February 7th 2010
Another wonderful sea day, where Bob only lost his guidebook
We had an extra hour of sleep today as we turned the clocks back for a change. I decided to miss breakfast and lie in bed watching the waves for a while, and then in a burst of energy headed up to the deck 11 sun terrace and established myself in the shade, not too far from the hot tub. I spent the whole day there, only moving to get in and out of the hot tub, or to motion to the waiter that I needed another drink. Brian joined me later, and went up to the Boardwalk Café to bring us lunch. The hot tub was perfect, and laying there the only choices I had to make were whether to order a cider or a Pina Colada, The water has been very calm again, and there is still no motion on the boat. The only excitement of the afternoon was at the pool on deck 8. I had been sitting in the hot tub listening to Vibz playing there, when all of a sudden one of the passengers got up and sang a very untuneful rendition of La Bamba, and at the end both she and the keyboard player jumped into the pool. Everyone seemed to be quite stunned by the episode, not the usual thing that happens on board. Eventually late in the afternoon I went to the Pursers’ desk to get our passports, so we can fly to Cambodia tomorrow. I heard one of the Pursers saying to a guest that he was very sorry but no one had turned the book in yet, and I looked around, and there was Bob in search of his lost guidebook! Yes, a day has not gone by without something going astray! It was another formal evening tonight, and for the most part everyone looked great. No one in a kilt thought which was disappointing. The show tonight was an Elton John impersonator who did a fabulous job, and even had everyone up and dancing on the stage, and we really are a ship of old fuddy duddies so that was quite impressive!
I am looking forward to our trip to Cambodia tomorrow, but I must admit I do hate the thought of leaving the ship, even for just 2 nights!
February 6th, 2010
The day I had a Singapore Sling at Raffles, and saw more Temples, and Bob lost his wallet
The view from our cabin this morning was of hundreds and hundreds of cars parked on the dock at the container port in Singapore. Queen Mary2 is too big to dock at the cruise terminal, so we had to take a free shuttle bus from the ship to the terminal. The port is so huge, that it was a half hour drive to get to the cruise terminal, it was amazing. There were stacks and stacks of containers being loaded and off loaded from the huge container ships, and even though it was Saturday, the port was very busy. There was great shopping mall at the terminal, and Bob was able to buy a camera. There was also a small supermarket and pharmacy there, very convenient if we had needed to stock up on groceries. Bob wanted to spend some time at the Botanic Garden, and we wanted to go to China Town, so we headed our separate ways. We took the underground train to China Town and had a great time wandering around the market there, which was very brightly decorated for the New Year. We did some shopping and then stopped in at the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. The monks were chanting away when we got there, so it was ll very moving. The actual relic is in a very ornate set up on the 4th floor. You cannot actually see the tooth in the case, but it is projected on a TV screen, Brian pointed out that it didn’t look much like a human tooth, but that doesn’t really matter, I believe that it is. We then wandered into the Jamae Chulia Mosque, where we were stopped by a gentleman who seemed compelled to explain the tenets of Islam to us. He was very pleasant, and after quite a long discussion we continued on our way to the Hindu Temple, which was being renovated, so we couldn’t see much, and then we ended up at the Thian Hock Keng Temple, the oldest in Singapore. It was another wonderful temple, but we couldn’t linger too long as we were meeting up with Bob and his friend from the past, Kee Leng, at the Long Bar at Raffles. Well we were there on time, and so was Kee Leng, but Bob arrived an hour late. We had a wonderful time sitting there drinking Singapore Slings and enjoying the ambience of the hotel. Bob was hungry so we went to the Empire Café at the hotel where we had delicious Peranakan cuisine. It was there that Bob realized that he had lost his wallet, and we returned to the bar, but it was nowhere to be found. We just had time for a quick stop on the waterfront, and got to see the Merlion Statue/fountain, before Kee Leng took us back to the Cruise Terminal, where we caught the last bus back to the ship. Our departure was delayed as a couple of people didn’t turn their passports into the pursers desk, so we only sailed at night, so missed a good view of Singapore as we left. Dinner was superb as usual – and our three tablemates were still on dessert when we got there so we got to chat with them, and update them on Bob’s daily loss.
February 5th 2010
A hot day in KL where Bob lost his camera
We had decided to do a tour of Kuala Lumpur with Richard and Sandra and a bunch of other Cruise Critic people. We all met by the piano on deck 2 and disembarked by the B stairwell as directed. Half of our group disembarked, and then the Costa Allegra arrived on the other side of the dock, so we were asked to wait a few minutes while they secured her. Well, half an hour later we were told that we would have to all get on board again, and leave by another stairwell. By this time there were queues of people trying to get off so it took another 45 minutes by the time we could finally join our group. Our first stop was the Batu Caves. It was really, really hot, and very crowded, so the 272 steps up to the caves was quite a challenge, as was avoiding the macaque monkeys, who Bob was convinced were mesmerizing him. Next we went to the Petronas Towers, and then to the Thean Hou Temple, where Bob seems to have lost his camera. We stopped by the Masjid Negara Mosque and Independence Square, and after a bit of shopping at a night market we headed back to the ship, getting back in good time, despite everyone’s concerns that we were running late.
February 4th, 2010
Penang, where Bob lost his money
It was another very hot and steamy day, so we decided to minimize our walking and found ourselves a taxi driver soon after leaving the ship, and he was happy to drive us around all day. Our first stop had to be the Kek Lok Si Temple. I remember it from our last trip to Penang, and it was as wonderful as I remembered it, but even better in many ways as they were decorating the whole temple area in preparation for the Chinese New Year, so there was a profusion of red everywhere, and loads and loads of flowers. We wandered down between the little shops back to the car, and headed to the Botanic Gardens. As it was so hot, Brian and I decided to take the tram tour around the gardens, leaving Bob shopping in the conservatory. On returning from our tram ride we were greeted by Bob who had lost his envelope containing $100, so we searched the cab, but it was nowhere to be found. He did manage to buy a whole bunch of plants, which are now gracing our balcony as he has an inside cabin, and I am expecting them to blow overboard at any minute. We also visited a Thai and a Burmese Temple; the Thai one had a huge reclining Buddha, the first reclining Buddha of the trip. We finished off at one of the Chinese Clan Houses, which was also fascinating, and headed back to the ship for fluid replacement, and watched us sail away from the peace and quiet of our balcony.
February 3rd, 2010
Phuket for the day, where our tender got stuck so I thought we might have to stay there.
Phuket was a tender stop, and I thought it would take us hours to get ashore as the people on tours were getting off first, but with not too much of a wait, we were soon on our way ashore. We were greeted by scores of taxi drivers, which was all quite overwhelming, but picked one at random, who turned out to be a good choice, and off we set to explore the island. Our first stop had to be the Temple with a bit of Buddha bone relic in it. It was exciting enough to see the relic, but the Temple itself was also very beautiful. We then drove to Phuket Town and our driver showed us around and then took us up the hill so we could get a good view of the island. There was a little restaurant on the top of the hill, so as it was lunchtime we took a break and relaxed, and had a wonderful meal overlooking the view. We then headed off to see the half buried Buddha on the north of the island, and back to Patong where we were anchored. After doing a bit of shopping, we caught the almost last tender back to the boat. We were pleased to get seats on the top and settled in to take some great photos of the ship in the evening light, when we snagged something with our propeller, and spent the next hour bobbing around in the ever-increasing darkness whilst everyone seemed to have an opinion as to how to rectify the situation. Eventually they were able to cleat the propeller, and we chugged back to the ship, and once we were on board, we set sail for Penang.
February 2nd 2010
A wonderful day at sea where I try out the hot tub and get very sunburned
The constant time change is getting to be a problem First we lost an hour when we left Dubai, then we lost another half hour, followed by yet another half hour, and then another hour again last night. I now have no idea where we are in space and time. When you are at sea it really doesn’t matter. I can see how it could be a problem in port if you get an hour off and then miss the boat. Today I think I am on the right time tho’.
I decided to miss breakfast, and headed to the library to check my e-mail. Previously we had been at the front of the ship, so it was very convenient for the library and Commodore Club. This time we are right near the back, and although it certainly is a hike to the library (and launderette), I think I prefer it. First we are not looking over a lifeboat, and can see directly down to the Promenade Deck and the water. Next, I have discovered the C stairwell. We had always used A, B and D, so C has been an exciting find. There are no problems getting a lift as soon as you push the button, and the paintings inside the lifts of the ships (especially Queen Elizabeth and QE2) are fantastic. I just love being there! We are also right near the D stairwell, so that is convenient for dinner, and the hot tub on deck 11.
E-mail seemed to be working a bit better today, and I was finally able to upload the QM2/QE2 video to You Tube. I converted the movie to an m4v, whatever that is, but it seems to have uploaded;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0oyBE-tCMQ
. I listened to the movie again – I do love that sound of the QE2, there is nothing else like her!
Then I lay in the sun and in the hot tub on deck 11, and got quite sunburned alas! Still, watching the wake from the hot tub is an amazing experience, and I was having a good time. We met Bob in the Golden Lion for lunch (Strongbow and fish and chips) and I went to the Platinum wine tasting, meeting up with Cruise Critic friends there. There were no buckets to spit the wine out into, so 6 glasses later I retired back to the cabin for a nap.
The food at dinner was spectacular again, and the service superb. The restaurant itself is growing on me, although I am still not sure I enjoy staring out onto the Promenade Deck, the PG restaurants on the QE2 and Queen Victoria are just so much nicer.
