7 April, 2018 En Route to Colombia, Sri Lanka

Hello faithful readers. The latter part of the World Cruise has been the busiest, with multiple sequential days of port stops.

I will take you back to 30 March and Hong Kong , one of our overnights. We LOVE Hong Kong, and often just walk and get lost—there is so much to see. This time, we are docked at the new cruise terminal located in the old Kai Tak Airport location. It was a nice facility, but far away from the center of Kowloon. We shared our dock with the Queen Mary 2, our big sister. The World Cruise Gala Dinner was scheduled for Hong Kong at the Kerry Hotel, a Shangri La property. We will be sharing the event with the QM2. Because of the length of time to commute back and forth to the ship, we decided to book a room at the Kerry, and were very glad that we did. Although the hotel was a short subway ride to the busy area of Kowloon, the MRT was an easy walk from the hotel. The Kerry is gorgeous, and I had emailed the General Manager that we were celebrating both David's birthday and the World Cruise Dinner. They were more than generous in offering excellent hospitality. We were upgraded to a Premier Sea View Room—huge! Greeting us when we arrived was a box of chocolates, two lovely small cakes, fresh fruit and a bottle of Veuve Cliquot! (pardon the spelling!--we have no internet, so I can't check—another story) The room also came with a complimentary mini-bar.

We traveled from the ship to the hotel with our friends, Randell and Bobby, and after unpacking our gala finery, headed off by taxi to Stanley Market. A very nice man we met on the street insisted in sharing his cab to the terminal where we could change to a taxi that would take us across to Hong Kong Island. Another example of how kind so many of the people we have met have been in a variety of countries. Stanley Market was mobbed, but David did manage to get very nice Polo shirts at $6.00 a piece. I didn't buy anything. We enjoyed the drive to and from the market, because we could see beautiful Repulse Bay. Traffic was incredibly bad, and we arrived back at the hotel with just enough time to shower and get dressed for the gala.

And what an amazing gala it was!! While all the other guests had drinks on the ship and boarded buses to take them to the hotel, we simply strolled down to the second level to a display of costumed greeters, dressed as flowers, emperors, and empresses. At tables scattered around, there were crafts people writing your name in Chinese calligraphy on beautiful fans, cutting paper animals, making small rosettes out of silk thread, and, best of all, a fortune teller! He looked at my hands and ears and pronounced that I would have a long and healthy life, and that my children and grandchildren would all be happy and successful. Who could ask for a better fortune?

There was an open bar and drinks were also being passed. We meandered around and went into a beautiful garden area to chat with friends. After the cocktail hour, we were encouraged to enter the banquet room and find our table. We were at a great table, right in the middle and about a third of the way back from the stage. We shared our table with our friends Bryan and Lin and Evana and Alan, and two other people. Our hostess was Rinnell, the Customer Service Manager. The food was outstanding!

Our Captain offered a before dinner blessing. Dinner began with a salad of Maine lobster claws, artistically placed around a large black plate. There must have been 8 claws. For dinner, we had a choice of pan-sauted Sea Bass, beef filet or mushroom risotto. I chose the Sea Bass, and it was delectable! David's filet was tender enough to cut with a fork. Wine and champagne were free flowing throughout the meal. Dessert was tiramisu, but in a fancy chocolate shell. After dinner, entertainment began with Chinese acrobats and a Chinese conjurer, dressed as a large and ornate beetle. Magically, he changed his face continuously through a series of masks. After dinner brought some speeches and dancing. Evidently, there was a bit of drama upon the return to the terminal. It was a lengthy walk to the ships, and a woman's dressed became trapped in the escalator. Amazingly, they were able to free her and the dress without any injury to the lady. The laundry on the ship rescued her dress from the escalator stains. Another man was not so fortunate. He had been well lubricated at the party and fell down the up escalator and was knocked out. They took him to the Medical Center on the ship and stitched up his head and face. Someone had the presence of mind to rescue his teeth that were knocked out by the fall. He spent overnight in the Medical Center, but, except for the missing teeth, bruises and contusions was fortunately left with no significant injuries.

It was very convenient to just take the elevator up to our room at the hotel. The next morning, our dear friend Chuck, met us at the room and we set out to explore a bit more of Hong Kong. This was Chuck's first time in Hong Kong and we wanted to give him the flavor of the city. We ended up at the Jade Market, where he bought gifts for family members and a beautiful wall hanging made of carved jade for his home. We bought nothing. Two years ago, when we were in Hong Kong, mainland China and Vietnam on the Crystal World Cruise, we needed an additional suitcase for all that we bought. I think that may happen on your first visit. The bargains are great and one tends to overbuy. I needed no more purses or jade jewelry, and very few souvenir gifts. At the end of a long day, we returned to the hotel by taxi to pick up our luggage and make our way to the ship with Chuck. Staying off the ship, even for just an overnight, made it seem like a much longer stay. Back on the ship, we were able to see the light show in the city from our balcony.

We had a welcome three straight sea days to relax and catch up on reading and chatting with friends on our way to Singapore. Sadly, Chuck leaves us in Singapore. His segment went to quickly and we loved being with him. He is truly like a brother to both David and I, and we love him dearly.

The first sea day was Easter Sunday, and there was an enormous chocolate display in the main lobby, and a chocolate buffet in the Lido after dinner. Chocolate bunnies appeared on our bed that night. A notable speaker on this segment was BBC Panorama Presenter, Jane Corbin. Sadly, she spoke on the grim reality of the political environment of the world, focusing on the “war” between Kim Jung-Un and Donald Trump. Even on holiday, we can't escape the grim reality.

The sea days pass so quickly and are filled with lectures, port lectures, visiting with friends, playing Hand and Foot, reading, playing Trivia and keeping up with our travel business on the internet. We would not be able to maintain our business without Chuck's help. He handles our clients so well, and we are very grateful. Ron Ronald, is our second level of back-up as we travel, and we thank him for his diligence and a big vote of gratitude to Randell and Bobby for sharing him with us.

Finally, there was a good comedian as entertainment in the evening. Mick Miller was very funny. We have found evening entertainment particularly disappointing on the cruise. There are a few highlights, but in general, we have walked out of more shows that we have stayed to see.

Wednesday, 4 April, Singapore. Our last day with Chuck, and we were determined to make it a good one. He disembarked the ship and took a taxi to the Inter-Continental where he stayed overnight. We had done the iconic sights of Singapore on our overnight visit two years ago: Gardens by the Bay, the Marina Sands Hotel, etc,, so this time we wanted to show Chuck a bit more of the city. We met him at a subway stop in Little India and soaked in the smells and sights. Our appetites stimulated, we began looking for the Banana Leaf Apollo Restaurant that had been recommended, only to find we had walked the wrong way for blocks and blocks. We flagged a taxi that also had difficulty finding the restaurant and finally stumbled upon it by accident. We were the only tourists in the restaurant and the food was outstanding! Our waiter brought us basket upon basket of freshly made pappadums, and our food was served on banana leaves. I chose yellow dal, which was satisfying, spicy and allowed me to continue with my no meat/no poultry rule. David and Chuck had chicken tikka masala and tandoori chicken. We had raita and onion/garlic kulcha and naan, and washed everything down with Kingfisher Beer. It was the best Indian food we have ever had!

Fully sated, we headed to China Town, our goal to see the amazing Mariaman Hindu Temple. It was a feast for the eyes: level upon level of intricately carved Gods and Goddesses reaching up into the sky. It was a visual cacophony!

The temperature was close to 100 in terms of real feel and Chuck returned to his hotel to catch a nap before his long flight home the next day. He gave me a beautiful gift given to him at the hotel because of his elevated status—a Singapore charm key chain. Thank you, Chuck! We walked around China Town, but because nobody needed a silk robe or silk shirts, we headed back to the ship.

5 April, Malacca or Malaka, Malaysia. What a mess!! The local government decided that they would not permit any tenders from the ship to be used and only there small tenders could be utilized to take people to the shore and back again. It was 1:45 before you no longer needed a tender ticket. Because we had not hurried to get a ticket early in the morning, we were among the last group trying to leave the ship. The last tender back was to be at 4:30. By this time, the temperature had climbed into a real feel of 103, and we decided to forego Malacca in favor of air conditioning. That evening was a special birthday celebration for our dear friend Bryan (of Bryan and Lin.) It began with a cabin party of fast flowing gin and gin and tonics and continued to dinner with a special cake made by the Head Chef Mark Oldroyd. Mark and about a dozen chefs from the kitchen, our marvelous Head Waiter, Ionel, and many waiters sang “Happy Birthday” to Bryan. I hope it was a very wonderful day for him!

6 April, Penang, Malaysia. Another hot, hot day, but rescued by the fact that we booked a taxi and driver for 4 hours with our friends, Randell and Bobby. Our driver, Khoo, was a good driver and very kind. I have his card if you visit Penang. The 4 hours cost us $20 per couple. We visited sites all over

Penang: flea markets, bazaars, Little India, etc. We did manage to do a we bit of shopping for gifts. By 1:30, despite the air conditioned taxi, we were melting and Khoo drove us back to the ship. We were in Penang.

Today is the first of two sea days before Colombo, Sri Lanka, where we are doing a private tuk-tuk tour in the morning (keep your fingers crossed for us for safety) and then a visit onboard Crystal Serenity and lunch with our dear friend Anne. We were so excited when we found out that our ships would be in port together. I'm so excited to meet Anne since we have been friends on the internet for over a year, chatting almost everyday in emails or messages, but never having met in person. I will also get to see dear Leizl, the Librarian on Crystal Serenity, and many of the staff and crew we know and love from our World Cruise and previous cruises on board Serenity.

Life onboard has been a bit of a challenge the last few days:

There is no internet on the ship at all—not just for guests, but at the Purser's Desk, in the shops and bars, etc. There is no word about when it will come back. They had do hand write the cabin numbers as we left the ship and returned.

Yesterday, while showering and washing my hair after the heat of Penang, suddenly there was no cold water and the shower turned scaldingly hot! I had to rinse my hair and body with bottled water, and David had to stand in the sink with a bottle of water to shower—well not quite, but you get the idea!

Evidently, our corridor had the same problem. Kudos to the plumbers for working hard to repair it.

Then the air conditioning in our cabin went out, but fortunately, they were able to fix it by bedtime.

Hopefully, we will have internet back soon. Rumors abound that the entirety of Carnival was taken down by an internet hack.. I think it is much more likely that we have an issue directly related to the QE.

Despite this, we continue to have a marvelous time and are sad to see the cruise winding down. When it began, the days stretched out in front of us, endless. Now we end this cruise May 10 in Southampton, but fortunately, we board the Queen Mary 2 the same day to return to the US.

All for now...