Singapore, Republic of Singapore

Well this was a gorgeous day in Singapore. Ronan, Steve, Jon and I spent the morning on Sentosa Island, which is looking rather run down with its decades of wear. Nevertheless, we had a great time walking around, seeing the merlion and spending lunch at some trendy little club/restaurant/beach-side hangout. I ordered a lovely plate of nachos and received the Freeport special - Doritos... oiy! Jon and I left the other on the ship after that and went out to Orachard Street for some more walking, some fresh fruit juice and a quick trip to Chinatown before returning to the ship. Not much has changed in Singapore... same ol' same ol'. All the same, it is a beautiful and clean city, although not on the top of my 'must see' lists.

Ho Chi Mihn City, Vietnam

Good morning Vietnam!
Well we knew it would be another long drive day (an hour and a half each way), but it was worth it even to say that I've been to Saigon. The city itself truly shows the poverty level of Vietnam and how simple the people live. It is beautiful, nonetheless, and the people are amazing friendly. All we really had time to do was check out Ben Thanh Market - the most ridiculously huge market I have ever seen... you want it, they have it, and for CHEAP! It is actually on a ton of those 'Top 1000 Places to See' lists. I must say though 'The Heat is on in Saigon.' It was damn hot... not Samoa hot, but hot enough!

Nha Trang, Vietnam

Vietnam! The people are so forthcoming, outgoing and friendly here, it’s such a beautiful country so far – we have Saigon tomorrow. Lori, Liz, Jon, Steve and I grabbed a taxi and drove to the two main points of interest in Nha Trang. The first is an ancient Buddhist ground built atop a hill where only a few of the worshipping temples now stand and are still used by the locals. The second is mainly a monument to those who fell during the Vietnam War. Like Lan Tau Island in Hong Kong there was a giant outdoors Buddha sitting upon a lotus leaf, overlooking the memorial, which was surrounded by temples and other various Buddhas. The only other highlights of the city are a giant cathedral and an arts and crafts market where you watch the Vietnamese women making their crafts. On the pier there was wicked shopping for even cheaper than Hong Kong… I managed to restrain myself… somewhat!

Oriental Night

Oriental Night… nothing to say, just another themed night on the ship.

Hong Kong Day 3

The third day in Hong Kong was not all too eventful, but quite productive… especially with shopping. Liz, Ronan, Jon and I traveled down Nathan Street to the Ladies’ Market – fantastic for clothing and jewellery. We arrived at 11:00 am, but the market only opened at 1:00 pm, so we walked around some more, finding a rest garden and temple. I came to the realization after the three days that Hong Kong should adopt the slogan “Hong Kong: City of 1000 Smells.” For those of you who have ever been there, well you know what I mean. Obviously I highly recommend a vacation to Hong Kong as well as to Mainland China.

Hong Kong Day 2

Day two in Hong Kong started very early with a quick spout of office work before Lori and I headed on the Star Ferry over to Hong Kong Island in search of Stanley Market… too much shopping. We met up with Jon and Ronan and went back to the ship to drop Jon off to work and pick up Liz; while we were leaving the Ocean Ferry Terminal, a local cable news station stopped the girls and I to conduct a very random interview about Chinese actresses and models… who knows. Back over to the island, we had to take the ferry, a bus and finally a tram to reach Victoria Peak – the highest point on Hong Kong Island – and spent a few moments there before having to return to the ship again to pick up Jon for family dinner. I treated the Cruise Staff to an evening at the Jade Garden (known well by Lucy after an episode of egg in her food) and again to the night market.

Hong Kong Day 1

Welcome to Hong Kong! Sorry it’s taken me so long to update the blog, but I’ve been extremely busy over the past week. Our stay in Hong Kong was awesome – how could it not be!? We only docked at 2:00 pm and as soon as the crew were cleared, Lori, Liz, Steve and I went to a massage place (yes Wendy, the same one!) to get our full body and scalp massage, which we had to wait an hour as the place was so full. As it turns out, March 4 is Chinese Valentine’s Day so the entire city was dressed in pink and red lanterns, fabric and cut-outs. To kill time we wandered around Kowloon Park (oh the memories), down Nathan Street and to Maxwell’s Clothiers (my tailor) – even though he was closed on a Sunday. That night Steve, Jon, Ronan and I went to the Temple Street Night Market where I bought a ton of stuff, a running theme with Craig and Hong Kong. Even later that night we ventured to Central on Hong Kong Island and had a good ol’ fashioned drinking night, bar hopping from one to the other, starting with George’s Bar and ending with Insomnia, which had two of the best live cover bands I have ever heard.