Penang, Malaysia.

MMMMM! Penang Beef. Ahllllllllll.


Penang, Malaysia. Where’s the beef? For those that do not understand, Penang Beef is one of the favorite dishes, for some of us, at Thai restaurants.

The name Penang is used for the Island as well as a state. We docked at the island. It is a also the city of Georgetown and the state capital. It is mostly Muslim and is visited as a resort area.

The dock is nothing but warehouses and does not look too friendly for cruise ships. There are no modern bumpers, just tires that mark Up the hull. Once off the ship it is just a short walk through a warehouse to cabs and buses. We docked at about 1:00 PM and took a tour that started at 2:15 PM. It was labeled Penang and its snake temples. It is very hot here also but these buses had very good air. The downtown area had many interesting buildings. Many modern high-rises and houses. Many of the houses were designed the same. These large houses were almost all white and square with double bays on the front. Simple but laid back elegant. All were well kept and had nice landscaping. The majority of nicer housing was mostly high rise, however. No evidence of poor in this area.

Traffic was pretty heavy in the down town area but very light once out of town. We saw a lot of the countryside on the way thru Batu Ferringhi. This was the area of luxury beach hotels. If there are any Star Trek fans out there, you will remember the Ferringhi. This might be where they got the name. It does not mean ugly people nor does it mean dishonest money grubbing people, as they were on Star Trek. It means stranger.

Next we went to a handicraft factory where they made batik. We had seen better elsewhere and had already bought enough. Now it was on thru fruit and spice orchards. We stopped at a farmers stand to see the various fruits. We then continued on to the snake temple. The roads were very well paved but narrow and winding so badly that the bus could not fit on most of the curves without using both lanes and the dirt shoulders. There were also one lane bridges and we were going up hill. The snake temple was smoky and smelly from burning incense and not very clean. The big deal was three little snakes they picked up and let people touch. They claimed that at one time hundreds of snakes would crawl all over this temple and most of them were poisonous. Wagler Pit Vipers.

The trip back to the ship went by their longest bridge in SE Asia, the Panang bridge. It is about seven miles long. We went through some slum areas but they were not nearly as bad as the outer slums we had seen in other places. The Chinese section was the only area where they had stores below and apartments above. All these areas were separate from other ethnic areas like the Indian’s, etc.

I looked everywhere I could think of but still no Penang Beef. The best I could find was the lamb curry on the ship that evening. It’s pretty good but not Penang Beef with the sweet, sticky, coconut flavored Thai rice.

Beefing Sherm Out

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)

Singapore Day 2 of 2

Singapore day two. We departed at 3:30 this afternoon. There was not much more we wanted to see and it is very hot here as it is only a little over one degree from the equator. You cannot stand outside very long without cooking. So we decided to just look around in the mall connected to the ship. I was looking for a new laptop computer. We had gone into one store yesterday where I found a conman for a salesman. I wouldn’t buy anything from him even if the prices were good and they were not. We found a huge electronics store on a second level. They had quite a few things we have not seen anywhere yet. They had no bargains on computers either. We were fascinated by some of the items at the McDonalds. Rice buns with some kinds of deep fried beef or chicken and other strange stuff we would never see at home. At about noon we started walking back to the ship for lunch. Up until this time another ship had been docked on the opposite side of the pier. All the passengers seemed to be Oriental. Chinese I think. I know I had seen this ship before. It had to be an old original Royal Caribbean. I could tell from their trademark Viking Crown Lounge on the smoke stack. There were three originals. First was the Song of Norway. Next was the Nordic Prince. And last was the Sun Viking. The first two had been cut in half and stretched by installing a center section. The last had not been lengthened. I could see no weld lines that looked like a center section had been added so I figured it must be the old Sun Viking. As we walked by the entrance to that ship I asked if either of the guards from the ship spoke English. Both did, and well. I asked if they knew the original name of the ship and they confirmed it was the old Sun Viking. They said it had a deeper draft then the Voyager even though it was only about half the size. I had been on that ship many times in the 70’s. Back then Royal Caribbean was the best line in the Caribbean.

Old Ship Sherm Out

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)

Singapore Day 1 of 2

Singapore. This is a city and country in one. There is not much history or anything to see as it is only about 100 years old and the modern city is about 50 years old.

We got in about noon and we were supposed to disembark at about 2:00 PM. They took forever to get a gangway connected to the ship. The captain said something about it being a lovely museum piece they were using. Once out of the ship and up about a story walking in this museum piece for about a city block we were in a terminal building. After about a 6 block walk you get to a block long line for immigration. They had two people with computers for all the people from our ship and another next to ours. Their computer system quit for a while and we stood in line for an hour. Quite obviously Singapore does not want tourism. Had we not prepaid for a van we would have turned around and gone back to the ship.

Once through immigration we found ourselves in a shopping mall. Waiting for us was our driver guide. As are almost all of the people in this city, he was Chinese. A very heavy set Chinese. Looked a lot like the Buddha I bought, come to think of it. Everyone speaks English as their first language here and he spoke it perfectly. Our van was a Mercedes and was pretty comfortable. They are very expensive but have a very small diesel engine that barely makes it up hills even though it had a standard transmission.

This is a very modern city with many very good looking high rise buildings. There are a greater percentage of BMWs and Mercedes then any city in the States or Europe. No car older then ten years is allowed in this city, country. After ten years they must be sold, out of the country, or they will be confiscated. Everything is very clean here. Police are mostly plain clothes. If they catch you dropping a cigarette, spitting, or littering there is a large fine and three months jail time, spent at labor, cleaning and sweeping.

There is a large downtown area with all the upscale stores you would find in any major city in the States, and more. Even though most are Chinese, there is also a large Chinatown. It has a large bazaar or what we would call a flea market. They sell everything there including foods and meat as well as all kinds of merchandise. We even stopped to take pictures of a large mosque. It was in a poor part of town and just adjacent was Indian town. We stopped nearby at an arts and crafts center. Art and I sat in the air conditioned van while the girls were getting artsy and crafty. Everything was priced much higher then at home. They had the same Buddha carved from the same type of stone, I bought in Hong Kong, for only three times as much.

They have what is supposed to be a very nice zoo but we have nice zoos at home. Raffles is their famous hotel. I have seen hotels and this one, while nice, was surely not nice as some we have been in. The original Singapore Sling was invented here and they are the only ones in town allowed to sell them under that name. I don’t need one of them for $18 either. Their big attraction is a gondola that goes up their highest hill from the dock area to Sentosa Island. Our driver took us there over bridges. We stopped at the end of the line which is the top of the hill, to see the over look of the city and the harbor area. On the way back to the ship we asked where the very poor area was. He said there were no slums. The government tears down any buildings that get too ragged looking and lets the people fend for themselves. Begging or hawking goods is not allowed. He did drive us through the only area where the very poor have an area where they can sell all kinds of assorted junk on the sidewalks without charge for rent. It looked like a big garage sale. It was clean as they would get thrown out if they made a mess or littered.

That was about it for the day. Our driver was again very good and very friendly. Traffic while plentiful was not nearly as bad as any of the cities since Australia.

Once inside the shopping mall leading to the ship, we had to make a purchase even though I did not want to buy anything in this city due to the unfriendly attitude of their government. Not only did we have to wait in the cattle line for over an hour at immigration, They had changed rules just before allowing our ship to enter the harbor. Now everyone had to carry their passport and submit a visa form each time they got off the ship. The ship gave us all three visa forms each, all filled out. We did have to all go and collect our passports.

We had been wondering how we would get all the junk Bobbi bought, off the boat and then home. Here, right near the door was a luggage store with ridiculously low prices. It may not have been the best but I have seen far worse for much, much more. We bought a large, folding, waterproof duffle with wheels and a solid pulling handle for very little money. Folded up it is only about three inches high and it opens to the size of a 30” suitcase.


There was supposed to be a good Chinese restaurant in the mall connected to the ship and we went there for dinner. It was quite different then the Chinese restaurants at home. The menu did have a few things the same but most items we never heard of. There were a couple of tiny dishes on the table when we sat down. Bobbi and I assumed they were condiments but Art knew better. He started nibbling out of one that had what tasted like dried peanuts and soy beans. Them he stuck his fingers in what looked like chives or green onions. Big mistake but very funny when his eyes got really big and he started saying things like, “OH”, repeatedly and very loudly. The only thing on the table to drink was glasses of hot tea they had poured us. Amazing how quickly he could chug his and then Muriel’s hot tea.

We picked out a few things and stuff just started coming. Besides what we thought we had ordered, several other dishes came. We had no idea what they were but after testing to see if they were not hot, we tried them and all were good. In a place where English was the first language, we had found an establishment where no one did.

After dinner they brought us a dessert no one will forget. I never did get the name right but it was something else. It tasted like melted ice-cream with tapioca, coconut, and canned fruit cocktail. Whatever it was, it was good. Then we finally got the bill. It had the original amount per person we had read on the menu. Added were three taxes, $1.00 for the peanuts Art ate, $1.00 each for the wet naps we used and 10% service (tip). The hot peppers Art spit all over the place were gratis. They charged nothing for water but of course gave us none either. The final bill came out to be about $116.00 Singapore. We might have been really mad about all the petty rip offs had that not come to about $15.00 per person US. Instead we were laughing.

Shark Fin Soup Sherm Out

PS My son Yael just got some pictures, from this trip, we had sent from Hong Kong. If you would like to see them or if you want to read any dates you might have missed, they are on the web at: http://worldcruise2006.rootberg.org and http://www.rootberg.org/travel/166635

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)

Sea Day on the "Regent" Voyager

This is a sea day. Nothing exciting until tonight.

There was a combination farewell party for the passengers who will depart tomorrow and a major announcement from the captain. The line had officially changed its name from Radisson to Regent. Radisson is considered a middle of the road class hotel chain while Regent is a group of 6 star hotels their parent company bought a number of years ago from Four Seasons. The parent company is Carlson Companies. The six star quality is what they believe this cruise line to be. They claim there will not be many changes except a few upgrades in linen and mattresses. I think it will mean raising prices for their new fancy name.

New Fancier Sherm Out.

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)

Pictures

Pictures taken from 12/31/2005 to 2/11/2006 can now be viewed on the World Cruise 2006 Photo Gallery

Laem Chabang, Bangkok, Thailand Day 2 of 2

Bangkok day two. We had to get up early today. 6:00 AM. We needed to have plenty of time for breakfast and then be ready for a 9:00 AM private car tour we had arranged. The mattresses on the ship are not bad for a ship but this one in the Peninsula was much better. We couldn’t find the extra pillows last night so I had used the one from the back of the couch. Now we saw the pillows clearly sitting in the closet.

Our sheet said breakfast was in the Riverside Café and we were to meet the Kapels there at 7:00 AM. We went down to the Riverside Café and never did see them. There was a huge buffet inside and the hot stuff was all at a buffet just outside. We could have eaten either in or out. We opted for the air conditioning. I won’t spend any time talking about the usual bacon and eggs etc. It was all the oriental stuff that almost kept me from leaving. There were some kind of round Thai noodles with mystery meat that was wonderful. The Thai fried rice with crab was not to be believed and I do not want to go on any further because it makes me too sad to think I had to leave when there was still plenty of all kinds of that wonderful stuff left at the buffets.

We found the Kapels back up in the lobby. They had eaten in a different restaurant. They did not read the sheet but had asked at the desk where our breakfast was being served. Without telling anyone, they had opened a second buffet at the Chinese restaurant we had dinner in the night before. The cruise ship tour director was standing in the lobby and he knew nothing about it either. Then as he moved to walk away we saw he was standing in front of a sign that said our breakfast was in both places.

Also standing in the lobby was the guide from the bus that brought us from the ship the day before. Her name was Oh. All these people have short nick names. Her real name, as with most of these Thai people, was many syllables long and unpronounceable. She was going to be our private guide for the day. She spoke very good English and was really sweet. She must have been from wealthy parents as she was well educated and had an air conditioned modern apartment of her own. Her parents had their own house.

Our van was very new, large and comfortable. As on the water, the land traffic was bananas. There were millions of cars too many for the streets. Stop lights would not change for 10 minutes at a time. The streets would be jammed up and not moving with all kinds of cars, trucks and buses and motor bikes by the hundred would go flying by weaving their way in and around the other vehicles until all of a sudden they would run out of room and bounce into one another while trying to stop.

We never got to see all the sights we wanted because of the ridiculous traffic and the crowded attractions. Then it was time for the serious throwing out of my hard earned money. There was supposed to be a store with very nice silk stuff just down from the Shangri-la hotel. The guide knew just where we meant and had the driver take us there. These side streets were more like a maze of alleys and paths. They were so narrow our van could hardly fit. We finally found the hole in the wall we were looking for because of the great directions we were given. The woman who gave them to us had forgotten the name of the store and the bags from there had no writing. You just go about a block past the hotel and look for the man selling paintings on the sidewalk. The silk store is right next door at the hall to the right. Sure. No problem. My luck, we found it anyhow. The side walks are lined with people selling any kind of imaginable junk in this world. Most of the time you have to walk out in the far too narrow street to get by.

Once inside, no problem. This tiny store had isles big enough for a snake. A skinny snake that is. I had no problem. It was the woman walking behind me picking up all the stuff I was knocking down that had the problem. Good thing I don’t speak Thai. I probably wouldn’t have liked all the names she was calling me as she mumbled loudly while trying to get me to stop stepping on the stuff I had just knocked down. Of course these terrible conditions didn’t slow Bobbi for a second. You know her motto. When things get rough, the tough go shopping. Come to think of it, her other motto is, any time or place where something is being sold is a good time and place to go shopping.

They did have some very nice stuff and Bobbi spent what seemed like no time at all to buy it all. Really. A lady from the ship walked in just after us. The poor dear didn’t know how to shove people out of her way like Bobbi does when there is good stuff to buy. Bobbi bought all the silk robes before she could get even one. I think Muriel was able to get a few too. I explained this was Thailand and they had no ties. (tie land) They bought none just because I said that. I have no idea how we will get all this junk home.

Now it was time to get back to the hotel for lunch. The most important thing on my agenda. Lunch was another of those huge buffet things in the ballroom. There was a half block long aisle of hot stuff. I never even looked at the salads and stuff. No way they were going to slow me down. I did have one problem. I couldn’t find anything I didn’t like. After trying everything I could fit on a plate, I went back for a bucket of the Penang Beef and a pile of Thai fried rice to pour it on. It was nearly as good as the banana bread pudding I had three plates of for dessert.

Our bus was leaving at 2:00 PM to go back to the ship. When we arrived people were waiting to get on the buses. I don’t do lines so we waited for the last bus. There were 16 passengers and 4 crew on a 60 passenger bus. It was now in the high 90s or low 100s out. One of the buses had no air conditioning. The bus company obviously knew they had a Freon leak as they stopped to refill it but it still would not work. Ours barely had any air and it was coming out just cool. Two and a half hours later we were back in Laem Chabang. I know it was spelled differently in yesterday’s log. I just noticed the word processor auto changed my spelling to something it liked better. This is the correct spelling should anyone give a darn.

As we drove into the docks area Bobbi spotted a large billboard that read in English, Welcome to Detroit of the east. That was where all these vehicles were being assembled. Many brands of tires were also being manufactured here. Labor is very cheap and shipping is very good.

Back on the ship we had made dinner reservations for Latitudes restaurant. That’s the one that is sometimes Pacific rim and sometimes other things. Now it is a T.G.I.F. The same corporation owns them as well as the cruise line. The food was supposed be the same but was not. Some much better and some not nearly as good. The place was decorated just the same. They even had a bartender from a Minneapolis T.G.I.F. He was tossing bottles around like the bartenders in the movie Cocktail where Tom Cruise played one.

There is no way I could live in Bangkok. Twelve million people is far too many. There is no way to live downtown where the fun is. Good housing is over 40 miles away and it would take 5 hours a day minimum driving time to get up and back. But I would sure come again for a visit. The people are great and the food is fantastic as are the better hotels.

No Tie Sherm Out.

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)

Laem Chabang, Bangkok, Thailand Day 1 of 2

Lame Chabang, Bangkok, Thailand. Lame Chabang is the name of the port town where we docked. It is strictly an industrial dock with huge numbers of cargo loading cranes. At about 9:20 AM we boarded a bus for the 2 ½ hour ride to Bangkok. The entire port area was covered with thousands of cars and small trucks of various makes. They were all for export and all had been manufactured here.

After a rough ride for about 5 or 6 miles we entered an expressway that was slightly less bumpy. We were on our way to the Peninsula Hotel. We were told it was the finest hotel in town. Once into Bangkok and off the expressway, traffic did not move. It seemed to take forever to get the few miles to the hotel.

The hotel was very laid back elegant. There were employees everywhere to guide you to different areas. The check in was quick and easy. They had an area set up for us with tables to sign in. There were signs with last name initials. All the information had been previously filled in and all we had to do was sign and get our keys. If you asked an employee for directions on how to get somewhere in the hotel they would walk there with you. Any time you talked to employees or just walk by them, they would put their hands together as if praying and bow to you.

Our room was beautiful. It was on the 31st floor and had a great view of the river. It was not a suite but was large and had very nice furniture. There were all kinds of electrically run gadgets like buttons to open and close the drapes. There was a triangular shaped bay with windows about eight feet tall. The ceilings were high and coffered. The bath was very large with a separate sink and vanity on each side, a large deep tub and a separate glass enclosed room for the toilet. Floors and walls all marble tiles. Behind a glass panel, at the foot of the tub, was a TV with controls for it and the lights on the wall just above the side of the tub. The towels were larger and thicker then those on the ship. There was a foyer with two closets.

Next we went to the ballroom for lunch. Lunch was buffet with dozens of items and several stations spread around the room. There were so many things to try you could not fit all on one large plate even if you took just a tea spoon full of each. This was food to die for. Char sui was by far the best I have ever gone near. That’s those little slices of pork that have been marinated, BBQed and steamed. Sliced duck breast in duck sauce was not to be believed. They had some kind of pork stuffed into tennis ball size dough, that you could not stop eating. The lamb curry was fantastic. The rice was Thai style. Sticky and sweet with a hint of coconut flavor. And on and on. I found it very hard to leave this room.

After lunch we had a tour called Bangkok canals and Royal Barges. We walked to the back of the hotel to board a river boat. The river traffic is almost as bad as the street traffic. All sizes of boats and ferrys going just across and up and down the river. Almost all the boats are weird. These people are bananas.

Everywhere else I have been or seen large waterways, in the world, the ferrys are catamarans or hydrofoils. Tug boats are short and wide and boats generally look and run like boats. Not here. Everything is long and narrow to different degrees. Many are built as they were fifty years ago and longer, with truck engines. When marine engines cannot be found or afforded they use regular truck engines. These engines are mounted on a pivot that lets the entire engine turn side to side and rock up and down. Attached directly to the rear of the engine is a long shaft with a propeller attached to the other end of that shaft. The driver operates or rather attempts to do so by having to turn this huge and heavy engine and rock it up and down using a pole attached to the front of the engine. You see props spinning wildly out of the water and just at the surface causing all in the immediate vicinity to get sprayed. The propellers may be 20 feet behind the boat. That is why they call them long tail boats. There are dozens of these all over the river and canals and they are usually going very fast. That might make you think these guys are very good at driving these very hard to control boats. Forget about it. They haven’t a clue. I watched them pile into one another and by the Royal Barge dock I saw one clown slam the pier really good while trying to figure out how to park the thing. He put very nice crack in the side of the boat. You see these boats tied to bridges and piers everywhere because they are sinking from running into each other and anything else.

Another cute practice is pulling 4 huge barges with one of these tiny canoes. It looks and is, I am sure, an accident waiting to happen.

The boat we got into was long and narrow like a canoe but was not one of those nut case boats. It had two regular marine engines and could hold about 30 people. We were about 20. Still these boats were very hard to turn and control especially with the strong flow of the river. Quite often we would suddenly be in full reverse because some other larger and/or even less controllable boat was headed right at us. Ignorance really is bliss. Almost no else noticed these near disasters. A few wanted to know why he kept doing that, as it was uncomfortable but most paid no attention. Nor did any notice there were no such things as life preservers. I guess they haven’t invented them there yet.

The waters are the color of dark mud. Many of the people wash clothes, bathe, brush teeth, and drink this water as well as dump human waste in it. From the looks of the garbage everywhere, they must dump everything in it even though the tour guide claimed they had daily garbage pickups for all the houses on the canals. He also claimed they all had septic tanks. Sure didn’t look like it.

We went up and down the river and made a big circle through a series of canals. There were all kinds of houses on stilts. The better ones would be on concrete stilts but most were wooden and many were sagging and falling apart. There were a few very nice ones with TV antennas and air conditioners. There were dozens of temples.

We stopped behind one of these temples. The guide claimed there were fish in this river. Mainly two kinds of Catfish. They gave us all bags of bread to throw to the fish. Sure enough, swarms of fish appeared on both sides of our boat. You didn’t really have to throw the bread as they would take it right out of your hand and fight for it. If you threw bread far enough to be behind the building next to the temple, the fish would not go after it and let it just float away. If I had not seen it I would not believed it. The guide explained there is no fishing behind these temples. They do not believe in harming any animal and do not allow fishing. Somehow, over the years, the fish figured this out. They do feed them as they will starve before they will eat off the property.

We stopped to see the Kings barge and the barges of his entourages. They are ceremonial and are on display out of the water in a museum with a dock on the river. There is a 75th birthday celebration coming up for the king. There will be many foreign dignitaries. The king is just a figurehead like the queen of England but is the grandson of the king from the movie, the King and I.

We also stopped at a large temple on the river. It was now almost time for dinner and we would all need showers. It was well over 90 degrees out and everyone was soaked.

It was a good large shower with a seat and a hand held head as well as the regular one. We barely got done in time but of course could not miss a meal. We had a choice of several restaurants we could go to. The Thai sounded like the best idea since we were in Thailand. Some friends who had gotten to the hotel early, from a morning tour, had made reservations for us. When we got to the hotel we found the Thai restaurant to be outdoor. We had enough outdoor and changed the reservation to a Chinese restaurant.

They had a fixed menu for us that included everything and more. There were about 8 courses including an unmentioned special appetizer. I don’t want to talk about the food because it will just make me cry. Let it suffice to say I did ask if I could move into that restaurant.

We were going to take the hotel ferry across the river and get a cab to the night market but ran out of gas and went up to our room to pass out.

Riverboat Sherm Out

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)

Sea Day

Sea day. I supervised and Bobbi packed for our overnight in Bangkok. That’s it.

Supervisor Sherm Out.

(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)