Dinner last night at the restaurant at nearby Cloud 19 resort
Our local beach, but why bother when there’s a pool actually on the beach?
Sadly we leave here after breakfast tomorrow, flying Phuket to KL where we have two nights at the airport hotel because Air Asia cancelled our Sunday flight and put us on a Monday job.
Confucius say… people having gift of gab, not know how to wrap it up.
Wednesday and half of our R & R has already come to pass. This is a great resort; a brilliant suite, with equally beautiful sunsets, unlimited quality seafood meals at the local beachfront and a pleasant drop of the of the local brew.
Yesterday morning we awoke to a man up the coconut palm just outside our window, chopping off the fruit and removing potentially hazardous limbs and bits that could spoil a residents tranquil holiday.
‘Spider-man’ is just visible by his white cap up among the palms about 15 metres above the ground and no ladder, no harness, in fact occupational health and safety would be livid. We did get an excellent close-up video clip of him and further, we learned he is actually 81 years of age and is the ‘go to’ man for all coconut palm management.
Isabel and Wendy met an ‘alternate life-style’ woman who regularly frequents Thailand at the Atsumi Health Resort for her annual 12 day fasting regimen. It has been suggested that I do not return home next Monday, but swap this place for the following……..
Level One : Full Fast Program
This is our most powerful cleanse. A total body cleanse from the inside out.
Personally I would prefer to find a cooling breezeway and simply chill out.
We have swapped ever-moving ocean views for land based seascapes. Where thankfully the cruise set formal nights (tie) give way to the elegant simplicity of all things Thai. (no neckwear involved)
Our Sapphire Princess docked in Marina Bay in Singapore early on Saturday morning, giving us plenty of time to have our last luxurious breakfast on board before joining the massed throngs looking for a taxi to the airport. Like one of those controlled Disneyland queuing systems where you constantly meet the same people opposite as you come and go.
Credit must however go to our favourite cruise line where continual perfection–down to the finest nth degree–is the accepted norm. What a great mob!
Welcome to the resort of Cape Panwa on the south eastern tip of Phuket and far away from the madding crowd. This is the supposed off-season where all is genteel and the view across the bay from the tiny settlement is reminiscent of Italy’s Lake Como, but with higher humidity levels. But sit quietly in a shaded breezeway and it is not long before you are nodding off
Not too much to do here, especially given my misspent youth at North Cott beach resulting in me permanently getting sunburnt, even on a Scottish ferry boat in winter. Lounging on the beach under swaying palm trees seems to have lost its gloss these days.
Weather note: we have experienced perfect weather with very very few exceptions. Hong Kong and Southern China got hit by a typhoon a week after we sailed by and another is brewing off the coast of the Philippines in readiness for the Sapphire Princess on its return journey Singapore back to Shanghai.
We were advised that the port of Chan May was a long bumpy journey to Da Nang and Hoi An and a similar distance to Hue. With ‘nothing to see here—move right along’ and at 7am leaking from every pore in our bodies, we opted for the pampering luxury of home
Confucius say… balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.
With most of the heavy holiday lifting behind us, today is a sea day. A time of unparalleled contrasts. Gone is Hong Kong’s 8,000 skyscrapers, more than twice the number in New York; gone too the 7 million packed into one of the world’s most densely populated areas, her industry, her lifestyle and her glittering nighttime attire
Today, just off our balcony, it is the sea’s turn to shimmer and dance in the sunlight.
Tomorrow we berth at Chan May in Vietnam and we’ll probably take another day off
Confucius say… Diet: food that make other people lose weight
In our continuing quest for the spectacular, we headed for the tramway up to Victoria Peak, negotiating the thronging pulse of the metro and local buses to mix it with the mobs of like-minded tourists
The core attraction of the mountain top was the available view on oh so clear a day. As the accompanying pictures will attest, it was the promise of scenic clarity that drew us like a magnet; and lunch at Bubba Gumps top floor seafood restaurant was only of passing interest
An hours rest on board in the late afternoon set us up for a brand new experience — attacking the night markets at Mongkok. Our visit to this frenzied retail bonanza coincided with about a million other pushy-shovey-feely folk, all within the narrow confines of a metre wide alley way.
More like a melee at a pommie soccer match with overtones of a heaving, sweaty rugby scrum.
And so to bed with a view of HK. Tomorrow’s another day of adventure
Confucius say… who mix Viagra and Ex-Lax, doesn’t know if he’s coming or going
At last a most appropriate arrival time suited to septuagenarians. Hong Kong, fine and sunny with clear skies, trafficking thru the harbour at 8am. Many years ago we flew into the airport that today is a modern new cruise ship terminal at Kai Tak. As the then runways jutted out into the waters of the harbour it is only logical to turn the place into a cruise terminal.
Buses will shuttle the cruise cargo of happy campers to a choice of three major shopping centres, each locate directly above the MRT. We are likely to spend some time in the air conditioned shops and then take the metro to near Victoria Peak and lunch at Bubba Gumps seafood joint.
Uploading this post at Starbucks before heading out into the 33 degrees and high humidity, but the MRT below this shopping centre will be air conditioned. Until then
Confucius say… if you think you’re going to sum up your whole life on this little bit of paper, you’re crazy
And while we are about here is a picture from the Shanghai TV tower. Taken by the ever-brave Isabel
At lunch time we are on the local train from Taipei back to our ship berthed at Keelung. We have accomplished our chief project today– to see the capital city from the 89th floor of Taipei 101 — and all done and dusted in time for a spot of lunch back on the ship.
From Maglev train in Shanghai at 431 km.p.h to South Korea’ bullet train thru tunnels at 300km.p.h to a gentle elevator to the top of Taipei 101 at 63 km.p.h to reach 508m into the sky
To dampen the building movement at the top this building has a 660 tonne x 5.5m diameter ball that restricts any sway by up to 40%.
All over China and indeed Taiwan, today is Mooncake Day which is a celebration of the Harvest Holiday. We’ve seen Mooncakes advertised widely for the past couple of weeks and the TV news today tells us over 10 billion Chinese Yuan is spent on whatever a Mooncake is. Sounds a bit like what Aussies gamble on the Melbourne cup each year.
So a public holiday in Taipei today meant all residents wanted to spend the day getting high. Taipei 101 high that is. Quite a feat to negotiate trains and the metro to get to the top and home in time for tea.
Confucius say… man who has money to burn, makes an ash of himself.
Busan’s busy railway station and KTX bullet train
Today dawned steamy over the busy port city of Busan. While we breakfasted, the usual clusters of eager port explorers were making their way to the waiting batch of buses and an exciting day touring ABT’s
Smart travellers like us research thoroughly and today was to be a leisurely trip through the Korean countryside on the bullet train. Not all the way to Seoul mind you, just 40 minutes at 300km per hour to Daegue.
Now South Korea is very mountainous and therefore two thirds of the journey was through tunnels, giving us a birds-eye view of this country from the inside. (Nobody told us about the tunnels— must write to Google) We did however see some rice fields and other farming produce, briefly glimpsed between exiting one and entering another tunnel.
We had an hour in Daegue and while Korean barbecue was nowhere to be found, there was sufficient adventurous time for Bill and Wendy to have lunch at Hungry Jacks while we took in tacos at the local Mexican.
And so back to the port and our floating home for another 2 weeks
Nagasaki in the morning reminded us of Albany
Sapphire Princess at the port
Strap hanging on the tram up to Peace Park, site of atomic bomb
Bill and Isabel at fountain Peace Park
Coffee for all at Starbucks with free wifi and an afternoon of sightseeing
Confucius say… men are like Lava lamps… fun to look at, but not very bright.
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