We had an uneventful 3 sea days on the way to New Zealand. We spent the time learning the new ship, which in our opinion has a bizarre layout. We are told that it is common for “Princess” ships to have a deck plan where one needs to walk up a deck, than down a […]
Point of Interest
Sydney
We are sorry we didn’t have more time in Sydney. We really liked it, at least the parts we saw. Given the timing of our ship arriving and leaving, we only had one full day. We stayed at the Marriott, (thank you Howard and Jody who gave us a Friends and Family certificate), that was […]
Singapore – End of the Road, Start of the Sea
Tonight will be the last night that we sleep in a “land-base” hotel. Tomorrow we board the Celebrity Solstice for a 13 night cruise to Sydney, Australia. We will not have internet access while at sea, and may have it at port, depending. We will be stopping in Bali, Darwin, Port Douglas, and Airlie Beach […]
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Melaka
The above picture is a Melakan trishaw. I guess it’s a matter of taste, but I find them rather fun. At night they are all lit up. We’re staying at “The Sterling Boutique Hotel,” which is a more imposing name than hotel. It’s not terrible, just not imposing. It is also a nice location, near […]
KL
Kuala Lumpur is a city of 2 million in the city proper. It is one of the densest cities in the world, certainly if judging by the number of high-rise apartments. The metro area is closer to 8 million. This explains the vast number of high-rise office buildings, and the extreme building boom. We booked […]
Orang Utans, Sun Bears, & Proboscis Monkeys
Warning – The following content contains an excessive amount of good-looking animal pictures, many of whom are uninhibitedly exposed positions. There is also a certain amount of “alpha male” behavior going on, bullying other males and forcing female submission. This is not unlike some current political figures. Sepilok, an area near Sandakan, is known for […]
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Bilit Adventure Lodge
An eco-tour up the Kinabatangan River in Borneo had become a bucket item for us on this trip. It was finally here! We walked up to our pickup point at Wisma Ku, about 6 blocks from our hotel. We drove a bit and stopped for lunch at the Sepilok Jungle Resort, a luxury spot, not […]
KK
In Malaysia there are “KK” and “KL.” “KL” is short for “Kuala Lumpur.” “KK is “Kota Kinabalu,” the capital of ( try saying that fast 3 times)the Sabah Province in Borneo. KK is known for nature and sunsets, although it is a bustling growing town. It is close to China, and there is a large […]
Georgetown, Penang
We are enjoying Malaysia. As we’ve mentioned, it is Ramadan, so we get to hear the muezzin go on long extensive riffs in the evenings. The other night he went on for over 30 minutes. That takes some serious effort. We flew to Kota Kinabalu yesterday, and I’ve finally got internet, so we’d talk about our […]
Langkawi – Near Disaster
So we left Vietnam looking for some downtime. We decided to checkout Langkawi, Malaysia, an island in the Andaman Sea near the border between Malaysia and Thailand. We knew it would be a tourist spot, what with it being an island, with beaches, and all of that, but Ellen was still recovering from her sinus […]