Day 13 Singapore - 9 January 2019

Disembarkation was a breeze. From the time that we had to meet in the Casino (8am) till the time we were climbing into the taxi was only 20 minutes. 

We are staying at the Oasia Downtown and had a very pleasant surprise when we checked in, in fact two pleasant surprises. The first was that out room was ready for us at 8:45 in the morning and that we were club status which means we are on a special club floor with access to the club lounge. 

Oasia Hotel

Oasia is situated just a 10 minute walk from China Town and about 4 minutes to the MRT (subway and not the sandwich kind). Our room has a great view across the city and the bathroom has smokey one way glass doors so that you can look out across to the skyline from the baths and the toilet. The club lounge has its own 25 meter infinity pool with loungers next to or in the water and cabanas if you want a snuggle (far to hot for that sort of carry on). The area is covered so that you can get out of the sun or close to the edge there is a sunny spot. I am lying on a lounger as I type this, after haveing a refreshing swim. I don't know how they keep the water so cool, usually at this temperature the water is like soup. Another great bonus is that children are 'discouraged' from using this area. Now I do like children, heck I work with them every day. But I have just had 11 days on a ship surrounded by kids so this is a little light relief. 

View from the toilet

The pool overlooking the city. 

This morning we had breakfast in the club lounge and it was had some great options; I particularly enjoyed the freshly mashed avocado on sour dough and a green tea steam bun filled with coconut jam. 

Back to day 13; after sorting our stuff we headed out to explore. Singapore is such an easy city to get around, it s very organised and the public transport is great. Our first stop though was by taxi as we had organised a visit to the tailor to get a couple of things made. It was extremely expensive even after Lance had bartering with him so we got less than what we had intended. I guess we had the extremely cheap tailoring that we had experienced in Vietnam in our heads. 

Back in the Orchard Central Food Hall we had chicken and rice which was a welcome soothing meal for my poor old foo foo valve that was still playing up (medication has been taken). Then we headed to the MRT lining up at the machine to purchase tickets and holding everyone up because we had no idea what to do. Luckily we spotted a ticket office and now have in our possession 3 day tourist passes, and have become pretty expert in the art of jumping on and off trains, changing platforms and going in the right direction. Whizzing under the city we arrived at the cable car ticket office and promptly climbed aboard. What a great thing to do! And what a fantastic view of all that Sentosa has to offer. The screams from the water slide came right up into our capsule! We hadn't planned to take in any of the attractions and just had a look around with sweat running into our eyes. Hopping on one of the free island buses we alighted at Resort World where we got ourselves a couple of Hard Rock shirts and a coffee. The coffee was okay but $17 for two coffees, nothing fancy about them, was pretty steep. 

Back on the main land we headed home to recharge before heading off to the Zoo for the night safari. I really love a good zoo but Lance is not that keen. So it was a compromise a night safari. This way we thought that it would be something different and not as hot. The route was planned with the MRT with one interchange and then a bus. All this was to happen at 5:30pm which was rush hour. The MRT went extremely well and I even got a seat for the longest part of the journey and then we got off at Yio Chu Kang where we were meant to get bus 927 to the zoo. There was no bus 927. So we waited at the taxi stand and after quite a wait we jumped in with a lovely gent who promptly told us he didn't know the way as it was his second day on the job and that he was 72 years old. We had a lovely conversation but his driving was terrible! He was doing 40 kilometres on the motorway and traffic was banking up behind us. He kept picking his phone up and looking at the map. As we neared the zoo he made a wrong turn and we were back on the motorway again; he was very apologetic and we felt sorry for him. At last we were getting close when google maps said (please think this in that very proper google map female voice) "At the fork keep right". He mumbled to him self "At the fork, at the fork" and I wondered if he knew what she meant. It became very obvious that he didn't when he slowed down to 5 kilometres at the fork and was moving the steering wheel indecisively from left to right. Cars were flying past us tooting and giving us filthy looks and Lance and I were yelling at him to stay right as we didn't want another wrong turn, that is if we survived. Finally we got to the zoo with only five minutes to spare and he apologised and said that he would charge us less. We just paid and ran up to the night safari only to be told that we had to go back down to the main zoo to buy tickets. When we were finally admitted with seconds to spare we threw ourselves onto the shuttle to take us on the tour and just looked at each other in shock. "How are we going to get home" Lance asked me. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it" I answered. 

Being dusk and a bit cooler the animals were out and about, in fact we had to stop for some sort of African deer to get off the road. The commentary was good and and there were a variety of animals all going about their nightly business. Even the wolf gave a big howl as we went past. 

Once we got of the tour we went for a wander through the tracks in the jungle. By now it was dark and it was quite spooky walking around only encountering a couple of people on the way. The roaring of the lions reverberated around us and sent chills down my spine and even the tiger and cheetah were walking around their enclosure. 

We grabbed some dinner at the food hall. Every thing was being cooked on the spot and we got an Indian chicken tikka plate which was really great and just perfectly spicy. The next job was to find our way home, and that is just what we did. Seven dollars got us a seat on an air conditioned bus that took us to a stop ten minutes from home. 

We slept like babies, our first night on solid ground in 11 days. 

Day 12 Langkawi - 7 January 2019

Up ready and back to normal time we were pleased to be the second group off the ship. Group Blue 2 off to the famous Langkawi cable car amongst some other lesser attractions. Yes I should have had a premonition about the group colour. We have been green and red before but not blue. "I’m sorry folks but due to high winds we have been informed that the cable car is not running at the moment". What a bugger, we had been really looking forward to this but I guess you can’t do anything about the weather. 

Pulling into Langkawi we could have been in our own Hauraki Gulf, it looked quite volcanic and not at all tropical. Once on board our bus we continued with the original itinerary just in case the wind dropped. There were not many people at the Oriental Village which was situated at the base of the mountain. This was a purposed based tourist village but was very quaint and had a great variety of shops. I had to pay 50 sen for the toilet and the little lady held out a toilet paper dispenser for me to take some toilet paper. Now this is a little personal, I mean how much is a polite amount to take. And if I took a whole pile then would they all know that I was heading for a number two? I took a tiny amount knowing that I had tissues and wipes if I needed them. The toilets were pretty good but the feature was the lovely waterfall that was in the toilet area. Lance went also and gave the lady a 1 ringgit note and didn’t want change so she gave him a whole pack of tissues! Maybe she thought he would be requiring extra wiping!

We had been told that we would wait an hour to see if the cable car would open so we wandered around and had the most delicious freshly squeezed mango juice. But alas we weren’t able to proceed, once again blue made us bale. Blue group 2 were the losers that day as other groups that got there later were able to go up the mountain. 

On we went to a really cool tourist center that had a wonderful selection of hand made items and batik garments. We got some tiny pottery bowls for dipping sauces. Hope they make it back to NZ in one piece. They are so well bubble wrapped that they take up half a suitcase. 

Our next stop was a rice paddy where a nice man explained how rice was grown. By now it was stinking hot and the humidity was 98% so Lance and a few others sat in the shade whilst I obediently followed the tour. 

Because we missed out on the cable car they took us to "Underwater World" instead. This was pretty good but Lance chose to go to Macdonald’s instead as we hadn’t had any lunch and were starving. I whipped through the aquarium feeling sorry for the gigantic fish and headed for Macdonald’s myself. I like to try new things so opted for a hot and spicey burger. I am not a fan of Macdonald’s and can’t remember the last time I had it. Scoffing my burger on the bus I wished that something a bit more delectable had been available. 

Langkawi was a pretty place, clean and organized it looked like somewhere we could come back to for a holiday. It would be essential to be in a resort on a beach and there were some large resorts and more being built. The restaurants on the streets were a nice contrast to the fancy resorts and were the sort of places that you might wander along for a meal and a drink. 

All aboard was st 6pm. We were aboard well before that and had a beer out on our balcony. As 6pm came I marveled at the people sauntering down the long pier to the ship without a worry. Then at 6:15 a guy came racing down the pier running flat tack. The whole port side of the ship cheered as he panted up to the gangway 15 minutes late. The night before we were tendered back to the boat and the lady tender was at 5:30. Once again we were early aboard and at about 6:10pm the Captain broadcast that we were just waiting for seven . . . HUNDRED! People! Our mouths gapped at the thought! 

Back on the ship we went to one of our regular dining rooms and were served once again by a cheery waiter Nilo. Nilo is charming and witty and remembers what we drink. In fact he was also at breakfast and asked me if I had finished my bottle of Cloudy Bay and did I need another with breakfast. Anyway towards the end of our meal last night I started to have a grumbling tummy. We needed to make a quick exit because what I needed to do required my own bathroom! Bloody Macdonald’s! Later that evening we were in the Crooners Bar when I said to Lance that I needed to nip back to the room to use the toilet. By the time I had got ten paces it had become urgent, so urgent in fact that I forgot that I was on level 7 and started to go down the stairs. Fortunately I had only gone down one level when I remembered and dashed to the lift to get me up to our level, level 11. By now I was starting to sweat and couldn’t wait for a lift so took the stairs which is pretty hard to do with your bottom clenched. Finally at our room and anticipating the soon to be relief I found that my door card wouldn’t work. I was desperate and couldn’t afford a wrong turn whilst looking for a toilet so back down the stairs to level 7 where I knew where the toilets were. I just had to ignore that fact that some ladies were chatting as they washed theirs hands and I dived into the nearest toilet. So there you are, there is never a holiday without a toilet story. 

Tomorrow we disembark in Singapore and have had a day at sea today. We have had to make a detour as a passenger has had to be taken off for a medical emergency. The captain said that they had asked for a helicopter to come and winch them off but they were not able. The sad thing is that he asked people to respect the person’s privacy and not take photos as the passenger was being taken aboard the emergency launch. How sad that he even had to say that. 

So we are all packed ready for our suitcases to be taken this evening. Our last dinner will be back at the Sterling Steak House and I guess a few last cocktails!

Oh! And I am sporting a bit of a black eye where Lance and I had a head collision! We were sober! 

And last little story. Last night Lance got up for a tinkle but must have been still sleepy. He found that he had opened the cabin door into the corridor! Thank goodness he wears undies to bed! And thank goodness he woke up before taking the couple of steps required before taking a tinkle!

Day 11 Phuket-6 January

As we approached Thailand we were required to turn our clocks back 1 hour. But you know, you always feel a little nervous that you have got it right. Especially when you have to be somewhere in the morning. The somewhere that we needed to be was waiting for our tender to take us across to the island of Phuket at 7:30 am. So being the over preparers that we are we decided to get up at the normal time (an hour early) just in case we mucked it up. Consequently we were eating breakfast at 6:30am with the other over preparers as we arrived offshore and anchored. Not long later as we were preparing our stuff for a day on the water around Phi Phi Islands and the blue lagoon (were already packed but didn’t feel quite over prepared enough) the Captain announced that some of the tours had been cancelled because of weather (Don’t know what happened there because it was a beautiful day). And of course one of them was ours. Maybe we should not book tours with the word blue in it because eight years ago our Blue Grotto tour was cancelled on the Isle of Capri. Anyway they said money would be refunded and we decided just to go onshore and take a look anyway. So . . . We reprepared and after and hour or so went and got some tender tickets. The wait was endless, over an hour but at least we were sitting in the air-conditioned bar. The captain had said people wanting tenders should wait for a while because it would be busy getting the other tours off. BAD MOVE! We heard the call for all of the dozens of groups who had raced to get their tender ticket to early whilst we waited. Lance is not the most patient person and was beginning to get grumpy when finally they called our group. 

At the port there were just a few market stalls and a pergola tent with the money changers working. We changed US$50 and a guy asked Lance if he needed a taxi for tour. And just like that we were back in the game. Lance asked how much and the guy said US$40. We had got some US dollars from the atm on board just in case. I think we probably made his day because we didn’t haggle and just said "Okay, where can you take us". And as we were walking to the van Lance told him that he would make it $50 if he looked after us. 

Tai took us into Phuket town to a touristy shop but you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all and there was nothing of interest to us. We asked about food and said we wanted good Thai food that was not too touristy. Hualampong was perfect, and the food was sensational. If course we ordered way too much. All washed down with a cold Heineken or two. We didn’t sit in the air-conditioned area as it was a bit, well, just a bit nothing, where as the open area was more authentic. They turned the fan on for us, although at first he did think that I was asking for Fanta. As well as being tasty with all the great qualities that Thai food brings; it was also just spicy enough to make tears run down Lance’s face but not enough to burn your lips. I did worry about repercussions later on but decided this food was worth a dose of the trots. 

Toilets: I do feel like I have let you down a little bit my readers. I haven’t had much to say about toilets. None have been horrendous but have meant a hover without even lifting the seat up. Many have no paper but I have wet wipes (prepared again). The toilets at this restaurant were okay but again no toilet paper and I had left my bag with Lance. So it had to be a drip dry! No fancy blow dryers here. 

After lunch Thai took us around the corner to a massage place. Lance and I were treated to an oil and grease with suspension work out. We were in the same room and these little iron fingered woman were all over us bending us, whacking us and prodding out our travel worn chassis’s. It was great and cost about the equivalent of USD $25 for both of us. 

And then it was a quick scenic route back to the ship. All in all an unexpectedly satisfying day. 

Note on the top left of this picture the huge Buddha on the hill. 

Day 10 Penang-5th January

The alarm buzzed at 6am waking us from a deep sleep. We have been going to bed at about midnight after enjoying a casual singalong style of entertainment each night in the Crooner Bar. Tonya Scott is a young stunning looking woman who has a range of covers that she sings along to as she plays the baby grand. She has an endearing manner and welcomes each person, couple or group as they enter the bar, often in the middle of her song. With a cheery wave she calls out "the New Zealanders are here". She knows people by name and often mucks up a bit of a song and just stops and laughs and replays it. It makes for an easy evening and she has a great voice. 

There is one man who comes in who is quite odd, we’ll call him Tom. Because actually that’s his name. He just walks in and moves the chair from our table without asking if it is free, plonks it in the middle and sits there by himself all night. Everyone else is laughing and chatting and singing along and he just sits there. Sometimes he will call out for her to play a song but it is usually something obscure. 

Back on track in Penang. We sat on our balcony with a cuppa and phone service as the ship glided into port. There were many huge container ships moored or slipping past and in the middle of these was one tiny fishing boat. It was just getting light and the sky scrapers were silhouettes on the sky line, but the funny thing was that there were no lights on in any of the buildings. 

The port is very close to the city, about a 5 minute walk, but once again we had a tour organized and our first stop was the markets. At last we felt like we were in Malaysia! Shuffling down narrow streets we were rubbing elbows with old women all bent and wrinkled, families out for breakfast and traders. The wet market was the best and was inside. The tiled floor was clean and the only smell was the fresh briney smell of the sea. Chinese, Indian and Malays were working with the fish, mutton and beef chopping, scaling and slicing. I felt a bit like I was in the middle of Rick Stein’s cooking show. 

Everyone was friendly even though they knew that we would not be making a purchase. Back outside there was hot and fresh food. We would have loved to have sampled more and felt that we would be fine as everything was being cooked on the spot. Chestnuts roasting, samosas sizzling and noodles flipping. Even flat white spring roll wrappers were being made on the spot. Lance managed to nip in and buy us some sort of hot puffy fried bread. It was light and crisp with seasame seeds through it. We wish we had bought more than one. And it was only one ringgit which is about 33cents. 

Our guide had been telling us about the nutmeg and seemed quite excited about it. You could see that everyone was thinking the same thing. We know about nutmeg. But this was a bit different and looked like a small hard peach crossed with a nashi pear. The stall holder told us that it was not only good in food but also medicinally. I have been suffering from a chesty cough since the middle of December and since I have been on board it has become much worse. I sound like I smoke two packs a day and have been really wheezy. There are a lot of others in the ship with the same thing. I don’t know if I have caught a new bug or if they have all caught mine! Anyway I have purchased some nutmeg balm and will rub it on my chest tonight. Another couple on our tour who are Chinese said that it is best if you catch it at the beginning. But I’ll give it a go. 

After the market we had a quick visit to the botanical gardens which were lush and tropical with little monkeys and big lizards. Whilst it is pretty hot the humidity doesn’t seem as high as in Singapore or KL. 

Next stop was little India which was very clean but not as colorful as I thought it might be. The music was booming in the street and I actually wanted to put my hands over my ears as I passed one head high speaker. We walked on footpaths and on the road, cars, bikes and people all making way for each other. At one point I was about to walk next to a small truck and there was a man lying on the ground. He was coughing and was obviously either unwell or injured. A couple of local people were standing watching him but no one seemed to be going to his aid. I just had to turn my head and keep walking. Hope he is okay. 

After a quick stop at a temple where people were giving thanks and prayers with incense and flowers our tour was over. 

We really wanted to try some local food so we wandered down to a hawker stand by the port. We had no idea what to order so Lance took a seat and I found the longest queue. Actually no one was queuing anywhere else so I guessed that this was a good choice. After about 25 minutes I plucked up enough courage to ask the people in front of me what I was queuing for and they said squid. So I ended up with some squid goreng and some passambur which I was told has a lot of stuff with a peanut sauce on it. By this time I was drenched in sweat. My eyes were stinging as it dropped down my forehead. 

We didn’t like it. Both had a sweet smokey sort of flavour. I was worried about the squid but it was all sort of dried up so I thought that there couldn’t be much bacteria left. I ate some just to say that I had tried it and we wandered back to the ship. We truely feel like we have had a Penang experience and highly recommended a visit. I just would have liked a Penang curry. But maybe it is like butter chicken and isn’t a local fish. 

Day 9 Kuala Lumpur - 4 January 2019

When we awoke we were sliding past lush vegetation into Port Kelang in Malaysia. At this port we were docked so this made leaving the ship a lot easier. 

Everything is very organized and as you come off the ship there are people directing you to your bus, it’s nice not having to actually think. 

This bus was a a lot nicer than our previous tour bus. Better aircon and more space, and once again a nice guide. We were expecting a culinary experience and shopping but the tour fell short. 

The drive from the port was 90 minutes and when the city appeared it was beautiful. Towering buildings with the morning sun glinting off them. And of course the Petronas towers where we would make our first stop. We had about 90 minutes so Lance and I popped up to the food hall to see if we could get some dumplings. Sure enough we found a place that sold duckling dumplings as well as other delights. Behind the counter a huge cauldron if chicken stock bubbles away with the carcasses bobbing up and down. We made our order using the numbered system but something was lost in translation and two crispy duck on noodles and little wonton soups came out. They were delicious. The mall was impressive with 6 shopping levels. We quickly left Gucci and Chanel begins and had a look around before we were whisked away for lunch. 

This restaurant was in the Oavilkion Mall and promised us a true lot Kuala Lumpur delight. 

Bak Kut Teh is a savory soup made of long simmered pork ribs. I expected something like a pho which is a hearty broth from Vietnam. This was nothing close, it was chunks of pork that had been boiled until there was no flavour. Also there was chicken, duck and tofu all done the same way , simmering away in some tasteless water. The best bit were the vegetables, tiny little bok choy with a tasty soy sauce and fried shallots. Also the fried bread was yummy. On the whole it was not what we expected. I left the table as soon as polite so that I would have time to check out the mall. There were a few different shops but I could easily have been shopping in Australia and the prices were similar. We had tried to find some local markets but they were too far away. So I don’t think that we got a very good taste (pardon the pun) of KL. 

One of our tour members is visually impaired and has a white stick. He said that he can only see shadows. He wandered of by himself and was really independent. I admired his bravery. The guide was concerned about him and then at the last stop he was missing. I had seen him wandering around the mall happily, but he got lost finding his way back to the meeting point. The guide put a request over the mall speaker and poor Stewart turned up. 

I have solved my wine dilemma when I found that they had NZ Cloudy Bay in one of the restaurants that you could buy by the bottle. And that is just what I did and they pop the lid on it for you to take where ever you want.