April 19th & 20th ~ Hong Kong, China

This is our only stop where we have two days docked at the same port. We were already looking forward to seeing Hong Kong but knowing that we could see it at night and not have to rush back to the ship at a certain time was even better. Our dock was called Ocean Terminal and is actually a section of a huge shopping precinct on Canton Road and is adjacent to the ferry docks. We walked the gangway onto the terminal and entered straight into the shopping centre. There was free wifi so Kieran and I (Lisa) managed to play some 'Words with Friends' and check some emails.

We made our way outside to the tourist centre to get some info and maps as we would be doing Hong Kong on our own..no guided tours. We had heard about the 'Hop on Hop off Bus' and decided to give that a go. There are a number of 'Big Red Buses' which are open top, double decker buses and have commentary via earphones supplied to you. The buses have several routes and you can basically hop on and off wherever you like. This is how we explored Hong Kong Island after first catching the star ferry over to the island.

The Star Ferry

View from the top of the bus

It was a beautiful, sunny day but not too hot and we loved sitting on the top of the bus and taking everything in. We saw a lot from the bus…more than if we had been on foot, and Hong Kong Island is hectic, crowded and energised! There are so many shops that you couldn't go to them all in a month and lots of great food aromas, as well as interesting sights.

 Interesting buildings

 More high-rise washing lines

There is a lot of building going on and we loved the mix of old and new on the building sites - they still use bamboo (very strong but much cheaper) for scaffolding and other things along with regular steel and wood.

Unbelievable bamboo scaffolding!

Our first stop was to catch the Peak Tram up the mountain to the observation deck. The climb is very steep and sometimes you pass within inches of buildings but it was a great ride up.

 The Peak Tram

The view from the deck is amazing if not a little smoggy. It was a great way to see the city.

 Fabulous views from the deck

There is a whole tower of shops and restaurants up there…we found the Bubba Gump Shrimp Restaurant (from Forrest Gump!) and had to have photos on the bench with the suitcase and box of chocolates.

 Kieran in the Forest Gump pose

Our next stop was to ride the world's longest undercover escalator…unfortunately we only rode it for 20 metres and then had to get off as segments were not working and were getting repaired! Never mind, we were there at least!!

 Kieran and I at the beginning of the escalator

We decided to look for somewhere to eat and found a small but extremely busy restaurant full of asians…good sign! We managed to get the last 3 seats in the restaurant and tried to look at the menu which was not in english and had no photos. Luckily, the nice, old chinese waiter came over and gave us the english version!! The restaurant was absolutely packed and had won some awards for its food so we were looking forward to our lunch which didn't disappoint. We were very happy to have stumbled across this little place.

 The restaurant, one of our dishes and happy customers!

Around the corner we found a little bakery and had some yummy cakes and tarts while waiting to hop back on the bus to see the rest of the island.

 Yummy cakes

In the afternoon we did some shopping at the Ocean terminal and discovered my perfume and makeup were much cheaper here so hooray for me! Anisa had a manicure which was also a bargain.

 Anisa drying her nails

We were going to catch the Big Bus again to do the night tour but unfortunately we got there just as the bus pulled out so we missed it!!! We walked to the subway and caught a train to the Temple Street Markets.

 Waiting for the train, Subways are always so busy

We walked the streets for hours looking at all the stalls and picking up some bargains.

 Tourists?? What tourists!

Anisa and her cousin, Laura love 7Eleven slurps so when we spied a 7Eleven amongst the little shops we had to go in and see if they had Slurpees…and they did. Anisa chose the Green Apple flavour and it was delicious!!

 Anisa gives the thumbs up to Hong Kong Slurpees.

At one point we discovered we were in the 'sex' section of the markets as all the stalls were now selling sexy underwear, kinky toys and blow up dolls…trust Anisa to take a picture of Kieran and I, just at that moment!!

 Browsing the 'red light' section

Luckily that section finished and we got back to the usual stalls and lots of food vendors and shops. We decided on a very busy street corner set up with tables and chairs and very reasonable prices and chowed down to some local food.

 Loving the street market food.

Just around the corner we happened upon a massage/reflexology place that our tablemates, Rob and Pam had told us about. Kieran and I decided to get foot massages as we had been walking around all day and night. Anisa sat in the waiting room just near us and took these photos. The massage cost $12 and I was in heaven…soooo good! They soaked our feet as we sat in massage chairs and then washed and cleaned our feet. Then we were ushered in to the next section where you lie down with nice hot heatpacks under your neck while they work on your feet and legs. It was so good that I didn't want to leave!

 We are in massage heaven.

 Tai Pan Massage and Reflexology, Sooo relaxing

After our massages we walked back to the ship around 11pm and had a very good nights rest.


Hong Kong Day 2...
We had planned to go back to Hong Kong Island, go to Aberdeen Harbour and take a Junk boat ride and then visit Stanley Markets…however, we all had a slight sleep in and were a little tired from our big day yesterday. So instead we shopped in the massive complex on Canton Road. We did have some yummy Yum Cha on the 4th floor out on the deck overlooking the harbour. Our purchases for the day included 3 new pillows as our cabin pillows are flat little feather pancakes and no matter how many you use, they just shrink up to nothing! We also had to buy a suitcase to accommodate our growing amount of purchases.

We went up on to deck 10 at 'sail away' and took some farewell shots of Hong Kong. We all loved Hong Kong and have decided we must come back and spend a week here so we can see and do all the things we didn't get to do. We love you HK!!

The different views from the ship, Bye HK.

April 17th ~ Keelung, Taiwan

Only Lisa and I (Kieran) disembarked in Keelung. Anisa wasn't feeling very well and was up throughput the night with interrupted sleep from our roughest night at sea to date so she decided to stay aboard the ship. I started to develop a sore throat just before boarding in Shanghai which I thought was due to the pollution but has since progressed to the life threatening 'Man Flu'. Despite this, I dragged myself from my death bed to enjoy a wonderful day out with my wife on one of the Princess tours.

 The familiar looking Keelung sign in the hills taken from our stateroom balcony

We began our day with a quick breakfast in the buffet and then met in one of the lounges to be designated to our tour group and get our identifying sticker - pink 6. After a short wait we were shepherded out to the awaiting tour busses. Our guide, Helen was a very funny Taiwanese lady who loved to use phases from well known songs and always ended every sentence with a drawled "Yeeaahhh". You'll have to ask Lisa to put on her Chinese lady voice and mimic her when we get home. Helen gave us the usual tour guide info on Taiwan as we travelled. Apparently it rains in Taiwan about 235 days a year and this was one of them.

One interesting thing we learned along the way was about many peoples addiction to 'beetle nuts'. Apparently these nuts are very addictive (I'm not sure what the active drug is in them) and are sold legally in little shops scattered everywhere thought the island. The price fluctuates depending on the season and availability of the nuts. The shops are designated by green fluorescent lights and always staffed by, in Helen's words, 'hot young girls'. We passed many as we drove by on our way but unfortunately were not able to get any pictures as the bus was always moving too fast and the windows were fogged up because of the winging American oldies who thought they would die from pneumonia if the bus air-conditioning was actually used to defrost the fogged up windows. Anyway, with my glimpses I can assure you all that the girls were young and in fact did appear to look 'hot'. I'm not sure how addictive this nut actually is if it needs pretty girls to sell it!

Just some background information…

Our dinner table mates are a lovely Canadian couple (Robert and Pam) and their son (Griffin). They boarded the ship for the cruise before ours which was originally planned to depart from Japan but changed to a Hong Kong Departure. As a consequence, they have already been to a few of the ports we are visiting on this cruise (the Shanghai - Singapore leg). I tell you this because they have been giving us a few tips as to what to do at the ports. We had initially booked a walking tour of a small town but changed the tour when we spoke to an Aussie crew member in the ship gift shop. When our table mates said how much they enjoyed the tour we had changed to we knew we were on a good thing. 

Back to the tour.

Our first destination was a hotel located within a National Park about 30 minutes drive from Keelung to visit its volcanic hot springs. The hotel also has a day spa, so on arrival, armed with the inside info from Robert and Pam we headed straight to the day spa and had a massage together (my first ever). Initially we chose the 40 minute option but when that was complete the lady doing my massage said "Mister, Mister" and held up the price list pointing to the 80 minute option and asked "Yes?" (I suspect she already knew my reply). So 80 minutes it was. She obviously had me picked as the weakest link.

When the wonderful massages came to an end we made our way out side in the rain and mist (which made the experience quite surreal) to find the hot springs. There are about 14 different hot springs of varying temperatures. There is a faint smell of sulphur but not overwhelming and certainly not unpleasant. The springs were so relaxing and the best part was that nearly everyone else had spent their time in the springs and had left us to ourselves. We tried a few of the different springs and ended up settling for different one based on our temperature preferences - Lisa (warm), Kieran (Hot). I also chose the undercover springs so as not to be in the cold rain and exacerbate my man flu.

Kieran in the 'hottest' hot spring.

Lisa in her favourite hot spring of the day.

 Some of the different springs

We discovered one of the ponds contained fish that liked to eat the dead skin off our feet so we sat at that pond for a while. Lisa sat and squealed as the fish tickled her feet with their sucking while I headed back for the undercover springs. After an hour or so in the springs we headed back inside and changed to eat a very nice Taiwanese buffet lunch.

 More different springs, Lisa in the white towel in the background feeding the fish with her feet.

Fish feasting on Lisa's dead skin.

Our next destination was Yehliu Geographic Park - an amazing coastal area with eroded rocks and beautiful scenery - the photo's don't really do it justice. We walked in the rain and got soaked but still had a great time. We quickly walked through the local markets before heading home via a quick stop at a giant Buddah. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

 Yehliu Geographic Park

  Yehliu Geographic Park

 Dried fish bits or something?!?

 Lisa with the worlds largest prawn cracker. We ended up buying the plain ones.

A big Buddah overlooking Keelung.

 A temple behind the big Buddah.

Lisa ringing the Millennium Bell near the Buddah.

All in all a fantastic day. Had a great time together. So glad I didn't succumb to the man flu and stay in bed. We arrived back to the ship to find Anisa feeling much better and watching movies in our bed.

April 15th ~ Okinawa, Japan

This is our first stop on the cruise and we were pretty excited. We have the option to take an organised tour ($$$) in every port of call, but we decided to do Okinawa on our own. We caught the shuttle bus from the port to the main street and used the time to check out the map and plan what we would do.

Just on the bus ride we noticed how many vending machines there were everywhere. There were vending machines in parking lots, on the street, out the front of buildings and in between buildings. It was pretty clear that getting a drink would not be difficult! Later on when we walked some thin backstreet lane ways, there were even vending machines on the side of the lane. Anyway, we walked the main street (Kokusai Street) which is filled with cute little shops, loads of animated figurines and brightly coloured shop fronts.

There is a mix of old style and new style shops filled with everything from traditional wares to very touristy trinkets. After we had browsed through the shops we reached an entrance into some markets and had fun looking at all the different items for sale.

One of the things Okinawa is known for is its glassware. In days gone by they were famous for it but it died off. Apparently they had such an excess of coke bottles left from the soldiers after the war that they began to melt them down and create new items like bowls, drinking glasses, vases etc. So Okinawa reclaimed their fame for glassware. We thought it would be nice to have something to remember Okinawa so we purchased a set of glasses to bring home with us.

After shopping we walked to the monorail and caught a train to Shurijo Castle. When we arrived there was a movie being shot there, so we watched a scene for a little while before looking around the grounds of the castle. It was a pretty warm day so we weren't keen on walking too far but there was a nice view from the walls of the grounds and I loved the doors and entrances to the different sections.

We caught the monorail back to town and picked up some more bargains before heading back to the ship. One of the crazy things was the snake wine which we saw big jars of. We discovered that it is about 60% alcohol and they do gut and clean the snakes before putting them in the wine. It is a pretty gruesome sight seeing the fang bearing creatures in the wine and thinking that people freely drink it! As we travelled through more of Asia, we discovered more and more 'snake wine' and sometimes there is a scorpion inside the snakes mouth!

On the whole we had a great day…we managed to find our way around, buy tickets for and catch the local transport, see some history and soak in the local sights, smells and way of life.

Later that day…

Ok here is some info on dining whilst on the ship. There is the Sterling Steakhouse and Sabatini's Italian Restaurant which are not included dining with your cruise fare. You pay $20 to dine there but can order whatever you want off the menu. There are two dining options which are included with your cruise fare. You can have whatever you like and whatever quantities you like…as the service staff joke,"It's all the same price!!" There is the Panorama Buffet where you can go anytime between 6am and 9pm and just help yourself to breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner. From 9pm to 11pm it turns into a bistro and you order off a menu and get table service. On sea days it becomes the bistro at 5:30pm till 11pm. There is the Club Restaurant which also serves breakfast, lunch and dinner but it is always a-la-carte and more formal. You receive a set table for dinners which you use for the entire cruise and you have a seating time for when you can eat. There are two seatings…early at 6:15pm and late at 8:15pm. We have the late seating. You also share your table at dinner with other people for the duration of the cruise. Occasionally in the Club Restaurant they have Formal nights were everyone gets dressed up and theme nights when the serving staff dress up and the food is centred around that theme. We had chosen the buffet for our first two nights on the ship as we were tired on the first night and the second night was formal night and we didn't feel like getting all dressed up. We had decided to try the Club Restaurant for the first time tonight.

When we returned from Okinawa I (Lisa) received a phone call from Francois, the Maitre'd at the Club Restaurant. He introduced himself and said he noticed we had not yet been to the dining room. He wondered if we would be coming as the other family at our table were all alone and they were a lovely couple with an 18 year old son! Francois is french and has the whole accent and he is very jovial and outgoing and the phone conversation was quite hilarious! I told him that we were in fact planning on being there for dinner and he was overjoyed! When we arrived for dinner he and his assistant Alejandro (from Mexico) greeted us like old friends and were so excited that we were finally there. We were shown to our table and met our table mates, the Landry family, from Canada. We had a lovely dinner with Robert, Pam and their son Griffin and we got on very well. Every night we go to the Club Restaurant, Francois and Alejandro make some remark about how good it is to see us and how we didn't come the first two nights but now we never miss! The staff are actually fantastic and you get to know them really well. Our waiter is Sehono from Bali and a real character…sometimes he brings out extra dishes because they are so good and we have to try!