wonders of the ancient world - its lighthouse, which no longer stands, and the largest library in the world. It seems to me like it might have once been a crossroads of the world.

Luckily for us, I still haven't published my photos from last year.

It was prayer time.

I suppose this would be an ordinary shirt, turtlenecks covering both your neck and arms.

I got a veil, now I don't even remember why. The ladies in the shop pinned it for me.

Of course what's the use in having a veil with bare arms and legs.

Through the Suez Canal, on to Europe

2009-08-29T00:01:00.003-07:00

They say the Suez is not terribly exciting, but we definitely outran the pirates to get there.

Sand on both sides, there are still some interesting sights to see.

People watch from the cool of the ship

Could this be some kind of irrigation system or sewage line?

The Shewedagon Pagoda, and all that Glitters.

2009-08-27T00:33:00.000-07:00

I took Sherwin to see the Shewedagon Pagoda, as he has never seen it before. It was a hot day and the marble floor scorched our bare feet. It is best to get there before noon, but we weren't able to.

With binoculars perhaps you can see the 1,110 diamonds and 1383 other precious stones that grace the top, and maybe the 76 carat diamond at the very tip.

Personally, I don't believe that they are really there... or are they?

As they have for eternity, the buddhas sit and simply Be.

A Monk eats his lunch in the shade

A Man has a drink from the communal water cup

And we see this most intriguing shrine where people are drinking from the footprints of the Buddha.

(Sorry to that lady because we put our fingers in the water before we knew it was for drinking...)

There is excellent people watching -

You can see even the babies and children are painted on their face if they're visiting the Pagoda.

I think this may be a relative of the tree the Buddha sat under while he was being enlightened.

What time is it, Mr.Buddha?

Click here to see my other posts about the Shewedagon Pagoda.

Myanmar, Day 1

2009-08-25T00:34:00.000-07:00

On our way into Downtown Yangoon/Rangoon I was happy to see the obligatory chicken-truck.

As I walked from the bus stop at the famous hotel, I think I saw one of the most disturbing things I have ever seen. Since I was ahead of all the other crew walking in the same direction, I was unfortunately the first to see this, which I will never forget.

A naked infant was sitting alone on the concrete sidewalk. Shocked and repulsed at the situation and instinctively wanting to pick up that infant but not being able to... After a couple seconds of complete shock I noticed a brother sitting nearby, counting Kyat bills in his hands. It was really terrible. I don't know what I should have done and I am ashamed to say I stepped over the infant and continued on my way..

The other crew who saw this as well noticed a mother begging not too far away.

A basic calling station

Some wonderful fruits for sale

And Bamboo wares

Yangon, Myanmar - or Rangon, Burma?

2009-08-23T00:23:00.000-07:00

I guess it depends on your Political preference. Or not.

Before we leave transit the Suez (on this blog, anyways) I have to share with you the pictures and stories from this magical land. Half India, half Asia, you could tell we were in between the two.

We had a laugh at this pilot boat. All the officers were crowded around the portholes in the Mess laughing as I ran to get my camera. I guess it really wasn't so funny but I've never seen one so, um, well..

I'm always grateful every time we get a chance to go back here. It is such a strange and off-limits sort of country.

I enjoy the shopping - Nice Japanese fabrics - for $10 you can get over a Meter. These are worn plain, as wrap-around skirts for the ladies. A nice fabric is all they need.

To give an impression of the levels of poverty here - they still sell tapes in the music store. Which would be great in my car, by the way.

The Shewedagon Pagoda is visible here, a myriad of sparkling, twinkling mysteries..

There is no shortage of inexpensive relics to buy

You can get your Thai souvenirs here at half price.

Me and Sherwin enjoyed the lake

We had a nice little meal on the lakeside

19800 Kyats would be a little pricey - $20. Of course there was more food then pictured here.

This funny bird was in a small zoo nearby

We fed some nearby fish

We also enjoyed the Shewedagon Pagoda - more photos will be in another post.

One of my missions for this trip was to replace a missing geocache - and place it in this tree outside the Pagoda.

This involved a little Buddha shopping. Where oh where was I supposed to find a plastic Buddha? Never mind..

Here the poor salesmen hollow the Buddha out for me. I am to hide the Geocache inside that and place it in the tree.

Luckily as I walked away towards the tree I saw someone else to this an knew how to pull it off. She put the object in the tree, bowed down and worshiped it for awhile...

Ummm, yes so I did the same. Here you can see the geocache in the tree. I don't think it lasted long there. No-one has ever found it.

Back to the Wall (The Great One)

2009-08-18T00:53:00.000-07:00

This time, not sick, and not on horseback, I decided to go on the Crew Tour to the Wall, for lack of anything better to do.

Lucky I did, because Sherwin surprised me, and went on the tour as well. How awesome! He was the envy of all the other guys he worked with. I teased them. "Sherwin's coming to the Pyramids, too!" I joked. They got quite irate. They were really jealous. "Not fair!" they protested. "He gets the Wall, I get the Pyramids!"

It was a little bit of a bus ride from our dock outside of Beijing. A couple of hours.

Our bus driver had the most interesting flower tea.

Don't worry, he wasn't drinking and driving.

We had the most animated tour leader. She taught us Tai-Chi on the bus. Something about having a big watermelon and then cutting it in half.

Here we are at Base Camp Wall.

Before we even climbed we were served a giant meal with all sorts of interesting dishes. It was a little scary for me.

I ate as little as possible. I knew it would be a long climb with not much time to linger.

Sherwin has Chinese roots and was very excited to see the Wall. I think I was his personal photographer that day!

This section, across the road, looks very steep.

There were many TV shows about the Great Wall on the ship, and one of the theories was that there was no Great Wall at all - only sections built over time.

There are many opportunities for souvenir buying here.

This Chairman Mao teapot was the most Kitsch thing, only $10. I let Franklin have it.

I really liked this little magnifying glass for $3. I bought it.

How 'bout a Wall ashtray?

The climb suddenly gets very steep.

As we get higher, the wall narrows and changes materials.

Near the top it is a ruin.

You can see how high we climbed.

It is beautiful at the top. The air is fresh and cold and the Cherries have just bloomed. We wished we had more time to sit there.

A Monastery and the Cliff of Sacrifice

2009-08-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

As if the walk/run through Petra wasn't hot enough, when we neared the Monastery there was an uphill marathon of stairs. Some of us wilted on the stairs, turning back and waving the others to go ahead without them. Not me, although I could have easily done so.

What a parking spot! Is it true that nomads still live in Petra?

The stairs go up, and up...

And finally, the Monastery - equal to the treasury in its grandeur.

As we walk away it seems to disappear into the cliff face. There is one last thing to see.

The Cliff of Sacrifice. It made me a little nervous!

The Rose Red City (half as old as time)

2009-08-10T00:33:00.000-07:00

While I'm still on the topic of Jordan-

Maybe you saw my post about Petra that I promised was to be continued..

Did you ever wonder what was beyond the Treasury?

Well, inside that building it looked like this:

Walking past the treasury there were many tombs on the hillside.

Simple as the above, or elaborate as the below.

We walked down what seemed to be a main street, with columns on either side.

There was an ampitheatre

We were in a big hurry to make it to the far-off Monastery before time was up.

You can catch a camel, if you want.

Some more food and a Bat Attack

2009-08-01T00:01:00.002-07:00

*I am trying to make the labels to my posts more interesting.

The food was so good in Aqaba that the next day we decided to go out and eat some more.

I watched date palms go by from the bus window. I guess these dates will be eaten, as they are covered in protective green mesh.

Sherwin with the Sultan

We picked the most famous restaurant, which I had a hard time remembering the name to when I realized that it was too obvious. Ali Baba.

I got a mint-lemon juice that was so delicious I ordered seconds.

I plan to make this at home one day. When I order a juicer online and when there is fresh mint in the garden. Mint is a pest but I hope I have enough one day to make a bunch of juice.

I also got an Arugula salad, with Labneh (like a sour yoghurt) Yum. That was enough for me.

They showered us with condiments, including some disturbing pickles (because they tasted so bad)

Sherwin got a seafood platter and the most expensive rice I have ever seen. I think it cost more than the seafood.

(the rice)

Altogether the meal was good but a little expensive, especially compared to the previous night's feast for mere single digits.

A date palm outside the restaurant

After the meal we walked around and looked in some shops. To my relief, I saw many other bedding stores open in the daytime. It must be a thing around here.

Some exotic jewelry

This guy was very talented at making these inscribed sand bottles

I want the one that says "France"

When I complained that $6 US was a little pricey for magnets, the man replied, "Well maybe for YOU!"

The cheek. I wonder how some things can be so expensive in this country and some so cheap.

I was on a mission to find Aqaba Castle, where, incidentally, I did get attacked by bats. It was so hot we took a taxi the short distance there.

I have to confess, if it weren't for Geocaching I wouldn't have even known that an Aqaba Castle existed. But I was after that geocache inside the castle.

We managed to sneak in and out without paying. It was supposed to be free, but there were two guys sitting in plain clothes in the entrance, that claimed there was an entrance fee. I wasn't sure if I could believe them.

Here are some beautiful inscriptions in the entrance hallway.

Climbing up and down the narrow passageways of the castle looking for the cache as quickly as possible made me feel I was in a strange video game.

I think this is the point where I got attacked by Bats. I was fine until they started flying into my head. Sherwin came running as he heard my screeches, figuring an Arab must have cornered me.

There is the giant flag, which makes it quite easy to find the castle. We made it back to the ship just in time.

Aquaba Night

2009-07-30T00:19:00.000-07:00

As a result in a change in the ship's itinerary, we stopped in Aqaba Jordan for an overnight. After we finished work, around midnight, me and Sherwin went out to try and find anything that would still be open. We weren't feeling too hopeful that anything would be open at all.

However, as we started to walk from the ship we could hear strange weaving music playing from various discos and bars. We decided against taking a taxi into town, instead walking along the waterfront.

The waterfront was alive with little cafes - with plastic chairs on the beach front serving tea, coffee, and hookah pipes. Some of them smelled a little bit like they were hiding a camel somewhere. The ship is in the background of this picture.

You can see the giant flagpole in the next blurry picture - I think it is the second biggest in the world, and can be seen from three different countries. We walked towards this and towards Aqaba castle.

There was no food at these beach places and we continued towards the castle where we bought some Fantas

Soon someone pointed us towards the restaurants. Jordanians are very friendly.

"Fresh Checkin"

The restaurant had such a large selection of food - from bbq chicken to homous, donairs, and felafel - and of course, fresh flatbread.

This meal was only $7! Bread, fries, bbq chicken, homous, yoghurt, a kind of tzaziki with tomatoes inside, and felafel.

The giant felafel there had a small center of a spicy red pepper mixture. These were hands down the best felafel I have ever had. I'm usually not a fan - but the chef had given me a sample and they were perfectly cooked and so amazing.

This is the view from our table on the street. We could see all the action! Not many ladies about this time of the evening. In fact, I was the only one out at this hour and it was noticed.

After our late night snack we wandered around, and some shops were still open. Including one selling bedding. Who would need this kind of shop to be open at one in the morning? And isn't it a little warm for this kind of bedding?

As we neared the ship again we decided to go back to this place for a tea and a hookah pipe.

This is where they prepare the coals to light the hookah. Look at the camels holding it up.

We took a front-row seat and the friendly owner's nephew sits with us and chats.

Across the water we could see the lights of Israel. Our new friend said he had never been there - it requires a visa. He explained how a felafel sandwich might cost a whole dollar there, whereas here in Jordan it would cost you a quarter.

Sherwin was nervous about sharing germs, but I showed him that we get our own plastic tip to put on the pipe.

A strong arabian coffee and a tea.

Swimming in Safaga

2009-07-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

In Safaga Egypt, you can do one of two things - take a 3 hour bus ride to the Valley of The Kings and Temple of Luxor, or lounge around at one of their many beach resorts.

Unfortunatley, the Germans seem to like to visit Egypt and this seems to drive up the prices - people are used to being paid in Euros. The first beach resort wanted to charge us 15 euros each for entrance only. This is even if we planned to buy lunch there! I decided to go to the hotel next door, where I heard there was a geocache on the beach. They let us in for free (we said we were just looking) and the hotel (Shams Safaga) was much nicer then the 15 euro one!

They had a nice pool as shown at the beginning of the post

Carpets are being sold in the sun

They had a really nice beach set-up on the Red Sea. People were windsurfing.

There was a geocache under this bridge.

Sherwin found it, but not before I stuck my hand in a hole containing a large and anrgy crab. Luckily Sherwin saw the crab as I thought it was the cache and nearly made a grab for it. Later Sherwin went back for the crab because the thought of it made him hungry. Wise crab, it was gone.

We swam in the Red Sea, just to say we did.

Abu Dhabi

2009-07-26T00:25:00.000-07:00

While I'm in the neighbourhood, here are some photos from Abu Dhabi - though we only got as far as the mall.

There is the mall, and yes, an Ikea.

Inside the mall they had every kind of clothing store imaginable, and everything else.

A misty fountain seems to be the ultimate display of wealth in the desert - water.

This can help you memorize the Koran

Signs direct you to a prayer room or the food court

I had some lunch

This modest mannequin isn't exactly dressed for the weather. I guess they had to cover her up somehow.

We found a bowling place and went bowling!

Coming back to the ship I think it's so neat how you can see in all the windows. Right above where the crew eat their food you can see the passengers dining in style.

Scrumptious Scandinavia

2009-07-25T20:41:00.000-07:00

Snow in Dubai

2009-07-24T00:06:00.003-07:00

Dubai seems to constantly be under construction. Here are some pictures and stories from last year when we were there.

It's easy enough to escape the desert heat in one of the many air-conditioned malls - and this one has its own ski slope.

We paid the money and went inside. They gave us snow suits boots and even free socks! (you can imagine most people would be wearing sandals)

Sherwin wanted to ski but I didn't think this was the right time to start learning! Instead we did some toboggan and tube rides.

They had some caves and ice sculptures

After that we were hungry so we tried our first Cinnabon. I had never had one before, but I've heard about them. Yum.

We went to check out the nightlife.

A Filipino bar had a band like I had never seen before - a front line of singing girls wearing way too little. Later when I saw this in the Philippines I realized this was normal, and usually the singing girls wear barely-there short shorts and/or bikini tops. I still find it strange for such a conservative culture.

We went to have some food at our then-favourite restaurant (now a Filipino restaurant)

Here are pictures of a couple of different meals. The fresh pomegranate juice is excellent.

A random picture taken at the mall:

A Classic

2009-07-22T00:06:00.001-07:00

One of the things I failed to notice at first in Dubai was the presence of the old QE2. I had meant to blog about it before - we met her a few times on her final voyage from New York and she is such a reminder of an era past, the last of the great ocean liners.

We so happened to be docked beside her on October 16 in New York, the same day she set off on her final journey to Southampton. I wish I had taken a picture then. We looked from our 6 star ship and all longed to go aboard and take a look inside.

When Grace asked me what ship was that, I'm ashamed to say I didn't recognize her as the QE2! I believe Sherwin pointed it out to me later.

The QE2 is currently docked in Port Rashid awaiting a drydock which will convert her in to a world-class floating hotel at the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai.

Don't let the door hit you on the arse

2009-07-20T00:06:00.000-07:00

A door in Dubai Museum

Dubai

2009-07-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

After our trip to the Dubai Mall, Grace and family took me out for sushi, yum!

The next night, after Sherwin finished work around midnight we went out to our favourite place.

However, something was wrong here. Not the same tasty Lebanese food. One look at the window and we saw the problem - the restaurant had turned Filipino! They cut half their Arab food and added Filipino specialties to the menu. I wonder if this is because they are situated right outside a popular Filipino night spot. Nonetheless, this did not make sense to me as Filipinos aren't typically big spenders and the ones that did come after the club was closed only ordered tea. Funny how even Sherwin wasn't excited by the advertised fare.

We tried some Arab food but it was a little bit lifeless. Such a change from the past years.

On the final day I learned that Crew got a huge discount on the Big Bus Tour of Dubai - you know, the hop-on, hop-off variety.

My view from the top of the double-decker

One of the first stops was the Dubai Museum.

Here they displayed a traditional desert house. Protruding from the top is a traditional form of air conditioning, a wind tower.

Here is the wind tower looking up from inside the house

Some interesting musical instruments inside the museum

This is for storing water

And a traditional boat inside the courtyard of the museum

We all stopped for lunch along the way, I finally tried this date milk and it isn't bad! To emulate this you could probably put some milk in the blender with a couple dried dates.

I supposed this is made from that sour yoghurt I like so much, Labneh.

I know, I'm not supposed to take pictures of them.

But check out her feet

This was a not-so-appealing sign - RedSea Plastic Bags

Some other sights from the bus

This statue of a wind tower looked cool

A Trip to the New Dubai Mall (With Grace, of Course!)

2009-07-17T00:06:00.001-07:00

You might have seen my video already from the fountain at the new Dubai Mall. This brand-new mall is supposed to be the biggest in the world. I met up with Blogger friend Grace in Dubai, and after coming onboard the ship they took me to see this fantastic new mall.

I was fascinated by these things - have you ever seen them in parkades? Bumpers so you don't smash your car - or the concrete.

The mall was a blur - it had a wonderful outside promenade area (where the fountain was)

The Gold Souq

There was live entertainment - an Ud player

And portraits of distinguished Sheiks

An ice skating rink

A harpist and a waterfall

Pristine met a Princess - actually she was some kind of live advertisement for traveling Austria or Austrian Air.

And there was the most amazing aquarium, which for an extra 10 dollars or so you could walk through this tunnel.

The mall was so fantastic I came back the next day and had lunch there.

Here I have lemon - lentil soup on the right, Labneh on the top left (a delicious and thick sour yoghurt) and fried haloum cheese on the bottom left.

Got a Date?

2009-07-15T00:38:00.000-07:00

Who knew there were so many kinds? These were delicious and on display in a date store at Dubai Mall.

In pretty gift boxes they would make a nice gift for your rich arab friends

Or if you want, a chocolate from the store next door ( I wasn't supposed to take a picture of these, but I did! )

A Curried Lunch

2009-07-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

After seeing the caves of Elephanta, we were hungry and went to our favourite (and only) Indian seafood restaurant. Plus, I had promised Sherwin his restaurant if he would wake up so early to see my caves.

We see a friend from the ship leaving a taxi and he helps explain to the driver where we were going. It was in reality only blocks away, but this was no easy place for him to find. He stopped at every corner and went for directions. This went on for 40 minutes. Sometimes I wonder if drivers do this for our pity so they get more tips. Would you rather tip a driver who had a very tough time finding the destination, or one who gets you there quickly? We gave him $5 instead of the usual $1.

Luckily for us the place was still open. We are ushered into the upstairs part, you can see the strange decor of the room in the photo below - it's nearly a bunker with artificial windows.

First they come with the condiments, and I am reminded of Mexico because there are so many. The cilantro paste on the right was excellent. To the left are pickled onions and limes.

Some various sauces

I ordered this curry with paneer cheese which was excellent

Sherwin got his crab and on the right is a pomfrit (white fish) curry which is supposed to be famous. I could have done with just the cheese curry because to me the filling is irrelevant - all I could taste was the sauce!

Here is our table, with some Naan bread.

Our funny after-lunch mints (and seeds), which I am used to from Indian restaurants at home.

Of course in the terminal i was wooed by some more carpets. I finally bought a small one, betweent the two choices below I picked the one on the left, the tree of life design. Which one would you have picked?

Caves of Elephanta, Bombay

2009-07-12T00:01:00.000-07:00

In Bombay, I have always wanted to take the 1 hr ferry trip to the Elephanta Caves. On this day we were lucky to have enough time to go there.

From the Gateway to India we took a little ferry to the island, one of the ones below.

I was surprised to see they were cooking on the boat, in that little cupboard in the back.

As we sailed through the harbour, it became clear that a lot of people were only onboard to hop onto a different boat. We spent 15 minutes it seemed ferrying people to their different destinations in the harbour.

An hour later, we arrived on the island.

Ladies were selling corn and cucumber. I bought a nice cool cucumber for my breakfast.

If you are feeling lazy you can be carried up the staircase in one of these chairs.

A monkey nearly attacked me and made threatening gestures for my cucumber, which I promptly dropped on the ground in fright. I didn't know monkeys liked cucumbers.

Here are the different caves, however there is one main cave with the religious sculptures.

These were declared a UNESCO world heritage site in the 80's.

The entire cave was hewn out of the rock.

If you notice, each column has an elephant (Ganesh) on it.

This temple is dedicated to the god Shiva. It is very hard to get pictures of the wonderful sculpture inside.

There were some little rooms inside the caves that seemed to be shrines, and were adorned with fresh flowers.

The monkeys literally ran wild outside.

Arctic Expedition

2009-07-11T02:39:00.000-07:00

Goa

2009-07-09T00:06:00.000-07:00

Goa is supposed to be beautiful, but we didn't get to see very much of it. This is also from the archives of one year ago, by the way.

I walked to the port gate with some of the other musicians.

It was quite a long walk. The security guards got angry with me for taking pictures inside the port area. However I managed to sneak the pretty shots you will see at the end of this post.

We finally made it outside the port gates and hired a tuk-tuk.

This wasn't the greatest idea for two big guys and me.

We barely fit inside - and the tuk-tuk ride was slow and bumpy.

We ended up at this place - a beach resort of sorts.

Dunkie bought a nice new pair of red shorts

And we tried some local food.

It was amusing to see a large photo of our sister ship on the wall of the restaurant.

These are two of the stolen shots I got inside the port.

Cochin Laundry

2009-07-07T00:19:00.000-07:00

One of the stops on our tuk-tuk tour of Cochin was the laundry. Is was similar to the one we saw in Bombay, but quite smaller.

This was the beautifully old building containing the laundry - and a great tree above it.

Cochin, India

2009-07-05T00:05:00.001-07:00

The Asia season was finally nearing an end and our first stop in India was Cochin. I have to admit though, these pictures are also unpublished and a year old. I didn't actually go ashore in Cochin this year. If I had, I probably would have bought a carpet.

We hired one of these things, on recommendation from a friend - who said that this driver was the best. He was! You might notice this one has a Swiss theme - this is because the driver was given this thing as a present from a Swiss guy, to whom the driver is eternally grateful.

He even let Sherwin drive the thing

We took a little tour of the city

The driver beeped at this little old lady and nearly ran her over!

We passed some sights..

We stopped at the obligatory carpet store, where the Driver gets a prize if he brings you there.

I nearly bought this carpet. As we drover away the shop owner was chasing me, yelling, "ok, ok! $700, we ship!"

I liked these tables, made from old doors. I wonder if they ship these also?

We briefly stopped at a Cricket game

Our Aussie friend in another tuk-tuk was the only one who knew how to play

A hindu temple

And more street scenes

A big church

And a pepper tree!

Phuket - The Temple

2009-07-03T00:02:00.001-07:00

Also from the archives, a very beautiful Buddhist Temple in Phuket.

The first thing that greeted me was this tree

Nearby you could buy offerings for the Buddha

Lots of "Temple Cats" around

People were lighting loud strings of fireworks inside these big kilns

I found my favourite - roasted coconut (a drink). They are the pale circular ones next to the fresh coconuts.

Inside this temple were many buddhas and relics

Up some stairs and some more buddhas

At the top were some sort of relics in glass - I think they might have been teeth?

Phuket (1 Year Ago)

2009-07-01T00:07:00.000-07:00

I came across some unpublished blog posts - it has been a year now and I haven't put up these photos! So I think it's about time.

When the ship docked in Phuket I was excited to see the sights - I had been there 2 times previously on the ship but had never been able to go ashore.

Look at these old planes next to the ship! This year they were gone. I wonder where they went?

The pier is home to all sorts of souvenirs. It will be cheaper in Myanmar, I complained to them. The Thai souvenirs are so pretty.

I got a taxi tour for quite cheap, of course. It took me to a cultural village, displaying aspects of Thai culture and life.

I bought some bananas

To feed my new friend. Cute!

A display of rubber making

Thai Boxing

Rice farming - this was the first time I had seen rice growing! When I got back and showed Sherwin the pictures, he was excited too.

The first time seeing real Caribau, too

This was the part of Thailand where they filmed "The Beach." I saw some beautiful little beaches.

Back on the pier, I bought some fruit to bring aboard the ship. "Chico" is Sherwin's favourite.

The tour also took me to a beautiful Buddhist temple - more about that soon!

Baltic Treasures

2009-06-30T02:35:00.001-07:00

Pattaya, Last Year

2009-06-30T00:05:00.000-07:00

I fear the giveaway might be the date stamp on the photos - but I found an unpublished blog post in my archives and what better timing.

A group of friends all went out in Pattaya

Here is the main.. drag Same scene, same creepy old guys and aggressive girls.

By the way if you are here with your husband/boyfriend, walk behind them! Sherwin was grabbed from behind and tapped on the shoulder and solicited by all the girls while I was walking in front of him! The nerve. As he went to buy a soda in the convenience store and I stood looking at some interesting nighties sold on the street, some drunk white guys staggered by and grabbed my bum! This is the kind of atmosphere there is here.

Some more interesting nighties

Street food

A VW van bar!

The King of Thailand

Everybody went for some Chinese food. Or was it Thai?

I liked the goods in the local 7-11

Our friends got a massage and then we all took a jeepney back to the ship.

The Midnight Sun

2009-06-28T13:56:00.004-07:00

Back into real time, I thought I would share with you the magnificent view from my porthole as I am writing this at, midnight tonight.

June 28 2009, 12 midnight at 60 degrees north, en route from Helsinki to Stockholm.

I would call this the midnight sun - or as I was corrected by our resident Russian, "White Nights"

We only have one resident Russian dancer left now, as everyone's favourite Russian was let go for an alcohol related incident. *actually there was no incident, only that he was drunk and tested for alcohol The rules are getting stricter by the day, and of course with increasing fears of insurance and lawsuit cruise ships aren't what they were 5 years ago. The lone Russian sits at the bar with his own bottle of wine, morose that he is the only straight man left in his group. Luckily for him the band has gained a Russian, or a Moldavian but close enough. One of a long string of trombone players of which none have seemed to work out yet - except the previous guy, a temp, who by coincidence was sharing our stage with his elementary school to college music teacher on Saxophone! What a funny world.

I am really enjoying this Scandinavian Summer - it has been sunny for a change this year - something I was wondering about, because I often refer to our Scandinavian Summer Season as my 'winter,' it often being that cold. After saving what I feel is my quota I am learning to relax more about spending in euros and having that coffee or ice cream ashore. And combined with the weather and my new sport of Geocaching, I am having a great time ashore. Helsinki today was possibly the warmest I have ever seen it. Traditionally it is raining every time we stop there.

Russia is an ever-increasing rip-off, but I still love it. The price for a daily shore pass has risen to $16 (was it not $7 in years past?) but I will still go each and every day I can. It's truly amazing to watch a country grow richer and richer. It wasn't even 5 years ago that I would don my oldest clothes in an attempt to blend in. Now I have to dress as fashionably as possible to avoid disdainful stares from Devoushkas on the train. I was feeling a bit of a ragamuffin in Bordeaux the other day so I got a new sundress and luckily my Brazillian friend smuggled me the latest Havaianas ($45 euros here, 15 dollars in Brazil!) That and a swanky new pair of shades, and all the Russians were calling me 'Devoushka,' my big fear being the day they will stop calling me that (it meaning 'young lady')

As far as the people go around here, I am continually losing faith in them. It still retains a high school atmosphere among the crew and members of the entertainment staff, and I long to get away from this. Sometimes I feel that once someone decided that I wasn't 'cool' it became acceptable for people to disrespect me. Is this the real life? (or just fantasy)

I don't really blame them, as their leaders are the same - when we were putting up the new show, the two ladies who choreograph and build the shows (who are very good at what they do) would come up and talk to me - for example, about what I planned to wear on stage. I said, oh, a dress, a black one - and they said - 'can you please bring it to us so we can approve it? We just want to make sure you look like a Lady' and on that (as if choreographed) they turn on their heels with a very audible sigh of exasperation, and roll their eyes without thinking that I am seeing this. It was like 'Mean Girls' except with 60 year old's.

Luckily I have the other musicians, who are the best, and help to remind me that the others surrounding us are living a life of fantasy. And Sherwin, of course, who brings me cheese. (I am currently living on a diet of goats cheese and brie, smuggled of course) Where else could I live a life of such luxury?

The other day, a friend hooked us up with some sushi. When I say this, I mean a whole fish.
Have you ever bought sushi fish in the store? You will know that a small piece of 200 grams could fetch 8 dollars or so. This was a whole, giant, frozen, yellow fin tuna. It must have been worth a hundred dollars. We were dumbfounded. We thawed it out in the sink and carved it into sashimi pieces. Keeping it in the fridge, we tried to eat it all within three days, which was mostly at midnight when we finished work. Unfortunately we couldn't share it with even our closest friends, being such extreme contraband. The day after we finished the fish, I got a surprise cabin inspection. Security is getting wise to my tricks, because on this day they neglected to yell their usual "Security! Cabin Inspection!" and all I heard was a very friendly knock, to which I immediately opened the door. No time to hide anything, and they saw the forbidden wasabi and soya sauce, and commented that it looked like I was running a sushi bar. They also saw my ten apples, rotting kiwi fruit, and coat hangers on the curtains. But no ticket, or warning.

I have been writing for nearly an hour now, and since we put the clocks back one hour it could very well still be midnight. Below is the latest from the porthole and you can see nothing much has changed. Or is it getting lighter? Might this be sunrise, sunset, or both at once?

Goodnight, Sherwin will be coming home soon (to the cabin) and bringing an insanely large (industrial-sized) log of goat cheese.

*He usually doesn't put it in the buffet line because it makes such a mess to clean. 'Sayonara, Goat Cheese,' he would say to it as he threw it in the trash, until, of course, I volunteered to take it.

Pattaya, Thailand

2009-06-28T00:09:00.001-07:00

The first day in Pattaya we went out for an amazing Thai lunch. So good in fact I forgot my camera and we were too full to have a $7 massage after.

The next day, just for photos of course, we decided to repeat the meal. This time, before the food we had a $7 massage. I was scared because the rooms looked a little dingy

It was actually kind of fun. Look at poor Sherwin getting his back cracked!

This looks like a new restaurant - it has a nice view of the main drag, so to speak. This was before our stop in Phuket and actually the first time I was ever brave enough to eat Thai food in Thailand - and let me tell you, nothing else compares to those flavours.

The day before we were outside on the couches, but this day we sat inside

Seafood in coconut milk soup

Fried Softshell crab with the most amazing sauce. The little salad had so many flavours, with fresh lemongrass and puffed rice on top.

This was the most amazing Pad Thai, and it didn't even have noodles. It had a wonderful sweet sauce and fried wonton crackers on the bottom

The fish was delicious, it must have been marinated and then deep fried, and served with garlic chips and hot peppers on top

At the end of the meal they bring a nice sweet mint juice to freshen your mouth.

After lunch we browsed the dangerous weapons for sale on the street

That's a tazer

And beautiful Thai linens

The shrines always make me think of doll houses for Deities.

We went back to the same place for foot massages before going on the bus back to the ship.

For a darker perspective of Pattaya, see my post from years past. I don't mind it now that I have found some nice places to go!

Seafood Lunch in Phuket

2009-06-26T01:52:00.000-07:00

After the Big Buddha we were hungry and the cab driver recommended a nice seafood place for lunch. This place was really, really nice - and must have been a resort as well.

We were seated at a table like the ones on the left

I had a Papaya juice

And Sherwin found a friend

While waiting for our food I took pictures of all the nice boats

This is a sauce I saw while walking around taking my pictures

Some more photos from around that restaurant

I liked the open plan of the washroom - how outside elements were built into it

Our food arrived - this is mine - green Papaya salad, which was delicious.

The soup on the right was mine also - hot and sour seafood - Sherwin had the soft shell crab (top) and squid with salted eggs (bottom). It was very delicious.

The bill came in a box, as if it had died. It was only $30 for such a fancy place and all that seafood!

Phuket's Big Buddha - Pictures

2009-06-24T00:07:00.000-07:00

You have already enjoyed my video of the big buddha - so today I thought I would write about our day there. The truth of it is, we hadn't planned to go to the Buddha - it seemed too far away. I was talking about it with the trumpet player at boat drill that morning. He remembered seeing it as we were sailing away the year before - and then I remembered it as well. I thought about trying to make it there. Me and Sherwin were headed to town, or a beach, much to my dismay because I had just discovered there was a geocache at the Buddha. When I noticed we got very near to it in the taxi, I was excited and begged Sherwin and the cab driver to go up to see it. We were so glad we did.

In this billboard you can see the scaffolding that was on the Buddha last year.

I was seeing these signs around and didn't realize until I saw the other one in English what it meant.

The most enchanting thing about this place was all the bells strewn all around. The wind was blowing and they made a constant tinkling noise.

Up this bell-lined path is the Buddha.

With a stop at another Deity on the way

The crocodile is cool

The view from the top

Behind the Buddha was this thing:

And also two Roman-looking statues stood at the back of the Buddha

This was at the back and inside the Buddha.

We couldn't help ourselves from buying souvenirs at the bottom - some bells, of course , and I loved these mandalas in all colours

Ikebana - the art of Japanese flower arranging

2009-06-23T13:45:00.000-07:00

These are beautiful and I wanted to share these photos with you.

While in Japan we had a lady giving workshops on how to make Ikebana flower arrangements. I wish I could have gone myself but instead I enjoyed her minimalistic flower displays in the ship's atrium.

Which is your favourite?

Ben Than Market, Vietnam

2009-06-20T00:07:00.000-07:00

I had to wake him up early, but we managed to go ashore on that last day of Saigon.

We had american-priced coffee downtown in a Starbucks-style place. We paid US $10 for 2 designer coffees and a doughnut, with some dong as change (lying on the table)

Next we went to the Ben Than market, using half of those dong as cab fare.

I recognized the statue from the night before and realized that the amazing seafood street restaurants were a night time thing. I had logged the location into my GPS the night before and today it was like Brigadoon. If I hadn't the GPS proof I would never have believed it.

There was still some street food. Baby birds are wok-fried.

I have been to this market many times (see my previous post) and am a little worn-out with the souvenirs - especially since spending $60 on the pier in Chan May.

I have learned my lesson about the fake Northface packs - after the ones we bought in China dyed everything black that I took to the Philippines.

But I couldn't resist. I wanted a small day-pack. The one on Sherwin's back would have been $5.

Turns out I bought this one, for $4. I love it.

Late Night Food in Saigon

2009-06-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

Splendid Scandinavia

2009-06-19T02:33:00.000-07:00

A pic from the new show

2009-06-18T03:49:00.000-07:00

(That's me on the piano)

Saigon Nights

2009-06-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

In between meals on the pier, I snuck ashore to find the only geocache in Ho Chi Minh city.

From the shuttle bus drop downtown, it was an entertaining 1.5K walk through the city. I love getting out and going for big exploring walks all on my own - exactly wherever and whatever I feel like doing.

I passed some very interesting sights - but hesitant to get my camera out, I finally did when I saw this cute little thing.

Street dining

Balut and Corn

Peace - I think of the heaviness of that message here.

Nearby was the most amazing two streets of outdoor restaurant I had ever seen - and this is the part that sucks about going out alone - because I wished Sherwin could see it too, and that we could sit down and eat there.

They had everything here, at the one I deemed to be the best one.

A closeup of the still twitching frogs (I will post a video of that tomorrow)

They had a wonderful selection of shellfish, crab and balut.

Shrimp towers

Rice paper rolls are probably the most famous Vietnamese food at home

The smoking barbecued fish looked absolutely delicious.

This family enjoys a meal there as I try and sneak a photo. Look at the upright fish, just like in Hong Kong

At another restaurant, I was taking a picture of this very interesting meal - where they all seemed to be adding whatever toppings they wanted and cooking their own soup. Until the girl on the left shouted out to me in a friendly and perfectly-Canadian voice - "You can take a picture of us if you want! I'll even smile this time!"

Too funny! Here I thought they were locals! I should have stopped and talked to her, to see what they were eating, but instead I scurried away, red faced and flustered. Look at her smiling, enjoying her little joke on me! She seemed nice.

I finally found the park and I was a little nervous reaching into the electrical box to grab the cache..

But here it is, stuck with a magnet. As usual the highlight was definitely in the journey, which I would have never made otherwise.

I walked back to that market to have another look, and from there took a rickshaw back, purely for my own amusement.

The Pier at Ho Chi Minh City

2009-06-15T00:09:00.000-07:00

It is the same as always at the pier in Ho Chi Minh city. This time the party was a little closer to the ship.

We started off there first thing - for lunch.

This giant crab was $7

I enjoy making my sauce from the ingredients below: Fresh lime, ground fresh chilies and ground raw garlic. It can be mixed with soya sauce to your liking.

This is one of my favourite asian vegetables, Kangkong, which is a water spinach that
grows like watercress. Sometimes it's translated as Morning Glory but I don't think that's correct.

I also had a delicious plate of garlic fried prawns.

I went out in the early evening, to town - but when I got back we went back at midnight for some more eats and Karaoke.

Sherwin's friends the "Blue Boys" (their job title) close the pier as usual, at the last table standing.

Clever Ladies at the pier in Chan May

2009-06-13T00:03:00.000-07:00

In the port of Chan May there is always a big souvenir fair on the pier. They sell ridiculously cheap things, a lot of marble which may be powdered and pressed, or plastic, as Sherwin pointed out that my prized green Buddha was.

Same as the green ones below - It sure fooled me!

This looks more Inca then anything.

The ladies on the pier were very friendly and it turns out they had a big new scam going on.

'Where you from?'

I don't know how many times I said USA. Finally I said Canada to one lady and they all circled around me. I get the feeling they had been waiting for this.

"Lady you help me - I have Canada coins - Loonie, Twoonie - you change money?"

This was so bizarre and I knew immediately what the scam was - but it didn't bother me a bit.

They had around $22 dollars in Twonies, loonies, quarters, and smaller - and I gave them us $20 for them. Of course all of us complained and argued over the exchange rate, but this was so brilliant I didn't mind losing a couple dollars. Do you know their scam yet? I will let you in at the end of this post..

I bought a beautiful white Buddha head that seemed to be really marble and I hope won't pulverize in my suitcase.

World's largest fan for only $4!

As I disappeared back to the ship, a new lady approached me. 'Where you from?'

I thought, the secret's out now. Canada

"Lady you have souvenir from Canada? Small souvenir I remember you - for Vietnamese girl?"

No I'm sorry, I haven't..

"Lady anything, small coin, Canada coin, you show me?"

No, I don't have any..

"Loonie, Twoonie, no have? Show me!"

I walked away smiling. How many Canadians tourists have come through the port, feeling touched by their cultural experiences and wanting to share something with these ladies.

Chan May Beach Resort, Vietnam

2009-06-11T01:07:00.000-07:00

Unless you go to the Forbidden Purple Palace, the only thing to do in Chan May is hang out at the beach resort.

About a 20 minute bus ride away from the pier, the resort is very nice. I did blog about it last time. Although recently, I have seen some pictures of some very incredible resorts in Chan May.

The pool is so beautiful and inviting. There was a surprising lack of dubious massage girls today.

On the beach we are attacked with postcard vendors, begging you to help them by buying an accordion stack of postcards, and asking the question "Where you from?"

'Canada', I made the mistake of saying, as the lady sat down and had a very one-sided, 45 minute conversation with me in French. She must be a million years old, I wondered, when did the French leave Vietnam?

I have since learned the correct answer to the question 'Where you From?' when asked in Vietnam. The answer is 'USA.' This leaves them in a particularly awkward and icy silence, with nothing left to say. They usually walk away and I am not bothered in French.

This is the beach as seen from the safety of the outdoor restaurant.

This is the restaurant. The same one I went to 2 years ago with Valeria and Roque. Sherwin was lucky to get the morning off and you can see him sitting there by the water.

The restaurant had some amazing looking sauces and garnishes.

They were selling crab, $5 for 2.

We had never eaten grilled crab before but decided that this was definitely the way to cook them, they were delicious.

I got a seafood stew which featured more crab, and bamboo shoots which ruined the taste for me. We had to call some friends over to help us with the food.

Coffee with condensed milk

We ended the morning with a swim in the ocean.

China Haze

2009-06-10T00:12:00.000-07:00

This is just a footnote on the pollution haze in China - you can see it clearly (hah) from the ship. This is in Dalian, China

Friends and Late Night Shopping in Shanghai

2009-06-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

My friend Liz, who used to be a dancer on the ship, came and had dinner with me onboard the ship in Shanghai. She has a blog but has to post it by some tricky method as blogger is blocked in China. As a result I don't think she has ever seen her own blog!

(photo stolen from Liz's blog)

After our dinner, me and Sherwin came to check out their new apartment.

I have never been inside a Chinese house before so this was really cool. Their apartment was big and quite nice.

She had a nice collection of knock-off DVD's and she gave me quite a few! I am terrible with movies and 1 month later haven't watched any yet - although I plan to!

I met Konut the Chinese rescue cat - It turns out she is a rescue cat calendar girl! Konut had never been outside before and just the other day was marveling at the other cats through the window. Liz figures she thought she was the only kitty!

This was the cultural experience of the day - look at her stove which is built to hold woks.
But how do you make pancakes? I asked. She said she has tried but it's not easy.

We came back to the port and Sherwin, who missed dinner, had some of his favourite crab.

As always I get a big kick out of the menu:

"Divination cowpea crisp stomach"

"Garlic Deer Velvet Baby Vegetable"

"Spend Clam"

After the meal it must be at least 1am. We go down the street to see some knock-off goods.

Look at these sunglasses with built-in earphones

Knock-off iPhone for $80 - $150

And other brand names, such as:

"Nokla"

"Samsomite"

"Aidads"

Explaining Geocaching

2009-06-08T08:38:00.005-07:00

A lot of people have been asking me - what is Geocaching. Sorry I haven't had much time to answer. We have been putting up a new show here and in between that I have been trying to see all the beautiful ports of the Mediterranean. From a Google search I did, I found a really good explanation here and you can also look it up and read the description on Wikipedia or go to the Geocaching website

But here is my version of it:

Basically it is a treasure hunt, held outdoors - much like an easter egg hunt. It is popular with adults and also families with kids (think easter egg!) What you are looking for is a container, of varied size and shape, that is hidden or camoflauged well. Depending on the size of the container, it might contain small items or toys for trade, and a notebook for you to sign your name.

There are also traveling items that you can move from one cache to the other, and the owner of that item can track its progress around the world. Some of them are so small that they only contain a small bit of paper for you to initial.

Part of the fun is keeping the game a secret - so while you are searching you can't let anyone else see what you are doing. It's a bit like being a spy. These objects are often located right under people's noses!

You need 2 things to play this game - The first is a free membership at geocaching.com You can create your code name and then view all the geocaches in your area. You can even view your town on a map to see were they are located.

The second thing you need is a GPS device - or a phone with a GPS program. Once you find the web page of the cache you would like to find, you can enter the GPS co-ordinates into your machine (or hook it to your computer and send it straight to the device) The GPS will show you a little arrow and get you close to the cache, and even count down in meters or feet - but once you find the approximate location you will have to find the cache yourself!

If you are planning to do this in a city, you don't really need a GPS - you can copy and paste the co-ordinates into Google Maps (maps.google.com) and you will be able to see pretty much the exact location on the map.

It's really not as complicated as it sounds. I was afraid of all the numbers when I started - but realized it's not too bad.

The fun is getting out, into nature, finding and enjoying parks and places you haven't before.

Different Geocaches I have found:

Under a rock is a common theme

A traditional-type container filled with goodies

A funny container - a film cannister inside a rubber chicken, hidden in rocks.

My own Geocache that I made, with a Rubber Duckie theme, hidden inside a hollow stump

A clever one in Japan, disguised as an electrical panel and attached by a magnet

Another clever little one in Japan, attached with Velcro to the back of an information board

This one is "virtual" (Windmills in Rhodes, Greece)- find the location with your GPS and take a picture to prove you were there.

Found in the Rain in Montreal - magnetic and hidden inside a pole

One I replaced (it had gone missing) in Myanmar - it is hidden inside this gold Buddha.

For Peter - here is Forstinning. Most of the geocaches near you are a bit more complicated, involving the solvling of some riddles or puzzles, and leading you to one place that might give you clues as to your fiinal destination. The ones marked by a question mark may have puzzles to solve. The ones marked with the orange boxes means there are more than one cache to find - the first one may have clues towards the final destination. The closest regular caches would be here and here - indicated by the green treasure box icon. The second one seems to contain a traveling item right now.

A Taste of the Med

2009-06-07T02:31:00.000-07:00

A bike ride and geocache in Nagasaki

2009-06-06T01:47:00.000-07:00

What better on that second day in Nagasaki then to do a little bike riding and geocaching.

The first place I found is this park right by the ship.

It was a hive of activity with Japanese schoolchildren and some outdoor events.

The next place was this old fort and creek.

I found the most clever geocache there. Can you see it below?

It was on the side of this electrical box, stuck with a magnet. Clever!

The sail-away was beautiful. We passed a big shipyard where they made one of the Crystal ships.

Nagasaki

2009-06-04T03:00:00.000-07:00

This was our lucky day in the fact that both me and Sherwin were off at 3pm. We love Japan and it was an unscheduled overnight in Nagasaki! What could be better.

Here is Sherwin at the foot of the pedestrian street leading to Glover Gardens.

We browse the nice little shops on this street, most of them having interesting little food and souvenir items.

Sherwin buys a steamed bbq pork bun - these must be popular as you can buy a stuffed toy of the same:

We find a tea shop and I can't walk away without buying some.

You can fill one of these beautifully papered containers with toasted-rice green tea

I couldn't resist these tea containers and compromised by buying a small one.

A geocache with some interesting information led me to this spot:

This intersection is called the triangle of prayer. To the front is a church, to the right is a Buddhist Temple, to the left a Shinto Shrine.

We turned left, towards the Shinto Shrine. I had never seen a Shinto cemetery before.

Here is the Shrine

And very nearby is the geocache - the small thing in my hand. It is actually somewhere in the picture above, although not seen. We signed the paper inside the cleverly hidden little container.

Continuing down the steps there are some nice little gardens as well.

This led us to the supermarket, which was the ultimate in fun.

We stocked up on dried seaweeds and to-go items.

We took a funny sideways elevator to the top of the hill, near the glover gardens. We had a picnic and I flew my new kite.

This is where the camera died. We later took a big walk through Chinatown (always wondering - how is it that we end up eating Chinese food in Japan and Japanese food in China?) We also laughed at the prices on that Chinese food! We nearly ate there but decided to go for some real Japanese food. We found one of those traditional places, with a private booth and tatami mats. I wasn't planning on taking off my shoes at the door, because I had a big hole in my sock. We got a locker for our shoes and were showed into our own little booth. I got plum wine with a little plum in it, in a clay cup, and Sherwin got a giant beer with a tiny glass beside it. We sampled all sorts of nice food and we managed to squeeze just one last picture out of the camera.

*Footnote: I have to tell this story because it still cracks me up.

At one point in the evening, we were standing at an intersection downtown when all these Japanese fashion-girls kept walking by - except they seemed to not be wearing any pants! We missed a couple traffic lights because Sherwin was just floored by this. As we sat in a corner fast food place having a drink, we had a good view of the intersection and the no-pants girls kept walking by! Sherwin was just beside himself at which point he had a revelation. "You know what," he said to me, "All these girls are going somewhere - and we have to find that place!"

I laughed so hard I nearly fell off my stool.

A Bike Ride to the Bund in Hazy Shanghai

2009-06-03T03:15:00.001-07:00

The ship was docked in the HuangPu river - right near the Bund in Shanghai.

From here you can see old Shanghai,

And new

I dared take my bike to the Bund to look for a geocache there. I say "dared" because it was really the ride of my life, for my life. Next time I am cabbing it.

Sometimes in Shangai I get the feeling I'm in the old west of cowboy times. I think in a way, it is. It's certainly a booming place and a new frontier.

I like to look at the old buildings and wonder about the history in the Port of Shanghai. If that building could talk!

Crossing this bridge I noticed these kites flying.

I couldn't help but pay way too much for some. They kept up-selling me - more kites, more string..

The Bund is very close and is a sea of humanity. If I had known any better, I would have taken the "sightseeing tunnel" which takes you under the river to the big freaky buildings on the other side.

What a great vantage point to the Harbour. Nearly as good as the view from the ship! You can see the ship from here.

This is a typical soviet-style thing, I wonder if it's the Chairman? I learn later it's a statue of Chen Yi, the first Communist mayor of Shanghai.

One thing I have heard as a rumour about China, but never really seen for myself, is the following:

Chinese kids have a split in the seat of their pants so they don't need to wear diapers. Amazing!

One More Hong Kong

2009-06-01T01:16:00.001-07:00

A morning with nothing to do took me through the shopping mall along the waterfront in search of some geocaches.

I like this juice bar and by the way they offer free internet! I had a ginger smoothie.

My walk took me somewhere I would have never found - the West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade.

I like taking these walks - the destination being the surprise.

I was passing these pieces of art, with wind chimes in each.

On the promenade there were more oddball pieces of art, and the strange weather - a feeling there was about to be a storm - added to the strangeness of this new place.

From there I could see nice views of Hong Kong island.

The geocache wasn't anything spectacular, but the destination the important thing.

Later - or was it the next day - I went out in Kowloon with Sherwin

I am always shocked by the sheer volume of people everywhere.

We found a little sushi place where you pick your own off a conveyor belt

We even had our own dispenser for hot water to make our own green tea.

I like to look at the pearl jewelry

This is my favourite store

Look at these pearl rings, I love them.

These flamingos are in Kowloon park

This was the most bizarre piece of fashion I have seen yet. I thought it was terrible - a gentleman's shirt worn as a dress isn't a bad idea but look at the shape of that thing and all the bunching at the back. I wonder if it's a runway trend gone wrong?

Alluring Aegean

2009-05-31T02:29:00.000-07:00

A Belated Birthday

2009-05-29T03:28:00.000-07:00

Part of the reason for the expensive Crab feast was that is was Sherwin's birthday - a celebration that seemed to go on for weeks.

We had a cabin party - in which the whole band showed up 11pm as scheduled, drinks ready. Ellert brought schnapps and we had plenty of whiskey and gin, in flagrant violation of the ship's boring new alcohol policies which prevent you from drinking what you want at your own party.

Sherwin's friends all showed up and saw a bunch of scary white people in the cabin. They stayed in the hall outside and partied there.

Security was patrolling the hallways so at 2am the party moved to the crew bar library, which we were kicked out of eventually also. Did I mention the band never saw their old boss party before.

I don't remember in what order, but there was also a big party ashore in Hong Kong with Sherwin's workmates. A couple of other guys were celebrating birthdays also and they combined them to make one big party.

We took the ferry to Hong Kong Island.

As seen while walking on an overpass on HK island:

We ended up on this party street, with all the bars. I was feeling a bit nervous about where we might end up, knowing these guys. Click on the picture to enlarge and get an eyeful of some of these funny club names.

We ended up at this place. I saw the sign and wondered if it was refering to girls, or food.

It turns out it was both, with the emphasis on Filipino. Mostly food and familes and some lonely and not-so lonely girls around the bar. There was a live Filipino band entertaining.

These guys, the co-workers of Sherwin, make the most of the Filipinos on the ship and spend like there's no tomorow. I don't understand how anyone can spend like that. They were ordering buckets of beer like this one:

We looked at the menu..

But the guys ordered food for days.

I got my favourite, Tortang Talong, and a Pad Thai (not shown). I didn't need to order any of it! So much food came I couldn't believe it.

That is a rather cod picture of me but the point is, look at that fried fish.

The party ended early, so I said to Sherwin, let's go see the Peak - It's your birthday. The Peak is the top of Victoria Peak that offers a panoramic view of Hong Kong in good weather which can be 50/50. We got all the way up there and didn't see a thing for the fog!

"once I get you up there, where the air is rarified..."