Sunday, June 27, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010, St. Petersburg, Russia
When I left off in my earlier dispatch, we were assembled at the
Atlantic Hotel in St. Petersburg, Russia, waiting to disembark for the
wedding celebration of Jamie Blackburn and Victoria Leontieva, which
was to include getting there as well as being there. None of us knew
what to expect, including the groom. The 43 of us that traveled from
the US were all smiles and anxious talk, particularly the mother of
the groom, Cyndy Blackburn. We knew we were about to have a good and
memorable time, but we didn’t know the half of it.
Three days before when Pinky and I arrived in St. Petersburg, time
lagged and exhausted as we were, we had dragged ourselves to the
ballet for a presentation of Swan Lake at the Majiinski Theater, part
of St. Petersburg’s Stars of the White Nights Music Festival. At the
time we didn’t think anything could top what we experienced. For
those not familiar with Swan Lake, and I confess to not having been,
this is the quintessential of ballets, with music by Pyotr
Tchaikovsky, and performances by artists with long and complicated
Russian names On top of it the theater is historically magnificent,
with impeccable acoustics. Swan Lake proved to be merely an
introduction to The Wedding Celebration We Will All Remember!
Each of the guests had been provided with an invitation in Russian,
but with enough English that we should have at least some sense of
what was coming: Dear passengers, have a good trip! Don’t be late on
the ship of contemporaneity, which will be waiting for you at Moyka
Nab. 96 at 18.00 o’clock and leave, when two wedding dabble phial
banged and one is simple (18:30) All hands on deck, there, when
marriages are concluded! Now, I confess that I read this invitation
at least a half a dozen times and had no idea what it said, so along
with everyone else I anxiously boarded one of the two buses and left @
5:30 PM for the waterways, looking forward to having a vodka toast to
the bride and groom with Jimmy!
Once on board the canal boats, we enjoyed oeuvre deuves, chilled
vodka, entertainment and sights of St. Petersburg from the canal (or
river, I’m not sure which.) We had music and a hilarious magician.
The boat ride was an event in itself and went on for quite some time.
In Russia, it is thought that if the bride and groom see angels on
their wedding day, it will bring them luck. Well, along the way a
group of white angels caught up with us and kept up along the way
riding bicycles and letting us all know their presence by blowing
whistles and saluting us all from the walkways lining the waterway and
from bridges overhead. We eventually got to more open water, when the
white pigeons appeared. Out they came, and many of the family took
them and raised them into the air on signal for an incredible aerial
display. White doves apparently also bring good luck to the bride and
groom, who were sailing in their own boat with the maid of honor and
best man and who looked like they were having the time of their lives!
We arrived where we were to have the wedding feast and disembarked to
the greetings of various angels, two of which were young women
elevated high above the ground with enormous white dresses. Needless
to say, I was snapping away with my Canon TiII digital SLR camera.
Everyone was smiling and obviously pleased with the unfolding of
events. The assembled,
which looked to be between 125 and 150, greeted the bride and groom.
Victoria’s dress was stunning, and her father had to be beside himself
with pride and happiness. (I relate better to the father since I am
the father of a recent bride but realize well that Victoria’s mother
had to be equally inspired.) Both parents, Rosteslav and Marionella
Leontiev, proved to be most wonderful of hosts. The bride and groom
danced briefly on an outside patio, framed on one side by the river
and two enormous semicircular montages of the bride and groom, and on
the other side by the restaurant. We were entertained by a series of
performances, including American Indian dancing led by the father of
the groom, complete with chief’s headdress; bluegrass band Sundown,
complete with 5-string banjo, all Russian (VERY impressive): Irish
dancers; Irish bagpipers; Russian folk dancers; a special video
wherein US President Barak Obama and Russia President Dmitry Medvedev
greeted the newlyweds and spoke to their hopes for a happy and
productive marriage. The US President told the assembled that this
alliance by marriage is very symbolic and as Russian character,
cheerful disposition of Moldovia and endurance of Yakutia are
wonderfully mixed in Victoria; ballroom dancing brilliantly performed
by a child couple; cooking contest between the bride’s and groom’s
families; more folk dancing where the wedding guests jumped in and
showed their stuff; three red-clad strong men who performed incredible
feats of strength, and a finale of an assemblage of dancers doing a
Broadway-like number outside in the rain, topped off by a
Reunions-like fireworks display! When it came time for Victoria to
toss her flowers, I told Olga that she should be sure to catch it, and
she dutifully did!
Back on the boats, the wedding guests were treated to White Nights on
the St. Petersburg waterways, including raising of the many
drawbridges, fully lit and visible during the brief period of
darkness. Still more vodka and fellowship, great conversation, and
the American contingent were by now great friends sharing in an
experience we all knew was really special. Jimmy was so taken (either
by the events but more probably by vodka or Champaign) that he took a
header down the stairs in the bow, but suffered only a minor abrasion
on his head after I helped to break his fall. Soon thereafter we
docked, and Pinky and I smartly elected to walk back to the Atlantic
Hotel. Thank goodness we went with Bart and Mary Jane Stuck. Bart is
Jimmy’s boyhood buddy from Detroit. He helped us find our way with
nary a mishap, and we made it back just as daybreak emerged at 3:30
AM.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010, St. Petersburg, Russia
It is now 3 PM St Petersburg time at the Atlantic Hotel, St
Petersburg, Russia, and I have a few moments before THE WEDDING
CEREMONY. Pinky and I left NJ last Tuesday evening for Russia to
witness the Russian wedding ceremony of Jamie Blackburn and Victoria
Leontieva. For those who don't know, the two met during Victoria's PG
year at Mersersburg Academy. We have joined a group of 43 which
traveled from the US to be here with Jamie and Victoria and meet her
family here in St Petersburg. The past few days have been non stop.
Victoria arranged for us to take a series of tours with Olga, who had
been her English teacher and who has an uncommon command of Russian
history, particurly St Petersburg. With her we've had to move
"bistro," or quickly. Here in St Petersburg there is much to see.
Most of the sights involve what developed before the Bolsheik
revolution, with the various Peters, Nicholas', and Catherines. We
learned about "Catherine the Spender, " and it is no wonder that the
people revolted against them all and their excesses. It is hard to
imagine the resources of the people that were directed to support the
opulence and lavish lifestyle of the Romanoff family. However, the
cultureal remnanta of that time are priceless. The Hermitage in St
Petersburg served as the Winter POuralace and has endless rooms filled
with priceless art and gildted trimmings. The Summer Palace is
located in Pushkin, 15 miles south of the city. It contains a long
line of amazing rooms decorated as you couldn't believe, with the
crown being the Amber Room, fully restored, paid for by the German
government and opened to the public in just 2007. Much of the Summer
Palace was destroyed by the Nazi's during WWII, and it has been
meticulously restored at great cost to what it is today. Both palaces
are very popular with tourists, and they are important to Russia's
emerging tourist industry. In fact, tourism is second only to
shipbuilding in economic importance to St Petersburg. Our ride back
from the Summer palace was highlighted by an incredible lunch at a
nearby Russian restaurant, complete with numerous vodka toasts, a
Russian band with accordian and great singing, and great food.
Olga has been an incredibly informative and pleasant tour director.
Her knowledge of the history is boundless. A highlight was near the
end of our tour of the Youssoupov Palace, where she recounted the
killing of Rasputin right where the shootings actually took place in
the basement of the Youssoupov family residence, including how he
survived two gunshot wounds to the chest and one to the head before
being dumped in the frozen river. She shared with us some of her
experiences living in Russia. Most memorable is the invasive
corruption that is everywhere. The Traffic Officials command payoffs
just to get a drivers license. Without paying a bribe. you cannot
pass the driving or written test. Pay enough and you don't need to
take the test at all. Between 40 and 50 per cent of the population
works for the government (not much different than it is in NJ). In
the election when Vladmir Putin was "elected" prime minister and
president, those who worked for the government were required to prove
that they cast their votes for Putin by taking a photo of their votes
on their cell phones and texting it. I suppose that bridges are now
being designed and supervised in Russia where the responsible
Professional Engineers received their accreditation this way, and this
doesn't lend itself to generating a lot of confidence in the integrity
of the infrastructure. The WWII St Petersburg Siege Memorable was
incredibly moving. The memorial commerates the bravery and
unimaginable experiences of the St Petersburg military and citizenry
during the 900 day siege that the Nazi's imposed on the city. About
one million military perished and another one million citizens died
during this incredible time. People were reduced to eating saw dust
and rats. Ultimaltely, the Nazi's failed in their attempt to take the
city, and the war front contributed to the Nazi loss of the war.
Victoria's family invited us all to dinner last evening at a wonderful
place just off the river in the city. We enjoyed a variety of Russian
fare, including beer. We got to meet Victoria's parents, who served
as gracious hosts, and other family members. After dinner our tour of
the gardens was abruptly interrupted by a drenching downpour, which
caused us ride back to our hotel in our bus drenched to the skin. A
great time and adventure all the way around!
Needless to say, I've been taking a lot of pix with my new Canon TiII
digital camera. Thus far they look great. I'll be pooling them with
pix that other wedding guests have been taking, and we'll post them on
the net for all to see. Soon we will change and leave for the
ceremony. We don't know too much of what is to take place. Even
Jamie appears to be clueless. What we do know is that we leave the
hotel at 5:30 PM on two buses and travel to one of the many canals in
the city. From there we continue to be split in two groups and
disembark on two boats to an as yet unknown destination. I suspect
this will go on until late in the night.......
Monday, March 1, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010, Hong Kong
We are finishing up our adventure in Hong Kong. Since we arrived, the weather has been characterized by moderate temps (mid 70's) and fog, quite a contrast to when we started in Singapore. In fact, the fog has gotten thicker since we arived on Saturday. Our hotel is right off Victoria Harbor in Kowloom, just north of Hong Kong Is. We've enjoyed taking a cable car up to the Big Buddah on Lantau Is, which was shrouded in fog - which made photographing it difficult. The cable car ride was terrifying, however, at least to me. It went on for endless kilometers up over a couple mountains. After we got there and photoed the foggy Buddah, we had to return to the bottom! We've maneuvered the MTR (subway system) expertly, with Jeff Marston just about taking the lead. Stanley market was amazing, and we picked up several Christmas presents there and a coupe cool dragon boxer underware shorts for me. Our Asian meals have been memorable, except that I have no idea what I have been eating most of the time. They don't have chop sui in Hong Kong as it turns out. At least I couldn't find it anywhere on the menu. We spent quite some time in the Hong Kong History Museum today. One could spend days there, tracing the areas's history from the beginning through the return to The Peoples Republic of China. The Brits really but the Chinese through the ringer as they did the Americans back in the 1800's. We leave Asia tomorrow on Japan Air Lines to Tokyo, then to Kennedy Airport. Total journey should take 24 hours with stop overs, but NY is 13 hours earlier than Hong Kong, so it shouldn't seem to take so long.....well, at least I am hopeful of that. I am returning with more than 500 pictures I've taken, and I know you all can't wait to see them all!
--
H. Clay McEldowney
Hong Kong
March 1, 2010
About 6 PM local time
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010, 8:30 AM Local Time
Hong Kong
It seems we have missed another bullet - we learned of Friday's snowstorm in NJ, bad enough to cancel the Rotary club meeting. Other bullets missed include earthquakes and tusamis, neither of which have occurred in the South China Sea during our voyage. Thanks goodness for that! We have been really busy, which accounts for my infrequent dispatches, and only this morning have I found s few minutes to spend at a hotel computer to compose this. Also, for a while cruising up the China coast we couldn't access email providers, and I suspect that the Chinese somehow were blocking Google, AOL, and others. (The Chinese version of the Fairness Doctrine.)
On the Pride we were kept up with current events with CNN International and Fox News. Interestingly, right in the middle of the US Health Insurance debate the a Canadian equivalent of a governor was reported to have gone to the US for heart surgery - he didn't want to have to wait for his procedure. Ironic to be sure! Anyway, going back to last Tuesday we moored in Da Nang, located on the coast and just south of the 17th parallel, which divided North and South Viet Nam. Concurrently, I've been reading Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried and can't shake the history that transpired 40 years ago. The Viet Nam (or the American, depending on whether you're Viet Namese or American) War is a long past memory here, and the people welcome the Americans and other westerners with open arms. Half the population of Viet Nam wasn't even alive during the war. Those who were have apparently put it behind them and now appreciate the value of the tourist dollar.
In Da Nang we visited an incredible embroidery factory, where young women patiently and meticulously pour over their work creating beautiful works of art. Pinky attempted to shy me away from a superb Tiger embroidery, but I found a couple others and couldn't resist adding one to our tiger collection. I paid many dong for the piece, including the disassembled frame which I've been carrying around ever since, and can't wait to find a suitable place for it at home. On the streets the hawkers were unrelenting, trying to sell us whatever they had to sell. I settled for a cup of Viet Namese coffee - strong and flavorful.
We discovered that Viet Nam is the 2nd largest exporter of coffee - behind only Brazil. Who would have guessed! Our tour guide took us to a pagoda with more Buddahs and then to China Beach, a 25 mile long stretch of sand which the American troops used as a major base camp during the war. Now it is an up and coming vacation spot, with hotels being built and much construction under way.
That night we sailed in the Bay of Tonkin, where the whole Viet Nam war started for the USA, for Halong Bay - a UNESCO World Heritage Site containing 1969 islands of incredible beauty. There are huge karst limestone formations bursting out of the sea, covered with fog in the AM and presenting eerie apparitions. 22 of us form the Pride took a junk out to the islands, toured an incredible cave carved from the bowels of one of the islands, kayaked for an hour and a half out and around a few of the islands, and finishing at a beach and a 404 step path to the top of one of the islands.
After a day at sea, we docked in Hong Kong Saturday morning in a dense fog which lifted as we sailed along Hong Kong Is to the port. It is something to see in person the sandwiched in buildings that we've all seen in pictures! After extending goodbys to all the friends we made of the staff and passengers, we taxiied to the Shangra-La Hotel, right on the harbor. As if the hotel isn't luxurious enough, we somehow got a free upgrade to the Heritage Floor, where we enjoy incredible views of Hong Kong, complimentary cocktails in the evening and breakfast in the morning, and an grand room! This is really easy to get used to!
It seems we have missed another bullet - we learned of Friday's snowstorm in NJ, bad enough to cancel the Rotary club meeting. Other bullets missed include earthquakes and tusamis, neither of which have occurred in the South China Sea during our voyage. Thanks goodness for that! We have been really busy, which accounts for my infrequent dispatches, and only this morning have I found s few minutes to spend at a hotel computer to compose this. Also, for a while cruising up the China coast we couldn't access email providers, and I suspect that the Chinese somehow were blocking Google, AOL, and others. (The Chinese version of the Fairness Doctrine.)
On the Pride we were kept up with current events with CNN International and Fox News. Interestingly, right in the middle of the US Health Insurance debate the a Canadian equivalent of a governor was reported to have gone to the US for heart surgery - he didn't want to have to wait for his procedure. Ironic to be sure! Anyway, going back to last Tuesday we moored in Da Nang, located on the coast and just south of the 17th parallel, which divided North and South Viet Nam. Concurrently, I've been reading Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried and can't shake the history that transpired 40 years ago. The Viet Nam (or the American, depending on whether you're Viet Namese or American) War is a long past memory here, and the people welcome the Americans and other westerners with open arms. Half the population of Viet Nam wasn't even alive during the war. Those who were have apparently put it behind them and now appreciate the value of the tourist dollar.
In Da Nang we visited an incredible embroidery factory, where young women patiently and meticulously pour over their work creating beautiful works of art. Pinky attempted to shy me away from a superb Tiger embroidery, but I found a couple others and couldn't resist adding one to our tiger collection. I paid many dong for the piece, including the disassembled frame which I've been carrying around ever since, and can't wait to find a suitable place for it at home. On the streets the hawkers were unrelenting, trying to sell us whatever they had to sell. I settled for a cup of Viet Namese coffee - strong and flavorful.
We discovered that Viet Nam is the 2nd largest exporter of coffee - behind only Brazil. Who would have guessed! Our tour guide took us to a pagoda with more Buddahs and then to China Beach, a 25 mile long stretch of sand which the American troops used as a major base camp during the war. Now it is an up and coming vacation spot, with hotels being built and much construction under way.
That night we sailed in the Bay of Tonkin, where the whole Viet Nam war started for the USA, for Halong Bay - a UNESCO World Heritage Site containing 1969 islands of incredible beauty. There are huge karst limestone formations bursting out of the sea, covered with fog in the AM and presenting eerie apparitions. 22 of us form the Pride took a junk out to the islands, toured an incredible cave carved from the bowels of one of the islands, kayaked for an hour and a half out and around a few of the islands, and finishing at a beach and a 404 step path to the top of one of the islands.
After a day at sea, we docked in Hong Kong Saturday morning in a dense fog which lifted as we sailed along Hong Kong Is to the port. It is something to see in person the sandwiched in buildings that we've all seen in pictures! After extending goodbys to all the friends we made of the staff and passengers, we taxiied to the Shangra-La Hotel, right on the harbor. As if the hotel isn't luxurious enough, we somehow got a free upgrade to the Heritage Floor, where we enjoy incredible views of Hong Kong, complimentary cocktails in the evening and breakfast in the morning, and an grand room! This is really easy to get used to!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Seabourn Pride, South China Sea, Monday February 22, 2010, around 4:30 PM local time
Seabourn Pride, South China Sea, off the Viet Nam Coast between Saigon and Danang
I’ve been remiss in not sending this dispatch sooner, but we have been busier than all get out, and I just haven’t had the chance to sit down and send an update. I’m sure most are principally interested to learn whether we’ve encountered any pirates or experienced any mishaps. I’m happy to report that things have been relatively quiet, and the worst things that have happened is that I got sick after the 1st day, and we got ripped off by a taxi driver in Saigon.
Our cruise has been pretty smooth, with only one night (two nights ago) somewhat rough, but it never bothered Pinky or me. After heading north from Singapore we arrived in Bangkok after two days at sea. Since Maureen Marston has been in Bangkok many times she served as our tour master for our two-day visit, finding us places to see, a restaurant to enjoy wonderful Thai food, a master tailor and a master jeweler, and she led us on miles of adventure through one crazy city. The traffic is absolutely bizarre, and traffic engineers would have a field day and unlimited work resolving the congestion there. Besides using our feet, we accessed the Skyway (a well-run above grade metro) a couple of taxis, and tuk tuks, which are motor cycle contraptions with seating capacity for three and very noisy. You really get close and personal with the traffic riding around on a tuk tuk.
The Buddha temples are incredible. Buddha’s are everywhere. Most famous is the “Emerald Buddha,” made of jade. One Buddha was made of gold and weighed hundreds of pounds! We also traveled by long boat up the Chao Phraya River and enjoyed seeing activity lining the river. A highlight occurred when a small boat stopped at our long boat and sold us all a beer – and it was only 10:30 in the AM!
As we left on the Pride on 17th, we passed under two absolutely breathtaking cable-stayed bridges over the Chao Phraya, and needless to say I over-photographed them. One, the "Mega-Bridge," (2006) is actually two bridges, 702 & 582 meter long spans, respectively.
The next day we enjoyed a laid back day at a beautiful calm beach on Ko Kood, a Thai island off the Cambodian coast, (cavier and champaign in the surf!), then made our way to Saigon, renamed Ho Chi Min City in 1975 but still called Saigon by just about everybody. Pinky and I took a tour of the tunnels outside the city, build by the Viet Namese during the war with France and continued during the “American War.” These caves were used by the VC to hide during the day and spring from at night to make raids against the American troops. The caves’ network extends many miles, and they are 10 meters and more below the ground’s surface, 3’ high and less than 2’ wide.
The second day in Saigon took us to the Mekong Delta, where we took a 3 hour boat excursion along rivers and channels in the Mekong. I can’t imagine how the Americans ran a war there – rivers cris-crossed all over the place, and it would be easy to get totally disoriented without GPS. One dinner out at the Mandarin was absolutely fabulous! We’re now back in the South China Sea en route to Danang, expecting to arrive tomorrow morning.
Hong Kong
I’ve been remiss in not sending this dispatch sooner, but we have been busier than all get out, and I just haven’t had the chance to sit down and send an update. I’m sure most are principally interested to learn whether we’ve encountered any pirates or experienced any mishaps. I’m happy to report that things have been relatively quiet, and the worst things that have happened is that I got sick after the 1st day, and we got ripped off by a taxi driver in Saigon.
Our cruise has been pretty smooth, with only one night (two nights ago) somewhat rough, but it never bothered Pinky or me. After heading north from Singapore we arrived in Bangkok after two days at sea. Since Maureen Marston has been in Bangkok many times she served as our tour master for our two-day visit, finding us places to see, a restaurant to enjoy wonderful Thai food, a master tailor and a master jeweler, and she led us on miles of adventure through one crazy city. The traffic is absolutely bizarre, and traffic engineers would have a field day and unlimited work resolving the congestion there. Besides using our feet, we accessed the Skyway (a well-run above grade metro) a couple of taxis, and tuk tuks, which are motor cycle contraptions with seating capacity for three and very noisy. You really get close and personal with the traffic riding around on a tuk tuk.
The Buddha temples are incredible. Buddha’s are everywhere. Most famous is the “Emerald Buddha,” made of jade. One Buddha was made of gold and weighed hundreds of pounds! We also traveled by long boat up the Chao Phraya River and enjoyed seeing activity lining the river. A highlight occurred when a small boat stopped at our long boat and sold us all a beer – and it was only 10:30 in the AM!
As we left on the Pride on 17th, we passed under two absolutely breathtaking cable-stayed bridges over the Chao Phraya, and needless to say I over-photographed them. One, the "Mega-Bridge," (2006) is actually two bridges, 702 & 582 meter long spans, respectively.
The next day we enjoyed a laid back day at a beautiful calm beach on Ko Kood, a Thai island off the Cambodian coast, (cavier and champaign in the surf!), then made our way to Saigon, renamed Ho Chi Min City in 1975 but still called Saigon by just about everybody. Pinky and I took a tour of the tunnels outside the city, build by the Viet Namese during the war with France and continued during the “American War.” These caves were used by the VC to hide during the day and spring from at night to make raids against the American troops. The caves’ network extends many miles, and they are 10 meters and more below the ground’s surface, 3’ high and less than 2’ wide.
The second day in Saigon took us to the Mekong Delta, where we took a 3 hour boat excursion along rivers and channels in the Mekong. I can’t imagine how the Americans ran a war there – rivers cris-crossed all over the place, and it would be easy to get totally disoriented without GPS. One dinner out at the Mandarin was absolutely fabulous! We’re now back in the South China Sea en route to Danang, expecting to arrive tomorrow morning.
Hong Kong
Monday, February 15, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Gulf of Thailand , Seabourn Pride
We disembarked from Singapore on Saturday afternoon on the Seabourn Pride, a relatively small ship with 200 passengers and about 178 crew. The ship is virtually identical to the Legend, on which Pinky and I sailed with the Winston’s a year ago through the Panama Canal. We are in our second day at sea, having passed through the South China Sea and now continuing along in the Gulf of Thailand, and have been keeping ourselves busy by eating extraordinarily good food and drinking a variety of beverages, including the Singapore Sling.
While on deck I have been scouring the seas for pirate but don’t know what I’d do if I ever saw one. Fortunately, the sea has been pretty empty of ships. I am told that the chances of our encountering pirates is remote, but you can’t be too sure, and I plan on keeping my eyes pealed nevertheless. There isn’t really much else to look at on deck. You see, we are in the median age group, meaning half the passengers are even older than we are, and those who are younger aren’t much so. Many of the older women still enjoy wearing bikinis on deck, but as I said there isn’t much to look at (except for “The Body,” which I studied for a while this afternoon.)
Yesterday brought in The Year of the Tiger, and accordingly I have been wearing my Save the Tiger t-shirt all day. Last night I had kind of a bummer when I got sick after dinner. I have been less than optimum today, which accounts for the disproportionate amount of time I spent today lying around in abject slackness all afternoon. Other exciting activities we have enjoyed include morning lectures on the history and cultures of Asia, playing trivia for two sessions with the Marston’s and Winston’s as “Team Tiger,” (we are now in second place!) , and yesterday I participated in the putting contest and took 1st among the men (2nd overall!) and won a nice Seabourn key ring.
Jeff looks right at home on the ship. What with his distinguished white handlebar mustache, he is the image of a retired sea captain. Many passersby pause to admire his distinguished looks, and I have taken to calling him “The Colonel.”
Tomorrow morning we moor at Bangkok, and I have been preparing for our two-day stay by listening to “One Night in Bangkok" repeatedly on my iPod to get myself in the right frame of mind for this busy and noisy city in Thailand. Well, not off to the hot tub, then dinner (if my stomach is up to it.)
We disembarked from Singapore on Saturday afternoon on the Seabourn Pride, a relatively small ship with 200 passengers and about 178 crew. The ship is virtually identical to the Legend, on which Pinky and I sailed with the Winston’s a year ago through the Panama Canal. We are in our second day at sea, having passed through the South China Sea and now continuing along in the Gulf of Thailand, and have been keeping ourselves busy by eating extraordinarily good food and drinking a variety of beverages, including the Singapore Sling.
While on deck I have been scouring the seas for pirate but don’t know what I’d do if I ever saw one. Fortunately, the sea has been pretty empty of ships. I am told that the chances of our encountering pirates is remote, but you can’t be too sure, and I plan on keeping my eyes pealed nevertheless. There isn’t really much else to look at on deck. You see, we are in the median age group, meaning half the passengers are even older than we are, and those who are younger aren’t much so. Many of the older women still enjoy wearing bikinis on deck, but as I said there isn’t much to look at (except for “The Body,” which I studied for a while this afternoon.)
Yesterday brought in The Year of the Tiger, and accordingly I have been wearing my Save the Tiger t-shirt all day. Last night I had kind of a bummer when I got sick after dinner. I have been less than optimum today, which accounts for the disproportionate amount of time I spent today lying around in abject slackness all afternoon. Other exciting activities we have enjoyed include morning lectures on the history and cultures of Asia, playing trivia for two sessions with the Marston’s and Winston’s as “Team Tiger,” (we are now in second place!) , and yesterday I participated in the putting contest and took 1st among the men (2nd overall!) and won a nice Seabourn key ring.
Jeff looks right at home on the ship. What with his distinguished white handlebar mustache, he is the image of a retired sea captain. Many passersby pause to admire his distinguished looks, and I have taken to calling him “The Colonel.”
Tomorrow morning we moor at Bangkok, and I have been preparing for our two-day stay by listening to “One Night in Bangkok" repeatedly on my iPod to get myself in the right frame of mind for this busy and noisy city in Thailand. Well, not off to the hot tub, then dinner (if my stomach is up to it.)
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Singapore
Our adventure began before we ever left New Jersey. We were scheduled to take the flight from JFK to Tokyo on Wednesday AM Feb. 10 and transfer to Singapore and to stay with our friends the Marston's in Darien the night before. On Monday Pinky found out from Maureen Marston that they were leaving on flight AA 167 on TUESDAY, not Wednesday. The third couple with us, the Winston's, were leaving from Phoenix, all on Tuesday. Additionally, we were exposed to the threat of a weather warning for another blizzard on Wednesday, which would have clearly impacted on flight we had booked. Pinky contacted the airline to move our flight to Tue. but was told we would be liable to $250/ticket + difference on ticket cost, or all told more than $900. When I returned from the office later in the afternoon I reviewed our plight with Pinky and decided to try again and plead for mercy in light of the impending snow storm. I told AA's Jill that if she moved our flights, there would be two fewer problems for the airline during the snow. As luck would have it, Tuesday's flight from Kennedy was virtually empty, and upon checking further there was room on the transfer from Tokyo to Singapore! Jill proceeded to rebook our flight at no cost, and Pinky had to adjust by packing and leaving for the Marston's on Tuesday evening. Disaster averted!
After a pleasant though brief late Monday evening with the Marston's at their home in Darien, we travelled together to catch the 11:30 AM Tuesday flight to Tokyo. We could only read about the snow at that point! Our flight was 14 hours to Tokyo, layover 2 1/2 hours, and Japanese Airlines flight south to Singapore 7:40. Our total travel consumed 24 hours, and we arrived at the Fairmont Hotel around 1:30 AM Thursday Feb. 12.
Singapore time is 13 hours ahead of New York, and it has taken us a few days to sort out what time it is and where. We are grateful to have made it here when we did. I heard there was nearly a foot of snow by 4 PM on Wednesday, and I can only imagine what problems we would have been in for had we not been able to change our flight. As to why we were booked on Wednesday while the Marston's and Winston's were booked on Tuesday is a subject to another story.
The hotel is 5 star in the Singapore‘s downtown, an incredibly energetic, dynamic city with controlled traffic, much construction, virtually no unemployment, shopping centers everywhere, hustle and bustle, diversity of neighborhoods and restaurants, and temperate climate. I suspect that Singapore' healthy economy and active progress are due to low taxes, lack of labor unions, absence of entitlements, government assistance for public housing, and favorable banking rules that attract banks world wide. We are 1 1/2 degrees above the equator, so the days and nights are both 12 hours long. Breezes mitigate somewhat the high humidity. We have toured the city using Hippo tour, which we can catch and drop off at many locations throughout. Highlights include a 165 meter ferris-like wheel with closed compartments and slow revolutions to view the city and harbor, inner harbor boar ride, botanical gardens chucked full of orchids, and pink gin at the Long Bar at Raffles Hotel located across the street from the Fairmont.
We disembark on the Seabourn Pride at 5 PM
Our adventure began before we ever left New Jersey. We were scheduled to take the flight from JFK to Tokyo on Wednesday AM Feb. 10 and transfer to Singapore and to stay with our friends the Marston's in Darien the night before. On Monday Pinky found out from Maureen Marston that they were leaving on flight AA 167 on TUESDAY, not Wednesday. The third couple with us, the Winston's, were leaving from Phoenix, all on Tuesday. Additionally, we were exposed to the threat of a weather warning for another blizzard on Wednesday, which would have clearly impacted on flight we had booked. Pinky contacted the airline to move our flight to Tue. but was told we would be liable to $250/ticket + difference on ticket cost, or all told more than $900. When I returned from the office later in the afternoon I reviewed our plight with Pinky and decided to try again and plead for mercy in light of the impending snow storm. I told AA's Jill that if she moved our flights, there would be two fewer problems for the airline during the snow. As luck would have it, Tuesday's flight from Kennedy was virtually empty, and upon checking further there was room on the transfer from Tokyo to Singapore! Jill proceeded to rebook our flight at no cost, and Pinky had to adjust by packing and leaving for the Marston's on Tuesday evening. Disaster averted!
After a pleasant though brief late Monday evening with the Marston's at their home in Darien, we travelled together to catch the 11:30 AM Tuesday flight to Tokyo. We could only read about the snow at that point! Our flight was 14 hours to Tokyo, layover 2 1/2 hours, and Japanese Airlines flight south to Singapore 7:40. Our total travel consumed 24 hours, and we arrived at the Fairmont Hotel around 1:30 AM Thursday Feb. 12.
Singapore time is 13 hours ahead of New York, and it has taken us a few days to sort out what time it is and where. We are grateful to have made it here when we did. I heard there was nearly a foot of snow by 4 PM on Wednesday, and I can only imagine what problems we would have been in for had we not been able to change our flight. As to why we were booked on Wednesday while the Marston's and Winston's were booked on Tuesday is a subject to another story.
The hotel is 5 star in the Singapore‘s downtown, an incredibly energetic, dynamic city with controlled traffic, much construction, virtually no unemployment, shopping centers everywhere, hustle and bustle, diversity of neighborhoods and restaurants, and temperate climate. I suspect that Singapore' healthy economy and active progress are due to low taxes, lack of labor unions, absence of entitlements, government assistance for public housing, and favorable banking rules that attract banks world wide. We are 1 1/2 degrees above the equator, so the days and nights are both 12 hours long. Breezes mitigate somewhat the high humidity. We have toured the city using Hippo tour, which we can catch and drop off at many locations throughout. Highlights include a 165 meter ferris-like wheel with closed compartments and slow revolutions to view the city and harbor, inner harbor boar ride, botanical gardens chucked full of orchids, and pink gin at the Long Bar at Raffles Hotel located across the street from the Fairmont.
We disembark on the Seabourn Pride at 5 PM
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Monday, February 9, 2010
Pittstown, NJ
Pinky and I leave tomorrow for another adventure in a far off land. We will be flying from Kennedy Airport with Maureen and Jeff Marston ’69 (Darien, CT) to Singapore, where we will join up with Allan and Diana Winston (Scottsdale, AZ). We will be exploring Singapore before disembarking on February 13 on the Seabourn Pride http://www.seabourn.com/YourYachts/Pride/ on its “Asian Capitals & Viet Nam I” two-week cruise to Hong Kong. Our itinerary is as follows:
Date Location Schedule Arrive Depart
13 Feb SINGAPORE dock n/a 17:00
14 Feb CRUISING THE SOUTH CHINA SEA at sea n/a n/a
15 Feb CRUISING THE GULF OF THAILAND at sea n/a n/a
16 Feb BANGKOK, THAILAND dock 08:00 n/a
17 Feb BANGKOK, THAILAND dock n/a 17:00
18 Feb KO KOOD, THAILAND anchor 10:00 16:00
19 Feb CRUISING THE SOUTH CHINA SEA at sea n/a n/a
20 Feb HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM dock 10:00 n/a
21 Feb HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM dock 16:00 n/a
22 Feb CRUISING THE SOUTH CHINA SEA at sea n/a n/a
23 Feb DA NANG, VIETNAM dock 08:00 18:00
24 Feb CRUISING THE HALONG BAY at sea n/a n/a
24 Feb CAI LAN (HANOI), VIETNAM dock 18:00 n/a
25 Feb CAI LAN (HANOI), VIETNAM dock n/a 19:30
26 Feb CRUISING THE HAINAN STRAIT at sea n/a n/a
27 Feb HONG KONG, CHINA dock 08:00 n/a
To contact the ship, one should call 866-242-5007. This number will reach the Maritime Telecommunications Network automatic voice response, where the caller will be prompted to enter a credit card number and expiration date. Calls will be billed at a rate of $9.50/minute! Fax to the Pride is 305-463-3348. Pinky and I can also be reached via email, which I expect we will access sporadically.
Pinky and I leave tomorrow for another adventure in a far off land. We will be flying from Kennedy Airport with Maureen and Jeff Marston ’69 (Darien, CT) to Singapore, where we will join up with Allan and Diana Winston (Scottsdale, AZ). We will be exploring Singapore before disembarking on February 13 on the Seabourn Pride http://www.seabourn.com/YourYachts/Pride/ on its “Asian Capitals & Viet Nam I” two-week cruise to Hong Kong. Our itinerary is as follows:
Date Location Schedule Arrive Depart
13 Feb SINGAPORE dock n/a 17:00
14 Feb CRUISING THE SOUTH CHINA SEA at sea n/a n/a
15 Feb CRUISING THE GULF OF THAILAND at sea n/a n/a
16 Feb BANGKOK, THAILAND dock 08:00 n/a
17 Feb BANGKOK, THAILAND dock n/a 17:00
18 Feb KO KOOD, THAILAND anchor 10:00 16:00
19 Feb CRUISING THE SOUTH CHINA SEA at sea n/a n/a
20 Feb HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM dock 10:00 n/a
21 Feb HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM dock 16:00 n/a
22 Feb CRUISING THE SOUTH CHINA SEA at sea n/a n/a
23 Feb DA NANG, VIETNAM dock 08:00 18:00
24 Feb CRUISING THE HALONG BAY at sea n/a n/a
24 Feb CAI LAN (HANOI), VIETNAM dock 18:00 n/a
25 Feb CAI LAN (HANOI), VIETNAM dock n/a 19:30
26 Feb CRUISING THE HAINAN STRAIT at sea n/a n/a
27 Feb HONG KONG, CHINA dock 08:00 n/a
To contact the ship, one should call 866-242-5007. This number will reach the Maritime Telecommunications Network automatic voice response, where the caller will be prompted to enter a credit card number and expiration date. Calls will be billed at a rate of $9.50/minute! Fax to the Pride is 305-463-3348. Pinky and I can also be reached via email, which I expect we will access sporadically.
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