Phang Nga Bay

We began the day with the usual – breakfast outdoors, under the awning, surveying the prospects for the day.

Today, there was a distinct cloud on the horizon.  We’d heard thunder during the night and been woken by flashes of lightning, but hoped that it would have cleared by the time we arrived here, off Phuket in Patong Bay.

Clear it did, and by the time we were sitting aboard one of the tenders going ashore, it was starting to warm up nicely.

Thailand doesn’t change – we love it here and spent a few moments waiting for our group to assemble watching these young men try to get the old lorry engine to work.  There were clouds of exhaust fumes, a few stuttered starts and finally it sprang into life.  Basic – yes.  Effective – most certainly.

Our destination was north of here, actually involving a drive over the bridge onto the “mainland” and to the area known as Phang Nga Bay, a National Park with kharst rock formations very similar to those of Halong Bay in Vietnam, or Guilin in China.

Here we boarded a rather more sedate craft than the long tail boats we enjoyed zooming about in on previous trips.  We travelled out into the river delta, amongst the rocks and making a first stop at some cave paintings.

The boat tipped to one side as the whole contingent leaned out to get photos.

Next, we sailed by the Muslim Fisherman’s Village of Koh Panyee with the promise of stopping there on our return.

After a scoot through a hole in a rock (which I recorded on my Flip video rather than on camera, since it was a bit dark), we arrived at the end point – James Bond Island or Kao Ping-Gan, scene of The Man with the Golden Gun.

As we were taking photos, the small police boat came alongside, the two officers smiling, waving and saluting when they realised there were cameras in hand!  They were there to collect the toll for being in the park area and our driver having coughed up the required fee, they sped off, saluting us all once again as they did.

We didn’t land at this island, because there wasn’t a sufficiently reliable landing stage for we delicate souls to disembark – or so we were told.  I guess health and safety precautions together with fears of US litigation made it simpler to “just say no”.  As it happened, it didn’t really matter, to us at any rate.

On the way back we did indeed make a short stop at the market at Koh Panyee, where things were plentiful and very reasonably priced, especially for those prepared to bargain.  Some paid $10 for a small T shirt, others got a handbag for less than a quarter of that

As often happens on these trips, I find myself finding amusement/delight in the more everyday occurrences.  On this occasion, having seen one kharst rock formation after another, the local Pepsi delivery was, for me, more interesting!

Lunch was good.  A hot Thai buffet with a fine selection of tasty local dishes washed down with a Singha beer hit the spot perfectly for us.

No, this isn’t the bread from lunch but the sheets of latex rubber being processed at the demonstration farm on the way back to the ship, later this afternoon.  I’d seen these sheets hanging out along the fence on the way out this morning, but had not recognised them at all.  It was interesting to see how this was done and to recognise the amount of work which goes into this very hands-on production.

There were a few animals at this tourist centre, including these elephants taking people off into the forest.

The little monkeys weren’t as bored as this picture would have you believe. This one was jumping all over the place whilst we were there, sitting still for just long enough for me to snap his picture.

The water buffaloes were doing just what water buffaloes love to do

whilst we contemplated how an elephant might ride the motor bike…

(cute, isn’t he?)

From there it was back to the ship and a long, cool shower.  As I dressed, I heard the ship’s horn blast three times to signal our departure for Chennai.  I noticed the sun was setting and stepped outside onto our verandah to see one of the tenders returning to the ship, which now seemed to be sailing away.

Along with several of our fellow passengers, we peered over the rails to watch the goings on – this is quite a performance, involving precision in manoeuvring this small boat alongside and getting it hoisted aboard.

Bearing in mind this is really one of the ships lifeboats, everything needs putting back   exactly as it should be and Mark was particularly bothered that the zipped window coverings needed closing.  One by one they were fixed, until there was only the doorway to do.

By the time everyone was off, the last man zipping up the doorway to leave just enough of a gap for him to squeeze out of, the boat was being hoisted up and in, through the space where the rails had been taken out, and into place.  A quick hose down and all was shipshape again.

We lifted our glasses and sailed off into the sunset.

Goodbye Thailand.  We’ll be in Chennai, India in a couple of days time!

Penang–it must be Friday

Overcast skies as we ate breakfast this morning overlooking the coast of Penang.  In spite of that, the heat was building as we set off in our independent ways this morning: I was heading to the Batik workshop, Mark to a fruit farm and a temple.

Sharing stories of our day later, we found we’d both travelled much the same path, just a half hour apart and had enjoyed similarly interesting days here.

The landscape we drove through was the coastal developments looking a great deal like many others – tall, high rise apartment blocks set in lush green gardens.  Quite a contrast to the little two storey shophouses downtown in the heritage area.

The Batik Workshop was set in similarly lush surroundings and the fifteen of us were curious as to what we might find here.  We didn’t have to look far, for there, right on the verandah was the first demonstration of block printing.

With remarkable speed and achieving a pretty high level of accuracy, the gentleman printing this pattern in a mix of beeswax and tree sap (for flexibility) was happy to have his skills admired by a succession of foreigners.

Of course, I’m finding that my eyes dart here and there, up onto the ceiling where many, many metal blocks are hanging!  There are more on the walls, in boxes under the table – all over the place.

Then, a young woman demonstrates the “free Tjanting” process and quickly draws several perfectly straight lines and an hibiscus flower.  I can sense several in the group getting nervous now, wondering if they are going to be asked to do this themselves in a minute!

But we can relax, because we are shown around the corner and each select a worktable where a design has already been drawn out in wax onto the cotton cloth and all we are asked to do is to write our names.

There are bottles of dye, each with its own brush made from a rough piece of wood, and bottles of water for diluting the colours.  A quick demonstration is offered and we’re set free…

Mine is taking shape nicely and I’m soon ready to work the leaves.

There are ooohs and aaaahs as the delights of working with colour are shared amongst us.  The glorious surroundings are enhanced by the birdsong and the sound of rain gently falling on the leaves just outside the workshop. 

Everyone created their own masterpiece, some with a little help from the young and extremely delightful Nepalese chap, who swiftly covered the background with colour to finish those who hadn’t quite made it this far in time.  These cloths will be finished by the ladies in the workshop here and sent to us at home.

This afternoon, we pottered about the old town, enjoying the atmosphere.  There were one or two relics of the old British influence to be seen

and some beautiful old buildings.

The predominant influence in this part of the city now is undoubtedly Chinese/Indian, evidenced by this beautiful doorway

and the brightly packaged goods in the supermarket we explored.

Wandering about the streets, it was good to see that we weren’t so far from home at any time.

We’d seen further evidence of that one the way to the Batik Workshop, too.

We didn’t spend all our Ringit so arriving back on board to find this gentleman sitting in the hall, we swapped a few of them for rupees, asking ourselves how many places in the world could one sit alone at a table with money laid out like that?

So, another great day.  We made the tie-break at Trivia this afternoon but sadly missed out on the points.  Tonight, we have plans for dinner with friends and we gain an hour thanks to Thailand’s time difference.

Phuket tomorrow, with a few last minute schedule changes as a result of industrial action by the port transport people.  Instead of berthing at the normal place, we’re going to drop anchor and be tendered ashore.  That’s always fun…

Kuala Lumpur

Kerching!  Malaysia ticked off the list as we step on the ground for the first time in this country.  We took some time to get it all sorted this morning, arriving in Port Klang before breakfast and still seeming to be sorting things out until well after we’d returned to our suite and gathered our things together for what turned out to be a long day out.

The mist was distracting as we made our first stop at the Blue Mosque.  Our guide, Kim, explained that this haze comes down at particular times of the year, but the more so when the Indonesian farmers are burning the stubble of their crops, ready for the new sowing.

Edward’s friend Laura had given us suggestions for “must see” locations around her home city of KL, and the Kings Palace was top of her list.  We couldn’t go any further than the gates, sadly, but peered through the fence and took one  or two photos of the palace, giving the impression that we were the only ones there.

When of course, that was far from the truth

The world and his wife were there, petting the horses, pushing to have their photograph taken with the guardsman and so on.  We took our photos and moved right along.

I began to contemplate how clever Mother Nature is to design these dangling plants to have a weighty terminal bud at the end of each stem, thereby ensuring that each one hung vertically from the tree.

Until I realised that they were strings of electric fairy lights, that is.

Duh.

Moving right along, our next stop was the National Museum, which was really well set out and rather more interesting than we’d feared.

I had several favourites.  Firstly, this “Kelewang Pucuk Berkat”, which I thought was a fantastic shape and elegantly formed.

I adored these beaded slippers, the work of Nonya women and labelled “Frog Shoes”.

Finally and most certainly to be further investigated, these folded pieces of headwear worn by the Sultans of the various Sultanates of Malaysia, each being described in detail with the background to the design.

Quite how many variations on a theme there are for something so simple, is surprising.  Something to investigate further.

Outside the Museum, we took refuge from the heat and waited in the shade of a huge “rain tree”, supposedly brought by the British from South America.  I really had no idea what kind of tree it is, but the umbrella-like shape was remarkable.

Next stop was the war memorial, including this copy of the Iwo Jima bronze in Washington USA, to commemorate the liberation of Malaya at the end of WW2. Once again,  we were not alone in our wish to take the “perfect picture”.

Impressive though the memorial is, there were also interesting textures to be identified and recorded in the form of the soil erosion management; namely this plastic sheeting which had been laid into a couple of the sloping gardens but which reminded me of crocodile skin!

There were also the lovely coloured stems of palm trees

and the most fantastic silhouettes against the sky.

Back then, into the city, to the old colonial centre.  This beautiful structure was the State Secretariat building and right opposite, across the busy street was a cricket field and the site of the declaration of independence in 1957.

Those half timbered buildings looked altogether out of place in this steamy heat.

A first glimpse of the Petronas Towers through the palm trees.

Lunch was a delicious affair at the Intercontinental hotel, the first course not staying on the plate for long enough to photograph!  Dessert was taken at a more leisurely pace, my favourite being the dumpling inside the leaf…yummy!

Heading then for the Petronas Towers which were far too enormous for my little camera to cope with.  No excuses then for focusing on something a little more to scale

the amazing patterns on this stem/root/whatever which was at pavement level and a bit of a tripping hazard for anyone looking up at the soaring architecture.  What a treat they missed!

A short drive back then, through the old city with the “five foot pavements” left by the British – in other words, arcaded pavements where one might shelter from the bright sunshine or the occasional downpour.    Though the British shop fronts are replaced by – in this case Carrefour- the style remains.

Finally, the Central Market, “inspired by Covent Garden” said our guide.  Well, yes, and equally touristy in our opinion.  I was simply looking for some “journal bling” from KL…preferably not made in China!

From there it was an hour’s drive back to the ship, with perhaps thirty nine or forty winks along the way?  Tonight, we met friends for dinner in “Prime 7”, a very good grill restaurant on the ship and we find ourselves putting the light out on what has been another very good day indeed.

Tomorrow, Penang.  Batik.  Oooooh!

In Singapore

Oh, but first, let me record our great dinner last night, in the Cordon Bleu “Signatures” restaurant here on the ship.  Delicious!

I’m afraid we’re not wine afficionados.  We enjoy wine; we know what we like to drink and very much appreciate a good one when we find it.  But when we find descriptions like this, we can’t help but smile.

So, having sampled the racy Sancerre and moved on to the crushed plum, graphite and liquorice note of the Crozes-Hermitage, we’d tried very hard to identify these flavours but gave up, simply reporting that they were both delicious!

Signatures is great – special but not stuffy.  Great food very much to our taste and best of all, we have another couple of bookings up our sleeve for later in the voyage.

But we had an early start this morning.  Whilst Mark was in the bathroom around 6am, I peered out on our verandah and saw this – a tug guiding us into our berth and the lights of Singapore shining out in the early morning gloom.

Our tour today was taking us to the further corners of the island and I thought of my friend Maggie as we drove past some of the last remaining shophouses of the past.  Singapore really doesn’t look like we remember it from just fifteen or so years ago – Maggie, I don’t think you’d recognise it at all.

Most of what we saw looked like this.  Manicured lawns in front of large apartment blocks, served by efficient (but busy) dual carriageway roads.   Yes, a little anonymous and one might even say, sterile.

But some things haven’t changed at all.  Desmond, our guide (whose real name was three syllables of Chinese) gave full and frank descriptions of life here, explaining carefully about the “chewing gum” rule and the restrictions on nipping over into Malaysia to buy petrol at half the price the Singaporean garages charge.  But ultimately, Singapore is, well, Singapore!  Strictly controlled and ever so slightly antiseptic.  Not at all Asian.

We began at the market, where Desmond gathered fruit for us to try later, pulled a couple of unfamiliarly flavoured eggs from a stall to show us and explain, and then picked up this black chicken to describe what it was and how it was created.  As you can see from the photo, his audience was rapt!

Next stop was the funerary goods stall, where paper replicas of the things one might need in the next life could be purchased by one’s grieving family.

Yes, that is a set of paper dentures, toothpaste and fixative…

not to mention the ipad….

There were also the more traditional market goods and for sure, the fish smelled and looked very good indeed.

But there was no time to linger.  We sped out on the expressway (the PIE, as it was described on the signposts, to our amusement!)  Passing by the Flyer (the wheel) and the new development at the Marina (those three tower blocks are hotel rooms, linked right at the top by a park and an infinity pool), we entered the sixteen km long tunnel, arriving at our destination for the morning: Changi.

I will say at this point that I was none too keen on coming here.  We’d really chosen to spend the day exploring that wheel, those three tower blocks and the park on the top of them.  But sadly, not enough people had chosen that particular venue and so, we selected what I considered to be the best of a bad job.  How wrong I was.

The Changi museum and chapel were truly moving and explained the personal stories behind the people involved so very well.  Uncomfortable, certainly, but nevertheless we felt the better for having learned a bit more about these remarkable survivors and the experience was one we will remember.

The same could be said for the Commonwealth War Graves site at Kranji – yes, some holiday this is, eh?  But again, this was an amazing place and we both felt that it had been worth the short time we’d spent here.  Nothing like seeing those rows and rows of immaculately tended headstones to make one feel blessed.

From there, it was on to lunch at a smart Country Club, where the chicken head on the plate being rotated on the lazy susan kept giving me the eye…

Then, finally, a stop at the Bright Hill Temple.  A fine piece of Chinese architecture, we loved the huge Buddha and followed Desmond’s example of walking around it in thoughtful mode.

Only partly distracted by the email address engraved on the side….

The small buddhas on the lawn were cute, too, attracting plenty of attention.

Back to the ship, then, and a last look at the latest amazing development right by the harbour.  These wonky skyscrapers were said to have been designed by a drunken architect…hardly surprising when one takes a close look.

Our ship was being refuelled, so we looked down on this tanker for a while until we were ready to leave.  With a long blast on the ship’s hooter, the ropes were released and we were away, bound for Kuala Lumpur tomorrow.

A bientot!

At Sea

The sea days are a great chance to catch up on things, if only there were not so many other more interesting offers around.  I mean, shall I put in a load of washing or shall I go to the craft class?  Shall we go to the port lecture?  Read?  Do the quiz?

Eat?

We began the day with our 7 laps of the deck before the temperatures rose and gave us an excuse to escape that one.  After a delicious breakfast – the birchermuesli is good, especially with a bowl of blueberries – we pottered about the ship, collecting details about tomorrow’s stop in Singapore and chatting with friends.

First Trivia quiz of the day resulted in a tie-break, which we lost.  So, no points today.  However, we will remember that in 1971, it was the news of Jim Morrison’s death which was delayed by six days and not that of Elvis!  (Sorry, Jane, we really should have listened to you)

We were not planning on having lunch today, but then we remembered

Today was sushi day.  We couldn’t resist.  After all, what’s wrong with a few morsels of fish…and we might well need that brain food!

After lunch, it was the Art Class, when we were practising Chinese Brush Painting, ready to tackle the decoration of a fan in some day’s time.  We were advised that, unless we completed these preliminary steps, we would not be able to progress to the real thing as there were only a limited number of fans.  No pressure then!

We were shown how to achieve effects using differing brush pressure, including leaves and flowers.

Having decided that my leaves looked very fish-like, perhaps my fan will have a less botanical theme than the others!

I worked on the fishes and was beginning to get a more consistent result by the end of the class.

Tea time trivia.  Once again, we didn’t listen, did we Jane?  We crossed out Thomas Edison in favour of Henry Ford…and yes, Edison was the correct answer.  No matter.  We had no idea what a noologist studied and neither did we know that a snail’s reproductive organs are in its head.  So, no points again but a good deal of fun and chatter, not to mention a cup of tea and a “floating island” (meringue in vanilla custard….yum)

Tonight we’ll forego the Captain’s welcome drinks in favour of dinner a deux in Signatures, the Cordon Bleu restaurant.  It’s now about 6pm, time to get showered and changed, ready for dinner.  Our butler Abhi just brought us a plate of prawn canapes and there’s an unopened bottle of champagne in the fridge. 

The evening starts here…