10. Phuket, Thailand.

On Sunday our port of call was Phuket in Thailand and a very long day it turned out to be!

We were up early in order to get the tender ashore into Patong Beach and join the coach for a trip to Phang Nga Bay. This involved driving most of the length of Phuket island and across the bridge to the mainland. The drive itself was interesting as we passed all manner of roadside shops, stalls, houses old and new, rubber plantations and thick jungle, and spotting Thai names such as Bumthongbang road never failed to raise a smile. But eventually we reached our stopping point and transferred from coach to motorboat for our excursion around the bay.

The bay itself contains a number of fascinating limestone islands, many hundreds of feet high with sheer cliffs. Indeed the most famous island is now known as James Bond island as it featured in the movie The Man With The Golden Gun. Although it was possible to go ashore on this island, we just viewed from the motorboat, no doubt not to disturb the arch villain in his headquarters hidden below the surface.

On the return leg we stopped at a local Moslem village which is built on stilts over the sea. It was a maze of small dark passages and alleyways with the residents, both old and young, eager to sell the tourists their wares. 

Once back on dry land it was time for a very tasty Thai lunch of noodles, battered crab balls, tempura prawns and vegetables, rice, chicken and cashews. Absolutely fabulous. The restaurant was situated on the waterfront overlooking the bay and a more tranquil and picturesque spot would be hard to find.

Following the inevitable stop for souvenirs we eventually got back to Patong Beach and had time for a quick look around. The narrow and incredibly busy streets were crowded with tourists and locals and every bar and restaurant owner, every street vendor, every massage girl and every tailor was doing their best to drum up business. It was quite an experience, and although a hassle, was never threatening. 

On the other side of the road, the beach was also still busy with swimmers, watersport enthusiasts and those just sitting and watching the world go by and it looked wonderfully tropical. 

By the time we were ready to return to the ship it was already dark and a refreshing shower was most welcome before heading to the bar for our pre-dinner drink.

Although we only saw a small part of Thailand (we will return later on the trip), we did enjoy the experience. Yes, it is busy and frenetic at times, but there is a wonderful mixture of new and traditional. 

Penang, Malaysia.

Rumour has it that because the tides are wrong and there is not enough depth under th keel in the approach channel, we have had to delay our arrival into Penang until late morning. Consequently, this gave us the opportunity to compete in our first trivia challenge of the trip. We joined up with elderly couples from Australia and the USA and our combined efforts won the day. To be fair though, there wasn't very much competition.

Once alongside we decided to have an early lunch before proceeding ashore...we had no excursions booked so just decided to have a look around Penang's main town, Georgetown (which incidentally is a UNESCO world heritage site).

There is a huge cultural mix here in Penang, of Malay, Thai, Indian and Chinese. The streets are full of small businesses, little shops, street food, temples, cars, mopeds, bicycles and people. The stall holders and shop owners are welcoming, a genuine welcome and not one just because we are tourists and they can spot a potential sale. So we had a good meander round, took many pictures of the street scenes and purchased a couple of souvenirs. Being a tourist resort the entire waterfront and coastline is gradually being taken up with high rise hotel blocks and already the place is far more built up and developed than I had imagined.

Inevitably we had to take shelter once or twice from the afternoon downpours, but they have not been quite as heavy today. Before reboarding the ship we also stopped for some coconut icecream which was wonderfully refreshing.

After our exertions in the heat, a dip in the pool was called for. We opted for one of the two smaller pools at the back of the ship, the water was pleasantly warm, and we spent a half hour or so swimming in the rain.

8. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

As a footnote to yesterday, I am pleased to report that a full Thanksgving dinner was served in the restaurants last night. The roast turkey and pumpkin pie were both delicious!

Today, we have been in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia and it was an early start as the capital is some 90 minutes drive from the port. There is not much of interest along the route in although it is clear how much Malaysia is developing as a country as there are many huge apartment blocks and housing estates being built whilst the poorer neighbourhoods are being flattened. I suppose that it is the price of progress but I thought that the apartment blocks looked reminiscent of those of sixties Eastern Europe, albeit with a little more style.

The main attraction for us in Kuala Lumpur was the twin towers of the Petronas building. We had to pre-book tickets as visitor numbers are strictly controlled and have to align with the timing of daily prayers. Once through security, we were taken to the skybridge which links the two towers some 500 feet above street level. Following this photo opportunity we were then escorted up to the observation deck on the 86th floor. There were only about 40 people in the group so there was ample space and time to take in the views and height above street level, from every direction.

Following our descent we had time to have look around the shopping mall which is contained within the first few stories of Tower 2. Like the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, the mall has all the high end and designer label outlets, but also contains other well known high street names such as Marks & Spencer and Body Shop. A home from home!

The afternoon then included stops at Independence Square (which was a cricket pitch during British rule), and the National Monument, a war memorial.

Overall, Kuala Lumpur is a busy and traffic choked city which is undergoing considerable change. But it was clean and much thought has been put into the redeveloped areas so that the many smartly dressed office workers have modern facilities and plenty of choice when it comes to food outlets and places to relax outside.

Thankfully the regular daily thunderstorm held off until we were on the coach on the way back to the ship. Ever watchful we spotted a small troop of monkeys by the roadside and also an extremely large lizard emerging from the swamps. Then safely back on board it was time for a coffee and an icecream.

Tonight has been the first formal night of the cruise and we were joined at dinner by a very friendly and chatty couple from Yorkshire. But then again, everyone from Yorkshire is friendly and chatty.

After dinner we decided to brave the show in the main theatre.....which proved to be, shall we say, interesting. On stage was a girl from China, of Mongolian parentage and who was brought up in Australia. She sang a number of standards but interspersed with jokes and anecdotes in Cantonese, Mandarin and English. Although she had a very good vocal range, we think she had been on some sort of Chinese herbal remedy as she was rather hyper.

7. Embarkation day.

First of all, a very happy Thanksgiving Day to any American traders of this little travel journal.

We only had an hour or two first thing this morning before our transport was due to arrive to take us to the ship. As it also seemed very hot, we just took a walk along the riverside in order to view the Raffles landing site and some of the older colonial buildings such as the National Gallery and City Hall.

As expected, the entire check in process was smooth and efficient and from leaving the hotel to arriving into our stateroom took just under an hour.

The emergency drill took place mid-afternoon and shortly thereafter we were letting go the ropes and setting off whilst the inevitable thunderstorm raged all around. As I write we are now heading northward up the Straits of Malacca and winding our way past several hundred other ships of various shapes and sizes towards tomorrow's port of call, Port Kelang, Malaysia. 

6. Singapore.......brilliant!!

Singapore is an incredible, amazing place and if any place on earth were to be named as the epitome of a 21st century city, then Singapore must be in with a shout. It is spotlessly clean and totally safe. Having spent the last 12 hours fitting in as much as we could, we have barely scratched the surface. I will try and summarise what I can!

We both slept extremely well and following breakfast set out executing the first part of the plan for the day. A short walk from the hotel is Clark Quay from where we picked up a bumboat (no sniggering at the back please), for a cruise along the Singapore River and around Marina Bay. This proved to be highly enjoyable and also gave us a chance to get our bearings and judge distances between various amenities and sights.  Along the way we passed the mythical Merlion statue, the symbol of Singapore.

Next up was th hop on hop off bus tour. Again, this was interesting and informative as the route took us out into (what passes as) countryside, where we could see some fabulous modern properties and old colonial style homes...probably owned by wealthy Chinese shipping tycoons. Further in towards the city itself, there is a huge amount of building work going on, including new high rise apartment blocks, offices and an extension to the underground rail network (the MRT). It is such a busy, bustling, fast paced city. One of the major roads, Orchard Road, has 22 shopping malls alone.

We hopped off the bus down near the river mouth next to the Singapore Flyer, a huge observation wheel larger than the London Eye and then crossed part of the Formula 1race circuit and the pedestrian bridge to get access into the Marina Bay Sands complex. Part of this facility is yet another shopping mall consisting mainly of every high end designer name you can think of. However, we just opted to find a drink and a sandwich and took a few minutes to sit and recharge our batteries. 

Once rested we found our way into the hotel part of the development and bought our tickets to get up to the observation deck of the 56 story building. The hotel is probably the most iconic modern building in the city. If, dear reader, you see pictures of the cityscape, the Marina Bay Sands hotel is the one consisting of three towers with a boat shaped design at the top upon which sits a huge infinity swimming pool and leisure facilities. It's the one that looks like a huge ironing board. Unfortunately, the pool can only be used by hotel residents, but the viewing platform affords a 360 degree panorama of the city. And what a panorama it is!

Pictures taken, we descended the express lift and made the short walk across to the Gardens in the Bay, another new development which helps provide a green lung for the city. The plan was to ascend one of the giant, tall, artificial trees and take the walkway 100 feet above the ground across part of the Gardens before descending a second giant, tall, artificial tree. But not everything goes to plan. Just as we were making our way to the entrance, we felt a few drops of rain. This was the signal that everyone had less than a minute to seek shelter before the heavens opened. We took cover under a huge fern, which, together with our umbrella proved to be just about successful in keeping us dry. We stood where we were for an hour. The storm raged, the pathways flooded in minutes, the lightning flashed all around, and the thunder was the loudest we had ever heard but we dared not move otherwise we would have been beyond drenched.

Eventually, the rain began to ease so we abandoned all thoughts if the walkway and made a hasty exit to the closest MRT station, the idea being to at least start getting our way back towards the city centre. This gave us the perfect excuse to exit the train next to Raffles Hotel.

If the Merlion is the symbol of moden Singapore, the Raffles is undoubtedly the symbol of old Singapore and nobody can visit this famous and fabulous old hotel without heading to the Long Bar. So not to break with tradition, we joined the crowd of colonial ex-pats and sipped on our refreshing Singapore Slings whilst throwing our peanut shells over the floor. Simply marvellous! 

By now it was after 7pm and time to find something to eat. We crossed the road into yet another mall and headed to the food court, found a restaurant specialising in simple and straightforward Asian cuisine and tucked in. Here in Singapore, everyone eats out and as shopping is the national pastime, the mall was absolutely packed. A great place for people watching as we dined.

Before heading back to the hotel we had a quick look around one of the local supermarkets. This is always a fun thing to do and we were heartened to see tins of Waitrose broad beans amongst the rows of Chinese and Japanese imports and unrecognisable fruit and vegetables. 

Thus our extremely busy day ended and we returned to the hotel ready to get ourselves organised prior to boarding the ship the next morning.

5. Welcome to hot and humid Singapore.

The connection in Dubai went very smoothly although I would hate to see what the airport is like on a busy day because at 2.30am it was absolutely heaving.

The flight was not particularly busy and after seven hours of very fitful sleep we arrived in Singapore. Customs and immigration cleared, bags collected, our designated driver found and shortly thereafter we were checking in at our hotel in the Colonial district of the city.

Having showered and feeling clean once again, the nex step was to venture out for a quick look around the local area. As fate would have it we ended up being persuaded into a rather smart Chinese restaurant. The menu wasn't that extensive and there was no real English translation although we did establish that the house speciality was something called "hairy crab". That didn't sound too appetising, so we ordered the set meal for two and hoped for the best. Peanuts and seaweed arrived as "nibbles", followed by barbecue style pork bits and some sort of fish soup. I'm not sure what sort of fish it was, but despite its rather fearsome teeth, it actually tasted quite good. The main course followed...this was mainly noodles but containing bits and pieces of everything from cockles (including shells), to bacon strips and pak choi. Once again, it tasted better than it sounds. Dessert consisted of pomeron (a kind of giant grapefruit) and some fungus berries. Lush! 

Hopefully we did the meal justice, if not in terms of great enthusiasm but in terms of expert chop stick handling.

And so, bed is calling. Even though our bodies are still on UK time, ie. 8 hours ahead of the UK, I sense that we should sleep well after all our travelling.

4. Because I can.

...or at least because I think I can.

Emirates have very kindly given me 10MB of free data that I can use from aboard the flight. Hence, if this note is not too large I am blogging live from 41,000 feet somewhere over Central Europe. If it doesn't work it will be posted the next time I get a free wifi link!

The morning has been totally stress free as there was no queue at check in, the flight was called early, there was no waiting at the gate and we went straight to our seats, and pushback was exactly on schedule. We are aboard an Emirates A 380 (A6-EEZ for any spotters put there), seated very close to the front on the lower deck and it is exceptionally quiet. There are 1,500 entertainment channels (1,501 if you count looking out of the window) and there are cameras to view in the nose, underside and in the tip of the tail. There is noticeably more space and legroom than in the average economy cabin.

The welcome aboard message from the flight deck (given in a very reassuring Home Counties accent) announced that the flight time to our connection in Dubai is down to a little over 6 hours (instead of 7) as we have a strong tail wind.

The luncheon service has just been completed (prawn cocktail, a tasty beef stew, orange/vanilla sponge, seeded roll, cheese and crackers), and was served with proper metal cutlery. Overall, I am very impressed thus far....the only slightly disconcerting thing is that at a little over two hours after our 1.30pm departure, darkness is rapidly descending!

We will have a wait for a couple of hours in Dubai before our connection to Singapore. Hopefully our bags will make the connection too!

3. Brighton (but without the rock).

Today, Sunday, we took the train down to Brighton on the south coast. Once again an ancestral link was to the fore as the paternal side of my family hails from the city although I have only visited once before back in the early seventies.

There was only a limited amount of time in which to have a look around two or three of the main attractions. The first of these was Brighton Pavillion which, it has to be said, looks rather out of place in an English seaside town. It being only a few weeks until Christmas, the entire front area of the Pavillion grounds had been taken over by an ice rink. This meant that photo opportunities were few and far between but we watched the busy rink for a while and winced in sympathy with the many fallers.

Next stop was Brighton Pier (or Palace Pier as it was known when I was last here). We joined the throngs of people walking the wooden boards and resisted the pull of the penny arcades, fortune tellers and candy floss stalls. However, the afternoon was bright and sunny and the waterfront and pebble beach looked very pleasant in the cold November air.

Lastly we spent some time exploring the numerous tiny shops and winding narrow streets of The Lanes, Brighton's famed old commercial district. Perhaps it was the dry weather or maybe because of the dwindling number of shopping days until Christmas but everywhere was packed. 

Not wishing to wear ourselves out too much before tomorrow's long flight to Singapore we re-energised with a coffee and a home made cupcake in one of the little cafes before catching the train back to our hotel. 

2. The journey begins, and about time!

A smooth landing, despite strong crosswinds, brought us into Gatwick on schedule. 

Having checked in to our hotel, our plan for the day was to head up to London and then across the city to Greenwich. The first thing to see after exiting the station is the majestic tea clipper, Cutty Sark, which is on display in a raised dry dock alongside the Thames. It is possible to step aboard and explore the vessel but unfortunately we did not really have time as the main purpose of our visit was to get to the Royal Observatory. 

The Observatory itself is set atop a small but steep hill in an area of extensive parkland. At the top of the hill greeting visitors is a statue of General James Wolfe, he who laid siege to Quebec. This was a particularly poignant moment as legend has it that Wolfe is indeed a distant family relative! The views " our ancestor" has across the park towards Canary Wharf and the City of London are quite spectacular.

Next, in the Observatory courtyard is one of the most famous objects Greenwich is known for, namely the Greenwich Meridian line. All visitors have to take photographs with one foot in the Western Hemisphere and one in the Eastern, and I have to confess that we were no exception. I switched on the GPS app in my phone to check the latitude and longitude co-ordinates only to discover that the Meridian is several seconds of a degree out. I understand that given the era in which the Meridian was officially defined, the accuracy was as good as it gets (as satellite navigation was still 250 years in the future) and rather unromantically the true meridian actually runs through the Observatory's bin storage area.

Inside the Observatory building itself is a museum dedicated to all manner of things astronomical. Included in the collection are many important artefacts such as William Herschel's telescope but, for me, the highlight is the four timepieces built by John Harrison as he attempted to solve the mariners age old navigational problem of an accurate longitudinal fix. Each timepiece becomes more intricate and more accurate and more ornate and more miniaturised and the final version is indeed a masterful piece of 18th century engineering. Arguably it is the most important timepiece ever made. (For further reading I highly recommend Dava Sobel's book, Longitude).

There is much to explore in Greenwich and a couple of hours is not nearly long enough. Another time we will spend a day looking at all the area has to offer.

By now darkness was falling so we headed back to Covent Garden for a brief look around, both of the shops and of this years Christmas lights. We then finished up with a nice meal (Italian, pizza and pasta) before returning back to the hotel after a tiring, but educational, day!