South China Sea cruise

Saturday, March 8th - SIHANOUKVILLE, CAMBODIA I somehow managed to catch a cold/virus. I spent 14 hours in bed and still feel lousy. So, today Jim went ashore by himself and of course, Bongo. [Jim here] We had a long day on the bus and at several locations around Sihanoukville. Our first stop was at a pepper farm…black pepper. Now we know one place where black peppercorns come from. White pepper is black pepper that has been briefly boiled to loosen the skins which are then peeled off. Its all dried in the sun. We also saw durian fruit trees and "rambutan" (spelling) trees. We had lunch at a restaurant that can feed 200 tourists at a time..so not very quaint, but the food was pretty good…. whole fried fish, fried rice, tropical fruit, noodles, etc. We walked through a fishing village also. I'm not sure if that was for us to see the village or for the villagers to see the tourists. I guess after having seen and lived around locations like this around the world, this sort of quick tour begins to lose it appeal. Of course, millions (billions?) of people live this way…our way of life is a striking contrast. I wish people in developed countries could see this way of life..up close and personal. It might give them a new appreciation for what they have and what is available to them. Sunday, March 9th - AT SEA Monday, March 10th - PHU MY, VIETNAM We went on a very long (3-hour each way) bus ride to the Cu Chi Tunnels. This is where the Viet Cong fighters lived during the war. They had an entire city developed underground. They were like little rats living in an underground tunnel! We also saw the traps that they set up to kill soldiers running around their camp. We also went for a short walk/crawl in one of the tunnels. Jim took the opportunity to shoot and AK-47 and an M-16 …the most common weapons for the fighters in the war. Tuesday, March 11th - NHA TRANG, VIETNAM We visited the Po Nagar Cham Towers, built between the 7th & 12th centuries from the Cham civilization. We climbed 152 steps to the giant white Buddha. We also saw the ladies embroidery with the silk thread made at that factory. Very amazing artwork! Wednesday, March 12th - AT SEA Thursday, March 13th - DA NANG, VIETNAM Jim went on another long bus ride today, and I went on a shorter tour of something else. [Jim here] I took a trip from Da Nang, through Phu Bai to Hue. Rick was stationed in Da Nang in 1970 and Tom was near Phu Bai at Camp Eagle…10 km. south of Hue. I visited the Imperial city of Hue..the ancient capital. Its a fascinating city, in the process of being rebuilt. As is typical, it must have been beautiful when originally built, but the years and war have taken a severe toll. Much of the reconstruction is based on black and white photographs taken by the French in the 1950's. We also went to the Royal tombs…hauntingly beautiful, but also in severe disrepair. I went to Hoi-An to a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was a place where about 6 generations have lived. We had a nice tour of this town and had time to shop. I bought a pair of baggy trousers made of cotton and silk. I also found some nice beads for mosaics. Friday, March 14th - AT SEA Saturday, March 15th - HALONG BAY, VIETNAM Today we remember Adin H Hall, Jim's dad. He would be 95 today, if he were still living. Today is our last day of touring. This is a remarkable natural wonder and UNESCO World Heritage site dotted with more than 3000 limestone islands. We sailed in and around these magnificent structures. We went on a climb of 120 steps into the Thien Cung Cave. We saw a cave that could be active at times with many stalagmites and stalactites. I will post photos of our trip in a few days.

Cruising on the South China Sea

PHOTOS from this trip will be uploaded to the blog when we return to Brunei. Our internet connection while on the ship is by satellite, which is very expensive. Saturday - Monday, March 1-3, 2014 We spent a couple of days in Singapore before the cruise. We went to the Garden by the Bay. We had a great time looking at all the different plants. Thankfully, it was inside, as it gets very warm in the middle of the day. We had dinner with a friend that Jim used to work with in The Netherlands. It was fun to see her and get to know her husband. Tuesday, March 4, 2014 Our first day of the cruise, we spend at sea. There are many activities on the ship on "at sea" days. I went to Yoga and Jim went to Tai Chi. Later in the day we played bingo and lost. *sad* Wednesday, March 5, 2014 We docked in Koh Samui, Thailand early Wednesday morning. We had a quick breakfast and off we went on a small bus. We went to the huge seated Buddha on the North East Coast, which is quite a landmark. We also went on a short walk through a village to see the fish market. Smelly! At the end of the walk they served us green coconuts to drink the milk straight out of the coconut. The next stop was where we could see the monkeys bring down the brown coconuts from the top of the tree. We did make it back to the ship to eat lunch before they closed the restaurant. We watch a very good movie called "12 years a Slave", which is based on a true story. The story line is sad, but the movie was well done. I can see why it earned some awards. Thursday, March 6, 2014 We had great fun going to the Elephant Village. We rode on the elephants through the jungle and even through some water. We fed them bananas on the way. They love bananas! There were also some very cute bunnies in a caged area close to where we got off the elephants. We walked a ways through the jungle, over a small wooden foot bridge to a small hut where they process silk. They showed us the different processes that the cocoon goes through to become silk thread. There was also a loom to see how it is woven. We have seen this process before at a place in Turkey. The main difference is the color of the cocoon. The cocoon in Turkey was white, instead of the pale yellow. We walked a short ways and got on a covered wooden raft. We rode down a lake ??, not really sure what kind of body of water this was, but it was abundant in fish. We fed the fish with the feed that was provided. Bongo thought it was very interesting the way we were guided by a rope down the lake. See photos. We got in a 4-wheel drive vehicle and the drive drove us back to where we started riding the elephants. We enjoyed a very nice Thai buffet lunch. When Thai people tell you that the food is not spicy, it is still a bit spicy. They had everyone in our group sit in a stadium type place for the elephant show. We were offered to go into the water with the elephants, but no one took them up on that. After the elephants had a nice bath, they brought them back up to the area in front of us. They offered that we could ride the elephant bare-back, just behind the neck. I thought that would be fun, so I volunteered first, and many people followed. It was actually easier bare-back that in the seat like we were earlier today. Jim followed and also rode bare-back. They have one elephant that used to be a show elephant, so this elephant showed the different ways the trainer can get on top of the elephant. This tour also included a tour of a gems factory, which was very interesting, but we were not allowed to take photos. It was like a very large jewelry store.

Time to Get Away

Jim and I left home on Saturday, March 1st at about 5:15 AM. The drive to the airport in Bandar is about two hours. We took a flight from Bandar to Singapore. As we were driving along on our way to our hotel, The Pan Pacific, it felt as if we had arrived back into the 21st century. I had already visited a clean bathroom and it actually had toilet paper! It's the little things in life that make a difference. We met up with one of Jim's past colleagues for dinner at Ruth Chris Steakhouse. It was so delicious! We have not had any food like that in at least 4 months! After dinner we went to a bar at the waterside. The weather was very pleasant outside and we enjoy some wine and chatted. We enjoyed an interesting laser show that was across the water from where we were sitting. The building is quite interesting. It has 3 high high-rise buildings next to each other, with a ship on top.

March Already

Wow a month has gone by! We have been busy setting up house. The garden is the worst garden I have had to transform EVER! It is coming along, but it will require at least a couple more months of work. The good things about being in Brunei: + I feel tall! Malaysians & Bruneians are very short people. + It's close to Malaysia. + It's tropical. + It's easy to travel to other Asian Countries. As you can see, I have not found anything exciting about living in Brunei..... yet.

Weather Update

Here is an updated weather report. Interestingly enough, we have had 70% of our January average in 24 hours! It will be interesting to see what the January totals are. Weather Update For Brunei Darussalam Brunei Darussalam which is currently in the Northeast Monsoon period, has been experiencing very active weather condition for the last few days with significant increase in the rainfall activities. The active weather condition was triggered by the strong Northeasterly surges that transport moisture to our region. Northeast Monsoon period starts from December to March and highest rainfall activities normally occurred in December and January. For the last 24 hours, continuous rain, heavy at times, had been affecting the whole nation, which had caused widespread of flash floods and flooding, especially over the low-lying and flood prone areas. Meanwhile, the amount of rainfall recorded over the Meteorological Observation Station, Brunei International Airport for the last 24 hours was188.4 mm, which was around 70% of the long term (1979-2008) average for month of January (i.e. 271.0 mm). According to the latest ensemble rainfall forecast for Brunei Darussalam, there will be a break in the active weather pattern in the next few days. Nonetheless rainfall activities are still expected towards the end of January, but with less amount of rainfall. However, the general public, motorists, and mariners are advised to take necessary precautions, especially during the active weather conditions to ensure safety and the prevention of undesirable incidents. Brunei Darussalam Meteorological Department shall continue to monitor the weather conditions closely, and will issue appropriate weather advisory or warnings, as and when necessary. For the latest weather update, the public can contact the Duty Meteorological Forecaster at the Forecast Office, Weather Services Division, Brunei International Airport through Weather Line 114 or 2345567, or visit the department's website at www.met.gov.bn. Prepared by: Weather Services Division Brunei Darussalam Meteorological Department Ministry of Communications 21 Rabiulawal 1435, 22nd January 2014

Cuteness

Does Coco really know how cute he is??

Jim has a conference of some sort in Kuala Lumpur this week. He left on Sunday afternoon. Why is it when Jim is not here that the weather goes downhill? Really downhill! And the power goes off for 3 hours.... in the evening. Is this a test? It started raining about 7 PM on Sunday, and the skies just kind of opened up..... completely! Wow! In all my days in Louisiana, I have never seen it rain so hard and fast. We got about a foot of rain in 24 hours. I guess that has something do to with the street flooding. Hmmm.... We lost power about 6 PM and I could tell that it was not just my house! I went on FaceBook, and many people were posting about how they were out of power. As a matter of fact, the entire town of Kuala Belait was very dark. After about two hours a friend sent me a text that we would probably get power soon. She lives around the corner from me. I spent most of the time knitting by candlelight. It's not like I could go anywhere. The gate is electric and it doesn't work when the power is out. We do have a walk out gate, but where am I going to want to walk to? Things that happen in places like this, you just can't make up. Here is an example of one of those. This happened to my friend, Beth. This is what she posted on her FaceBook page.... "New life experience # I've lost count: having to climb your fence, in the rain, in a skirt, while the men at the staff house next door watch you b/c your electricity is out and your gate won't open. I broke the plastic trash can I was using as a step & it thanked me by holding my flip flop hostage." Another thing to know about Beth is that she always wears dresses or skirts. There is a reason for this. She says that when she is out, she never know when you will get one of those stoop only toilets. They can be kind of tricky when you have shorts on. And who wants to have their shorts all wet from the bathroom floor! Here is some photos of our flooded street:

Jim wants me to start making his favorite foods and freezing them into individual serving sizes for use while I am away in the States. So on Tuesday, I made some Louisiana gumbo. Fortunately, I had bought all the vegetable that go in it at the market on Saturday.I invited my friend Antje and her husband, Benny for dinner. That was the eve of my birthday. It was delicious food and good company. Antje is from Germany and Benny is from Switzerland and both are pretty adventurous with food. I pretty much knew that the weather this week was going to suck. There were reports that the monsoon was headed our way from the Philippines. The weather forecaster here says this is the wettest rainy season Brunei has had since 1966. Lovely! Does it really need to do this the first year we move here. It has definitely made life here interesting. The mozzies are horrific! On Wednesday, my birthday, the street was flooded when I got up in the morning and pretty much stayed that way all day. I cancelled my Physio appointment and later the lunch plans. It was a very quiet day, but I did get quite a bit of knitting done. I did reschedule my birthday lunch with Antje to today. We went to my favorite restaurant Kaizen Sushi. As usual, it was very delicious!

It was interesting driving around today. I was driving on a main road between the two expat towns of Kuala Belait and Seria. There is still a lot of water standing on the roadway, and some roads are still under water. I sure am glad that we do not live in the Brunei Shell camp. They can't flush their toilets and some of them have sewer that is backing up in their sinks. In some of the areas of the camp there is still water standing almost to the threshold. They have had a real problem with mozzies, and now they are just breeding by the millions in all that standing water. Now it is Thursday evening, and the rain is starting again. I'm glad our house is on high ground....