Month: March 2019

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

We’ve crossed the Indian Ocean and have arrived at Sri Lanka, an island famous for its elephants. There were no elephants for me, though, as I toured the southwest coast of this tropical nation.

Where am I?

So, what’s been happening?

This morning when I woke up, I stepped outside onto my balcony and this is the sight I beheld.

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But, my plans today involved very little of Colombo because I’m was my way to Negombo, a little tourist village on the coast north of Colombo.

The bus left at 10:30am and I was on it! It was about a one hour drive up the coast. Before we could get on the expressway to Negombo, we had to leave Colombo. Now, all that I really got to see of this city was the port area which is totally industrial. It’s hard to judge the conditions of anyplace by limiting your exposure to an industrial area, but that’s pretty much all I got to see as well left the port. There were a few new residential developments that I saw. For example, here is a new apartment complex that we drove by.

If you only look at the small picture on this page, those buildings look pretty nice, and they are. But, if you click on that photo to see a larger version and then zoom in on the balconies, you’ll see that there is either an economic condition at play, or that I’m just a victim of culture shock. Are clothes dryers very expensive, or is this just a cultural thing? I really don’t know.

Along the expressway to Negombo I saw people living along a canal in homes no better than plywood shacks in shanty towns. In fact, all through this day it seemed to me that there are very wealthy people and organizations as well as very poor ones. Most people seem poor by US standards, and there seemed to be a very small middle class.

On the way, the tour guide was filling us in on the history and the makeup of Sri Lanka. He told us that the island has had many names, most recently Ceylon.

He also told us that christians are in a very small minority: only about 4.5% of the population. However, in Negombo (where we were approaching quickly) there is a christian majority.

I saw plenty of evidence of that as we entered the outskirts of the town. There were catholic churches on every other block. I still saw plenty of muslim women and even a Hindu man, but I think that the number of churches tells the story.

As we got closer to the beach where our resort-for-the-day was waiting, the scenery became more colorful.

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Our destination, The Jetwalk Blue Resort, was a rather nice place to hang out for a few hours, at least by my own personal feelings on the matter. It is a very high end resort by standards in this area, but it felt more like some beach resorts in Mexico. It was nice enough, but it was most certainly not the Four Seasons. Here are a few photos of the resort to give you an idea of what I mean.

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And perhaps the most picturesque view to be found at the resort was the beach.

Of course, my personal favorite area was the hotel bar! It’s not that I just can’t stop drinking (I know what you’re thinking…be careful…) but I had several motivations to be there:

1. The bar has A/C and it’s 90º+ with equally high humidity
2. The bar has cold beer
3. The bar has good wi-fi

And since I’m talking about beer, would it be a coincidence that these were the two beers I had?

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I was thinking that if this had been a nude beach I could have enjoyed Lions, and Tigers, and bares. Oh, my!

I also inquired (as I often do when traveling) as to what the official (or unofficial) national alcoholic beverage is. Every country seems to have one. So does Sri Lanka. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Arrack.

Arrack is made from coconut palm sap. In Sri Lanka it is typically a very refined spirit. I would say that it tasted much like a good añejo tequila but with a slightly lighter body of flavor. It was really quite good. I had two shots before we left.

So at the end of my visit to Jetwing Blue resort, it was time to pay the bill. Two bottles of beer (750ml each) and two shots of Arrack. Four drinks. Total amount of charge: $16.00. And remember, this is a bar in a resort! The price was fantastic. (I wish the beer had been.)

Well, anyway, at 3pm it was time to get back into the bus for the one hour ride back to the ship. At this point, though, it had obviously become rush hour and the roads were packed. Everybody was crawling along regardless of the direction one was headed. As we got deeper into the industrial area around the pier where we were docked, I started to notice the trucks. I didn’t recognize any of the brands! I guess I’m used to seeing Ford, Freightliner, Mack, White, and other American brands. That’s not what I was seeing here.

Although I saw lots of Lanka Leyland trucks, the most popular ones seemed to be from the Indian automobile company, Tata.

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Needless to say (and many of you will agree with the “needless” part) between the expressway and the port, I saw a lot of Tata’s.

<groan>

Just as I thought we might never reach the ship on that day, the Amsterdam came into view.

I was back on the pier and just outside the ship by 4:30pm, but I had to go investigate that permanent marketplace on the pier. I shopped for clothes or other keepsakes but I couldn’t find anything to my liking except for (another) cap, so that (and this page) are my memories of Sri Lanka.

Back to the room, open a bottle of cold, cold wine and prepare to depart. That was my plan for the rest of the evening. And we all hate smog, but it does help to create pretty sunsets.

Departure

At 6:00pm we had to do something that happens at every port of call: we had to sail away. So here, my friends, is our sad sail-away. Well, not too sad, I guess, because it was also happy hour! Cheers!

As we sailed away toward the western horizon, it looked just like this:

So, what’s coming up?

Tomorrow is a day at sea. Stay with me as I’ll be announcing the “What is it?” animal and you won’t want to miss that. Huh? Right?

Yeah, that’s what I thought.

G’night!

Sunday, March 24, 2019
Monday, March 25, 2019
Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Three more sea days, as well as setting our clocks back 1.5 hours all adds up to more sleep and more relaxation.

Now, let’s talk about food.

Where am I?

SO, WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING

The main dining room serves dinner every night. That should not surprise you. However, every 10 days or so we have a Gala Night. Gala nights are dress up affairs, and for that very reason I have avoided them for the entire trip. I’m in Matt Danger Tolle mode. Always.

Except for now.

One of the ladies at our dinner table on the night before the gala night announced that she would not be attending because she was just getting tired of them. I announced that I had never been to one, but that I would get dressed up and attend if she did. It was really just peer pressure to get her to join the rest of us for dinner, but it worked.

Damn it.

Each gala night has a theme, and the gala night theme this time was Secret Garden. I wasn’t quite sure what that meant but since I had a very limited amount of dress clothing with me I guess it really didn’t matter too much.

So, when we (the Table 64 crew) arrived at the dining room at our appointed time, we were greeted at the door by a very attractive and creative floral arrangement.

If you look closely you’ll see the arrangement has some of those crab claw flowers like the ones I saw in Darwin on my Segway tour. By the way, the floral department on the ship is exactly two people and they did all of the decorating for this night. So, after stopping for a minute or two to admire their work at the entrance to the dining room, we ventured off to our table to see what awaited us there.

Our table, and every other table in the dining room that seated more than four people had the most amazing flower display that I’ve seen aboard ship so far. I really couldn’t capture this in a single photo so please bear with my attempt to portray what I saw.

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And those are all real flowers. There’s nothing artificial in that arrangement. Beautiful, no?

So besides dressing up and having a theme, what makes a gala night so gala? Well, the menu is also kicked up a notch. For example, one can have lobster any night, but it comes with a $20 additional fee. On this gala night, lobster was an entrée choice and there was not additional charge at all! So, of course, I had two of them!

Another feature of gala night is that tables of eight can ask for a member of the staff to host their table. This is very nice as it gives those at the table a chance to get to know a member of the staff a little more personally. For our table, we were hosted by Doolin (remember that fish kissing photo?) Now, not only to we get the entertainment benefit of Doolin’s sparkling repartee, be we also get free wine with the meal. Score!

After a nearly 2 hour meal, we left to go to the MainStage theater to see a Karen Carpenter tribute (that was really good!) But before we left the dining room, the ladies just had to pose for photos. In these photos you can see Kathleen (left) Beth (center) and Mary Lee. I’m not sure who that damn photo-bomber is.

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On the way to the MainStage theater we walked by the customer service desk which is right in the middle of the ship. There, in front of the desk was this:

It looked like there were little secret gardens popping up all over the ship. How do two people pull this off?

Anything else?

Well, yeah, ok, there is this one thing. A new towel animal popped up on my bed during these three days. Personally, I’m not sure what it is. Before I ask its creator to reveal its identity, I’ll let you take a guess.

What is it?

Leave a reply for me with your guess. I’ll ask Wayan (this thing’s creator) tomorrow when I see him.

What’s coming up?

Tomorrow, Sri Lanka!

Friday, March 22, 2019
Saturday, March 23, 2019

We had an overnighter in Singapore which should have been a chance to get to know the city better, but things did not go as planned. Perhaps because I had no plan.

Where am I?

So, what’s been happening?

Well, before I get started let me provide you with a map of the Singapore harbor area so that you can see the places I’m writing about. This story could get a little complicated. Here’s your map.

Days prior to arriving in Singapore it was time to decide whether to purchase a shore excursion or to just “go it” on my own. I researched Singapore and found where the cruise ships dock. Posts I read indicated that the docking place would be in the Marina district very near the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and the Gardens by the Bay. I truly invite you to check both of those links to see why they are so exciting. I really wanted to visit both of those places.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel – This hotel was prominently featured in the movie Crazy Rich Asians. Atop the three towers is an island of decadent luxury featuring a Wolfgang Puck restaurant, the world’s largest infinity pool, and an amazing view. Rooms in the hotel can be outrageously expensive, but this place is an icon of Singapore, so it’s all worth it. Right?

Gardens by the Bay – This is a futuristic botanical garden, with features that seem to be right out of the movie Avatar. It’s an awe inspiring walk through a lush, tropical environment and, at night, it has a laser and water light show much like the one I shared with you in Lima, Perú.

Since these two attractions were so close to the port, I decided I could just walk there from the ship, and so no paid shore excursion would be necessary.

Upon arrival, a surprise

So, as we entered the harbor at Singapore, I could see these beautiful, if smoggy sights:

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Yes, the air in Singapore was rather dirty for our visit. The combination of the high humidity and the industry to the windward side of the city made it a bit harder to see.

Keep in mind that these photos were taken from my balcony with a telephoto lens. Therefore, those buildings were still quite some distance away. And that was when I started to worry. If we were “parking” close to the Marina Bay Sands, why was it so far away?

The answer was not too long in coming. It turns out that there is a new cruise ship port located on the west side of the city called Harbourfront. (Please refer to the map above.)

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Harbourfront is a nice enough area. It has a large shopping mall adjacent to the docks. It is also close to Sentosa Island which is a family playground. It features resort hotels, golf courses, Universal Studios, shopping, bungee jumping, pristinely combed beaches, and other attractions for vacationers. What it does not feature are the attractions I most wanted to see.

So there I was, in Singapore, on the wrong side of town (for me) with no tours booked and no workable plan. I was on my own. I might have been able to create and carry out some plans, even at that late hour, but the story gets worse.

Immigration

By the time we could disembark, it was after 10am. At that hour I was still in my room, hatching a plan for the day. By 11:30am I was ready to put my plan into action. I left the ship and walked down the gangplank into the cruise ship terminal only to find a line of my fellow passengers standing there, waiting. It seems as though the line to get through immigration was currently 1.5 hours long. Shock!

I was not about to stand there with my thumb up my…with nothing to do but wait, so I decided it would be more comfortable to wait aboard the ship. I returned to the Amsterdam. In the intervening 1.5 hours, I researched how long it would take to get across town and visit the sights I was so anxious to see. I also needed to allocate time to return and be back aboard and ready to go to dinner at 5:30pm when our Table 64 group of friends was about to say goodbye to two of my favorite people aboard. You must remember John, my beer and cigar buddy that I introduced to you earlier. Well, it was John and his wife Patricia who were leaving the ship in Singapore and I wasn’t about to miss the farewell evening.

So, in the end, I surmised that I didn’t have enough time left in the day to do everything, and the farewell party was the most important thing to me. So, I just stayed aboard.

That evening

Well, we had a very nice dinner, all of us regulars at Table 64. Here’s a photo of the whole gang.

John is the fellow to the left and he is standing next to his wife, Patricia. I’m on the right standing next to Beth (who I swear looks like an older Elease Caracci.) Next to Beth is Kathleen, and in front of Beth is her sister, Mary Lee. The elderly lady in front of John is Marge and she just joined our table, so I really don’t know too much about her.

After dinner, John suggested that we go and take a ride on the cable cars. This sounded like a great idea to several of us because: 1) we could walk to the entrance to the cable car just outside the cruise port, and 2) the Amsterdam was positioned directly underneath the cable cars and the “flight” might afford us a nice view of the ship. So, off we went.

The cable cars are nice, comfortable and modern. There are two separate routes and we decided to ride both of them. The initial route we chose would take us from Harbourfront to Sentosa Island, and right over the top of our ship.

As the cable car left the boarding point, we climbed steeply into the air.

Within a couple of minutes we were directly above the Amsterdam. As you know, I am regularly mentioning the Sea View bar on the Lido deck, aft, where John and I have often enjoyed the Cigars and Cognac recurring event. Well, we could see it plainly from the air! Can you make out the pool?

After the cable car ride we returned to the ship and proceeded to the Crow’s Nest bar (deck 9, forward) for one last cocktail. Just when the group announced that they needed to leave, and that John and Patricia needed to do some last minute packing, I bought the group a round of drinks just to stall them a little bit longer. I really was not ready to say goodbye to John and Patricia. Ultimately though, after that last round, the evening was over and everybody returned to their rooms. I suddenly felt quite alone.

The next day

I woke up the next morning telling myself that I needed to get off the ship and go see the sights. Slowly, I came to realize that my energy level was at just about zero and that my internal container of joie de vivre was only about half full. I fought with myself about getting dressed and getting out the door but, in the end, I lost that battle. I had no energy, no appetite, and little desire to do anything except, maybe, work on this blog.

I ran into Table-64-Kathleen later that day. I was sitting alone at a table by the Lido pool, midship, and Kathleen sat down on the chair next to me. We chatted about the night before and I told her I still had not left the ship to go see the sights. When she asked me what was wrong I told her I thought I was experiencing postpartum depression. That statement caused her to raise an eyebrow, but I explained that I thought I was just missing John and Patricia Frank. A lot.

Or, maybe in the wake of John and Patricia’s departure, perhaps I was not only missing them. Maybe I was missing all of my friends, especially those at home whom I love and hadn’t seen in over two months. Maybe it was all of that. In any case, I had missed my last chance to get out and see the city, and yet somehow that didn’t seem all that important to me.

And so it goes.

Departure

We left Singapore at 5:30pm that second day and, appropriately enough, the sky clouded up and almost imperceptibly started to cry. It started out just little misty, with the little drops barely perceivable as they fell. And then, all at once, the sky cried real hard, but only for a little bit.

After a few minutes and almost as if on queue, the sun came out again just as it always does. As the light glinted over the bay, all seemed fine with the world once again as the air filled with excitement for what was waiting just over the horizon.

It seemed like no time at all and we were heading west out of Singapore at a good clip. I set my camera up on my balcony railing to capture my last thoughts of Singapore. Just like me at this moment, the camera looks forward, and not back.

So, I didn’t get to see those sights I’d longed to see. I said goodbye, at least temporarily, to new friends. I lived in a funk for a wasted day. Still, this was a visit I’ll remember for the rest of my life, and I’m glad to have had the experience.

So, what’s coming up?

Three days at sea, and then we arrive in Columbo, the capitol city of Sri Lanka. I wanted to experience new cultures on this trip and I’m getting a full dose of that!

Thursday, March 21, 2019

As we approach the equator, our passage awakens the mighty King Neptune whose ire can be resisted by no pollywog. What am I talking about? Read on!

Where am I?

SO, WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING

Today, we crossed the equator and there was a tradition to be upheld as we did.

This tradition is as old as anybody can remember and each seafaring group has their own way to carry it out. In the US Navy, it was tantamount to a hazing which was meant to embarrass (and sometimes even injure) sailors who had not previously crossed the equator. Holland America would never stand for a hazing ceremony (thank goodness) so they have their own way to commemorate this important event. Here’s how it was done aboard the Amsterdam.

The tradition involves waking up King Neptune by trespassing upon his domain without his permission. Illogically, this only seems to happen when a ship crosses the equator. King Neptune, as it turns out, casts a blind eye to those who have passed this way before and their “crimes” are ignored. These people are called shellbacks and they do not need to suffer for their “crimes.”

However, if this is a person’s first crossing (and the ship has not received any prior “temporary reprieve”) then that person is known as a slimy pollywog and must stand before King Neptune and his court to be punished for their “crimes” and made to be uncomfortable and humiliated for the duration of the court.

This might be easier to explain if I show you some screen shots of the 30-minute video that I took.

Before I share my screen grabs, please imagine the setting for the court. On this ship, the court is held around the pool on the Lido deck, midship. This is the area I showed you earlier that has the dome that opens up to let the outside in. There is a “pulpit” for the judge who, oddly, does not do any judging at all! Then there is a throne area set aside for King Neptune and his mermaid queen. There is then a place for five senior officers of the ship who will do the actual judging of the pollywogs. There is also a “jail” where the pollywogs are contained until it is their turn to kneel before the officers and receive their judgement.

OK, let’s start with the photos.

With loudspeakers blaring Chopin’s Funeral March, the “judge” makes his entrance. In this case, the judge is our cruise director, Hamish.

Next comes King Neptune himself, with his lovely mermaid queen. Here, King Neptune is actually Ian, our shore excursion location expert. I’m not at all sure who the lovely mermaid queen is.

Next to appear are the ship’s senior officers, all of whom seem more than willing to administer the punishments to the pollywogs among their crew.

With all of the officiators in place, the slimy pollywogs are brought in “tied” in a line with a long length of rope. They are escorted to the jail to await their turn before the officers, King Neptune, and all the creatures of the briny deep.

In groups of no more than four, the pollywogs kneel before the officers as their “crimes” are announced. The guy in the white t-shirt is Doolin, an assistant cruise director. As an example, his “crime” was being too well known to head to the bar after his shift was complete. At this point with their “crimes” announced, the pollywogs could (uselessly) beg for mercy.

The first step in each pollywogs contrition is to step up and kiss the fish! Here we see Doolin sneaking a little smooch from this large, slimy and slightly stinky denizen of the deep. In a later conversation with Doolin, he told me he never actually got close enough to the fish to make lip contact, however, I think this photos speaks otherwise.

The next step in the punishment is to proceed to one of four tables placed around the pool. Each table was supplied with a large plastic container full of freshly made meringue in a variety of pastel colors. Shellbacks working at each table slathered the meringue onto both sides of the poor pollywog lying on the table. After being well coated, the pollywogs would return to the senior officers for final judgement.

If the senior officers were feeling lenient toward the group of ‘wogs they would order them to be thrown into the drink. In this case the drink was the pool. This was a light punishment indeed.

On the other hand, if the “crimes” were deemed severe, the pollywogs would be ordered to take a seat on the sidelines and bake like a cake! Can you imagine being covered in meringue, and sitting in the sun for up to half an hour while that meringue began to stiffen up and solidify? Yuck!

This process was repeated again and again in groups of four (or less) until every pollywog had been accused, sentenced, and punished. Oh, and I didn’t yet mention that there was a distinct advantage to being one of the first groups to face the judicial process because those that needed to wait were met with frequent dowsings of ice cold water!

At the end of the ceremony which lasted about 30 minutes, everybody aboard the ship was inducted by decree into the Ancient Order of Shellbacks. This includes me.

“Wait a minute!” I’m sure you’re saying to yourselves. “How did Robert become a shellback having never stood before the court nor been punished for his crimes?” Well, the answer should be as obvious to you as it is to me.

I’m a complete innocent.

Now, in case you didn’t get a good look at that deep sea beauty that was getting all of the action today, here s/he is in his/her magnificent oceanic glory. Now, ask yourself and then tell me truly: Would you have kissed the fish?

I really want to know. I await your Reply.

What’s coming up?

Tomorrow, we pull into Singapore for two days. This should be good!

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Java is our last stop in Indonesia.

Where am I?

It seems like the ports of call are coming at me with lightning speed. Today was my third port in four days. Perhaps I was just getting used to the pace set by my trans-Pacific crossing. Oh, well. Doesn’t matter. We’re here and it’s time I went ashore.

So, what’s been happening?

Today I enjoyed another tour that I booked through EXC, Holland America’s shore excursion arm. The tour included a couple of very nice stops where I was able to drench myself in the local culture, and that is one of my goals for this cruise.

For starters, let me tell you about the buses that cart us around to all of these exotic places. Here is a very good example of the bus I was in today.

These ultra-modern buses are very comfortable and air conditioned. Most of them offer in-transit wi-fi, though I think this must be a service that is paid for by whomever charters the bus. On more than one occasion when I was on one of these busses, the outside displayed the wi-fi graphic and I could find the wi-fi network with my iPhone, but the network was not connected to the outside world. When I asked about the wi-fi, in all cases I was told, “Oh, it doesn’t work.” What a coincidence.

Here in Java, I found that the bus ride to the attractions could also be part of the cultural education experience. For example, just looking through the bus window I was greeted by sights like these.

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Stop #1 – Ambarawa Train ride

I really love trains. Have I told you that before? And here, near Semarang, is a museum that offers rides on “ancient” trains. These trains are pulled by steam power and the cars we rode in are over 100 years old. This is the Ambarawa Railway Museum.

The museum grounds are like somebody’s well maintained back yard. Everything is clean, and trimmed. The restrooms are configured to accommodate everybody, no matter whether you are western or eastern.

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The train ride was just about ten kilometers and took us through town and across the very edge of a lake where rice is grown and fish are farmed. Yes, that farm tilapia you order at the restaurant or bought at the supermarket might have been farmed right here in this lake.

(NOTE: the conditions under which these fish are “farmed” did not increase my desire to have farm-fresh tilapia for dinner tonight, or any night, actually.)

How about taking in a little of the ride between Ambarawa and Polosiri?

OK, then. All aboard!

Stop #2 – Borobudur temple

The next place we visited was an amazing spectacle. The temple at Borobudur is an ancient buddhist temple that is cultural, spiritual, and incredibly artistic. It was constructed in the 9th century and is astoundingly well preserved.

The temple, aside from having intricately carved stone images which tell the history of the life of Buddha, also has levels that portray different significances in the path to enlightenment and (ultimately) nirvana. In order to help me explain the rich subtext of this monument, allow me to share with you an aerial view, and a diagram of that view to assist.

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The monument’s three divisions symbolize the three “realms” of Buddhist cosmology, namely Kamadhatu (the world of desires), Rupadhatu (the world of forms), and finally Arupadhatu (the formless world).

Ordinary sentient beings (especially me) live out their lives on the lowest level, the realm of desire. These levels are square and each and every wall is carved in a bas relief running story of the life of Buddha. Here are some photos from the Kamadhatu.

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Those who have burnt out all desire for continued existence leave the world of desire and live in the world on the level of form alone: they see forms but are not drawn to them. Sixty days at sea with our complement of elderly passengers is rapidly qualifying me for this level. I spent extra time examining the temple at this level, as well as my inner self. Here are some photos of the second level.

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Finally, full Buddhas go beyond even form and experience reality at its purest, most fundamental level, the formless ocean of nirvana. I’m sure I’ll never reach this level of enlightenment, even with an unlimited supply of gummy bears.

This highest level of the temple (representing nirvana, the total lack of form or desire) is covered in stupas which are bell shaped structures. Inside each stupa there is a Buddha. There are 72 of these large stupas positioned around circular levels of the monument at this, the highest level.

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Aside from the religious aspects of this beautiful place, its height above the surrounding area provides spectacular views.

Whatever goes up must come down, and so it was for me. Once I had absorbed as much of the breathtaking views of the temple and its surrounds as I could, I began my decent.

Climbing down all of the many, steep steps was actually more strenuous (and scary!) than climbing up. It took some time to reach the bottom, but then again, I was following behind (and providing verbal support) for a woman in her 80s who attempted and completed the climb to the top. By the time she reached the bottom of the last step of the temple, there was a subdued and polite round of applause for her from about 10 people that had decided to participate (at least spiritually) with her in her slow but confident trek.

After the climb, an al fresco buffet lunch was served at a restaurant that adjoined the temple area. Nothing too fancy, just some traditional Indonesian food. One thing that did catch my eye, though, was this piece of art at the entrance to the restaurant. I don’t know why I like it, I just do. I think that the ox is saying, “Put down that damn flute or I’ll throw you off!”

After lunch we started walking back to the bus that was parked about a block and a half away. During our walk, it started to rain. I was very happy to be walking in the rain rather than traversing the steep, and now slick steps of the monument.

With one brief stop for refreshments during the ninety minute drive back to the ship, our return was blessedly uneventful.

SO, anything else?

I mentioned in an earlier post that I did not enjoy my visit to Bali very much, and that I had no real desire to return there. Semarang has been a completely different experience. Though this island is only slightly more advanced than Bali, and even though the roads here are still vary narrow and packed with vehicles that are either too large for the size of the roads (trucks and busses) or too small and aggressively driven (motorbikes), I liked what I saw of Java.

I have also been impressed with Indonesia as a cultural melting pot. The population of Bali is mostly Hindu. The population of Java is mostly muslim. Despite the major differences in these two religions, this nation of people seem to be well integrated and very tolerant of their mutual differences. This may not have been true through history, but it certainly seems true now, at least to me.

I don’t think of Indonesia as a touristy place filled with resorts serving fu-fu umbrella drinks. But I do feel that there is plenty in this country to satisfy those who are searching for deeper meaning in life, rather than merely a warm beach and a cool cocktail.

This has been my last stop in Indonesia. Taken as a whole, I don’t think I’ll be planning a return any time soon. But, at the same time, I feel like I have learned much here, and it has given me time and opportunity to explore a stronger spiritual link between my inner self and the world around me.

So, what’s coming up?

We have a day at sea, and then a visit to Singapore!

Tuesday, March 18, 2019

Cruising the waters around the Indonesian islands is both calming and exciting.

Where am I?

SO, WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING

This morning the seas were very calm and the cruising was smooth. By sunset, there were lightning storms visible at various places around the horizon. I love lightning storms and still find them exciting and fascinating to watch.

Something of import did happen on this day but, let’s start at the beginning.

On the first or second day of the trip, I went to the Sea View Bar (Lido deck, aft) and asked for a shot of Don Julio reposed tequila, one of my favorites. It was happy hour, so a second shot was only $2. I know a good deal when I see one, so I had a second shot.

The next night, I had two more.

On my third visit, Reb (you met him earlier) the bartender, set that bottle of Don Julio aside just for me. Then on nights when tequila was my preference, he’d pull out my “special” bottle and pour me a shot or two (usually two.)

Tonight, I finished that bottle. Top to bottom, it was all mine! I had Red and Kennedy (you met him, too) decorate the label of the bottle and give it to me as a souvenir.

And here it is.

I think that was a great way to end a day at sea. Don’t you?

What’s coming up?

Tomorrow, I visit Java. I don’t have high expectations, but we’ll just have to see how it all turns out.

Monday, March 18, 2019

Bali is an island that many of the ship’s crew call home. Some of the crew (bye bye, Ayu!) will be getting off the ship for a long and well deserved vacation. Others will be allowed to have their families come aboard for a visit. I’ve given my stateroom staff the day off so that they might enjoy more time with their families. Many other have done the same.

Where am I?

I know that the map looks like we simply teleported most of the way to Bali, but our satellite communications has been on the fritz and it has affected the ship’s communication with the outside world just as much as it has mine.

So, what’s been happening?

Today, I booked a tour through EXC (the ship’s travel agency) to go see some of the richly cultural sights of Bali. I have been told to expect to see an island of great beauty and this morning I’m already anxious to get started.

Stop #1 – Pura Tanah Lot

My tour starts in the morning at 9:30am. We load into our bus to go see the first of three sites that are included in our tour. As I may have already stated, when you stop in any place for only one day, you cannot see all of the attractions that are offered. It seems to me that it doesn’t really matter too much which ones you choose, you’ll always miss out on something. So I wasn’t too selective about the three stops on today’s tour as there is bound to be something memorable.

Our first stop was at an ancient Hindu temple. Most of the people on Bali practice Hinduism, and this is one of the temples built around that faith.

Now, there were a lot of other tourists here this day, so walking around was a crowded affair. Still, the views of and around this temple were very nice. Here’s a small gallery of some of the photos I took that I found to be most interesting. I have so many more, but if you want to see them you’ll have to wait until you see me.

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The area around the temple also had some other scenic attractions like this natural arch just a short walk away and yet still within the cultural reserve.

We stayed at Pura Tanah Lot for about an hour then it was time to move on to our next attraction.

Stop #2 – MONKEY FOREST

The next place we visited would not be a place that I would call a cultural highlight. Nonetheless, it was interesting and kinda fun. After about a 25 minute ride in the bus we came to the Alas Kedaton Bali Monkey Forest.

These little critters look so cute. People were just falling in love with them. But, we had already been warned to watch out for our cameras, phones, hats, glasses, or anything loosely attached to ourselves since these cute little guys are notorious and aggressive thieves!

Although the following is not one my photos, it does show these charming critters in action.

I don’t know, but it’s probably because of stuff like that baby attack that possessed the people of this area to create the evil monkey god, portrayed here. I mean, look at the size of that monkey evil!

While we were there, the monkeys didn’t seem so intent with stealing our stuff. Actually they didn’t really seem to care whether we were there or not.

So, monkeys were not the only living attractions in the monkey forest. Do you remember the photos of the fruit bats hanging from the downtown trees in Darwin, Australia? Well, they have them here as well.

The fruit bat attraction here at the monkey forest is slightly different from the scene in Darwin. Here, you’re allowed to hold them up by the wings. I chose not to. What would you do?

So, it was time to leave the monkeys and the bats and get back to human culture.

STOP #3 – THE ROYAL TEMPLE

The main attraction of this shore excursion was to be the Royal Temple, and I was not disappointed.

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There are three levels to this temple. Pictured above are the steps to the first level. Each of the other levels are continued one within another. Guests are welcome to enter the first two levels, but entry to the third level is permitted only to those who wish to pray.

Here are a couple more photos from the temple. These photos are looking into (but not taken from) the innermost level reserved for prayer.

Something interesting here was that people who were wearing shorts were given a sarong to wear to cover up their legs. This rule applied to men and women alike. I was wearing my Levi’s today so this didn’t apply to me. However, a woman wearing shorts and a well-fitting halter top was given a sarong to cover her legs. Apparently, boobs are OK here, but legs are far too sexy to have exposed in public!

After about 45 minutes at this temple it was time to return to the ship. Coincidentally it was just starting to rain so the timing was perfect. Time for just one last photo of the intricate and ornate stone carvings guarding the temple.

SO, anything else?

Much of our tour today was spent in a bus getting from one place to another. As a result, I got to see a lot of Bali as it really is (as well as getting to see plenty of cultural history.) I don’t have a lot of photos of the “real Bali” because, for me, the real Bali is not attractive. There is much poverty on this island, and most of the homes and businesses we drove by were in poor repair and of doubtful sanitation.

Bali is an island paradise, but not for everybody who lives here. The traffic is awful, the streets are narrow, and the primary transportation seems to be motorbikes. (Not motorcycles, but little two-wheeled sewing machines with saddles on them.)

Given the opportunity, I do not think I would return to Bali. I was actually quite happy to return to the ship and take a shower. So far in Indonesia, I’ve seen a forest full of lizards, a forest full of monkeys and bats, and some temples that were probably very impressive in the 1600’s. All in all, the fulfillment of my expectations is coming up just a bit short.

Let’s see what the next stop holds.

So, what’s coming up?

We have a day at sea, and then a visit to Java!

Sunday, March 17, 2019

My first visit to Indonesia, and it starts with a visit with the world’s largest lizards. I first met this species at the San Diego Zoo. I was so impressed with them there. Now, I get to see them without a wall between us!

Where am I?

So, what’s been happening?

Komodo island is, in its entirety, a national park. As such, it has very limited infrastructure. For example, there is no docking ability for the Amsterdam, only a small concrete pier exists at the park entrance. Therefore, the Amsterdam anchored just off shore and we used tenders to get to the pier on the island. Well, at least a few of us did.

Indonesia is very careful about this island and its environment. Nobody was allowed to off-board the Amsterdam unless they had pre-purchased tickets to the park. Tickets could be purchased aboard ship and via the internet. In any case, if you didn’t have a ticket in hand, you were not allowed to leave the ship.

Once we reached the island by tender, we were immediately greeted at the pier by somebody representing the tour company that sold our ticket, as well as a park ranger. We stayed in the company of these two throughout our tour. They were there not only as guides and to protect us from the wildlife, but also to protect the wildlife from us. The rules of the park were very strictly enforced.

Almost immediately upon arrival we started seeing wildlife. Pictured here is a deer laying on the beach, seemingly unbothered by our presence. We learned that, unlike other places in the world where deer tend to hide in the forests, the deer here prefer to relax in the open. This is because the deer can see approaching Komodo dragons more easily in the open.

And, since I’ve mentioned dragons, the Komodo dragon is what I’m here to see. It is the largest lizard in the world, it is venomous, it can run at about 12 mph, and it kills things.

Here, on the island, these scaly beast are running around in their own habitat. They are not on leashes. They are not in cages or in any other way encumbered in their movements. The park rangers are only equipped with a stick having a small forked branch at the end. So, if you want to commune with large poisonous lizards in the great wide-open, this is the only place in the world where you can do that.

We met a group of lizards near a watering hole about 800 feet into the park. Fortunately for us, these lizards must have had a meal lately because they did not seem all that interested in us. Still, the rangers drew lines in the dirt to indicate just how close we could get to these “monsters” without risk of serious injury.

In the photo above, the guy in the yellow pants is one of the park rangers trying to protect me from doing anything stupid like getting closer to this big male Komodo Dragon. No worries; I had no desire to get any closer!

Our walk through the park was about two miles long and, in our case, included a little side trip. There was a couple in our small group (seven people) who were geocachers. Geocaching is a game played around the world where small containers (called caches) are hidden so that others may have the thrill of finding them. Cache hunters are only provided with GPS coordinates that they obtain via the Geocaching app. The actual cache could be hidden in a tree, under a rock, or in even more insidious places.

In our case, the cache was hidden somewhere at the top of a high hill in the middle of the island. Fortunately for the geocachers, they found their cache! Fortunately for the rest of us, we got to see this tremendous view of the forest and the bay below.

Along the walk back down the hill, we didn’t see any more Komodo dragons, but we did see some other wildlife, like these brightly colored snails.

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At the end of the trail there was a small “shopping mall” waiting for us. This mall was nothing more that a string of tents where those few people who are living on the island try to separate tourists from their money. And, they’re pretty aggressive about it, too!

I did buy a couple of items there. First, our park ranger, Dedy, has a family who had set up a table in the “mall” and I wanted to reward him for a job well done so I bought this Komodo dragon from them.

The second purchase was far more important to me owing to the heat and the humidity (both very high!) That’s me and the four gentlemen that must have seem me coming from a mile away!

After about 2 1/2 hours, our visit to the island was over and we tendered back to the Amsterdam. I had a fun visit to Komodo, and was never bitten.

SO, anything else?

Of course!

March 17 is St. Patrick’s Day, and even in this part of the world (or, at least aboard our ship) a celebration is a requirement!

For this celebration we did a pub crawl, visiting four different bars around the ship, having a different drink at each stop (we didn’t get to choose our drinks) and being entertained in a variety of ways. Here’s Michael (you met him earlier) setting up one of the bars for both our drinks and our entertainment. Michael and his colleagues had set up pint glasses (with one type of liquor) and on top of those they set up shot glasses (with another type of liquor.) At Michael’s command, a bartender pushed the shot glass at one end into the next shot glass in the progression. In the end, the shot glasses tipped each over like dominos and dumped their contents into the pint glasses, creating our drink at that bar. Wish I had the video!

Here’s one very short example of the entertainment. (I’m sorry I didn’t record more of this performance, but I was not focused on that task at the time.

Four bars, four strong cocktails, and I was done for the day!

Komodo Island has been a fun stop. It was a long day (starting at 6am and continuing until midnight) but so full of exciting and fun adventures. Glad I was here!

Anything else interesting?

Yes! I’d like for you to meet my traveling buddy, John. John and his wife are passengers aboard the Amsterdam. I met John one evening during the Cigars and Cognac event and we struck up a great relationship. A couple of weeks after meeting John, I was invited to and became a permanent member of his dining room table (where, I might add, he reigns as king!) I’m so happy to be a part of the amazing Table 64!

Unfortunately, John and his wife, Patricia, will be leaving the Amsterdam in Singapore in order to continue their adventures in Thailand and China. In the mean time, John and I enjoy a Bintang on Komodo Island in an effort to beat the heat.

So, what’s coming up?

Tomorrow, it’s Bali!

Friday, March 15, 2019
Saturday, March 16, 2019

I’m on my way to scratch off another new country on my world map: Indonesia. I know so little about this part of the world, I’m excited to learn more.

Where am I?

SO, WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING

I’ve already mentioned how I love days at sea. It’s a great time to relax, catch up on some reading, or take advantage of some of the activities offered by the ship.

One of my favorite activities is attending sessions in the America’s Test Kitchen studio. I try not to miss any of these great classes on cooking techniques and ideas.

Please meet Abby. Abby is our America’s Test Kitchen chef. She runs the show in the Wajang Theater which is set up to be exactly like a kitchen on a television cooking show.

Abby is a chef who signed on with Holland America Lines (HAL). HAL created an exclusive business partnership with America’s Test Kitchen and Abby was the first to be selected and trained in that venture.

Abby conducts regular classes and also hosts guest chefs that join the ship here and there around the world. It has, so far, been an amazing experience to watch, learn from, and chat with so many amazing kitchen artists on this ship.

In Friday’s class, Abby showed us how to make some Dim Sum. She made hot chili oil, Shu Mai, shrimp potstickers, and a soy-ginger dipping sauce from start to finish in less than an hour.

I picked up nice, shiny, heavy card stock versions of the recipes, but a better way to obtain and keep these gems is through the HAL/ATK website, which I am now sharing with you! In fact, every recipe used in Abby’s presentations can be found on that website.

These little dumplings are very easy to make and taste wonderful. Perhaps, when I return, some of us might like to get together for an evening of cooking and dining. What do you think?

Anything else of interest?

Well, yes.

Previously, I asked you if you’d like to have a video tour of my new stateroom so that you might get a better idea of what it is like. I now offer you that video.

What’s coming up?

Next is a visit to Komodo Island. Big lizards!

P. S.

The bandwidth and Internet availability in this part of the world is not the best. Please forgive me if I fall a bit behind in my posts. I’ll try to catch up as we approach larger cities.