John and Diane's Amazing Round the World Aventure

[Cruising-along]

John and Diane, I have loved reading every single report you have made from this fantastic cruise. I especially enjoyed reading about Bali. Just yesterday I looked at old slides (from the mid 70's) my parents took when they lived in Indonesia. And then this morning, reading your post, made it even more real to me. Their pictures were just the way you have described it. (Tune of "Bali-Hai" running through my mind) :)

 

I wanted to comment too how wonderful it is that you all planned to help out so the Indonesian crew would have time to visit with their families. That is SO nice!!

[Johnny B]

February 22

 

Public humiliation: that’s the bottom line for yesterday’s “Variety Show” in the Queen’s Lounge. It seemed like a good idea at the time! Susie and I were in two of the eleven acts, one not too bad and one that had people laughing uproariously – whether at us or with us, we’re not sure.

 

Some time ago our tablemate Shirley entertained us one night at dinner with a song she had written many years ago. The song was the result of Shirley and Gene living on a sailboat in the Caribbean for seven years, focusing on the difficulties of living aboard a 42-foot vessel. It was set to the tune of “Home, Home on the Range” and made us howl with laughter. When the “talent” show was announced, Shirley decided that not only would she sing, but she needed backup singers. She decided that the three other women at the table would fill that role, so Susie, Barbara and I, none of us able to sing on tune, would be “The Pips.” Our part was the chorus: “Home, Home on the sea, is not all it’s cracked up to be.”

 

Well, by the time we began practicing, our numbers had grown to eight, and steps and hand motions had been added. Lynn Millwood, the guest lecturer’s wife, is quite a good dancer, so we let her “choreograph” us. By the time we practiced in the Crow’s Nest yesterday morning, we were pretty darn good. So what happened? I have no idea. Our hand motions didn’t stay together and occasionally all of us would be doing different things at the same time. Needless to say, the audience thought us hilarious. Some of them even thought we did it on purpose!

 

The other acts deserved the term “variety.” There was everything from singing to stand-up comedy to birdcalls (really!) The finale was our chorus, the “Golden Voyage Voices” singing the score from “Anything Goes.” Amazingly, we sounded very good. The lady standing right behind Susie and me really belted out the songs – on key – and when we were finished one of our friends complimented us, thinking that was us singing. At least this act didn’t have hand movements.

 

People have been quite nice about our performances; they have said that this was the best variety show they’ve seen in several world voyages, but my experience is limited so I’ll take that as a compliment. We really did enjoy it, and when we finished at 4:00 we decided we’d celebrate with Champagne – so to the Ocean Bar we went. I think we were all pretty proud of ourselves for actually going through with it, and conversation began about what we’d do in the next variety show.

 

The day ended with the ship’s band performing a wonderful concert, featuring each of the members in a number that he had chosen. I actually stayed awake for the whole thing!

[Johnny B]

February 23

 

Well, it’s happened. You know about Brad and Angelina, Prince Charles and Camilla, and now you know about “The Pips.” We had so much fun doing our variety show routine that we basically laughed all the way through it. From the stage, we were able to hear some laughter, but I guess it was worse than that. Walking around the ship, people stop me and say, “You’re a Pip!” I’ve always thought I was, but now it’s strange to be singled out, especially for not being able to keep the same hand and foot motions together. Some folks even thought we did it on purpose – pretty funny, that.

 

Last night the evening’s show featured a young Englishman who sang exactly like Bobby Darin (remember him?) He told us that he loves the music of the Big Band Era and he featured songs by Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole. Midway through his act, he commented that he usually has female backup dancers, and he added, “They’re called ‘The Pips.’” He went on to say that he had been at the variety show and that he hadn’t laughed so hard in years. As I sat in the dark, I could just feel my face heat up and turn red. Oh well, it’s time to get over it.

 

Last night was also the Captain’s Grand Voyage Dinner, a formal night, with much use of black and gold streamers in the dining room, waiters in captain’s hats, and free wine. Our officer/guest was Mark, the Security Officer, who told us more about the “noise guns” and about security issues on the ship. We restrained ourselves from asking how many guns were on the ship. Dinner was preceded by the Mariners’ Club Reception. Anyone who has sailed with Holland America Line becomes a member of the Mariners’ Club – basically, everyone on the world cruise. With 100 days, you receive a copper (colored) medal, 300 days a “silver“ medal, 500 days a “gold” medal, and 700 days a “platinum” medal. The next step is membership in the President’s Club at 1400 days. We boarded the ship with 14 days on HAL – I think we get a plastic medal.

 

Today is the last of our three days at sea, and tomorrow is Brunei, or as it is officially called, Brunei Darussalam (Brunei, the Abode of Peace). You may remember that before Bill Gates topped him, the Sultan of Brunei was always the richest man in the world How rich? I learned in this morning’s lecture that his younger brother embezzeled fifteen billion dollars. How much money do you have to have to not notice someone stealing that much money? The younger brother has been taken to Britain’s high court (since they have a say in Brunei’s affairs) and he has been forced to sell some of his toys: The Palace Hotel in Manhattan, his huge yacht, the estate in England, and a few others. He also will never be able to return to Brunei, but he will retain enough money to live like no one I know.

 

Tonight is our second Pinnacle Grill Sommelier Dinner, where too much food is paired with appropriate wines and seems like a good way to celebrate John’s ______ birthday. The real party isn’t until tomorrow night, but hey, what’s wrong with two celebrations in two days?

[localady]

Happy Birthday John!!:D :D :D

I am really enjoying your round the world cruise, thanks again for taking us along!!;) :D

[localady]

Happy Birthday John!!:D :D :D

I am really enjoying your round the world cruise, thanks again for taking us along!!;) :D

[WCB]

Hey, happy birthday, dude!!! Will you do a repeat performance dressed like Tina Turner for us when we get onboard???? That would be worth the whole trip for that alone!!

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[PhoenixCruiser]

Happy Birthday John!!!! Thanks again for posting live during your world cruise :)

 

###

[Paul123]

Hey, happy birthday, dude!!! Will you do a repeat performance dressed like Tina Turner for us when we get onboard???? That would be worth the whole trip for that alone!!

 

Bill & Mary Ann

 

Hi Bill and Mary Ann.....good to see you are still there and alive and well. Not long for you now (I mean 'til you join the GWV nothing more sinister than that!!).

 

Good blog...brings back memories and I see Mark is still getting his free wine and meal with the passengers. No word on the Doctor and his wife - "that's nice".

 

We have just booked a little 14 day HAL Southern Caribbean cruise out of Tampa for 16th March. And guess what lovely Madonna (of Ocean View and Piano Bar fame) is on board having joined the ship ('Veendam') a month ago, promises to look after us both as she did on the GWV last year.

 

After that we have a few more weeks here before returning to Europe on the 'Brilliance of the Sea' (repositioning cruise). We'll have done our 5 month winter break in the lovely Florida sun by then.

 

Booked up on the 'Independence of the Sea' to come out across the pond again next November. Ship hasn't been launched yet, not due in the water until April and is the biggest passenger ship afloat along with its two sisters. Would prefer the beautiful 'ms Amsterdam' but there you go.........she unfortunately doesn't do repositioning out of the UK.

 

Keep in touch

 

Paul

[josephone]

Happy Birthday John

 

It should be a festive day.

 

We can't understand why you didn't ask how many guns are on board? Remember you might have had to use one against pirates. We can't believe that there are only sound guns. When we were last on a long cruise, the First Officer assured us there were 'real' guns. My husband is a gun collector and the discussion then veered to what the guns actually were. They have a number of former military folks on the crews and they actually were all trained. It made us feel secure, but remember we live in the wide open spaces and guns are part of life.

 

Happy travels

 

Josephone

[Johnny B]

February 25

 

We’ve seen Brunei, had a two-day birthday celebration, and watched the academy awards – can life get any better?

 

The evening of John’s birthday, we attended the sommelier dinner at the Pinnacle Restaurant on the ship. It’s five courses, each with an appropriate wine – far too much food and wine, but yum! The best course was a leek and potato soup with truffles. In second place was the amuse bouche, an egg cut precisely in half lengthwise, with a miniature marzipan handle placed on top. Inside was just a forkful of soft eggs scrambled with caviar and smoked salmon. I really don’t like scrambled eggs, caviar or salmon, but this was delicious.

 

Brunei was . . . well, interesting. We opted to skip the tours, so we took the ship’s shuttle into town, seeing a country that looked entirely different from what I expected. It is mostly rainforest and would fit quite nicely anywhere in Central America. But the public buildings! They were soaring and impressive and Moorish in design. It was obvious that a great deal of money had gone into their design and construction. The parliament building, in cobalt blue and gold, was incredible.

 

The downtown area was also impressive; tall buildings and clean streets and a prosperous-looking citizenry. We peeked into a mosque and wandered through the Royal Regalia Museum (barefoot, by requirement) seeing two absolutely unbelievable red and gold royal chariots, before walking through the open market. What a blaze of color; I’ve never seen so many colors of peppers or so many kinds of dried fish. Unlike Bali, people just sat in their booths and there was no “salesmanship” at all. My favorite photo was of three adorable little girls. They giggled and squealed when I showed them the photo on the camera.

 

It was then that we noticed the entire “suburb” of houses on stilts out across the water. It’s called Kampong Ayer, and houses half the population of the capital. It is actually 28 separate villages that have grown together over time, and it contains homes, schools, mosques and shops. From what we understand, that’s where many of the foreign workers live, and those places do not look pleasant. It surprised me when a shipboard friend told me that his tour took the participants into one of these hovels – and he could hardly wait to get out.

 

According to the constitution of Brunei, the Sultan is infallible – that’s right, up there with the Pope. His picture is on huge banners hanging everywhere, and he’s wearing one of his military uniforms: navy, army, or camouflage. The funniest poster was one we saw outside a Shell gas station – quite appropriate, since all their money comes from oil. The day before had been the national holiday, and we were told that he was in residence in his palace, reportedly the largest in the world. The sultanate is so wealthy that there is no tax, and civil servants get an annual medical check-up in Singapore and a one-time pilgrimage to Mecca, but it’s hard to become a citizen. A Filipino tour guide said that he’s lived in Brunei for 17 years, is well employed, but cannot become a citizen because he’s not Muslim. He also was not allowed to talk about the neer-do-well younger brother of the sultan.

 

Last night was John’s official birthday party. There were just ten of us, the 9 at our table and Ellen Bethel, our Cruise Specialists escort. We met on the aft deck of level 6 with wine and hors d’oeuvres. After trying, but failing, to eat our way through that food, we

headed to The Pinnacle (again) where we had our own lovely private room and some wonderful food, which none of us could finish. The gifts were great: Shirley wrote and read “Ode to John,” and the others brought wine gifts. There was a theme: they were all New Zealand wines from the same winery with cat names: Fat Cat, Glamour Puss, Tom Cat, and Cat’s Pee on a Gooseberry Bush. Those are really and truly the names. With names like those, who cares whether they’re red or white? Another gift from Susie was a number of photos from the previous night at our regular table. While we had been in the Pinnacle at the sommelier dinner, they had a birthday party for John at their table. The pictures showed our friends with birthday hats and noisemakers, and they even included a photo of the cake. It just made us laugh out loud.

 

After dinner, we went dancing in the Rembrandt Lounge, but then were still too full to sleep, so we went out on deck to join Jackie, the ship’s hostess, who was doing her two hours of the 24-hour walk “On Deck for the Cure.” There are going to be several more events, and the goal is to raise $50,000 for the Susan Comen breast cancer research fund.

 

Today the ship broadcast the Academy Awards in the Queen’s Lounge. As a long-time fan, I sat for three-plus hours watching all the pomp. It seemed that the crowd enjoyed it, but boy was I ready for lunch when it was over!

 

Tomorrow’s Manila, and a third of the staff is so excited to see their homeland they can hardly stand it.

[bcummin]

Visiting Manila means that the ms Amsterdam Wine Stewards, Bartenders, and front desk ladies will get to see their families for the first time in many months. Please give our best to the sweet ladies and to Romero from the Cummings at table 118 on the Asia Pacific Voyage last fall.

Thank you for sharing your Amazing Adventure with us.

[RuthC]

Verrry interesting reading about Brunei. There's a place I would like to see. Sounds like there's more money there than I could every imagine.

 

Which brings up a question about female tourists getting around in Brunei. Are women restricted there as they are in some other Muslim countries? Must they be with a male "protector"? And would the tour guide count for that?

Does the museum have any provisions for people who can't walk barefoot? Even cloth or foam slippers can do the trick for some of us.

[RuthC]

Trying to get the hidden post to reveal itself.

[Johnny B]

February 26 – Day 53 (of 114)

 

I really never had any interest in visiting the Philippines, but I loved Manila.

 

We had decided to just sleep in this morning (I know, how can we be tired with never doing anything?) but promptly at 7 AM the sound of drums outside our room woke us with a start. We rushed to the balcony, looked down, and saw not only a drum and bugle corps, but incredibly colorful dancers looking a whole lot more energetic than we felt. We watched for about a half hour and saw three different groups dancing. Having then been thoroughly awakened, we headed for the gym as penance for all the food we’ve been eating as part of the multi-day birthday celebration.

 

Having neatly avoided a group tour (I hate to get in a bus with 40 other people and have to wear a little orange number on my shirt), we headed off on foot to old Manila. We had been warned, warned, and warned again about how dangerous this part of Manila could be, so we took some precautions: wallet in front pocket, purse over head and over shoulder, and umbrella with pointed end firmly in hand. The first two turned out to be unnecessary, but the umbrella came in handy with the rain.

 

We walked to the cathedral, which had been first built in the 1500’s, and then rebuilt about five times over the last 500 years. Then we just wandered the streets for awhile, being offered rides in horse-driven carts, peddle carts (like rickshaws, only with bicycles), and “Jeepneys.” The last was something I’ve never seen before. If you’ve been to Manila you know what I’m talking about, but for everyone else, I’ll try to describe them. They are, as it sounds, based on Jeeps, but they are seriously elongated and then coated with as much chrome as it is humanly possible to add. Anything not coated with chrome is painted brightly, usually with scenic pictures, and there are two long benches for passengers inside the back of the vehicle. It costs 50 (peso) cents to ride one, and at an approximate exchange rate of $1.00 = 40 pesos, that’s not much. They are everywhere and seem to be a very popular means of transportation.

 

After the center of old Manila, we headed to Fort Santiago on the river. It’s old and crumbly, but it is the single most moving place I’ve been on this cruise. We began by walking the old walls, which took us around to the river side of the fort. There, at the foot of earthen stairs and under grating, were the dungeon cells, used most recently during the Japanese occupation in World War II. Nearby was a large white cross with a plaque saying that it was a memorial to the more than 600 Americans and Filipinos who were found dead in those cells when the Japanese moved out of Manila. Apparently anyone being held at the end of the war was killed. Patton was right.

 

The fort is also a shrine to Jose Rizal, the inspiration for the independence of the Philippines from Spain. He was raised in a well-to-do family and sent to Europe to study medicine. While there, he began writing poetry and prose calling for independence after 300 years of Spanish rule. When he returned home, he was arrested on charges of sedition and, after a sham trial, he was executed by firing squad in 1896. To mark the 100th anniversary of his death, the government laid down brass footprints taken from his actual shoes and leading from the room where he was condemned to the place of his death several hundred yards away. His execution spurred the movement which led to independence, albeit 50 years later, in 1946, after American occupation. Now the old barracks has become a shrine to Rizal, including much of his poetry, paintings representing his life, and even a piece of bone with a bullet that was removed from his body when it was returned to his family. It was a real education for us.

 

Our long walk ended back at the ship for lunch, where over a thousand Filipino family members of crew were visiting with their husbands/wives/fathers/mothers/daughters/sons for whatever part of the day they were off. It was quite an emotional day for them, having to say goodbye for another several months. Many of us were saddened by the sight of families leaving the ship. We did learn several things about education in The Philippines, though, including the fact that the children begin learning English at age 3 and only begin studying Tagalog at age 7. All the people we met today, either family members on the ship or around town were uniformly smiling and warm, asking where we’re from and wishing us bon voyage.

 

In the afternoon we decided to see more of the city, so we took the ship’s shuttle to The Mall of Asia, the largest mall in all of Asia (hence the name, I guess). It was indeed huge. There were branches of every store I know, including two Starbucks, a Costco-type grocery store, an Imax theatre, and an ice rink. Our favorite store was one with Philippine-made items. They had beautiful things, but our two main concerns about purchases are how we’re going to get them home and then once we get home, what in the world are we going to do with them. We settled on a tee-shirt for John with a picture of a Jeepney .

 

Right now we’re back at the ship, exhausted but having had a thoroughly enjoyable day. The irony of our current situation is that loud recorded music is being played for the crew and their families, and currently we’re listening to “YMCA”, which followed “Play That Funky Music, White Boy.” You can run, but you can’t hide.

[DFD1]

Wonderful post about Manila. I felt like I was walking along with you. You write beautifully. What a treat!

[Paul123]

Wonderful post about Manila. I felt like I was walking along with you. You write beautifully. What a treat!

 

 

Here, here..........I'll second that. Wonderful descriptive write up.

 

Paul

[josephone]

Hello

 

I had to respond to the discussion of the Brunei houses over the water. Please remember that all that you saw is recently reclaimed from the mangrove swamps. The houses on the stilts were built to be safe from the tide and from the animals that might climb up. There is nothing wrong with the living places. They are just different than ours. It is vital to also think about the weather here. It is never cold as we know, but the rainy season is something that we cannot imagine and that is another reason for the houses on stilts.

 

Life in Malaysia, Singapore, Borneo and Brunei is a good life as governments in all parts have brought education and the 'dear Brits' brought hygiene. The Sultan actually came from a British decision and the choice of Brunei not to let migrant workers have citizenship is no different than our current discussions of immigration in the US (sorry I broke the no politics rule).

 

I suppose you can now tell that I lived in Malaysia and had no trouble living with the chickens. In fact, my little Montana town of 60,000 has decided to let us all grow chickens again.

 

Thanks for these wonderful posts. I think they are becoming a book!!! Keep them coming!

 

Josephone

[Aussie Gal]

John and Diane,

 

I loved your description of the Fort in Manilla. We visited the Fort on our one and only visit to Manilla in 1978 and it was a different place to what it is now. Marcos was in power and we had martial law and had to be in our hotel no later than 10.30pm each night. I wondered what we had come to but soon learned to adapt.

 

Your description of the Fort brought back so many memories though we were there in May which I think is their hottest time. I remember the humidity and the heat and wandering around seeing all those cells and hearing the story of Jose Rizal.

 

We loved the Phillipines and the people and enjoyed our week in that country.

 

Jennie

[Johnny B]

February 27 – Day 54

 

Oh boy, we’re rocking and rolling again! The latest report from the bridge is that we have 12-18 foot waves and gale force 9 winds. When John tried to go outside on the balcony this morning (for the daily “weather report”), he could hardly push the door open.

 

When we headed to the gym, we had to make sure we used exercise equipment with handles – and very little reading got done, due to having to hold on. The interesting thing about the gym during a storm is that you’re way up on top of the ship (more movement – fun!) with a panoramic view of what’s coming, so you see the big waves approaching. At one point, John said, “Hold on – here comes a big one,” and he was right. We could even feel the front of the ship leaving the water and then slapping down hard again. I realize that some readers will become nauseated just reading this, but some of us think it is really fun. It’s the E-ride without a ticket. (If you don’t know what an E-ride is, ask your parents.)

 

It’s noon now, and if anything, it’s worse than earlier. The waves are a bit bigger, and sheets of ocean spray are shooting past our (6th floor) windows. We were just at a meeting on level 4, and they look even bigger there.

 

Our meeting was preparatory to our overland Saigon/Cambodia/Angor Wat tour, which we’re taking through our travel agent, those wonderful “specialists” from Seattle. We’ll get off the ship in Phu My, the port for Saigon, and then spend a good part of the day touring what is now Ho Chi Minh City, but to those of us whose evening news followed the war in Viet Nam, I think it will always be Saigon. Mid-afternoon we’ll fly to Siem Riep, Cambodia, where we’ll stay at the Sofitel Royal Angkor Golf and Spa Resort – sounds pretty swish, yes? We’re pretty excited about it, and looking forward to everything except the 7:00 AM departure time.

 

Tomorrow begins a two-day stay in Hong Kong, so this morning, everyone on the ship was required to have his/her temperature taken as a requirement of the immigration authorities. They are concerned about SARS. Even after that, we’re really looking forward to our stay, and last night’s dinner conversation centered around plans for the two days. We can hardly wait!

[RuthC]

We could even feel the front of the ship leaving the water and then slapping down hard again.

Wheee! Ride 'em cowboy! :D I just love watching it when there's a deep trough and the ship slams down in it. When the water manages to hit the windows in the Crow's Nest you know you're in rough seas.

Have a great time on your overland tour. I'm very much looking forward to the reports.

[jtl513]

Diane - I've taken the liberty to copy a post yesterday from tomc:

 

This is from Rob Perozak, the Internet manager who will be joining you on Friday, February 29:

 

"I had to fly out of Miami on Friday to Manila, before boarding in Hong Kong, to join the Amsterdam this Friday. The Amsterdam is in the middle of a 160 day world cruise. Any Cruise Critic members onboard?"

 

He would love to have any CC'ers drop by and say "hi." We keep in contact and he knows me as Tom Carten which is, not so incidentally, my real name.

[Marge106]

Thanks so much for your postings. Four more years to go until hubby and I are fully retired and able to do this. I can hardly wait but until then will relish every word I can possibly read about these fantastic voyages.

[yellowbird23]

I only have one question. Been following your posts and enjoying every one of them, but how in the "world" do you stay away so long from your grandkids? Even if I could afford an ATW, I would probably not go unless they went with me. Happy cruising!

[Kappa Ci]

Non vedo l'ora per la prossima "installment"! I miss you guys and I am glad you are having a Blast!!!

 

China... I can't wait to read about it. If you see a beautiful Italian tour guide it might be Paola so don't forget to say "Ciao"

 

Lots of Amore,

Kappa Ci

[Johnny B]

February 28/29 – Day 55/56

 

Okay, here’s the score: Amsterdam – 1, South China Sea – 0. We did it again. After a day during which the ship (and its passengers) were battered and windswept, we arrived early this morning in beautiful, sunny Hong Kong. This city is amazing. We were here ten years ago for the week of the Handover (from Britain to China), and now it’s even more crowded, there are more and higher buildings, and the smog is thicker. It’s a wonderful city!

 

We woke to find that we had won the coin toss; our side of the ship has the most gorgeous view of Hong Kong Island while the other side has a view of the ship next to us. If we look to the left, we could throw a rock onto the Star ferries, and to the right we see all sizes of boats and junks heading for the mouth of the harbor. Directly across are more skyscrapers per square mile than anywhere else in the world. Wow! And you ought to see it at night, fully illuminated.

 

As we walked up Nathan Road, we were reminded that it was still China. We waited as a man walked his bicycle, holding two large baskets filled with leafy green vegetables, past us. If we had walked further up the road, we would have come upon the Bird Market. Hong Kong keeps enough of its Chinese soul to avoid being just another big city.

 

The subway was disgorging masses of commuters as we made our way in, headed for the Ngong Ping cable car, which would take us to the island of Lantau and the world’s largest outdoor bronze seated Buddha (lots of conditions, yes?) I’ve mentioned before that I really don’t like heights, and the only thing worse for me than being up high is being up high swinging from a questionable-looking cable, approximately a thousand feet above the water and the land. I think the only reason I do these things is to prove to myself that I can do it. This particular “Skyrail” is four miles long, and it felt at times like going over a supporting structure and then dropping over the edge into the abyss. There were definitely parts where I didn’t look. Hong Kong Airport was barely visible through the smog, but it was fun to watch the planes landing and taking off.

 

When we got to the part of the island where the Buddha is located, it looked like a charming village designed by Disney. All the shops/restaurants/theatres were built in matching style, all were incredibly clean, and the uniformed employees even told us to “Have a good day.” Nevertheless, it was awfully cute. We skipped the cute monkey movie and the animated “Life of Buddha” video (which would have doubled our cost), and headed right to the big guy himself. He sits at the top of a hill accessed by climbing hundreds of steps. As we trudged upward, we were joined by a group of third form students, visiting the island of Lantau on a camping trip for three days. They, of course, were more interested in who could race fastest up the steps and round the Buddha than what they were looking at. I guess I was just ignorant, but I had thought that this was some kind of a very ancient Buddha, but I learned that it was a metal structure only completed in the 20th century. It was still most impressive, with a museum in its belly and a view over the entire island of Lantau.

 

Facing the hill with the Buddha is the Po Lin Monastery, a Buddhist retreat which is a popular site for religious visitors. We watched pilgrims holding large bouquets of lighted incense sticks, which spread smoke throughout the area. A small restaurant had indoor and outdoor tables, each of which had a small sign which said, in English and Chinese, “No meat or smoking allowed.”

 

At about 2:00, we took the skyrail back to its origin. When we originally took it early in the morning, our wait was about five minutes. When we returned, the people at the end of the line had a one to one and a half hour wait. We felt so smug!

 

After the requisite afternoon nap (old people need them, you know), we met our tablemates and headed off to Ned Kelly’s Last Stand, a Kowloon pub named after a famous Australian outlaw. They’re famous for their jazz and Dixieland music, and after dinner and when the happy hour was over (at 9:00), the music began. Our ship’s saxophone player sits in with them when he’s in port, and the group just rocked the place. After a break, our tablemate Gene and his trumpet joined in, and we stayed until nearly midnight.

 

One Friday, our destination was the Stanley Market, home of tiny little alleyways and great bargains. We found silk (well, they said it was) table runners for three dollars and “genuine” Hard Rock Café Hong Kong tee-shirts for five dollars. The Chinese clothes for children were just the cutest thing you’ve ever seen, and it seemed possible to buy anything in the world there. I’m not much of a shopper, but last time we were in Hong Kong, in 1997, we bought so much at Stanley Market that we had to buy a new suitcase there, as well. This time we did much better and resisted a great deal. We exhausted all the alleys and stalls, and then headed to a seaside restaurant for a leisurely lunch. In addition to Stanley Market, there is all manner of shopping available in every part of Hong Kong. We saw a line (for heaven’s sake) outside a Louis Vuitton store and wondered if they were having a sale. There are all the biggies here: Cartier, Armani, Dunhill, Agnes B and all the rest.

 

On the way back, we decided that Hong Kong bus drivers all attended the “Bat Out of Hell” driving school; they go as fast as possible, hugging the hillside so closely that the trees looked in the windows at us, and they stop so abruptly that I thought more than one motorscooter was going to go under our tires. But we survived!

 

Our last evening in Hong Kong was spent at a wonderful restaurant where we were the only non-Asians – always a good sign. Fortunately, there were pictures next to the Chinese words on the menu, so we ended up with a delicious dinner. We returned to the ship at about 10:30, just in time for the sailaway performance on shore with a 75-foot illuminated dragon, traditional Chinese drums, and two quite funny “lions,” one of which climbed a tall pole and waved as we headed out into the harbor.

 

Sailing away from Hong Kong was unlike anything I’ve ever done. The millions of lights on the shore were brilliant and the ship just glided smoothly through the Harbor and back out into the South China Sea. After we were out of the immediate harbor, our little group of five retired to the Crow’s Nest, where we sat until the wee hours, watching more lights go by and saying a warm goodbye to one of our favorite places.