Kaohsiung, Taiwan:
















Quail eggs, I think.

A long day in Hoi Ann yesterday but it is very pretty. The river running through the town and all the flowers and old boats. We stopped in our free time and had a passion fruit sorbet and sat on little stools outside the tiny sorbet store. So of course many girls came up to us selling small items. We caved they have such darling faces and we bought some gifts for the children of the wonderful staff at Mala Mala. Planning on taking a big package of goodies for their children on Hippo and will do it every year. We go there so often and Petunia and all the ladies there are so wonderful. I am sure everyone that has been to Mala Mala will agree. it was quite fun. One girl sent her husband on his scooter to pick up more of one the items. They certainly are industrious. We had only a few minutes left before having to leave and he made it back in time.
It got hot later in the day and that always makes you tired but it was worth it for sure

Last night our "dates" cancelled (exhausted after a very long tour) and we managed to change dates with them to go another night. So at 6.30 pm we were on our own for dinner. Lots of confusion - not used to that. Should we veg out in the cabin, should we go to the French Buffet in La Veranda, should we try to get into Prime 7. What to do! It was quite fun. Last time that happened was on the Navigator in very rough seas where Prime 7 is on the high deck. We got in and only one other table that night. So we decided on a repeat performance at Prime 7 for our date night. We were able to get in at 6.30 pm if we had just two courses so the table would release for a second seating. Fine with us. We ordered immediately and finished about 7.30 pm. Perfect. Then we put on a movie and had a very relaxing night on very full tummies.

Today we are vegging out and not doing anything on our last day in Da Nang - or kind of vegging. With the heavy bookings on the Explorer I have been on email for the last 4 hours. Ken is booking air but the internet is super fast and "life is good".

Again a perfectly beautiful day! No wind, clear skies these last two segments amazing weather. Tomorrow NHA Trang not sure we have been there before.

Ha Long Bay:








Ralph & June.








The boats were gathering to look at a rock formation.


Lots of photos taken.


Everyone was look at this rock called "Two Chickens Kissing".

KLT Cocktail Party:


Olivia, Bert, Mitch, Dave, Barbara & Alex.


Ngaire, Captain Felice & Barbara.

Beautiful scenery and happy faces - made my day!

Great photos...love the chickens kissing haha. Olivia looks as beautiful as ever. Glad everyone is happy and you & Ken had a nice date night dinner.

Love the photos. Ha Long Bay is one of my bucket list destinations, so wish we were here.

Great day in Nha Trang. Never been here before. The town is all about tourism. No factories here. Beautiful tourist type harbor where we docked. Clear water and a buzz of activity with all types of boats.

We did the one hour pedicab ride. Loved it. We went around the new shiny tourist areas with the big hotels and also around the local areas. Beach was lovely white sand and clean. Very interesting.

Great guide who told us what NOT to buy in the market. I am shopped out now with the markets however I did buy a pair of shoes. The guide told us Americans do not buy much but the Russians are big spenders.

The group that did a private tour enjoyed their morning and they took a boat ride.

Tomorrow Saigon. Hopefully Ken will get to post some pictures

Ken is behind with pictures seems to be busy all the time.

Today we arrived in Saigon at noon. Ken, June, Ralph and I took the 12.30 shuttle to town. It was really hot about 95 degrees and humid. We walked for three hours total we were whipped.

I was on a mission to buy a traditional Vietnamese dress. We hit a few silk shops some stunning clothing but a little too formal for me. The local representative on the ship gave me an address of a shop to visit. So we grabbed a taxi (metered) to go to this address. When we got there it was a small tailor shop. No ready to wear clothing. Only cost us $5 to get there but we were well out of the main tourist area.

Across the road we saw a dress shop. They usually only take Vietnamese money not used to tourists I guess. Their young teenage daughter was there and I think she explained it was okay to take US$ and figured pricing for them. June hit the jackpot. Two lovely dresses for $46 total. Ralph gave them $50 and said “that’s fine” The mother could not accept that she wanted to give change. We kept saying it was okay and the daughter was explaining but she kept digging in her pocket for money to give Ralph. Talk about honesty really refreshing to see.

We got a $5 taxi ride back to the shuttle bus stop. Had an hour to kill so went down a different street. Then we both hit the jackpot. I bought two Vietnamese style gowns with the slit down the side and long pants underneath. June bought a dress and jacket. These were higher priced but still okay and they are tailoring them for us to fit better and we will pick them up tomorrow. Trying on clothes when you are hot and sweaty in a non air conditioned shop is not a fun pastime for sure. But I think the effort will be well worth the trouble.

We were very tired but happy campers. June came into dinner sporting one of her $25 dresses, it looked great.

I want to see a picture of the dresses.

Okay Rachel will do that today after we pick them up.

Picked up our dresses. One is a little tight but I am a little bigger right now. Will lose that extra weight and it should fit perfectly. Missed the shuttle bus back so we got a taxi back. It is a LONG WAY but we were hot and did not want to wait. Total cost $20 US we added a tip for $5 and he was very happy. Between the four of us incredibly cheap it takes 45 minutes!!

Ngaire and Risky in Compass Rose:

Hoi An & Da Nang, Vietnam


The Japanese Bridge.






China Beach.


Another Marble Factory.

Nha Trang, Vietnam:


Pedicab Tour.








An Amusement Park across from the Voyager.

June and Ngaire show off their new dresses bought in Saigon. Bagus is our waiter for dinner in Compass Rose.

The sisters look great in their beautiful new dresses.

The dresses are beautiful. Love that fabric. Of course, you both always look lovely.

Beautiful!

What a day in Singapore. June and Ralph joined us on this tour.

We took a tour that started with a 30 minute riverboat ride that was nice and an overview of Marina Bay Area. Then a short time on the bus to the trishaw park. Here we boarded a trishaw. A bicycle with a two person cab on the side. We took a ride through Little India THAT WAS FUN. Both tours were just the right amount of time. Then on the bus for a short ride to the Marina Bay Hotel where we to the top of the hotel to the viewing deck and a fantastic view of Singapore. The series Planet Earth Two had a whole segment on this hotel and the Bay Gardens next to the hotel. Our guide was absolutely fantastic. All kinds of information that was very interesting with perfect English.

We left the tour and checked out the hotel. We stopped and had a pizza in the hotel mall that was excellent. Then we took about a ten minute walk to the Bay Gardens. Pretty quickly we were HOT. The next stop was the Cloud Forest Pavillion. Instant cool when we stepped inside, it felt great. This was an amazing thing to see. Orchids of every possible color, size and all types of hybrids and a tropical paradise. All complete with a waterfall. We all loved it.

A taxi back to the ship was just $12. I have a new drink I discovered “mango colada” (that’s tastes like crushed up iced mango) delivered to the room. Tonight Prime 7 to look forward.

LIFE IS GOOD.

Sounds like a great day. Guess your trip is winding down soon, so happy it's been such a fun one. Thanks for sharing your adventures and Ken's always terrific photos.

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam:


The Post Office.


Inside the Post Office.




Family photo. The little one in the back was actually drinking from a bottle.


Pool Deck BBQ Dinner.

Sad time for us we have to leave. Really enjoyed this cruise, some new ports for us, not all great but still new so adding to our experiences. The two groups have been terrific. I missed the first segment people, keep looking around for them but they were gone! Still the second group was great also. We have a final lunch and then head off to Bangkok airport for our flight home.

Not great on trivia on these two trips but we had a few wins and a few places seemed to miss by one each time. Still a ton of fun.

Still a great event happened in the game department. Barbara (sister of Helen) beat me and June at speed scrabble on the super scrabble board. Those of you who don't know we are both good at scrabble, been playing since we were kids Not showing off with that comment it is just a fact. Most people play with us once and not again. We use an over-sized board with some advanced scrabble rules that takes some time to catch on to and really use to a players advantage. Barbara played with us just twice and beat us. That was fantastic. Now we need to get sister Helen and Barbara and the two of us on a cruise and have a scrabble tournament. BRAVO BARBARA

Ha! You guys are TOUGH. You know that is all about coming from a big family where there was always someone to play games with. Would love to have sister tournament one day! Safe trip home
—————-
Helen

That is indeed a great feat, Barbara! Miss you and Fred and sorry Alice and I had to cancel this cruise.

I second Kim's post. Beating Ngaire AND June is quite an accomplishment as those two are expert scrabble players!

I am too chicken to play scrabble with Ngaire and Joan. Kudos to Barbara.

I am a happy camper. Sitting in the Cathay Pacific Lounge. Why am I so happy, let me count the ways. Fresh squeezed orange juice, lavender carrots, margarita pizza with ham and extra mozzarella, Italian panini perfectly heated, pork drumsticks, fantastic fresh fruit and MORE. I went back about three times for pizza. The girl behind the counter said let me make you a full pizza anyway you like. They also have a full noodle restaurant made to order. This is some kind of lounge. Speed lighting internet too. Could stay here all day quite happily. I seldom like the meals on the planes but now could not care less about to airline lunch.