Day 70 - Leaving Singapore

Well, I was correct. The 8pm departure time was changed to 5am. I actually think it was changed twice, however, we decided that we would have a short sleep and get up at 5am to see us sail out. At 5am the cranes were still down and they were working. We didn’t even bother getting dressed to find out the new departure time. In the late morning I heard it would be 2pm (which it was). So we’re on our way to Thailand now, to a port called Map Ta Puht. Well, that’s the name on the charts. I’ve also seen it spelled Map Ta Puth, as well as completely one word – Maptaputh. No matter which spelling I used the other day on the internet I could get little information. I found out today that it only has three docking facilities and it’s a case of first come first serve. So, we’re heading out full steam ahead, hopefully to be there before another ship heading in the same direction. If not, we will sit at anchor and wait our turn. As passengers, it really doesn’t matter much to us. For the company I suppose every day we’re not ‘working’ is lost money. The new captain is aboard (and seems nice). We sat with him and the new Chief Engineer after dinner for a while (as well as our current captain who will be leaving in Thailand). I don’t think I’m even going to attempt to be up for the pilot in the morning. The last time I was on the bridge the estimated arrival time at the pilot station was about 4:30am on Thursday. I’ll just hope we sail out during the day!

Oh, the picture for today isn’t quite the one I wanted, but I thought after talking about all the greenery it was a fair choice. This was Lafarge Cement – just across the way from where we were docked. You can see there’s an area with palm trees to the left of the ship, as well as some greenery between the parking lot and the boat. This was fairly common at other locations, seen as we were sailing out. Without a doubt it is the most beautiful port area so far. As we were pushing off this afternoon not only were they lifting the pieces of wood from the dock, there were two fellows sweeping up. An impressive city overall.

Day 69 - Singapore Skyline

We were lucky this morning – just before we left we found out that our departure time had changed. So, with not having to be back until 5pm, we changed our plans for the day slightly. We started the day with a heritage tour of the city, which took us through the different areas. Singapore is a city of four cultures – Chinese, Indian, Malay and Eurasian. We walked down past city hall to take a boat tour of the river. I can’t believe how lovely the city is. Even back at the port you see trees planted in the area. The picture for today is just one of the shots I took during the river tour. The domed building on the right is an entertainment centre. The animal spouting water is the merlion (a symbol of the city that is supposed to be have lion and half fish). After a lunch we went out to the Jurong Bird Park, which was close to the ship. It was a hot, humid afternoon and the landscaping style of the park seemed to make it even hotter than yesterday. We were leaving the bird park and I wondered about calling the port agent to see if the departure time had changed (it had). In the end we decided that we’d done enough for the day and just headed back to the ship. The 5pm departure time changed a couple of times during the evening and I suspect we aren’t leaving until tomorrow sometime.

Day 68 - Raffles Courtyard

Well, we did get into Singapore this morning. It is a lovely city, which is evident as you leave the port gate. With very few exceptions, most of the ports we have visited tend to be very industrial for miles and miles. As you get to the port gate you notice the trees and as we started our taxi ride into the city we saw drifts of bougainvillea used as dividers on the highway. It really is a garden city. We spent part of the day on a city tour, visited the botanic gardens, which are gorgeous. After that we made our way to Raffles Hotel to have a Singapore Sling in the bar where it was invented. This was something my mother always wanted to do. While in the courtyard bar there was a short burst of rain, however, we were under cover so we just enjoyed it. The weather is fair hot and humid so when we got back to the ship about 9pm it had been a long day. Tomorrow we’re due to leave at 3pm as the weather has been better and unloading has gone very quickly. We’re still going to do a quick trip into the city in the morning. I haven’t asked (or checked) but I suspect the sailing time to Thailand won’t be very long. We still haven’t decided what we want to do there. The obvious trip is to Pattaya, however, I’m not sure we want to spend what it will probably cost to spend the day in a beach town. We’ll see how long we are there, and if there’s the possibility of just doing some local sightseeing.

Day 67 - Singapore Harbour

I think the one thing I'd recommend to anyone wanting to take a trip like this is - don't plan anything. The daily (even hourly) changes would drive some people nuts. I get the impression that one of our fellow passengers is getting a little frustrated by our current position. It's almost 11pm on Saturday night and we're still anchored out in the harbour. For us this gave us an excuse to sleep in. I spent some time in the shade on the upper deck listening to a book in the afternoon. Tonight after dinner my mother and I sat with the Captain and the new Chief Engineer as well as the one that will be leaving tomorrow. Our call for the pilot is now 5am, so it gave us a chance to have a little wine and conversation with dinner. Singapore will still be there tomorrow. We will set the alarm tomorrow and hopefully be tied up at the wharf. If we're not, we'll see what happens. The nicest thing is that our cabin is just beside the captain's and if things change and he's passing by he'll let us know. Our change from a 9pm sail to a 5am sail came just after dinner while we were sitting around talking. I'm not sure that our other two passengers know about the change yet.

You just can't take any dates/times at face value. As long as you can live with this it's a great way to travel. I know sometimes the crew will ask us if we have any plans for a certain port. As a rule our answer is no. If you haven't made specific plans then you can't be disappointed if you don't get to do something. The only thing that is on the list for Singapore is that my mother would like to have a Singapore Sling in the bar at the Raffles hotel (and I do think that time will permit). So hopefully tomorrow we'll be off to investigate Singapore.


Note - when I was updating these files I didn't notice that some of the 't and 'l converted to a chinese character. Once I noticed I fixed them. If I have time I'll go back to fix the rest (but perhaps not from Singapore)

Day 66 - Singapore Sunset

The approach to Singapore was probably the most interesting so far. I don't think we've even seen so many ships. I should clarify that - so many ships anchored around the port. We went through scores of them anchored outside the breakwater and we ourselves have anchored just inside it. A sister ship is still being loaded at our wharf so we'll wait here until she leaves. Before going to bed last night we heard it will likely be afternoon before we head in to tie up. The good thing though is that Immigration has come aboard already and we're cleared to go. Our new Chief Engineer came aboard yesterday and he seems quite nice. I think we're all waiting to see what the new Captain is like (he will join us in the next port - Map Ta Puht, Thailand).

Day 65 - Strait of Malacca

We're on our final day of sailing before Singapore. Because of where we are the talk turned to pirates. I don't think it's a big deal on the type of ship we're on, but last night and tonight the outside doors are locked. This usually only happens in port. We're running with a few more lights on outside and I think some of the crew walk the decks a bit after dark. I'm not sure how much of it's joking or how much of it is serious. I was up on the bridge today using the binoculars to look at the variety of fishing vessels we were passing. This is actually unusual for us as we normally only see other cargo ships, unless coming into a port. One of the officers made a joke about all the small vessels we were seeing. "In the day they are fisherman, at night they are pirates."

Anyway, we got an update on our arrival in Singapore today. It seems that a sister ship is in the berth we're due to dock at. So tomorrow morning the pilot will take us in to a certain point and we'll drop anchor. It means we won't be in until later on, possibly the evening. The good news is that we'll likely have both Saturday and Sunday to explore Singapore. We originally thought we would only have part of Friday and maybe Saturday. I think I'm at a point where I really need to update the blog. Wireless access in the port would be nice... okay, that's wishful thinking. So far that's only been an option in New Orleans and for future travellers Philadelphia may have it soon (although perhaps not in NJ where we tied up). In Hamburg I managed to get a connection to a network, just not one with internet access. I really can't complain though since (so far) I've generally found access without too much trouble. In a pinch most of the seamen's mission have access, although we've only taken advantage of it in Houston.

Day 64 - Where Are We Now

It was another warm sunny day in the Arabian Sea. That's probably the most interesting thing - that in the last few days we've swum in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, and now the Indian Ocean. Although the Arabian Sea is an arm of the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden in an arm of the Arabian Sea - confusing. Unlike country maps there are no dotted lines delineating the borders on the water (although I'm sure they exist). For the daily picture I've used an updated map showing our location at noon today. We're headed into the Straight of Malacca (probably by the morning), and should be in Singapore the next morning. I suppose that tomorrow will be the last lazy summer day we'll have. Ports will be busy and I'm not sure we'll have as many long sails between them anymore. I think I'll kind of miss that part of the trip.

The one thing I noticed is that I haven't been putting any dates on the posts. Blogger will default to the date uploaded only. I think this is partly because the days/dates seem to blend together. Just to keep everything in line though - today is February 28th, 2007.

Day 63 - Another Great Night

This was the official night of the party. With the various time changes we've been through it meant that tonight it was actually light out when we started. It gave me a good opportunity to take a longer shot of the set-up on deck. I made a point to not let anyone know I was taking the picture so they didn't feel they had to turn around and smile! It was pretty much the same as the evening for my mother's birthday. Okay, without the whole roasted pig. The same good food, drink, and music combined with great company. I stayed up far too late chatting with the guys. The plan seems to be to teach me some Tagalog so I'll visit the Philippines in the future. Of course this mostly seems to start when I've had one too many beers. I'm not sure I'm that good a student!

Day 62 - Birthday Party

Again, we slipped into the daily routine of enjoying the nice weather. There is actually a birthday party for two of the crew tomorrow night so I'm going to put a few shots from it together with a few from the other night. The top two shots are of the early preparation - getting the alcohol and soft drinks put on ice, and the two 'chefs' of the evening start the cooking. The bottom two pictures are just the passengers and crew enjoying the evening. They were from the birthday party so I took a lot of shots that night. I agreed not to post any of the karaoke or dancing shots. The crew on board are exceptionally friendly and we've always invited to their birthday parties. I think it's a case of work hard / play hard, as they seem to love these evenings as much as we do.

Day 61 - Indian Ocean Sunset

I've seen so many beautiful sunsets on this trip. I'm not so good at catching the sunrises though. This was taken off the stern of the ship just as the sun was about to dip below the horizon. It was actually taken on the evening of the second grill party (the 27th of Feb). I had pictures from two days earlier; however, I just liked this one the best. The sail through the Arabian Sea / Indian Ocean is just quiet. This leads to sleeping in, sitting in deck chairs in the early afternoon, followed by a swim. Such a tough life!

Day 60 - BBQ Party on Deck

As we're out in the middle of the ocean again today I picked another picture from last night's celebration. The genial fellow on the right is our captain. He's been such a welcoming, well; host is the best term I can think of. He's due to leave the ship in Singapore (although I hear now it's likely going to be the next port in Thailand). Taking pictures of people has never been my strong suit but I thought it was important to include this one.

Day 59 - BBQ Preparation

Today was the big birthday celebration. The Chief Officer made a birthday card with all the crews?names and signatures on it. It was a good excuse to have a BBQ so the grill was started up and a whole suckling pig was cooked over the coals. Later in the afternoon the crew set up tables and benches outside and we had dinner under the stars. As well, the karaoke set-up came outside and there was singing and later on even dancing. It was a wonderful meal and evening and I think all had a lot of fun.

Day 58 - Belgian Beer

The plan for today was to have a BBQ party for my mother's birthday. Her birthday isn't until tomorrow, however, the weather didn't cooperate anyway. The captain thinks that perhaps she caused the high winds, as she didn't want to celebrate a day earlier!

So as to not spoil the plans completely we met upstairs for a drink before dinner. The Captain had bought special glasses (and beer) in Belgium so it was time to try them out. The bar on the ship is lovely but has neither heating or air conditioning so I don't think it gets the use it could. It was pretty warm upstairs but we braved it in order to try the new beer! We had a nice time before dinner and afterwards we went back upstairs to have an after dinner drink. Either it cooled down later in the evening or we just got used to the heat. Anyway, it was a great pre-birthday celebration.

Day 57 - Suez Sunset

It's official - the pool is open. Today we swam in the Red Sea. Every day (until I suppose the water is too cold) the pool will be filled from whichever sea/ocean we are in. The pool isn't very large (just over 11 feet square) but it's a nice addition to the usual routines. We pretty much are guaranteed summer weather until Singapore. After that I suppose it will depend. There are nice padded reclining chairs up on the pilot deck (one above ours). You just find a spot and enjoy the day. Depending on who is around it's like having the deck to yourself.

Oh, the picture I took for today was actually frome the Suez transit. We're at the point of the journey where you just see the sea most days so I thought I'd fill in with a few other pictures.

Day 56 - Ship in the Desert

Today was spent cruising in the Red Sea. The Chief Engineer told us that the water was 23C today so it's likely that the pool will be filled tomorrow. It's lovely warm weather so it's time to get the chairs out of the bar upstairs and take some time to relax in the sun (and then the shade). The picture for today actually comes from out stopping point in the Suez Canal. While we were down on the lower deck supposedly shopping it was interesting to watch the ships going the other direction. If you waited until a certain point it actually looked like the ships were sailing through the sand dunes.

Day 55 - Suez Canal

We spent a good part of the evening waiting for our transit to start. We were actually going to be early to our pilot station so we slowed our speed. The captain told us that it was likely our transit wouldn't start until 3 or 4am and offered to call us when 'something interesting' was going to happen. Of course we're both too excited to sleep so we spent some time up on the bridge. I had been up there about 11pm and the sky was so clear. It's amazing when you're out in the middle of nowhere (i.e. no city lights) how many stars you see on a clear night.

Our transit didn't actually start until about 6am and I had just come on the bridge as the captain was calling my mother in the cabin. The morning was quite foggy and the early pictures didn't come out too well. The picture for today is actually of a bridge near Ismailia I believe. I'll have to wait until I perhaps have internet access to figure out where it actually goes as I forgot to ask one of the pilots. It's amazing to think that you're sailing 163km through the desert. It serves the same function as the Panama Canal but just looks and feels so different.

Just before lunch we pulled into one of the two-way bypasses (just about a third of the way through). Most of the traffic on the canal is one-way so at times you need to wait until it's your turn. We spent the afternoon doing a little shopping... well, someone did come aboard with wares to sell. I think in the end only one of the passengers bought anything. The rest of the day was spent watching ships come through in the other direction. It was actually after sunset when we pulled out and completed our voyage through the canal.

Day 54 - Getting the Pool Ready

We should reach Port Said tonight, which is the first step to the Suez transit. Then it's a combination of waiting for the convoy and the actual transit. I suspect, depending on the timing, we might be up a good part of the night. The best news would be to hear that the actual transit would be in daylight. The crew has been working on the pool the last few days, as it should be filled after our Suez transit.

I've had a couple of people ask about the accommodations and the meals on board so I thought I'd take some time today and write a bit about them. I know when I was looking for information about the trip these were things I was curious about. We have the owner's cabin on board, as it was the only one with two single beds. This gives us a lot of space and two separate rooms. The bedroom has the two beds, a dresser with a mirror and lots of storage space (including drawers under the bed). The bathroom goes off the bedroom with a good shower that has a handrail for the rough days. The living room has an L-shaped desk with more storage along the wall, including a big deep corner cupboard that took the suitcases. There's a television, CD/tape player, a DVD player and a satellite box for the TV. The satellite (so far) only worked in Europe with no English stations, so we're mainly stuck to the DVDs we brought. There's also a sectional couch, a coffee table fixed to the floor, an armchair and a small cupboard with a mini fridge. The cabin really is very well appointed and has been a good home away from home.

I'll break down the meals based on time of day. A fair bit of the offerings are constant and self serve. For example, there is always fruit juice, water, milk, cheese, cold cuts, seasonings, condiments, salad (lunch and dinner), salad dressings, and pickles on the rotating centrepiece on the table. There is always fruit on the sideboard along with jams and peanut butter (they go on the table for breakfast). Bread is added during lunch and dinner and sometimes the cook does some baking for the crew's afternoon coffee (bread, cake) and leaves a few pieces in our dining room. Coffee (and tea) is offered at all meals.

Breakfast (8am) - choice of eggs and meat of the day (bacon, sausage, ham) or scrambles (mexican, western) or omelette, cold cereal (not sure what type as nobody has ever taken them), hot cereal (porridge), and toast.

Lunch (12pm) - soup of the day (quite good), a hot dish (served with usually potatoes and a vegetable), fruit plate. Thursday and Sunday the fruit plate is replaced by ice cream (with chocolate sauce and whipped cream if so desired). The meats, cheeses, salad, and usually a nut bread (not sweet, likely a rye/pumpernickel blend) are another option if desired.

Dinner (6pm) - a hot dish with the addition of usually another type of cheese on the rotating centre table. No soup, no fruit plate, no ice cream.

It will be interesting to see if the meals change once our captain changes in Singapore. We'll be very sorry to see him go. We found out that the nice soups at lunch came about as a result of him telling the cook there were to be no canned soups. In Philadelphia the captain went ashore and bought the cook a recipe book with 1000 recipes in it. Up until that point the food had been okay, but not inspired. Since then the cooking has improved the offerings although I suspect this is with lots of studying at night. Although I did find out that he hadn't known that the ship carried passengers when he signed on. He would have likely brought some cookbooks with him if he'd known. Today we had a lovely chicken with feta and olives at lunch and will have beef with caper sauce (new to us) for dinner. The captain also brought aboard wine, cheese and a special Spanish ham while in Aviles. Our stop in Genoa added salami, mortadella, fresh parmesan, and even a panatone the first day out. I suspect these touches are very much captain specific so we'll see what the new captain brings. I was sitting in the dining room one night after dinner (my mother and I will remain and chat with the Captain and the Chief Engineer if they have a quiet even ahead) and they asked about how I found the food. I'm quite happy with it and said so. The Chief Engineer said it was quite good compared to most ships and mentioned that he'd been on some ships with some really bad food.

The one thing I didn't mention is that if you really don't find anything to your taste you are encouraged to ask the cook to make you something. When we first came aboard there was a fair amount of fish served. I myself don't eat most fish (although I'll take shrimp and calamari generally). The other passenger didn't eat any of it (as well I think as no lamb or duck, and I didn't quite catch it one night but I think nothing with cooked onions in it - she does seem to be exceptionally picky about food and some nights just eats cheese and crackers she's bought ashore, or peanut butter and bread). The nights that fish was on the menu I usually just asked what the crew was having. So I've also had oxtails and spaghetti on some nights. I've noticed that fish has slowly worked its way off the menu most of the time although I look forward to Sunday, which brings shrimp with feta and a pasta dish for supper. I've never bothered to ask for anything special (even though the cook himself has offered). One of the other passengers occasionally asks for something a little different and is accommodated. (i.e. a buckwurst-think german hotdog- and bread, some baked chicken)

Well, I think I've written enough about the meals. I haven't really mentioned the wine, which some nights adds just a little atmosphere to the after dinner conversations. It's funny, but it's to the point where I can predict the nights. It's never on a night a pilot is due, or during rough seas, or even the night before ports. It's usually on the nights that the seas are calm and we're effectively in the middle of nowhere. I suppose those are the evenings that the Captain and the Chief Engineer can relax a little bit.

That's enough typing for now. The sun is out so I think I'll check to see where we are (on the bridge) and then maybe go down to the main deck to see if I can find a sunny spot without much wind. I was outside earlier and the upper deck was sunny, but windy. The direction we're travelling today puts the windless section of the upper deck in the shade, so lower down might be a better idea.

Day 53 - The Sunny Med

Today was spent cruising the sunny southern Mediterranean. That's said a little tongue in cheek as the sun never really did make an appearance. The sailing was smooth, however, the weather covered a variety of conditions - dull, misty rain, light rain, dull, hint of sun, back to rain. I spent part of the afternoon working on the cook's computer. I made the mistake of mentioning my education in computer systems to the Chief Officer the day before. After lunch today the cook told me that his laptop wasn't working and wondered if I could look at it. I thought of trying to explain the difference between the programming and systems design courses I took but decided I could at least look at it. With a couple of warning that I could make no promises I took the computer upstairs to have a look at it. The only option I could eventually offer was to reinstall the operating system, as the system files were corrupt. It wasn't a perfect solution but at least this way he could boot the machine up. Next thing I know I'm down in the crew mess answering a few more questions about computers. Oh well, I really didn't mind as it helped pass the part of the afternoon.

Day 52 - Stromboli

We spent the day sailing down the coast of Italy, although far enough away that it feels like you're again in the middle of nowhere. The end of the day brought us past the Stromboli volcano in the Lipari Islands. Once again I'm seeing only part of an Italian volcano. Five years ago we visited Mount Etna (on Sicily) and although the tour guide pressed on, the mist never did clear. We picked up a pilot to guide us into the Straight of Messina about 7pm. The islands of Sicily and Calabria were beautifully lit up as we made our way into the straight. A short while later we were back into the dark night, sailing further south.

Day 51 - Port of Genoa

We went back into Genoa today and had a look around. The Chief Engineer was off to do some shopping so we started off with him as a guide to getting out of the port. We easily made our way past the ship and the cranes that have been working non-stop since last night. As we got to the railway tracks he stopped (as something had changed). A quick chat with some workmen and he came back to tell us that legally we couldn't get out this way but he thought it would be okay. I think probably a better word would have been technically, since I think they were working on the side of the tracks we should have walked along. We parted ways with being shown a shopping mall quite near the port.

As we didn't have a full day we decided just to wander around, without attempting a bus or a train ride. The captain had given me a full list of contacts, taxi numbers, and a very specific address to come back to (in case we needed a taxi). We walked along to one of the passenger ferry terminals (quite far away from where we were) and decided to work our way back. We still hadn't seen an Internet cafe so we took a slightly different road back and did manage to locate one. It wasn't until later that we found out that the government had imposed rules for them. You could not get online without government identification. I thought our shore pass might do, however, they wouldn't accept it. Luckily I was still carrying my driver's license, which we had used in the US ports. They did accept it and I managed to get the blog updated. The Chief Engineer wasn't so lucky as we found out that night that he hadn't managed to get online himself.

A late afternoon sailing out of Genoa gave us a last look at the city. The picture I took (I hope) shows how much this city is a port city. The waterfront here serves container ships, numerous ferries and pleasure craft. Now we're off down to the southern Mediterranean and Port Said.