We left home on January 13th for our "once in a lifetime trip to the Orient". Using frequent flyer miles, we overnighted in Dallas and then, Crossing the International Dateline, we lost 1 day and so we arrived in Singapore just after midnight on January 16th. We took a taxi to our hotel, checked in; and after our long trip we went straight to bed!
Singapore
The next morning, we went up to the sky deck of our hotel for some beautiful views of the city.
Singapore is a clean, modern city that is also the world's safest city. The skyline is filled with interesting skyscapers. We boarded a "Hop on Hop off" Bus to see more of Singapore.
Yes, this is a selfie of us on the bus!
Views of the financial district
This is the world famous building: the Marina Bay Sands Resort. It is was opened in 2010 and has a cruise ship design structure on the top.
I found the photo below online which gives a closer view of this impressive structure.
The Ministry of Commuications and Information building with brightly colored window frames was another of the interesting sights on our bus tour.
We also drove through Fort Canning Park and Nature Preserve.
Singapore has many hospitals and is a mecca for plastic surgery.
After our bus tour, we walked to a nearby mall and looked around at some of the many shops and then ate lunch at the Bali-Thai resturant that been reccommended to us by one of the shop's clerks. Unfortunately, the food looked better than it tasted.
That evening we walked a few blocks over to another huge mall and enjoyed looking at Singapore by night. With all the lights on, it is a beautiful city!
This monolith is the Kranji War Memorial which is dedicated to the men and women that died in defending Singapore and Malyasia during the Japanese invasion of WWII.
All Aboard the Holland America Westerdam
The next morning we took a taxi to the pier and boarded our ship for our 31 day cruise. We settled into our cabin, unpacked, attended the mandatory safety drill and then explored the ship before our dinner.
The 5 photos below were taken as we left the Singapore harbor.
Goodbye Singapore!
We were on our way to Nathon Thailand.
Our first day was spent at sea. It was nice to relax and get settled in. - we were both still a little jet lagged.
Dinner that night was delicious - beef tenderloin and prawns.
This photo was taken looking back at our ship from the tender.
This picture was taken as we neared the dock and you can see the green hills in the background.
A beautiful beach nearby.
There were open air markets filled with all kinds of interesting food and many other things.
As we were walking around the town, we discovered this Thai Massage place and decided to get massages. The price was right - 200 Thai Baht = $6.39 for a 1 hour massage.
The lady on the left gave me a great massage and the the lady on the right was Hal's masseuse and he had a bit of an adventure!
After our massages, we explored the shops downtown.
As we drove around the city, we noticed the interesting way they put up the electrical wires! We also saw this same type of wiring in Cambodia and Viet Nam. Looks like a challenge for anyone to do wire repair!
We stopped for a couple of hours to explore some shops and Hal and I had a neck, shoulder and head massage - you can't beat the price of a Thai massage in Thailand!
Pattaya is known for its beautiful beach!
Entertainmemnt that evening was Thai singers and dancers.
It was a beautiful and graceful show.
We rented a Tuk Tuk (a cart pulled by a motorcycle) to see the sites of this city known for its beach and fishing port.
Evidence of re-construction was everywhere and poverty was also very evident.
Motorcycles seemed to be the primary mode of transportation. We saw this interesting round-about as we traveled to see the beach.
The beaches of Sihanoukville are Cambodia's best beach destinations.
This family was preparing their lunch!
Another interesting round-about
Our next stop was to see some monkeys. If you look closely, you will see that both females have babies - they were so cute!
Nex we stopped to see the Wat Krom - a Buhddist Temple overlooking the sea.
Entrance to the Wat Krom grounds above and the temple below
There were lots of interesting fruits and vegetables as well as bakery items.
I loved the cute Cambodian children that we saw at the marketplace.
We were on our way to Nathon Thailand.
Nathon, Thailand
Nathon is on Ko Samui - a pretty island in the Gulf of Thailand. This was one of 2 ports that we needed to tender into. The village of Nathon has some beautiful beaches nearby and some cute shops to explore. The nearby hills are covered with lush tropical vegatation.
As we were walking around the town, we discovered this Thai Massage place and decided to get massages. The price was right - 200 Thai Baht = $6.39 for a 1 hour massage.
The lady on the left gave me a great massage and the the lady on the right was Hal's masseuse and he had a bit of an adventure!
After our massages, we explored the shops downtown.
Laem Chabang, Thailand
The next morning we arrived in Laem Chabang which is a port very near to Bangkok and Pattaya.
We had spent a week in Bangkok several years ago, so we decided to go to Pattaya. We shared a cab with a lady from New York and unfortunately our Taxi driver was from Bangkok and was not familiar with Pattaya and kept getting lost. We drove and drove looking for some of the sites that our cab companion wanted to see. We tried to find an elephant sanctuary, a Thai village and a Buddhist Temple and spent most of our time driving.
We did stop at what our driver told was a honey farm but it was a shop selling honey and honey products. When we spotted the giant bee, we had to take some pictures!
We did stop at what our driver told was a honey farm but it was a shop selling honey and honey products. When we spotted the giant bee, we had to take some pictures!
Pattaya is known for its beautiful beach!
That evening we were able to view the Super Blood Wolf Moon!
Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Sihanoukville was named for King Sihanouk who was overthrown in a coup in 1970. A civil war followed his overthrow and tore Cambodia apart. The Viet Nam War also extended into the country. Peace finally came in 1997 and Cambodia is still rebuilding and recovering.
We rented a Tuk Tuk (a cart pulled by a motorcycle) to see the sites of this city known for its beach and fishing port.
Evidence of re-construction was everywhere and poverty was also very evident.
Motorcycles seemed to be the primary mode of transportation. We saw this interesting round-about as we traveled to see the beach.
The beaches of Sihanoukville are Cambodia's best beach destinations.
Along the beachfront was a nice, paved walking path.
As we walked along the path, we saw many interesting sights.
Another interesting sight on the pathway!
After seeing the beach, we got back into our Tuk Tuk and continued on to see more things.
Entrance to the Wat Krom grounds above and the temple below
The interior of Wat Krom was beautiful!
The ceiling of the temple
The sleeping Buddha - on the temple grounds
After seeing the temple, we visited a city market.
There were lots of interesting fruits and vegetables as well as bakery items.
I loved the cute Cambodian children that we saw at the marketplace.
