Recap on the Christmas Cruise

I brought back a nice little cold from our trip to Southeast Asia but fortunately had a four-day weekend within which to recuperate. I spent New Year's Eve huddled up with my virus and a book at home in Shanghai.

Despite the cold I brought back I/we had a very good time on our Christmas cruise from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Phuket. Shanghai is surprisingly cold in the winter (36 F as I type) so the 80-90 F weather in these places was a nice break. On top of the temperature we enjoyed clean air, all-you-can-eat dining, order, beautiful scenery, and peace.

I've read so many books about sailing in Southeast Asia and life in the region 100 or so years ago, that finally getting a chance to actually sail through the famous (and strategically important) Straits of Malacca was exciting. At some points the straits are so narrow that one can see Malaysia on one side and Indonesia on the other. But for most of the cruise we couldn't see land at all - especially the further north we went towards Phuket. I spent hours just looking out to sea and enjoying the view of endless water and blue sky.

Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, was an hours bus ride from the port to the city. This was mostly a shopping opportunity and we spent much of it in a Borders bookstore in a mall. You might not understand this unless you've spent two years in a country where all foreign book imports are strictly controlled and censored. We also went to see the Petronas Towers and old downtown "KL" as they call Kuala Lumpur. We rode KL's very modern monorail for much of this traveling.

Penang is an island just off the coast of western Malaysia that was developed by the British colonialists and features an historical old Georgetown. We saw the botanical gardens, butterfly farm and "Little India". We had lunch in an Indian restaurant that served the meals on banana leaves. G-man couldn't believe how efficient people were at eating rice and curry with their fingers.

Phuket, where the tsunami hit exactly a couple of years ago, was a seaside resort with plenty of Thai style. The Thai people are very friendly and a pleasure to be among. We didn't spend our time on the beach though - we took a bus straight to a marine national park about an hour away to sail among the karst limestone stacks that dot the bay.

We spent Christmas entirely at sea sailing back through the Straits to Singapore. The cruise ship was visited by Santa Claus (he doesn't miss anything). I spent the day reading on the top deck and listening to Christmas carols being played by a band by the pool.