LIVE - Zaandam Asia Explorer February 5-19

[rafinmd]

kura, I haven't been able to catch the surname.

 

I woke about 5AM, did the final packing of my big bag, and went for a walk about 7:15 to 8. There is an underground mall walkway between the City Hall complex and the Esplanade; I used that and walked around the convention center area and the Fountain of Wealth. I had been told to have my luggage ready to be picked up by 8. I didn't actually finish preparing my small bag, which I could have carried with me, until 8:30, but the bellman arrived about 9:15. I checked out of the hotel about 9:30. One of the things I did on the internet was register for Fairmont's "President's Club", and a pleasant surprise in checking out was that the enrollment exempted me from the $28 internet fee.

 

My 10AM transfer actually left about 10:25 and got us to the pier about 10:50. Checkin was slow, but I was on board about 12:15 and at the Mariners Luncheon by 12:30.

 

When we arrived we shared the pier with the Superstar Virgo, a ship run by NCL's Asian subsidiary. The Virgo left in early afternoon and was replaced about 5:00pm by the Pacific Venus.

 

The temperature was 80/27 and I did not see rain, although it did threaten several times.

 

Our Cruise Director Michael and Travel Guide Spencer gave an overview of the coming cruise in the Mondriaan Lounge at 3, and the emergency drill was held at 4:15. Enforcement of attendance at the drill has been toughened up following the Costa Concordia incident with 2 passengers warned to either show up for a makeup session or leave the ship. After the drill my room Steward Ketut came by to introduce himself and dropped off my luggage a few minutes later. I had upgraded from an inside room to an oceanview a week before the cruise and had not realized that the head of the bed would be right next to the window. During dinner Ketut separated the beds to twins with an open space in front of the window.

 

I prefer early seating but all that was available in advance was open seating. I have made a request for early fixed seating and hope to get moved Monday, but for tonight I was in open seating . Sailaway was scheduled for 6 and I was stationed at the gangway. The man who was to withdraw it got a call indicating it would be deferred to 7PM, so I went to dinner about 6:15, seated with an international group of 8.

 

There was a single welcome aboard show at 9:30 with introductions of the Explorations team, audience games, and some short numbers by the Zaandam Singers and Dancers. When I was on the Rotterdam 6 months ago, HAL was doing something new in shows with several singers and only 2 female dancers described as "bookends". This cast had 4 singers and 7 dancers, with the male and female dancers working together. I don't know if the "bookend" concept has been abandoned or is still coming to the Zaandam, but I much preferred what I saw last night.

 

I am definitely an early bird rather than a night owl, but I did stop by the Piano Bar for a few minutes on the way back to my room. James has been with HAL for about 2 years and was most recently on the Statendam, remembering a couple in the audience who had sailed with him. While I was there he performed 3 numbers, Paper Moon, Unforgettable and Bright Sunshiny Day.

 

As today's parting shot, I've said earlier that I was last on the Zaandam almost 10 years ago and remember very little about her. I still felt somewhat at home on boarding, not from memories coming back from that trip, but because she is so similar to the Rotterdam. I immediately pretty much knew my way around the ship but have seen 2 significant differences: The presence of an aft lido pool, and the lack of Lanai cabins. With respect to both differences, I prefer the Zaandam.

 

This post comes to you live from the MS Zaandam.

 

Roy

[madera1]

Enjoying reading your posts. Hope you have a great trip.

[rafinmd]

I rose at 5 and completed 5 miles on the Lower Promenade Deck about 7. There are a relatively small number of Americans on board this cruise so the super bowl party was at 7:30 AM in the Wajang Theater. I am not really a football fan and would have watched if events had turned out differently in Boston 2 weeks ago, but stopped in only briefly around 8 and at the end of the game. My cabin is directly under the Wajang Theater and if noise from there was ever going to spill over to my room it would have been when somebody scored in the game but I heard nothing.

 

This morning was pretty busy. Captain van Shoonhoven was the guest on "Good Morning Zaandam" and talked about the process of becoming a Captain and life at sea. Most of the questions he fielded concerned the recent changes to the muster drill and the process is still being tweaked. Immediately afterwards at 10 we had our Cruise Critic meet and mingle in the Crows Nest. About 20 members were present and coffee and cookies were served. Both Michael and the Captain were present. Captain van Shoonhoven now lives in the Philippines. He will go on leave at the end of this voyage and is looking forward to having a short flight home. He reported that he does not like having his sons on the ship as they get spoiled by "600 aunts and uncles and 1400 grandparents". There was also some not so welcome news. Despite it being a 14-day cruise, we do not have a Protestant Chaplain, and the "bookends" are coming to the Zaandam in the fall.

 

In his midday announcement Captain Andre reported a temperature of 81/27 with a possibility of showers.

 

Our travel guide Spencer was under the weather today but gave 2 presentations, one on Ko Samui in the morning and a second on Laem Chebang in the afternoon.

 

 

Shortly before dinner the Captain came on the PA with a message, primarily for crew but also of general interest, about the earthquake in the Philippines. Later information at the evening toast indicated few if any of the crew were seriously affected by the quake; we hope that word does not change. The first formal night had everyone very well dressed in the dining room. I am still in flexible dining; my table of 6 tonight had an excellent dinner.

 

This evening's show was "Love, Broadway" by the Zaandam Singers and Dancers.

Today's parting shot takes me back to the early days of the super bowl. In my younger days I liked to ski and when the super bowl was in the afternoon it was one of the best days of the season for skiing. The lodge would be packed with portable televisions but the slopes would be uncrowded with no lift lines. Having the super bowl in the daytime reminded me of those great ski days. Congratulations to the Giants.

 

This post comes to you live from the MS Zaandam, rather than from the only city in the world (I think) to have won both a Lombardi Trophy and a Gray Cup.

 

Roy

[ScottishMaid]

Hi Roy,

Thanks for the interesting reports,

The Roll Calls were slow on all the Zaandam Asia cruises so I'm not surprised there are few Americans on board.

What nationalities are you meeting? Australians? UK? Dutch? Germans?

On investigating flight times I noted Singapore and Hong Kong are closer to London than LA, let alone the East Coast.

The 14 day cruise was advertized in one of the main UK newspapers as an inclusive package with air and 3 hotel days at either end.

Jill

[RuthC]

There was also some not so welcome news. Despite it being a 14-day cruise, we do not have a Protestant Chaplain, and the "bookends" are coming to the Zaandam in the fall.

Please humor my ignorance (or is it a brain cramp?), but what do you mean by "bookends"?

[jonja]

Hope you have a lovely trip Roy. We are a group of four going on the same trip end of March so will be waiting for your reports with great interest. Bon voyage.

[rafinmd]

RuthC, "bookends" are the name I've seen used occasionally on this forum for the reduced company of 2 dancers.

 

We gained an hour overnight as we entered Thailand. I actually rose about 4:45 and cut my on deck walk to 3 miles (12 laps) finishing about 6:35. While I was in the Lido for breakfast we suddenly lost all power. Power was restored about 10 minutes later and the Captain promised more information on the cause at sailaway[it was a power surge which coincided with cutting back from several engines in sailing mode to just 1 for power while at anchor]. We were cleared at 7:45 for tendering with expected temperatures of 82/28.

 

 

Ko Samui is an island about 20 miles off the eastern Thai coast. The population is about 50,000 and the major industries are fishing and coconut farming. This is my second visit here; the first was on a segment of the Queen Victoria World cruise from Bangkok to Dubai in 2010.

 

My excursion was Saumi Sights. We boarded a local boat for the trip to shore at Na Thon, and were met by our guide Kevin. Most of the tours in Ko Samui were done in small vans, and 8 of us piled into a very nice van which made 3 stops. We first visited a coconut farm where we saw coconuts stripped of their outer layers and processed. The outermost layers are thick but soft fiber and are mostly burned. The inner shell is more rigid and contains the meat on the inside along with a thin fluid. The trees take about 5 years to bear fruit and then have a useful life of about 30 years, producing coconuts year round. We continued on around the island to Ban Hua Thanon, a fishing village where we walked through the local market and came out at another coconut grove. The actual picking of the coconuts is done by trained macaque monkeys. The monkeys climb the trees and twist the coconuts until the torque breaks the stem and the coconut falls to the ground. A good monkey can pick about 8 coconuts per minute. Our final stop was at the Big Buddha on the Northeast corner of the island. This huge statue is about 35 feet tall and sits on a platform about the same height. The gold-colored structure is quite impressive. We had about a half hour here with time for shopping for those who desired it, then returned to the pier about 12:30. I did explore Na Tran a bit but did not find a lot of interest and the sidewalks were narrow, disappearing in many places.

 

This was really the first day the heat got to me, and I got back to the Zaandam about 2:30. I did not have a real lunch today, with snacks at the Big Buddha, on return to the ship, and at afternoon tea.

 

We left Ko Samui behind on schedule at 5 with dinner 45 minutes later, and an evening performance by vocalist Preston Coe.

 

I'm afraid no parting shot tonight; if there was one it would probably be about how tiring tropical heat can be.

 

This post comes to you live from the Zaandam.

 

Roy

[hal lover]

Thanks so much for your live posts. I feel like I'm there! Enjoy! I always liked the Zaandam.

[RuthC]

RuthC, "bookends" are the name I've seen used occasionally on this forum for the reduced company of 2 dancers.

Thanks for the explanation. The fewer number of dancers was part of the Showroom at Sea on a Veendam cruise. I liked the performances very much. The calibre of the singers, and the composition of the show, were so much better than formerly.

 

I liked reading about your port today. This is an area of the world I am sure I will never visit.

I agree so much with your observation about how tiring it is to tour in the heat, which is one of the reasons I won't visit there! :D

[Raring to go]

Enjoying this....we board the Zaandam in Hong Kong on March 4th and do the itinerary in reverse!

 

Do you know the surname of Michael the CD?

 

Will be following this with great interest!

 

 

We just got off of the Zaandam on February 5th. What a great trip! The CD's surname is Headla.

[kura]

We just got off of the Zaandam on February 5th. What a great trip! The CD's surname is Headla.

 

Thank you for that...

Did you enjoy the cruise?

[Raring to go]

Thank you for that...

Did you enjoy the cruise?

 

It was a wonderful cruise. The ship definitely shows that it will be going into dry dock soon, but we took the trip for the itenary, not for the ship. Food, shows and service were excellent. We had a fire alarm go off in the laundry, some shipwide plumbing problems (nothing happened when you flushed, but no problem...it would flush 5 minutes later) and 5 passengers and 3 crew develop stomach problems from eating street food in Viet Nam, but those kind of things just happen some time, and the Zaandam handled the situations very well.

[erewhon]

Roy,

 

Thank you for your live reports, which I am enjoying reading.

Was also curious about the term "bookends".

Was the Saumi excursion a 4 hour tour? Did you take bottled water with you?

[IRL_Joanie]

I may have come in late to the cruise Roy, But I made it!! I was going to email you and ask when you took the photos you sent me yesterday, but now I know!! I will get those up tomorrow!!

 

I am so excited for you and so green with envy that you are doing such a glorious cruise!!

 

My friend, you stay safe and have a wonderful time!!

 

I am going to be glued to your thread until you get home and give us the final review:)

 

Joanie

[JCruisepal]

Hi Roy

Enjoying reading your threads. Sounds like you had a tiring day

 

Do you know if there was there anywhere local to get to when the ship docked at Ko Samui?

My friend and I are planning to do our own thing when we arrive and just wondered what to expect. How near to local beaches etc

 

Were there plenty of taxis available.

 

Did you have to use tenders from ship to port? Was this very time consuming?

Regards

Jane

[rafinmd]

Hi Roy

Enjoying reading your threads. Sounds like you had a tiring day

 

Do you know if there was there anywhere local to get to when the ship docked at Ko Samui?

My friend and I are planning to do our own thing when we arrive and just wondered what to expect. How near to local beaches etc

 

Were there plenty of taxis available.

 

Did you have to use tenders from ship to port? Was this very time consuming?

Regards

Jane

 

It seems to me there "taxis" available and beaches within easy reach, but I'm not 100% sure. If Spencer is still your travel guide you have great advice there.

 

I will be slow responding to your posts. With satellite internet I don't spend much time looking at the thread live, but get a daily email subscription. Cruise Critic sends me this about 3AM Eastern time, but that becomes mid-afternoon here so I don't typically see comments until the next day. If I can respond without thought in a few words I will, but usually there will be a 24-48 hour delay. Rather than the usual Cruise Critic format for quotes they will likely look something like this:

 

Posted by: ScottishMaid

On: February 6th, 2012 10:11 AM

 

Hi Roy,

Thanks for the interesting reports,

The Roll Calls were slow on all the Zaandam Asia cruises so I'm not surprised there are few Americans on board.

What nationalities are you meeting? Australians? UK? Dutch? Germans?

On investigating flight times I noted Singapore and Hong Kong are closer to London than LA, let alone the East Coast.

The 14 day cruise was advertized in one of the main UK newspapers as an inclusive package with air and 3 hotel days at either end.

Jill

************

 

There are a lot of Aussies, Kiwis, a fair number from the UK, a number of Asians (I think mostly Singapore and Hong Kong), and there seems to be a group from perhaps Russia. There’s a big note board with something that looks to me like their characters.

 

 

 

Posted by: RuthC

On: February 7th, 2012 10:54 AM

 

 

---Quote (Originally by rafinmd)---

RuthC, "bookends" are the name I've seen used occasionally on this forum for the reduced company of 2 dancers.

---End Quote---

Thanks for the explanation. The fewer number of dancers was part of the Showroom at Sea on a Veendam cruise. I liked the performances very much. The calibre of the singers, and the composition of the show, were so much better than formerly.

 

I liked reading about your port today. This is an area of the world I am sure I will never visit.

I agree so much with your observation about how tiring it is to tour in the heat, which is one of the reasons I won't visit there! :D

************

 

RuthC, I'm finding that as I get older my tolerance for heat is decreasing so I want to see this part of the world before that gets any worse. I skipped the parting shot yesterday, but thought one from my Queen Victoria world cruise segment might bear repeating. To set the stage, the itinerary was Bangkok to Dubai, and I combined it with a crossing from LA to Sydney on the Crystal Symphony just 3 days earlier, so I still enjoyed the service but there was a rather sudden culture shock. I said then:

 

Today's parting shot has it's origins in the Britannia Dining Room. I have 2 tablemates who admittedly are fans of Oceania Cruises. They don't like dressing up for dinner, and it seems to them that Cunard can do nothing right. The first night they complained constantly, and they did have some legitimate concerns, but when they were quickly corrected the complaints became a constant "well, they should have done it the other way from the start". I hate to say this, but I was not disappointed that they rarely showed up for dinner. This negativity was the last thing I needed while making the adjustment from spectacular service on Crystal to excellent/superb service from Cunard. If you have spectacular service, revel in the ecstasy. Given superb service savor the splendor. If the service is excellent cherish the glory. If it is good love the experience. If less than good, I think I agree with Capnpugwash that a poor day at sailing beats a good day ashore, but have limited experience to make that comparison. I think I first heard this from Harry Morgan as Col. Potter on MASH, but it could easily have been Casey Stengell: "If you aren't where you are, you're nowhere".

 

Roy

 

 

Posted by: Raring to go

On: February 7th, 2012 01:52 PM

 

 

---Quote (Originally by kura)---

Enjoying this....we board the Zaandam in Hong Kong on March 4th and do the itinerary in reverse!

 

Do you know the surname of Michael the CD?

 

Will be following this with great interest!

---End Quote---

 

 

We just got off of the Zaandam on February 5th. What a great trip! The CD's surname is Headla.

************

Thanks

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=32327082#post32327082

Posted by: kura

On: February 7th, 2012 04:01 PM

 

 

---Quote (Originally by Raring to go)---

We just got off of the Zaandam on February 5th. What a great trip! The CD's surname is Headla.

---End Quote---

 

Thanks, Kura. I was going to say "something like Hebler", so I'm glad you got the correct information. Our travel guide Spencer was under the weather Monday so we saw recordings of the talks he gave you on Thailand.

 

I have uploaded video of the monkeys harvesting coconuts on Ko Samui. It’s here:

 

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

I was up about 4:45 and completed my 3 miles about 6. I missed sunrise, which I think was enshrouded in haze anyway, but there was a beautiful full moon while I was walking. We pulled into Laem Chebang about 7:30 and the ship was cleared about 8:15. This is the Gateway to Bangkok, but it is about 2 hours away by bus. The port itself is a very busy container port with just a lonely terminal building in the midst of all the cranes. Since I stayed in Bangkok 2 years ago before the Queen Victoria, this time I am touring in the local area. Tomorrow I will visit a tiger zoo, but today's tour is "A day in the Thai countryside".

 

I had trouble understanding Pop. I think part of the problem was a poor sound system on the bus, but also his diction was nowhere near as good as Kevin’s. We made several stops, first visiting a shop where artisans were carving marble. The person we saw was making mortars for mortar and pestle sets. Pop said he could do 4 an hour making 10 baht on each one, of 400 baht in a 10-hour day (USD13), relatively good wages in Thailand.

 

We visited a market where fishermen had stalls on the pier to sell their fresh catch, drove through a beach resort, and had lunch at a nice hotel on the beach. In the afternoon we stopped at a Buddhist temple presented to Thailand by Chinese Buddhists in the 1990's, and stopped at Chee-Jan Mountain where a Buddha outline was carved into the side of the mountain. We had a mid-afternoon refreshment stop before the obligatory shopping stop at a gem gallery and returned to the Zaandam just after 6.

 

Rather tired, I chose not to dine with others tonight, and the service in the Rotterdam dining room was quite prompt. With many guests having long tour days, and more spending the night in Bangkok, this evening’s entertainment was the movie “Bitter/Sweet” which I was happy to pass up.

 

Today’s parting shot is in solidarity with the many crew people from the Philippines. From the little I’ve seen, the quake could have been much worse than appears to be the case. May the death toll stay fairly low and survivors be quickly rescued.

 

Wifi is cheap here in the terminal but it's terrible. I may be better off using it from the ship

 

Roy

[kura]

......If Spencer is still your travel guide you have great advice there.

 

We had a "Spencer' as travel guide last year on the Veendam up the Amazon...do hope it is the same one as he was excellent.

[rafinmd]

......If Spencer is still your travel guide you have great advice there.

 

We had a "Spencer' as travel guide last year on the Veendam up the Amazon...do hope it is the same one as he was excellent.

 

I don't know if this helps or not, but it's Spencer Brown./

 

Roy

[ScottishMaid]

The Spencer we had two years ago on the Veendam San Diego to Cape Horn was a young guy from Victoria Canada. He had been hired for the Alaska season for his wildlife and glacier knowledge and they kept him on the ship. He had never been to South America so was under tremendous pressure to make the presentations for every port.

He was so nice and it turned out that one of our CC members had been his teacher in elementary school.

So glad he is still employed and well regarded by the passengers.

[kura]

 

I don't know if this helps or not, but it's Spencer Brown./

 

Roy

 

 

Thanks. YES! I just looked up the "Explorers" I kept from the ship and one of them had an article on him and it is Spencer Brown....do hope he will still be on on the 4th March cruise!

[rafinmd]

When at port I usually prefer to walk ashore rather than the Promenade deck, but the facilities at Laem Chebang don’t really support that and it was back on the Promenade deck. I finished 3 miles about 6:30 and then went to breakfast.

 

My tour today was “Tiger Zoo”. This is a bit of a misnomer as they feature a number of animals and it’s as much a theme park as a zoo. We arrived a little after 9 and had just over an hour of free time before the shows started. The primary animals they have are pigs, elephants, crocodiles, and of course tigers. There are opportunities to have pictures taken with the animals and to feed them, but what I found most interesting was their success with mixing the animals. In one room a large sow was lying down nursing 2 piglets and 2 tiger cubs, while in another a tiger was watching over other piglets.

 

http://zaandamasia.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/tigerzoo.pdf

 

At 10:30 the shows began. The crocodile show was first, with trainers putting their hands and heads into the animals open mouths. I found it daring and unusual but not all that entertaining. The tiger show was next but actually started with some displays by the pigs, which seem to be fairly intelligent. In one case there were 4 colored boxes and 4 dowels, and a pig quite quickly picked up the dowels and placed them quickly in the appropriately colored boxes. The tiger portion of the show was pretty much what was expected with tigers mostly jumping through hoops, sometimes flaming. As most days the temperature was about 80/27 with high humidity. The shaded theaters tended to be welcome resting places but the tiger theater was more enclosed and the heat buildup was more noticeable.

 

The final performance was the elephant show. The elephants did some unexpected things like walking across a pair of stretched cables (2-3 feet apart) for a distance of about 75 feet, and a nice display of dart throwing with their trunks.

 

We returned to the ship about 1PM, just after the dining room closed but at a good time for lunch on the lido deck. All aboard was 3:30 and Spencer gave his talk on Cambodia at 4.

 

The evening’s entertainment was Pingxin Xu on the hammer dulcimer. The instrument looks a bit like a xylophone and sounds a lot like a banjo. Unfortunately, I fell asleep after dinner and only rushed to the theater for about the last 3 numbers after waking up.

 

Today’s parting shot goes back to the tiger zoo, and I’m afraid I just about lost my cool with one of my fellow cruisers. I kind of heard somebody complaining about the shop not accepting US dollars and paid little attention until he got closer to me and said something like “Do you speak English? Can you believe they won’t take US dollars?” as if there was something I was supposed to do about it. Somewhat dumbfounded, my only reply was “Well of course we are not in the US”. I think if his attitude was different I might have been moved to offer to exchange a bit of money but it just didn’t seem right. It’s great that most merchants will take out money but I can just imagine the response if someone walked into one of our stores and offered 80 baht for a coke. This was our 3rd day in Thailand; it seems only reasonable to have a bit of local currency on hand or to accept the limitations not having it involves. This was not my day. A few minutes later I bought tea and stopped at a table. I was almost finished when a couple (not from the ship) asked if they could also sit at the table. I said fine, but did not feel so fine when a few seconds later without any more words they each pulled out a pack of cigarettes. We often have great arguments about smoking on the ships, but here again most of the smoking issues I see seem to come up on shore, outside the cruise lines’ span of control.

 

This post comes to you live from the MS Zaandam

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Posted by: Raring to go

On: February 7th, 2012 01:52 PM

 

 

---Quote (Originally by kura)---

Enjoying this....we board the Zaandam in Hong Kong on March 4th and do the itinerary in reverse!

 

Do you know the surname of Michael the CD?

 

Will be following this with great interest!

---End Quote---

 

 

We just got off of the Zaandam on February 5th. What a great trip! The CD's surname is Headla.

************

 

Michael Hedla's biography appears on the cover page of the current Explorer. It is (or very soon will be) posted here:

 

http://zaandamasia.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/explorer11.pdf

 

Like the last several days, I rose about 5 and completed 3 miles on the Promenade Deck about 6:30. We pulled into the dock at Sihanoukville about 7:15, across the pier from the Seabourn Pride. My tour, Sihanoukville and environs, was scheduled for 8:30 and we were cleared for disembarkation just as I was making my way to the Mondriaan Lounge.

 

Up to now the ports (Singapore, Ko Samui, and Laem Chebang) have all been repeats from my Queen Victoria voyage. Today marks the beginning of ports I see the first time; I will not see familiar territory again until my plane lands in Chicago. This day brings a revitalized sense of adventure.

 

Cambodia has a rich history but it has been seriously scarred by about a 30 year period of terror under the reign of Pol Pot. Over the course of his reign millions of people were slaughtered including most of the country's professionals as he tried to bring the country to a strict agricultural economy.

 

Our guide was Virak. His english was strained but he generally got his points across. He took us first to the Intra Ngean Pagoda where about 150 monks live and study among a number of small buildings for cremains and a fairly large temple. We went on to Ochheuteal Beach, a lovely but crowded beach resort where we were treated to welcome beverages. The area has a lot of lovely beach resorts, but they seem to be extremely commercialized.

 

We visited the central market. It is very large with hundreds of stalls selling everything from food to clothing to building materials. The smell was rather strong and I walked around a bit more of the downtown area, passing a primary school just as it was getting out. We made a final stop at a fishing settlement near the pier. Sihanoukville has a population of about 90,000, including just under 1000 families in the fishing business. These small boats go out daily about 5pm and come back early the following morning. We returned to the ship in time for lunch.

 

I took an early afternoon walk out of the marina. There were a number of shops and restaurants right outside the waterfront but none grabbed my interest and the heat and humidity were getting pretty oppressive, although the actual temperature was only about 82/28. Afternoon tea with a nice scone revived my body and spirits.

 

All aboard was at 4:30 and everyone (aside from those doing the overland Ankor Wat adventure) was onboard promptly. We pulled away just before 5, exchanging several horn salutes with the Seabourn Pride.

 

I had a wonderful Cornish Game hen and Tiramisu for dinner followed by the vocal stylings of Annie Francis in the Mondriaan Lounge.

 

Today's parting shot comes from a sign on the Monks' residence at the Intra Ngean Pagoda, "A peaceful community makes a peaceful nation and a peaceful nation makes a peaceful world". So may it be.

 

Roy

[kura]

I look forward to your post every day.....thanks for posting the Daily Explorer...gives us more to look forward to! Your CD is not the Micheal I was thinking of....I think the Michael I was thinking of was actually a DJ.

[kazu]

Thanks so much for your reports Roy. I always enjoy following them :)

 

Totally hear you on people not having local currency. I always find it amazing when people expect to use their own currency in other countries.