SPECIAL DINNER Thursday, March 24th

We had a very special treat in the form of a special dinner given to us by our dear friend Karen. While on our four-day trip in India Tom and I helped Karen keep her two kids, 9 year old C.J. and 10 year old Ryan in sight and at hand at all times. It was a little unnerving to be in such huge crowds, and difficult for one person to know where both girls were at all times. Of course we didn't expect anything in return, but thoroughly enjoyed the treat. As we have mentioned previously, special dinners are held in a separate small dining room. They begin with champagne and hot and cold hors d' oeuvres. Five courses follow: soup, salad, a pasta dish, (then a sorbet) main course and dessert. It is a welcome break from the buffet line!! Thanks Karen!!

OMG SO FAR BEHIND, BUT HERE IS VIETNAM

Let me start with a story about a new friend of ours, Annie, a 36 year old PharmD and a life-long learner.  Before we got to Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) she told us the story of her family escaping from Vietnam in 1975 just 2 days before the fall.  Her uncle had made a very anti-communist documentary therefore her parents felt they might be in jeopardy.  Her dad is a physician and mom a pharmacist.  Unbeknown to them they got the last plane out to a resettlement camp in Guam.  There were the parents, Annie (the youngest) and six brothers and sisters.  After spending some time in Guam, they were sponsored and relocated to Orange County, CA where her mom worked as a domestic and her dad a gardener.  After quite some time her dad was able to get a residency in Wisconsin and pass the California Boards and start a private practice.  Several years later her mom was able to sit for the pharmacy boards and get her license to practice.  All of her siblings are either pharmacist or physicians.  So out of respect for Annie and her family we will call HCMC, Saigon.  Annie and friends Justin and Amy (mid 20's and just out of Master's degree programs) have been an integral part of the life-long learners and brought lots of creative energy to the group.  We are so thankful to have them!!!!


Saigon is a beautiful city of about 10 million people and 7 million motor bikes, which makes crossing the street very interesting.  You can't wait for a break in the traffic because there never is one, so you just start walking and the rule is not to stop, because that confuses the drivers and they might hit you.  Basically it is like a huge school of fish with lateral lines sensing everyone else.  Scarry, but it works.  In the city we found some great restaurants, in one near the war museum we had rice in a lotus leaf, spring rolls that you ate by wrapping them in basil leaves and lettuce...ummmmmm.  Also, beef in banana leaves with great spices and grilled shrimp.  Desert was bananas flambe with mango sorbet.  The ambience was wonderful as well.  We found a gourmet market that had a great selection of wines from around the world, at least 30 different varieties of cheese, serrano ham and many other types of meat as well as all types of cookies, crackers, olives, pate and other snacks.  We found a good tailor and Linda had a really nice traditional Vietnamese outfit which she will wear to the Alumni Ball next week.  At the top of the Rex Hotel, where journalist stayed during the war, we enjoyed very nice live music.   At the Golden Lotus we had a two hour massage.  Life is good!!! 


At first we were hesitant as to how we would be treated, but any hesitation quickly vanished as we met more and more delightful and helpful Vietnamese.  We had a great day on the Mekong Delta, exploring many areas.  I could not help but think how awful it must have been for both the American and Vietnamese soldiers.  It was important for me to try and visualize being on both sides and that is all I could really do as I was not there, I was lucky enough to have gone to Cuba and the Mediterranean during that time.  There were atrocities on both sides, but I can't imagine that type of fighting occur on our soil.  It is not for me to make a judgement here, all I can say from our short 5 days there is that Saigon is a beautiful prospering city and that all of the people we met were gracious, hospitable and forward thinking.  We also visited the Cu Chi tunnels and made our way through many underground areas. including, dining halls, operating rooms, planning areas, etc.  Our legs ached the next day from duck walking through the small tunnels, even though they were enlarged for tourist.  That same day we also went Cao Dai Temple a religion founded in 1926.  The headquarters are at Tay Ninh, near Saigon.  In its beliefs, Cao Dai draws upon ethical precepts from Confucianism and theories of karma and rebirth from Buddhism, with some influence from Catholicism.  There are some interesting readings about this religion.  I'll leave that up to you if you are so inclined.


Well that is just a brief report of our stay in Viet Nam.  We plan to return someday and rent an apartment for a month or so.  Sorry for such a late entry, but we were having too much fun!!!

SINGAPORE WEDNESDAY MARCH 16th

What a BEAUTIFUL CLEAN city! Unfortunately our first stop was the hospital. Tom needed to have some blood work done (all turned out well). The hospital sits across the street from Chanel and Louis Vuitton. Every thing was spotlessly clean and efficient. Tom had a brief consult with a doctor in order to have the blood work drawn. Results were available later in the afternoon.

From the hospital we walked into a near-by mall and made a bee line to the bakery, we miss good freshly baked bread on the ship. Other than the bakery, the mall just offered the same high-end shops we have at home, so we wandered down the streets to Chinatown. Although we will soon be in China, we found some gift items and decided to go ahead and buy them. I wish we had bought a t-shirt depicting the "crimes" in Singapore and the corresponding fines (more on this later).

We next went to the Maxwell Road Hawker Center, a Singapore open-air food court. There were over 100 stalls to choose from. We ran into Amy & Justin from the ship, and sat with them as we ate. We ducked into a coffee shop to sit out a quick rainstorm, then proceeded to the new Marina Bay Sands Hotel. This amazing engineering feat features the 370 foot long Sky Park. This is the world's largest cantilevered public platform, one hectare in area, with a 150 meter infinity pool perched upon the three fifty five story towers. From afar it looks like a huge ship perched on top of the buildings. We arrived in time to enjoy sunset and the spectacular views of the city and harbor. We enjoyed (very expensive) cocktails with shipmates nurse Randi and her husband piano player John. It was the first time we had really chatted with them, and enjoyed getting to know them better. We then enjoyed probably the best meal we have ever eaten at the rooftop restaurant Ku de Ta. In addition to the spectacular view the food and service were awesome. Our meal included pressed baby spinach with toasted sesame, crispy garlic chips and sesame dressing, baby chicken teriyaki with mustard seed crust, honey-miso glazed Australian lamb sirloin with braised fennel in spicy ginger soy, and forty flavor fried rice baked in a lotus leaf. Dessert was a mango, passionfruit, lemon and chocolate combination that can only be described as 'heavenly'.

Too soon it was time to head back to the ship. We ran into the market at the port to grab some diet sodas and double stuffed oreos. Much to our dismay, when we arrived upstairs we found a line of hundreds of people waiting to clear immigration and board their ships. It was the first time on the voyage that we shared a berth with other ships. It was only thirty five minutes to on-ship time, and we knew there was no way we would make it. Miraculously we cleared the line rather quickly, and as we reached the top of the 200 yard stretch to the ship I took my shoes off and began to run. Tom, on the other hand, laden with his camera back pack wasn't going very fast. At that point our "son" Daniel ran back and grabbed Tom's backpack. "We don't leave family behind", he said. With that help we swiped our cards with four minutes to spare. The ship ended up giving a bit of leeway, and anyone who had cleared the immigration line before on-ship time was not considered late even if they had not yet boarded the ship. In spite of this, I believe over 50 people were late and received dock time for our next port, Saigon.

Now a little about Singapore, A Fine City: a fine city to live in and a city where fines for infractions of the many rules are very high. Most fines start at $500-$1000. Infractions include littering, possessing, chewing or spitting out chewing gum, jay walking, failure to flush a public toilet and nude sunbathing, even in your own yard. A Canadian citizen was recently caned for spray painting graffiti on a train. Conviction of drug trafficking carries a mandatory death sentence. Because of this Singapore is very safe and orderly, with virtually no crime.

We have a very short (two day) passage to Saigon.

RANDOM THOUGHTS ON INDIA

Sensory overload is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of our time in India. There are so many people, so many cows, so many scooters and taxi cabs. It is crowded and dirty, it is beautiful. Did I mention the cows?? One disadvantage of so many cows is the cow pies. One advantage of so many cows is the cow pies! They are shaped by hand (YUCK) into rings, dried in the sun, then carried on people's heads to areas where they are used as cooking fuel. The traffic in the cities is unbelievable, thousands of cars, buses, bicycles, scooters, 3-wheeled taxi cabs and bicycle rickshaws vie for the same roadways. The honking of horns NEVER stops. The colorful saris are beautiful. I saw hundreds and hundreds, all different. The beggars are everywhere, old and young, children alone and with parents. It is unthinkable but apparently true that parents sometimes maim their children in order to make them "better" beggars. We saw a six or seven year old girl begging, felt sorry for her, then saw her steal a sandwich right from the mouth of a crippled man. Survival of the fittest, I guess.

Internet cafe closing, more later.

OUR STAY IN INDIA

Day 1 We arrived in the port of Chennai, India on Sunday, March 6th. This is a working/industrial port. There were no dancers in native costume to greet us. That afternoon we transferred to the airport for our flight to Delhi. Foreign airlines still provide food and beverage service!! When we arrived at the New Delhi Ramada Plaza we were in awe of its opulence. We were greeted by a tall bearded man in full Indian dress including a turban, then a beautiful woman "lei'd" us. The lobby has marble floors, many portions are inlaid, some of the walls are onyx, there are huge chandeliers and the ceilings are painted in Italian style. Although it was late when we arrived we spent a short while enjoying a bottle of wine with friends.

Day 2 began early, the hotel provided us with a light continental breakfast before we left for the train station. It was there that we first saw the extent of VERY poor beggars, many with horrible deformities. By 6:15 a.m. we were on the Bhopal Shatabdi Express headed for Agra. Although the train served a boxed breakfast, we decided not to take a chance. We're hoping to make it through six days in India without getting sick. Once in Agra we were served yet another (delicious) breakfast. From there we traveled by bus to the Fatehpur Sikri, the beautiful well maintained ruins of an ancient city made of red sandstone. Trust me, on the highway in India you definitely want to be on a bus. No matter who has the right of way, the bus ALWAYS wins!!

We went back to a local hotel for another delicious lunch. We visited the Agra Fort, and from there we saw our first glimpse of the near-by Taj Majal. It was breath taking!! We arrived at the Taj Mahal with plenty of time for exploring and we didn't leave until after sunset. It took my breath away two more times: once when we walked through the gates and saw the Taj standing majestically before us and reflected in the pool in front, and again when we walked inside the grand building. We were transported to the train station for the ride back to Delhi, where we spent another night at the beautiful Ramada. At the train station many of us left our box diners on the bus for our driver to distribute to the hundreds of people begging outside of the bus. We opted not to give the food to the people ourselves, as we feared a stampede. (The Indian drivers and guides speak their native language and are better able to control the crowds than we are.)

Day 3 began a bit later with a tour of New Delhi, a thoroughly modern clean huge city. The beautiful green parks, mansions, and embassies are a marked contrast to the dirty crowded streets of Delhi. The beautiful buildings are left from the time of British rule. If you closed your eyes for a minute you would swear that you were looking at the Washington Mall. After another delicious lunch at the Ramada we transferred to the airport for the short flight to Varanasi.

After checking in at the Radisson Hotel we boarded bicycle/rickshaws for the most fun/frightening ride of my life. Imagine thousands of bicycles, bicycle rickshaws, three-wheeled taxis and cars sharing the same narrow road!! At one point our driver turned off of the main road onto a completely dark alley. I was sure that we were going to be robbed or killed! Fortunately it was just a short cut away from the main road. We soon reached the banks of the Ganges River where thousands were celebrating Aarti (a type of thanksgiving) at the Dasaswamedh Ghat (steps leading down to the water). There were chants and singing and a conch shell was blown.

The hotel served a delicious dinner, followed by dancing to North American music played by a D.J.

Day 4 saw us up again at the crack of dawn to witness the sunrise bathing in the Ganges. Thousands of people bathe in the river daily. Some live there, for others it is a pilgrimage from their home towns. We were at the area where young boys (some as young as five years old) begin training to become monks. We saw their morning prayers and yoga. Another tradition is the cremation of the dead, and it was common the see a jeep or car headed to the crematorium with a body on top, wrapped in gold cloth with feet & head sticking out!! This area is where the Beatles stayed, and Goldie Hawn comes here regularly to purchase her essential oils. After breakfast we toured the area and went to Deer Park where Buddha preached his first sermon. We had a dinner flight back to Chennai.

Days 5&6 we were back in Chennai where we shopped and had a nice farewell to India lunch at the Raintree Hotel. We went to a couple of malls, one very high end, the other a more "local" mall. There are beautiful clothes to be found in India.

It was an amazing experience, we hope to be back to India some day.

THE TRAIN STATION IN AGRA #2

This story takes place the same evening in the Agra train station. Nine-year old C.J. is standing next to a woman and her six year old girl who are begging for food and money. C.J. has been overwhelmed by the hoards of beggars, and being a pretty blond little girl people have been touching her all day, especially her hair. It's hard to tell how old the mom is, she just has a sad face that looks like it never smiles. In spite of wanting to be left alone C.J. asks her mom if she can give the little girl a juice box that she has saved from her box dinner for the train ride. Mom says, "O.K.", and the little girl smiles just a bit as she accepts it. We were all happy to see her open and drink the juice, as we had been told that often food gifts are taken by older men & women who send the women & children out to beg. They also confiscate any money that they are given, often beating them in the process. We rounded up another box of juice for C.J. to give to the girl. This is met with a BIG smile, she knows how good it is!! Mom is looking on, but her sad (hopeless) expression never changes. C.J., wise beyond her years and comfortable in many situations smiles at the woman, tells her that she has a beautiful daughter, and asks her name. The little girl is now playing peek-a-boo with C.J. behind her mom's sari. Suddenly, thanks to C.J., the little girl is happy for a moment knowing that she has a friend. And Mom smiles a real smile at her daughter's happiness. For a moment Mom's face is beautiful

THE TRAIN STATION IN AGRA, INDIA

This is a short story I wrote in Spanish (and received an A!!).

In the last two essays that I wrote I spoke of delicious food, beautiful places, like Stellenbosch, and fine wines. But this story is different, it is sad. I am going to write about poor people who do not have enough to eat, and about those with horrible deformities.

My story begins when we arrived at the train station in Agra early one morning. We were traveling with a group of fellow SAS voyagers, including a nine-year-old girl. Immediately many poor people came up, touching us and begging for food and money. There were two with deformities of their legs, one walked like a gorilla, the other like a crab. They looked like monsters. They walked/crawled rapidly towards us, and frightened the little girl. For this reason she was fearful of returning to the train station that night. But something good happened that changed her opinion of them. When we returned to the station the men came to us, again begging for food and money. This time, instead of turning her back on them, one woman from our group began a conversation with them. Soon two more crippled men approached. Because of this kind conversation the men slowly began to smile. I don't know if the woman gave them money or not, it doesn't matter. More importantly she gave them respect. And, seeing their smiles, the little girl was no longer afraid.