10/29/10 – Day 34 – Singapore

     Today had a rough start.  My mother woke up at about 4:00 a.m. and wasn’t able to sleep.  She was dizzy and would get sick to her stomach any time that she laid down.  My dad woke up with her and took good care of her (I pretty much slept through the whole ordeal).  When I did awake, my mother was sitting up at the desk with her chin resting on a stack of pillows and she didn’t look like she was feeling well.  Needless to say, she decided to stay on the boat today instead of going out.  My dad was going to stay with her, but she talked him into going out with me for a little bit (I think she wanted some time to herself to rest).  After visiting one of the ship doctors, it was determined that she most likely has an infection in her middle ear.  The doc gave her some medication and we’re hoping it goes away here it the next couple of days.  She rested and got to feeling a bit better, however she is still unable to lie down completely.  She’s been sleeping with her head and shoulders propped up on a big stack of pillows.  She did join us for dinner and the show tonight, but still is struggling with being able to lie down without feeling queasy.  Your prayers for her quick recovery would definitely be appreciated.

     So, today we arrived at the Singapore dock about 7:00 this morning.  We were hoping to get out early, but with the circumstances, it ended up being about 10:30 before my dad felt comfortable leaving.  Thankfully, we did not have a tour scheduled this morning; instead we were just planning to see the city on our own.  Adjacent to the cruise terminal was a station for a cable car that went high across the bay to Sentosa Island.  This island was like a little city to itself.  It’s home to Singapore’s Universal Studios theme park, a beach area and the receiving end of this cable car.  The whole island is ornate, well kept, and decorated.  And, they have a free monorail with 4 stops to take visitors to the various attractions.  To the cable car is where my father and I headed first.  It was a nice ride across the bay.  We actually soared right over our ship, looking down into the pool area.  My dad and I rode around the island with a stop at Hard Rock Café to pick up some guitar pins for a friend’s collection.  We got back over to where the ship was around 1:00 p.m.  My dad bought some postcards and headed back to the ship, while my adventure continued.

     I took the Metro to the Orchard Street stop.  There, I found the other Hard Rock Café, and purchased some more pins.  After walking and shopping a bit on Orchard Street (one of the city’s main drags), I found the stop for a city hop on-hop off tour.  I boarded the bus and began to travel a loop around the city.  I had one stop at the Raffles Hotel to have one of their famed Singapore Sling drinks.  Other than that, I saw the rest of Singapore’s sights from the bus:  Little India, Arab Town, Chinatown, the Singapore Flyer (a large Ferris wheel comparable to the London Eye), the Singapore River that splits the city in half, a ship-like structure (a casino) that spans 3 towering buildings, and the city’s famed statue of a merlion (part lion and part fish…similar to a mermaid with a lion’s head). I disembarked the bus tour about two-thirds the way through the loop at Chinatown to take the Metro back to the ship.  I did some last minute shopping at the Harbor Front complex to use up my Singapore Dollars, as well as jotted some postcards to put in the mail.  Then, it was back on board the ship to one again set sail, this time for Semarang, Indonesia.

     Please allow me to share a little about what I learned about Singapore.  First of all, it is both a city and a country.  The main language spoken is English.  This is mostly a result of being owned by England before becoming independent.  However, Singapore seems to be a large melting pot of Asian folks from both East and West.  As previously noted, there is Little India, Chinatown, and Arab Town.  Although, about 70% of Singaporeans have roots in China, there are other people groups also present in the mix, including Malay people, Indians (as in from India), and many others.  The laws in Singapore are strict.  We were given a rather extensive list of illegal items to make sure not to bring ashore, including obscene literature, reproductions of copyrighted material, imitation goods (such as the “Rolex” watch I purchased in China), gun shaped-lighters or toys, chewing tobacco, high powered prescription drugs, and even gum.  Yes, that’s right, gum chewing is not allowed in Singapore.  I’m not sure what the fine is, but I heard it’s pretty hefty.  Also, we were told that jaywalking is illegal and subject to a fine.

     Today’s port of Singapore marked the halfway point of our voyage at day 34.  A couple hundred people left today, as they only did the segment from Seattle to Singapore.  We also gained some new guests that will be joining us for the second half of the cruise. We only have one more country (2 ports) to conclude the Asia portion of our voyage, before moving on to Australia and the Pacific islands.  It’s been a wonderful adventure thus far, and I look forward to the days to come.  

The Jewel Cable Car

My dad in the Jewel Car

Looking down into our ship as we passed above on the cable car

Our ship in the foreground and Sentosa Island in the background 

The free monorail on Sentosa Island

Singapore's downtown Hard Rock Cafe

Me having a Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel Long Bar

The Singapore Flyer

The casino that is a ship-like structure spanning 3 highrise buildings

The front of our ship from Harbour Front Station

Tonight's sunset as we sailed away from Singapore

10/27/10 – Day 32 – Sihanoukville, Cambodia

     Today was very different than any of our previous ports.  There were not a lot of tourist sights to see here in Cambodia.  Instead, we were able to get a taste of everyday life for the Khumer (which is what they call themselves and their language, instead of Cambodian) people.  This is a very poor country, probably much more so than its neighboring country, Vietnam, where we visited a few days ago.  We docked at a cargo port, just outside of the city.  There were no high-rises here and no public transportation.  Most of the people traveled by motor scooter or on foot. 

     Shortly after arriving, we met our guide, Adam, and boarded a tour bus to take a morning city highlights adventure.  Our first stop was a Pagoda (a Buddhist temple complex).  Here children wanting to sell us handmade bracelets or just straight begging for money instantly bombarded us.  We listened to our guide explain about this pagoda complex and then had a bit a free time, when I, of course, gave into a few of the children and bought bracelets for $1 each that I didn’t really need. 

     Next, we traveled to a nearby beach, which is what this area of Cambodia is known for.  The beaches were, indeed, beautiful.  At the beach, some of the same kids showed back up with their bracelets.  They had followed us with 3 or 4 piled on a scooter with an adult driver.  Also, at the beach there were people selling other items and a plethora of ladies wanting to give foot and/or neck massages, as well as pedicures or manicures.  The most interesting service provided was eyebrow plucking, which was done with a piece of thread twisted around the fingers.  I steered clear of this service, as well as the others, and enjoyed the scenery.  I also took the time to dip go in the water, only up to my knees, though, as I hadn’t dressed for swimming. 

     After the beach, we headed for the main market, and would you believe some of those same kids once again showed up there with their bracelets?  This actually was craziness when we got off the bus.  This particular parking lot was the drop-off point for at the shuttle buses coming from the ship.  So all morning long, affluent tourists had been dropped here by the bus load, and I’m pretty sure the whole town knew about it.  The minute we stepped off the bus, taxi/tuk tuk drivers, people selling things, and kids begging loudly attacked the group.  Our guide had forewarned us that this would happen and had instructed us to stick together and take care of our belongings.  This was not as much a shopping stop for us, as an opportunity to see the daily life of the Khumer people.  He first showed us the open air stalls when men could get their hair cut for $1 U.S.  Then, we went into the market.  Luckily, I don’t think the vendors that mobbed us were allowed to sell things inside the market.  So, they relaxed a bit, anxiously awaiting our return.  The market was interesting.  This was not a tourist market, it was a market for the locals, selling everything from clothes to beauty care products to kitchen ware to fresh meat and vegetables.  Our guide walked us through the market.  He bought some layered “cake” that he allowed us to try, which was a sweet treat made from sticky rice.  We spent about 30 minutes walking through the market with a nice narrative by our guide, Adam.  I purchased a bunch of little bananas for $1 to hand out to the kids once we got back outside.  They went quick and got them to lay off the pressure of wanting me to buy something. 

     Our last stop was a neighboring fishing village.  This was very interesting to visit.  The kids didn’t follow us here.  In fact, nothing here catered to tourists, which was a nice change.  This village was very poor but had a set livelihood, which was good.  The men fished and the women stayed home to take care of the kids and/or the shop.  We were able to see men making and mending their nets and the fresh catch that was just brought in.  Our guide interviewed (and then translated for) a local lady, a fisherman, and a group of children, which very personal and informative.  The men go out fishing for weeks at a time and bring back lots of fish that have to be processed quickly, as very few homes have refrigeration.  Mostly they smoke and dry the fish for use as flavoring in stews or rice.  After our stop at the fishing village, our tour ended and we headed back to the ship for some lunch. 

     We still had one more adventure to be had before our time in the port was over.  We took the shuttle bus into the market, not exactly sure what we were going to have time to do.  Our basic options were to go to a waterfall, which was about 12 miles out of town or possibly get massages for $5/hr from blind and visually handicapped people who work at the Seeing Hands Spa, which I had heard and read about.  Although the massage sounded nice, if we had time to go to the waterfall, that’s was our first preference (at least mine).  So, when we stepped out of the shuttle bus, we were once again bombarded with vendors and tuk-tuk drivers.  I had made eye contact through the window with one, who I showed a postcard of the waterfall that I wanted to go to, and he nodded his head that he could take us there.  We followed “Mr. Run” to his tuk-tuk (a motorcycle with a trailer affixed to the back to comfortably carry up to 4 people), got in, and drove around the corner to stop and discuss our destination, price, and time available.  He assured us that we had time to go out to the waterfall and back for a price of  $40.  It was 2:15 and our ship’s all-aboard time was 4:30.  My mother was reluctant to go out of town with only two hours of time and a putting tuk-tuk, but we plunged ahead for the adventure anyway.  The waterfall was 17 km out of town: 9 km on a paved highway and 8 km on a wide but bumpy dirt road.  We stopped at a gas station and our driver fueled up the tuk-tuk.  Then, we were off.  It took us about 40 minutes to get out there.  About halfway out, it started to rain quite heavily and our driver stopped to put our plastic side panels down.  He also asked me to hold onto his wallet and cell phone, as there was no way for him to stay dry when he was driving.  Well, the waterfall was beautiful.  It was still drizzling for the first couple of minutes after we arrived, but it soon stopped.  We only had about 15 minutes to spend at the falls and the rocks were too slick to go down and do too much exploring.  I wish we had had more time to spend there, but am thankful that we got to see it for what was available.  We headed back and our driver dropped us off at the boat about 4:10, with twenty minutes to spare.  Well, not exactly because it took us 5 to 10 minutes to walk back to the ship through the cargo containers from where he had to drop us off.  However, we still were back in plenty of time and really enjoyed our day in Cambodia.

A Buddhist monk in the temple at the Pagoda we visited

The beach we visited

The market

My mother at the fishing village

This morning's catch

The waterfall

The waterfall from the other side of the river

My parents riding in the tuk-tuk

The tuk-tuk, driver, and me

10/26/10 – Day 31 – The Buddahs of Bangkok

10/25/10 – Day 30 – Overnight in Bangkok, Thailand

10/23/10 – Day 28 – Phu My, Vietnam

10/20/10 – Day 25 – Hong Kong Disneyland

10/19/10 – Day 24 – Hong Kong, China

10/ 16/10 – Day 21 – Shanghai, China: Oldtown and the 2010 World Expo

     After a big day yesterday, we slept in a bit and headed off the ship about 10:00.  We had 3 things on our agenda (only two of which we were able to get to): Old Town, the World Expo, and the Maglev train.  Unfortunately, we ran out of time before we were able to take a ride on the Maglev train, which travels using magnets (similar to Disney’s monorails).  However, this train travels at speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour.  We’ll have to save that for next visit, though. 

     We took a taxi to Yuyuan Gardens and Bazaar.  The Bazaar part is where our driver dropped us off, and we had trouble finding the gardens due to the vastness of the market.  However, we were able to finish buying our China gifts and souvenirs as we meandered following signs to the gardens.  The true beauty of this area could easily be missed if one failed to look up.  While on the street level all that could be seen was modern store fronts and market booths, on the next levels to be seen was the marvelous traditional wooden architecture of the curved roofs and structures linked together without the use of nails or screws, some of which date back to the late 1500s.  We finally made our way to Yuyuan Gardens, only to find ourselves quite low on cash due to all the shopping we had done.  We did pool together enough for the 30 Yuan each entrance fee and decided the 50 remaining Yuan would be enough for a taxi ride back to the ship.  The gardens were beautiful!  I don’t have any words to accurately explain.  Hopefully, you can gather a small glimpse by the attached photos.

     After Old Town, we took a taxi back to the ship, grabbed some lunch, changed some money, and headed back out.  This time, it was to go way down south of town to the 2010 World Expo.  This is a big deal for Shanghai.  It’s not quite like hosting the Olympics, but bears its similarities as far as the city’s need to build facilities to accommodate and update public transportation.  Not that it’s something we hear about in the States much, but it is the world’s 3^rd largest event next to the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup.  Countries from around the world sponsor pavilions (similar to Epcot, but on a much larger scale) for visitors to see and experience.  Also, there is a business area, which houses new technology from many different companies. The Expo began May 1^st and goes through October 31^st.  During these dates, the Expo is predicted to draw 70 million people.  Well, today we were three of the over 1 million visitors to the Expo.  Let’s just say there were people, people, and more people.  We can say we went to the World Expo, but can’t say that we saw any of the exhibits, except from the outside of the buildings.  We weren’t willing to wait in line for hours to see what different countries had on display.  This place was huge (about 3 square miles) and the sightseeing shuttle bus wasn’t running due to “too many people.”  It was crazy.  We spent a few hours walking around, experiencing the Expo, and we were only able to see a very small fraction of what was there.  We were glad we went, however it was a much different experience than we were expecting.  After a few hours, we exited in search of a taxi to take us to the maglev train.  After over an hour of walking and trying to find and hail an available taxi, we were finally successful.  By this time, we decided it was best just to head back to the ship and not try to squish in a ride on the maglev train.  We were tired and wanted to get back without being in danger of missing the boat.  We got back, grabbed some dinner and then watched as the ship set sail from our stateroom balcony.

     Overall, it was a wonderful two days in the metropolis of Shanghai. Now it’s time to rest.  We have two sea days before Hong Kong.

The Yuyuan Bazzar in Old Town

My mother at Yuyuan Gardens

Mw standing is one of the many interestingly shaped doorways at Yuyuan Gardens

My folks at Yuyuan gardens

A cool dragon sculpture on the roof corner of one of the buildings in Yuyuan Gardens

The Japan pavilion at the Expo

People waiting in line for the Thiland exhibit at the Expo

China's pavillion at the 2010 World Expo



10/15/10 – Day 20 – Shanghai, China: An Introduction to the City

     Early, early this morning (while I was sound asleep in my bed) we left the China Sea and traveled up the Huangpu River until arriving in downtown Shanghai, where we are currently docked.  This is one of my favorite ports so far. Our boat, the M.S. Amsterdam is literally docked right smack in the middle of the city.  About half of a mile up the river on our side is “the Bund.”  This is an incredibly lively area that has a riverwalk with most buildings dating back to the early 1900s.  Jutting off of the Bund in Nanjing Road, a very busy shopping street for both locals and tourists alike.  The view of the Bund is beautiful both day and night.  Across the river is the section of Shanghai called Pudong with its tall skyscrapers including the oddly shaped Oriental Pearl TV Tower.  20 years ago, this whole area was farmland, but not any more.  It is now the main commerce arena of Shanghai. It, too, is a sight to see both day and night.

     We began our day at 8:30 with an overview tour of the highlights of the city of Shanghai, both old and new.  We loaded a bus and went through a tunnel under the river to Pudong.  There we got off of the bus to visit a riverside park.  Then, we headed up to the 88^th floor of the Jinmao Tower for a birds-eye view of the city below.  After that, we boarded the bus and headed back over to the other side of the river.   Here we drove by for a closer look at the Bund and Nanjing Road shopping street.  At the end of Nanjing Road is Shanghai’s People’s Square.  We once again got off of the bus.  This time for a picture stop of the square and the city museum.  After that, our half-day tour concluded and we headed back to the ship for some lunch. 

     After lunch, my folks and I headed back out; this time to explore the city on our own.  We decided to go over and not just see, but “experience” the Bund and Nanjing Road.  And, that is what it was: an experience.  The Bund (the riverwalk), as we quickly discovered was the “hangout” for both locals and out-of-towners.  If there was ever a place for people watching, this has got to be it.  After spending some time on the Bund, we crossed the street and headed down Nanjing Road.  This is like combat shopping.  The people overflowed the sidewalks into the streets.  Many stores had bargain bins near there open entrances (no doors) that had people gathered around on all sides resembling ants on a morsel of chocolate.  We went into a store that was called “the underground” which was a large market with lots of little booths.  They sold everything from art to souvenirs to imitation purses and watches to “made in China” toys such as remote control helicopters.  Our time started to run short, so we took a taxi back to the ship.

     We once again grabbed a bite to eat before heading back out.  This time, we had booked an exciting evening of entertainment: a traditional Chinese acrobat show.  We boarded the bus bound for the Circus World Theater.  It was truly an amazing and unforgettable show.  All of the music was live, and the performers were extremely talented.  We saw contortionists who built human pyramids and sculptures in all sorts of well-balanced positions.  They had guys jumping and tumbling thru hoops.  They had a couple who performed a beautifully choreographed aerial act.  My favorite was when they had motorcyclists ride in circles inside a spherical metal cage.  This was amazing with one cyclist, but then they added a second and then a third.  They kept adding cyclists until there were eight people riding motorcycles inside this gigantic hamster ball.  It was an excellent show, and overall an enjoyable day in Shanghai.

The view of Shanghai from the 88th floor of the Jinmao Tower

The rocket-looking building is the Oriental Pearl TV Tower

Notice our ship just to the right of center down on the Huangpu River

Me standing on the riverwalk of "the Bund" with the Pudong area in the background

Shanghai's hangout: the Bund

Notice the early 1900s buildings in the background

The shopping street: Nanjing Road

The night view of Pudong from our ship 

The night view of "The Bund" from our ship

10/14/10 – Day 19 – At Sea: My mother’s birthday

     Today was a good day.  It was my mother’s birthday.  We kept pretty busy with the ship’s activities and going with her wherever she wanted to go today.  At dinner, they had a cake for her, and sang.  It was nice.  (However, it probably wasn’t very nice that I beat her at Scrabble on her birthday).  Shanghai tomorrow!

10/13/10 – Day 18 – At Sea

     Once again, I pretty much slept the day away.  Touring and sightseeing in such a condensed amount of time is hard work.  You want to see all you can and milk every minute.  Then, sea days are for recovering and preparing for the next port.   

10/12/10 – Day 17 – Beijing, China

     Today, we were up bright and early (6:30).  We had a huge buffet breakfast at the hotel that was included with our night’s stay.  They had an Asian section, as well as a more Westernized section.  We boarded the bus at 8:00 a.m. and were off to Tiananmen Square, the world’s largest public square.  This was interesting and really gave me the feel of being in a communist country…in a sense nothing straight out wrong or out of place, but in another sense, it was all wrong.  This square was built as a place for people to gather, and do they ever gather.  There were crazy amounts of people around!  At one end of the square was a ginormous picture of Chairmen Mau, the guy that supposedly turned the country from communism and into a “Republic.”  At the other end was a museum honoring those that have served in China’s military.  We didn’t go in the, as the line was at least 2 hours long.  Then, in the middle of the square, there were two massive TV screens with beautiful and incredibly enticing propaganda playing (people’s eyes and ears were glued to it).   The city hall sat on one side of the square and a museum on the other.  People were everywhere…along with video cameras and policemen.  It gave me the “Big Brother is watching” feeling of George Orwell’s 1984.

     We spent about 45 minutes at Tiananmen Square before heading to “The Forbidden City.”  (All of this was a little more fun because of recently viewing the new Karate Kid movie).  The Forbidden City was where the Emperors lived and was called such because common people were forbidden to go in.  However, now it’s just an old place that tourists (both foreign and domestic) visit when in Beijing.  It was OK and I’m glad I went, but nothing overly exciting for me.  However, I did have a good time “shopping” from all the street vendors.  I learned that for the most part, anything they are selling can eventually be gotten for a dollar…everything from postcards to hats to fake Rolex watches.  However, be forewarned that once you show interest, they are like a leech and follow you until finally agreeing on “your price” (which was usually a dollar or two, even though they started out around $20 for some things).  Between my parents and I, we probably spent $30 and you wouldn’t believe all the junk…I mean, the wonderful souvenirs we got.  We quickly learned the Chinese phrase “Boo Yow” which means “I don’t want it.”

     After the Forbidden City, we headed to lunch at yet another Chinese restaurant.  Once again, served lazy susan style.  However, I didn’t care much for this meal.  I didn’t know what I was eating, and found myself not wanting more than the little bite used to sample most of the dishes.  However, for dessert, we had halves of local mandarin oranges and they were delicious.  I finished up the plate of those that were left over after everyone had taken what they wanted.  Next on the agenda was the “Temple of Heaven,” which was the place that the emperor came to pray.  It was a beautiful park that led to an amazing round building that was the actual “temple”.  The coolest thing about their ancient buildings was that they didn’t use nails.  Instead, they interlock the wood together to make the structure.  And, these ancient buildings have stood soundly through many an earthquake, which is quite impressive.  Once again, people were trying to sell us stuff left and right.  I guess we had North American tourist written all over us.  I finally gave in and bought 2 “Rolex” watches from a guy for three bucks each, which isn’t bad for any watch that actually keeps time, right?

    We once again loaded up the bus at 3:30 in preparation for the 2-hour trip back to the ship.  Overall, we had a very nice time.  So far, I’m not as big of a fan of China as I was Japan.  And, I have discovered that the people and cultures of Japan and China are very, very different.  The Japanese were very “spiritually” focused and the Chinese are very government focused.  The Japanese are very patient and proper, while the Chinese seem to be pushy and very much in a hurry.  In Japan, they formed a nice line when waiting for something, and here, in Beijing, people just push, push, push. Anyway, we got back to the ship just in time to head to dinner before setting sail. 

This is the North end of Tiananmen Square.  Lots of people!

Notice Chairman Mao's picture above the entrance

One of the two giant TV monitors in the middle of Tiananmen Square showing govenrment propagande

One of the vendors that followed me to the bus, smiling and waving goodbye (with her umbrella and panda hat) as the door was closing

I heard it was good luck to rub one of the golden knobs on the doors into the Forbidden City

My folks and I standing in front of one of the many halls of the Forbidden City

The Gate of Harmony within the Forbidden City

The “Temple of Heaven”

A beautiful round building made of wood and colorfully painted

This is me, back in our stateroom on the ship with just some of cheap “Made in China” souvenirs

10/11/10 – Day 16 – The Great Wall

     Today was truly an amazing day.  This morning’s immigration procedures took longer than expected, but we were on our way soon enough.  We weren’t able to disembarked the ship this morning around 10:30 in Xingang, China (which is no man’s land…they are actually creating and developing more land by filling in the Ocean).  This was the gateway city for Beijing, which was about 2 hours away.  We boarded a bus headed toward the China’s Great Wall.  We stopped for lunch, and sat a table of 10 that was served lazy susan style using a plate that was no bigger than 5 inches in diameter.  I ate little fried morsels of this and that (I’m not really sure what most things were).  It was good though, and it was kind of like “combat eating” with the spinning thing on the table.  You had to grab stuff quickly, otherwise someone would spin the dish over to their side of the table and it may be empty the next time it comes around.  I am proud to say that I did successful complete my meal using chopsticks instead of a fork. 

     After lunch, we got back on the bus and headed off to the Great Wall.  That was a pretty amazing experience.  The Wall runs near China’s northern border and is huge!  It is quite deteriorated in many places, but the place we went had recently been restored.  In fact, my guidebook says it was overly-restored to the point where there is hardly anything authentic left.  But, I did none-the-less enjoy being able to grasp its enormity and actually experience it for myself.  Maybe someday I’ll come back, and visit a less touristy section of the Wall. I climbed up 500+ steps to tower 3 of the 9 that are available at this particular section.  But, we only had an hour, and I didn’t want to be the last one back to the bus.  I talked to a couple of guys that went all the way to the 9th tower, and they said it was a bit anticlimactic because the wall just kind-of ended.  You see, it is a myth that it is one continuous wall across the whole northern boarder of the country, as well as it being the last man-made structure to be seen from space.  However, it is quite large and did at one time extend for over 4000 miles.  And, I will admit, it was pretty sweet being able see it, touch it, and climb on it.

     After the Wall, we stopped at the Ming Tombs which were less than exciting for me, and then headed back into Beijing for a Traditional Peking Duck dinner.  It was served in the same lazy susan style as lunch, and the duck was quite tasty.  I guess what makes Peking Duck special is that they fill air between the skin and the meat and then fry, which makes for a thin, tasty, lightly crisp skin.  We were shown how to properly eat it: you take a couple pieces of meat, dip them into the sauce, place them in a small pancake, crepe type thing, put a leek in, fold it up like a little burrito, and then take a bite.  Mmmm!  However, for some reason the word “Aflac” kept going though my head all evening long.  I guess the place where we had our Duck is the same restaurant where many famous people eat (such as some of our past presidents and many of the more local political figures).

     After dinner, we then checked into our hotel for the evening and will be up bright and early in the morning to tour the city of Beijing before heading back to the ship in the evening.  This is a pretty sweet hotel.  It overlooks the Beijing Summer 2008 Olympic Games buildings, such as the watercube (where Micheal Phelps won his 8 gold medals) and the bird's nest (where the opening ceremonies and the track and field events were held).  It's one of the nicest hotels that I have ever stayed in.  Earlier all of the Olympic buildings were lit up really pretty when we arrived, but have since gone dark.  I guess the city of Beijing is trying to save on their electricity bill.

     Anyway, kind of a crazy thing is that we paid for an Internet connection tonight.  I was hoping to be able to update my blog and post on facebook.  However, I guess the Chinese government blocks access to such sites by people.  Also, our ship's Internet hasn’t been getting reception over the past two days.  I guess posting just isn't meant to be for a bit.

 My father and I after climbing to tower 2 of a section of China’s Great Wall

Looking down from where I came as the Great Wall of China continues to meander through the mountains in the distance

The lazy susan style dining

A chef carving our Peking Duck

The 2008 Olympic venues from our hotel window (unfortunately after their lights went out):

The Watercube on the back right and the Bird’s nest on the back left

(I'm not sure what the building is in the forground)

10/10/10 – Day 15 – On a Slow Boat to China

     Today was a good day.  I awoke well rested after my day of catching up on sleep yesterday.  It was Sunday, so we had an onboard worship service this morning, which is always something that I enjoy.  I was able to catch up on my blogs some and download my pictures taken thus far.  This evening I had to pack and prepare for our overnight excursion in Beijing.  After arriving in port, we will be leaving early in the morning and heading out to China’s Great Wall.  We will then spend the night at a hotel in Beijing, and tour the city the next day before heading back to the ship.  Since the ship is 2 hours away from Beijing, we decided we would save ourselves about 5 hours of riding in a bus by joining the overnight shore excursion.

10/9/10 – Day 14 – A Day of Rest

     So, I slept in this morning.  I finally got up, had some breakfast, and then went back to bed.  I basically slept the day away.  It was nice to be able to so that after 4 port days in row going from early morning to late in the evening.  Still no Internet today as we sailed around the southern tip of Japan and took a Northwestern course toward our next port city of Beijing, China.  I guess that we’re sticking too close to shore and are still in Japanese waters, where it’s local law that our ship’s Internet must remain off.

     I really enjoyed our time in Japan.  I definitely think that it’s a country that I want to return to someday to visit for a longer period of time.  The people are quiet, yet very kind and hospitable.  They are quite proper and orderly, which I guess you have to be with so many people condensed into a small area.  Well, you don’t have to be, but it sure works better that way.  They are also very punctual and exact people.  Train travel is easy on the JR (Japanese Railway) line.  Their cities are incredibly modern and clean.  Nobody would even think of throwing a piece of trash on the street.  It’s just not proper.  And, to top it all off, the mountains and coastlines are very beautiful.  This is definitely a place where I want to spend some more time in the future.

10/8/10 – Day 13 – Kobe, Japan

     While yesterday’s visit to Shimizu was just an ordinary Japanese town, today’s visit to Kobe was an everyday normal Japanese city.  There weren’t a lot of tourist attraction vying for our time.  Instead, we just enjoyed being in the city.  We arrived at the Port of Kobe around 8:30 a.m.  We had a local fireboat spraying water in various patterns as our only welcome to the city.  When we disembarked the ship around 10:00, we jumped on the local “Portliner” above ground train, which took us right into Kobe’s center at Sannomiya Station. 

     Just outside of the station, we picked up the city’s Loop Bus.  A Loop Bus can be found in most Japanese cities, and is designed for tourists to get around to all the important sights of the city, including stops at the prominent train stations.  However, the commentary on the bus is entirely in Japanese, so I’m assuming the routes are primarily for those visiting Kobe from other places in Japan more so than those of us from an entirely different country.  However, the Loop Bus did its job in providing us with the necessary transportation for the day.  It was a 60-minute route that looped around the city.  We rode the entire circuit once all the way around, looking and deciding at which stops we wanted to get off and spend a little time.  This was a good plan as we found out quickly that a seat on this bus was not easy to come by.  The way things worked was when you first boarded the bus, you stood packed in the aisle with all the other tourists.  Then, at one of the upcoming stops, some of those seated would get off and you could take their seat, while those just getting on would have to stand in the aisle for a couple more stops before they were able to sit.  Needless to say, the buses were quite crowded.

     So, once we were seated, we held onto our seats for the rest of the loop.  There were three main stops that we decided on: the “Shinkansen” station, City Hall, and the Motomachi shopping street.  Near the Shinkansen (Japan’s bullet trains that travel at speeds in excess of 150 mph) station, there was a cable car ropeway that took you up the mountain.  You see, Kobe is a long, narrow, port city.  In most places the city isn’t more than 2 miles wide.  The two miles from the ocean shore are quite flat, but then the land steeply grows into a mountainside.  This cable car took us up the side of the mountain for a beautiful bird’s eye view of the port city below including our ship docked in the harbor.  It was an excellent choice for an activity.  After that, we hopped back on the Loop Bus and took it to City Hall.  There we walked around and went up to the 24^th floor for another view of the city.  We then hopped back on the Loop Bus and took it to the shopping district.  There, we did just that, shopped a bit, then walked back to the Portliner station, and took the train back to ship just in time for dinner as we were sailing away from our last stop in Japan.

The fireboat spray show as a welcome to the port of Kobe

Notice the mountain rising up behind the city

Docking at the Port of Kobe

In Japanese cities, one must think vertical.

I you only look at shops on the street level, you'll miss the majority of the city.

The building on the right has a different restraunt on every floor, with McDonalds at street level.

The view of Kobe from the top of the cable car run

My parents in the cable car on the way up the mountian

A gas station in downtown Kobe

Notice there are no gas pumps...well, there are, but their attached to the ceiling.

This was a full service gas station, where you drive into the space painted on the ground.  The attendent pulls the pump handle down from above, and the price of your gas in displayed on the wall (behind the camera). 

Yes, that Wasabi flavored ice cream on the left available at this Baskin Robin's.  I can't even imagine.

People exiting the "portliner" above ground train.  Notice how those lined up in an orderly fashion waiting to get on the train. Also, check out the backpack the boy has...all the Japanese school children have them.