We started our long journey at 3:30am Sunday, wanting to get to the airport early enough to ensure we could beat any crowds. When we got there we were not the first one’s but the Alaska Air checkin folks took 30 minutes to even start and by then the line was very long.
We got checked in, with the agent checking our luggage all the way through to Singapore from Salt Lake (this had Dad worried, but when we hit Changi Airport they both showed up as expected, thank goodness).
As you all know we were royally screwed on the flight changes Princess had done “on our behalf” which resulted in us flying through Tokyo and adding 4 hour onto our flight. But our flight from Salt Lake to LAX was great, Mom sat in the isle, Dad originally had a middle seat next to her, but when the flight doors closed nobody was by the window so we were able to spread out, or “man spread” for Dad, which made the initial leg nice.
In LAX we had to check into the Singapore Airlines desk for our final ticketing and went through security all over again. We were on the very last row of the plane which is usually bad, but it was a 2 seat row, instead of being the normal 3 seat-wide layout, which made it nice for us since were next to each other, Dad with the window and Mom with the isle, but the reclining was hampered. Regardless, it was reasonable and made the 20 hour plane ride bearable.
We landed in Singapore around 8:45pm and had missed our shuttle to the hotel by a few minutes. Unfortunately, the shuttle only runs every hour, so for the next hour we were entertained by an older man who’s only job was to collect the luggage carts from the shuttle bus area of Terminal 2 as we were ready to pass out from exhaustion. He was a talker. Apparently, “Mary”, the mother of Jesus is the highest personage in the Christian faith because of Christmas songs calling out “Mary Christmas”...he missed the spelling fact (Merry versus Mary) the Son of God thing and God the Father, and the British Queen’s crown is worth $20 Trillion dollars, but regardless he was a fun man to kill time with. Anyway, our finally shuttle came, we got to the hotel and it was around midnight when we were settled and into bed.
The morning came way too fast, waking up around 9:30am. We went through repacking our bags, went downstairs to the restaurant for breakfast and then took a taxi to the cruise port where we boarded around 1pm and then settled in. It was nice to be in our “permanent” place for the next 11 days.
Singapore is a wonderful city and Dad has great memories of working there, so lush and green, but very humid. When we left port it was 80 degrees and 80% humidity. When we were pulling out of the harbor is was raining. We have a day at sea tomorrow so Mom is going to bed early to stay on top of the jet lag which is causing her problems.
For Sydney, Dad had some cankles going on from the flight, but not at the scale of the China trip so it’s all good and his ankles are recovering nicely :)
We’re taking lots of pictures and when we get to Hong Kong with unlimited Internet we’ll put them in a shared photo album to see (not sure if Elisha can see that from Android).
We’ll keep you updated on our activities. Love you!
DAY 2
DAY 2
Our second day on the boat is at sea heading to our first destination, Kota Kinabalu. This place is in Malaysia, but on the island of Borneo. Borneo is the 3rd largest island in the world and is divided and owned by three countries, Malaysia, Indonesia and a country called Brunei. It’s north east of Singapore and our first place before heading to Vietnam.
We were able to sleep in a bit, then just wander the boat for the day. It was either raining or overcast as we headed through the South China Sea so it was a nice relaxing day for us to catch up on our jet lag adjustment and slow down to relax.
We got your emails and appreciate you so much! Glad to hear that the birds are getting along and you’re taking good care of them Shelby. For Sydney, I’ve been walking a ton, taking stairs for all 10 plus floor we walk up and down and have been limiting myself to protein items for meals! I haven’t hit the the gym yet, but that will come :)
Tonight was formal night which limits which restaurants we can go to, but we figure that these folks have limited opportunities when they can dress up, unlike us who do it every week for Church! :) They were handing out free champagne so everyone was “happy”.
Hope the weather is cooperating with you! Let us know if you have questions! We’ll have a better report once we’re done with Kota Kinabalu.
Love,
Mom and Dad
DAY 3
As we were approaching our first destination, Kota Kinabalu in Borneo (East Malaysia), the Captain informed us that there’s a severe tropical storm in the South China Sea that due to 20 foot swells forced the decision that instead of heading out tonight and being in Nha Trang, Vietnam tomorrow, will keep us in port over night and into tomorrow afternoon before we leave. This means we will miss Nha Trang and will instead, be heading to Ho Chi Mihn City (old Saigon), Vietnam. Kind of a bummer, but Nha Trang was not Dad’s favorite spot we were visiting anyway.
Coming into Kota Kinabalu (KK), it was so lush and green that every foot of ground outside of the beaches was dense forest. There are 32 tribes represented on Borneo, grouped into either “hill tribes” or “coastal tribes”. The hill tribes up until just a few decades ago practiced head hunting and would kill and keep the heads/skull of enemies, but that practice has ended (or so we’re told). The coastal tribes are fishermen and are made up largely of native Malaysians and Filipinos. The city is right on the coast and there are several large high-rise buildings. It’s a city of just under 500,000 and has industry in oil, natural gas, rubber and timber. Temperature is 80 degrees with 80% humidity. When the cloud cover is out, it’s bearable, when it’s not, it’s nasty hot and sticky.
We went out on our excursion via bus. We did a tour of the city, seeing all the main sites, went to a museum dedicated to the peoples of Borneo and a village which showed how some of the more dominant tribes built their huts. We then went to the “handicraft” market which was more of a local farmers market with other vendors selling trinkets and trash. Malaysia in general, but KK, in particular is a second-world growing into a first world country. Infrastructure is poor, no public transportation, but there is city-wide Wi-if :)
It rained on and off most of the day, but it kept the heat down so we appreciated that. We came back and rushed to our early dining appointment then came back to the cabin for further rest.
Based on emails we received here we go.
Remember, Mom left you with a lot of money you can use at Ridley’s for groceries, there’s no need to for Oma to buy you groceries
Shelby, yes the patch is working fine for Mom, but she still takes Dramamine. She’s not having any restless leg due to all the walking and stairs we’re doing. Dad’s heel has been fine so far, so we’re doing good! We are taking lots of pictures and when we hit Hong Kong we’ll share the album when Internet is free and fast.
Sydney, thanks for staying up stairs with Shelby, it sounds like your room is turning into a nice sanctuary which makes it an emotionally safe place for you. For the arm sleeves, the order was apparently delivered on Tuesday. Hopefully Ethan is leaving you alone, we made it clear to him. If he’s not let us know.
We love you! We’ll be in KK another day due to the weather system so we’ll give you an update tomorrow. We’ll be walking into town and seeing what’s up.
Love you!!
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