Different type of Orchid

Orchids

Orchids what vibrant colors

Long Bar at Raffles Hotel where the Singapore Sling was invented

It tasted as good as it looks but they are expense $16.00

Hindu Temple

Hindu Temple

Chinese Temple

Altar in Chinese Temple

Welcome to Singapore,

Saturday Feb. 25, 2012

We sailed into Singapore this am only there was so much harbor traffic that we didn’t get in until late.  Our tour was suppose to start at 8:15am and we didn’t leave until 9:30.  We had the Spirit of Singapore tour.  Kinda like the city tour.  We went all around Singapore and our guide her name was Justlet was fabulous.  She really enjoyed what she was doing and it showed.  We went to a Chinese Temple and then we went to a Hindu temple.  So I have now covered all the bases.

In China town they have a Chinese Temple, Hindu Temple and Mosque!  This is the cleanest city I have ever seen and very green.  Lots of parks.  It is not a large Island are all 23x12 meters.  Probably lie Rhode Island.  Anyway very safe.

It is hot and humid here and we went to the Botanical Garden to see the Orchids.  All kinds and they were really beautiful.  we then went to the famous Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel where the Singapore Sling was created and we each had one.  It was really really good.  We were each given the recipe.  Will have to try these when I get home.  

We got back to the ship and I must say the walk from the ship to the tour buses was like a mile long.  I was exhausted.  We got back to the ship had lunch and I was going to work on my blog but instead took a nap. 

We were back out tonight to go to the Nighttime Safari  You ride in trams and the animals are all open.  The giraffes were so tall and the elephants big  The tiger was hiding but we did see the Lions, Rhinos and more.  Unfortunately we did not get any pictures no flash and it was too dark.  It was very nice.  When we got off the bus I knew I could not walk that 100 miles so I asked for a wheelchair and they took me up to the ship.  Seriously, everyone was saying how long it was.  I felt bad that I had to break down and use it but I was exhausted and could not walk it!  When we got on the ship they had a nice buffet like they did when we went to the Opera in Sydney.  God Forbid we go without a meal!  Actually, we were quite hungry as we had no breakfast and only lunch today.  We are here over ngiht.  Tomorrow we will take the shuttle to town and go on Orchard Street where all the stores are and then head to this mall and casino then we want to to go back to Chinatown!  We leave tomorrow night and have two sea days before Bangkok.

So as you start your day we are ending ours it is 11:40am here so.  Good night and God Bless!

Friday February 24, 2012

@sea enroute to Singapore!

Well actually it is after midnight so technically it is Saturday.

We had another great day at sea today.  There was just so much to do we were running all over trying to take it all in.  We started with a light breakfast at Bistro. Becky came and joined us so Bill went to the first lecture and she and I chatted for awhile.  Becky went to bridge class and I went to Tom Farranda’s lecture about “Will America Survive the next ten years”.  After the lecture Bill went up to the pool to get chairs for the Equator crossing I had to stop back at the cabin and grabbed the camera and his sunglasses.  Today we crossed the equator.  Last time we did it it was around 3am so they had a small celebration at midday today we crossed at 11:30 so we had a celebration out by the pool  We have been to quite a few of these but Rick asked us personally to go.  Discovery channel was going to film i and he wanted a large audience.  It was cute as always one of the dining room waiters was convicted of always smiling, putting too much whip cream on the dessert and always saying ‘my pleasure”  The stewardess was convicted of looking and vacuuming dust bunnies and also when guests got up to go to the bathroom she made up their bed. and Captain Glen is the best he was convicted of only visiting three countries in 35 days and one of them being Nomea New Caledonia.  So they put glob all over him made him kiss the fish and threw him into the pool.  He is such a great sport!

After the equator crossing ceremony we went to lunch.  After lunch we sat with Amy one of he photographer who I got to know on our Antarctica trip and she explained our camera a little more.  Then I went around and spoke to some people and Bill had golf.  He won a prize for his putting he got Crystal coasters!  Before you knew it it was 3:15 and my memoir class was at 3:30.  4 stories were chosen to be read and mine was chosen.  The same entertainer Karen read it and everyone came up to me after and said it was so funny.  It was the chapter about Hannibal!  

Tonight was a formal night and I didn’t bring the camera!  We had a great dinner in the Main Dining Room and then we headed to the show called “Across the Pond”  this sow was great all about the British invasion in the 60s.  Really enjoyed it.  It had Elton John’s Crocodile Rock and the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Queen plus the women, Dusty Springfield, Petula Clark, Dave Clark five and more..... It was really good.  They do such a great job with these production numbers!

Tomorrow we will be in Singapore.  We have a early morning city tour and than at night we are doing the Safari park. We will miss dinner so we got a message on our phone that they will be having a buffet from 10:30 till 11:30 for us when we return!  We will be there over night and Sunday is the end of this segment.  Wow two down only three to go!

Friends that we made on her in 2008 are boarding on Sunday  they live in Manchester, England.  They will be dining with us at night.  Looking forward to catching up with them other than a Christmas card!

On Sunday we will go to the Raffles hotel which is where the Singapore Sling was invented and they tell us they have a great casino.  We might check it out.  

So good night and God Bless.

This greeted us this morning

Greeters

Didn't get the sign but it said Welcome Crystal Cruises

Me with the two dancers from our tour

White Elephant outside the Buddahist Temple

Me with all the Buddhas

Altar inside the temple

Thursday, Feb 23,2012

Greetings from Semerang, Java Indonesia

IT IS HOT AND HUMID HERE!

Today we had a tour around the city.  They showed us where the rich people live and they live like our poor except of course the Royal Family which has beautiful housing in it’s own complex.  As I travel to these places I can see why everyone hates Americans.  We really are spoiled brats.  Of course I say this as I am sitting on a luxury liner for 94 days!  I am the most spoiled of all!

We took a tour of  a cigarette factory where they were rolling  cigarettes.  They work 4-5 hours a day and get paid $1.25 and are happy to have a job.  Unemployment here is 60%  yep, 60%.  After driving around for a few more sights we went to a hotel where they served coffee, tea and pastries and they had a show for us!  Two dancers.  It was very entertaining.

We then went to a Buddhist Temple.  I have  never been in one.This one was 6 floor tall and we went up to the top floor.  Bill chose to walk rather than ride the elevator.  He stopped at each floor. We did have to take off our shoes like we did in the Mosque.  It was quite interesting! Outside they had hundreds of Buddhas and 2 large White Elephants!  We were in a Mosque in Brunei in 08, saw the Hindu temple but did not go in.  Have been in Catholic Churches, Protestant Churches, Synagogues so I think I have now been to all the major religious ones.

The peddlers can be annoying but you know me I love bargaining with them. This morning as we were walking to the tour buses they were kind of aggresive.  James told me to hit them with my cane!!!!  I got a few things and did really well!  Bill even got into it and did okay for himself!  Anything that is wood must be placed in their freezer for 48 hours to kill any bugs or worms that they are known for.  I asked tall Peter if it was the same freezer as our food he said no it is the freezer they keep if someone passes onboard!  Gregg and Sue if you are ready this you might have to pick us up in LA with my Escalade!  Especially if I keep buying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

90% of the population here is Muslim unlike Bali which is Hindu.  Everyone is friendly and they all co-exist with no problems.  Indonesia has the larges Muslim population in the world.  

Bali was a much prettier island this actually has a 4 lane highway each way but it is not pretty like Bali.  Most of the big buildings in town were built when the Dutch were here in  the 17 and 18 hundreds.  Of course they do have the American Embassy McDonalds, KFC, Ace Hardware.   

We set sail this evening and will be at sea tomorrow (Fri) and arrive in Singapore on Saturday till Sunday evening. Sunday morning is the end of this segment.  2 segments down I can’t believe how fast this is going!!!!!

This evening they are having local entertainment for us.  Looks very interesting and I will post about it tomorrow.

So from Indonesia I am going to sign off and since it is still afternoon here instead of good night just God Bless.

whole family on motorbike

carrying his rice

Komoto Dragon

Bali Hai

I had a lot of computer problems the past few days. It seems the ethernet cable I had was going in and out but went to the computer lab last night and Dennis gave me a brand new one so I should be good for awhile.  I did a blog both days and it did not post and did not save so I will try to remember where I left off.  

One of the pictures is a picture of me from the tv.  They video tape all the things for the WC and it seems I have been on the morning show twice now.  Once eating chocolate at chocolate tea and then at the Jazz brunch with my mimosa waiting for my pasta.  Hey he always gets me eating.  Maybe that’s because we are always eating!!!!!!

World Cruise Games.  I played free cell the first two games I was awesome I just solved them immediately and then the third game I panicked and lost.  Dennis the computer guy came over to me he said you had the gold what happened I said “I collapsed under the pressure.  I still came in 5th out of about 100.  Not good enough for a medal but my name is on the wall of the computer lab!  Then it was right to backgammon.  Well they set the board up different and I was totally confused.  I have no sense of direction so when you change things it goes all haywire on me.  I was knocked out in the first round.  Bill’s game came down to the last roll and he lost.  Oh well better luck next time.  But as David (entertainment staff who ran it) said you guys are still smiling and that is what’s important.  It was fun just to participate.  Today there is the closing ceremony we will go to nd then an early show at 7:45pm.  Usually they have two shows 8:30 for the early seating and 10:30 for the late seating but they have been doing this one show nonsense!  Can you tell I don’t like it.  It seems every time we have reservations at the specialty restaurant at 7pm there is an early show!!!!!  Oh well.  

As I said Bali was great I loved it.  The people are so friendly.  Our guide told us that 95% of the people are Hindu, 2% Catholic, 2% Muslims. 1% Protestants.  Most houses have some kind of temple I tried taking pictures from the bus but it was not easy.  I will go through and see if I got any good ones and post them.  We only traveled a short way but it took us 2 hours.  The roads (Highways) have 2 lanes each way but people park their cars and motorbikes all along so you are constantly going around things, people and dogs!  The other roads are one lane and hardly fit the bus and it was quite scary.  In fact if I didn’t have a heart attack between that and when the Elephant Driver got off my elephant and left me on there alone, my heart is Strong!  We went through many different villages.  It was nice to see all the different towns and modes of transportation.  In the center of the city they do have public transportation but when you go out where we were people either, walk, ride a bike or motorbike.  They put the whole family on the motorbike.  Mother, father and two kids!!!!  I even saw a really old lady on the back hanging on couldn’t help laugh picturing my mother on the back of that! Another great day!

Tomorrow we are on the island of Java, Indonesia,  There are 16,000 islands all in all some are not inhabited.  We had a choice of some beautiful temples to visit one was Hindu and one was Buddhist but they are both 3 hours each way for a total of 9 hour trip and so we passed and will just do a small tour of Semerang!  We will see some of these same type of temples in Cambodia, Thailand and China!   

Today was the Crew’s Tug of War and slippery pole contest so we went up and were lucky enough to get a seat in the shade.  They served rum punches.  It was really funny.  Some of the crew got dressed up as babies with bottles and all.  The stewardesses got dressed up as policewoman.  The dining room waiters made it to the semi- finals.  They had to play against the entertainment team in the semi-finals.  I routed for the entertainment tean when they played their first round but now that they are playing the waiters as I told “David, I can do without entertainment I can’t do without food”!  The waiter’s won so that is good they will all be happy tonight.  I left there and ran to my memoir writing class.  We had a guest speaker today.  Harm De Bji who is a georgraphy expert.  He worked for ABC as their geography specialist and for National Geographic.  Anyway he has written alot of text books for schools and also other books.  He has written a memoir also and spoke about that.  He was very informative.  After class Joe, meet with me and discussed my story about Hannibal.  It is going to be read on Friday!  He told me that I am a really good writer and it is really funny stuff and I could be the next Erma Bombeck...... DO YOU HEAR THIS CHRIS!!!!!!!!!  Of course I am not going to do anything with my memoir but I am loving doing this.  Well I  need to go do my hair and get dressed for informal night.  Then they are having an early Karaoke at 10pm so I will go to that! 

Just got back from the show, dinner and Karaoke in that order.  Augusto made us his special eggplant parmigana again with tiramisu for dessert yummy thank you Augusto.

Karaoke was fun but it is late and I have an early am tour.

 Tomorrow Java, Indonesia!!!!!!!!!!!

So good night and God Bless!

Breakfast yesterday with Becky

Jazz Brunch

This is what greeted us as we got off the ship this am in Bali

Also these guys

I know Siam is Thailand but I really felt like I was in the King and I

Where's Yul Brenner?

Okay we each had to have our own because Im fat!

after we fed him he gave us flowers!

waving for the camera

a parade we came upon

Parade

At the bird park

Well I have posted the last two days and they did not post

don't know what the hell is going on except I was having trouble with the internet.  So here is the new post and I will see if it saved the others.

We had an early morning tour this morning in Bali, Indoneshia.  This place is really pretty. As we got off the ship they had entertainment for us and I know that Siam is now Thailand but I swear I was looking for the King.  I felt he was here. We drove about 25 km.  It took over two hours.  What they call a highway is like surface streets.  People stop and park their cars along it and motorcycles all over the place.  They ride with the kids in front or back of them on the motorcycles and they go in and out of traffic. No speed limits people walking all over and dogs.  I had the front seat I sat with my hands over my eyes having aheart attack.  But it was well worth it.  

When we got to the park there were three buses.  I was on the first bus (thank you again James) so we all went to the show where the elephants played basketball, soccer did tricks and one even painted.  I had to stand near the fence they didn't want me to walk up so a few people stayed with Bill and I and the baby elephant came over lifted a lid stuck his trunk in and came up full of water and spit out on all of us.  It was so funny.  Then our group when on the ride.  Okay Im too fat so I had to have my own they didn't want to kill the elephant!  They claimed it was because the basket would be tight`.  I thought it would be a little trip around well they took us all around the park.  Bill's driver lost his hammer so my driver got off the elephant and left me on there alone.  I was just relaxing when this happened.  Needless to say I will not be able to use my arms for the next few days they hurt already from holding on so tight!  Then he climbed back up and we went backwards. He kept saying "Momma" "you okay"! We drove around again for a long time then they took us into the water!!!!!!!  the ships photographer was there and I know she got some good shots.  After that we went to feed them and play with them.  They gave me a handful of bamboo shoots I tried giving him one at a time and he grabbed the whole bunch who was I to argue he was much bigger than me!  after that they gave him a flower lei and he put it on me first then Bill then the both of us.  We then had a great lunch.  We were there for a long time.  Then we started back and we ran into a parade.  It was some hindu holy day so all the little villages we went to were observing it differently.  One had this parade.  I got a few pictures.  We then headed to the bird park.  Where we saw birds and a Komoto Dragon.  I forgot to upload that.  Maybe tomorrow.  I had to come  up to the computer lab as I was having trouble so I am really tired.

Bali was really nice and we are headed to Java, Indonesia in two days.

All in all a great day.  It was so hot and humid when we got back on the bus (Oh it rained when we got to the bird park but the bus provided us all with umbrellas (the Crystal way of course) when we got back on the bus they gave us cold water and cold washclothes that felt good.  Came back and took a shower and was too tired to dress so we had room service.  Then I couldn't get on the internet so I had to come up here.

Another great day.
Good night and God Bless.  I am such a lucky person to be able to do this.  Thanks Bill for being such a good sport!