Geeks on Tour Blog

Walking in Bangkok

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Guld) — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 14:33:00 +0000

This was our second time coming to the Bangkok area on our ship. We stayed at the same hotel and had follow up appointments with the same doctors. We did one of our live YouTube shows, making good use of the excellent WiFi 😀.

We felt so at home. We knew the way to walk to the hospital from our hotel, it was just 5 minutes along the canal most of the way. When we felt the need to get out of our room for a while we just took a longer walk along the same canal. The speedy canal boats fascinated us just as much this time as last.

Our friends, kit and Randy were staying at another hotel, about a mile away, and we decided to walk there and join them for dinner one night.

The restaurant in our hotel was delightful ... especially the view overlooking the canal.

Visiting at Kit and Randy's hotel in Bangkok, walking distance from our hotel

On our third day there we decided to go back to the Roadhouse BBQ for an early dinner. We took a Grab there but decided to walk back. Google maps told us it would take about an hour and the route went thru a park - sounded like a great way to end the day!

We were in for a treat! It wasn't just any beautiful park, it seemed to be the city's back yard. Lumphini park. Everyone was there! They were exercising. They were gathered for BKCAW (Bangkok climate action week) They were out with their families just enjoying the night air. They were petting the many cats - not sure if they were strays, or they lived there, but the cats looked healthy. It was the kind of walk that makes you want to skip along and whistle a tune. We looked up and saw the skyscrapers and flashing billboards of Bangkok. We looked down and saw a little boy riding a little bicycle and making sure to hit every puddle of water he could find - much to his father's dismay😂. We looked back and saw a crowd of synchronized movement with the exercisers. And we felt joy. We're in Bangkok. The name of a city that means exotic and fun. And we felt right at home. 🏡😊

After the park we followed Google maps walking directions and ended up on an elevated walkway above the fray. It made the walk so delightful, and got us magically to the other side of a major highway.

For the final stretch our route took us thru one of the famed partying districts - Sukhumvit 3.

Music, laughter everywhere. Getting a contact high walking past the dispensaries and grinning when we see vendors with trays of Cialis for sale.

Finally, we get to a corner we recognize. We're almost back to our hotel in the Sukhumvit 11 area. We drop in to a market and pick up a bottle of wine.

We're in Bangkok and we feel at home.

I love my life!

Another Google Photos Art Deco creations 🤗

Promoting Peace by Studying War

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Guld) — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 00:49:00 +0000

On the second day of our stay in Saigon, one of our residents, Barbara, arranged for several events to honor International Day of Peace - September 21. The first part was to gather at the War Remnants Museum and hear a talk by Madam Ton Nu Thi Ninh - a high ranking diplomat with a long history - she spoke of conversations with Henry Kissinger where he warned the world, " Don't stand between Vietnam and their sense of direction" She also told us about Vietnam's Bamboo Diplomacy (bend but don't break) and the 4 No's foreign policy:

No military alliances
No siding with one country against another
No foreign military bases
No use or threat of force

Watch video of Ms. Ton Nut Thi Ninh's talk

I felt so privileged to hear about Vietnamese policy from such an experience insider. She also told us about how resilient the Vietnamese were after the Vietnam/American war. Once peace was restored they worked hard to establish relations with former adversaries. They now see themselves as agents of peace. They send grain to Cuba, they set up field hospitals in Sudan.
See this article in a Vietnamese newspaper: The Bell of Peace Rings Out from the War Remnants Museum

Our group gathered in front of the museum

After the talk we had a musical performance by Orange Happiness - a group of musicians with physical disabilities resulting from agent orange. Then we had a tour of the museum. It was a very depressing tour. All wars are horrible, but this one was closer to home. It brought me to tears to see the images and hear the stories. One thing that I didn't know is that so many of the correspondents that took those photos and wrote the stories, died in the process.

60 PhotoJournalists who died while covering the Vietnam/American war.

A Food Tour on One Table

After the museum, we had a group reservation at a Michelin rated restaurant called Man Moi. They served the food family style, 8 dishes: 3 appetizers and 5 entrees. Every one was delicious.

The menu for our luncheon

Ringing the Ship's Bell for Peace

Once back on the ship and getting ready for sail away, we had another event. The captain rang the bell 5 times as prescribed in Barbara's talk, each ringing represented something:

First Bell – World Peace: Dedicated to peace across the globe, particularly for those living through war, violence, and conflict, and for those working toward reconciliation.
Second Bell – Community Peace: Dedicated to peace within the host communities, cities, and countries that welcome the ship throughout its global travels.
Third Bell – Peace Within the Odyssey Community: Dedicated to harmony, respect, understanding, and kindness among the residents and crew living aboard the ship.
Fourth Bell – Inner Peace: Dedicated to personal peace within oneself, acknowledging that lasting peace begins as an individual daily choice.
Fifth Bell – The Future of the Odyssey: Dedicated to the future of the ship and its community, seeking wisdom, patience, and stability for management, crew, and residents through upcoming changes and challenges.

Finally, we sailed away with a happy hour and some singing in the observatory.
Good Bye Vietnam!

Ho Chi Minh City

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Guld) — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 00:21:00 +0000

Is Ho Chi Minh City on your travel bucket list? It certainly was never on mine. I didn't even know where it was. I didn't even know that Ho Chi Minh City is actually the new name for Saigon. Saigon evokes those years in my past where we heard about death counts every day. Not something I care to revisit.
So, imagine my surprise that the Odyssey's visit to Ho Chi Minh City earned a place on my list of top experiences on this journey!

A hotel stay for line dancing

It started with the fact that we got off the ship and stayed in a local hotel. Some people do this at most every port. We do not. This port was different because our line dancing group was getting together with a local line dancing group early in the morning (the dancing will be outside and it's hot!) It's nearly an hour from the ship to downtown, so we went in the night before and stayed 2 nights for $65 😮

I think I've already written in here about how special the line dancing had become for me, and when we meet with local dancing groups, it ups the ante even higher, and the Saigon (yes, they call it that) group was the best yet. The leader of the group, a man named Tam Van, met us at a brewery the night before. Using Google translate, we got to chat with him a bit. We learned that his name, Tam, is Vietnamese for 8, and he is the 8th child in his family. I didn't ask if his siblings were named 1-7 😂

Line Dancing in Ho Chi Minh City

On the morning of dancing, we walked from our hotel to the Nguyen Hue Walking street. This is not a street that gets blocked off from traffic occasionally, it is a permanent park-like median. The view in the background included a fountain, a statue of Ho Chi Minh, and the People's Committee building (City Hall.)

The weather was great, although still quite hot even at 7am. The Vietnamese dancers wore those wonderful side-slit dresses with pants underneath, the ship dancers wore our street clothes but added a multicolored flowered lei to identify us. We danced for a bit over an hour - and they were all dances we knew! As opposed to the 4 hours of dancing and list of 50 dances in our last place - Singapore. Jim went live on YouTube during the dancing.

It was wonderful fun and we took breaks for lots of photos and lots of hugs. We gave them gifts of earrings in the Vietnamese colors of orange and yellow, they gave us the very practical gifts of fans! You can learn more about the Vietnamese group on their facebook page.

Learning about Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh city

In the afternoon, Jim and I took the Hop On Hop Off bus for an overview of the city. I loved learning that:

If China is the factory of the world and India is the office of the world, then Vietnam is the kitchen of the world.

We also learned that HCMC has the highest concentration of motorbikes in the world with a count of 8.5 million. We experienced this first hand whenever we had to cross a street! Very few intersections have traffic lights, the instructions for crossing streets is to just walk - but walk 'confidently' and the scooters and cars will drive around you. Juuusst a bit scary, but it does work. I almost got confident with it until we wanted to cross a 6 lane road that was jam-packed with cars and scooters. We watched for a while, then looked at each other and said, "nah" and turned around.

Electric Motor Scooter charging stations. 😊

Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens

Left: Bitexco Financial Tower, Right: Trần Hưng Đạo (1228–1300) was a revered Vietnamese military commander and prince who led the armies that defeated major Mongol invasions in the 13th century.

With their thriving capitalistic economy, it's hard to remember that this is a communist country. Billboard translation: Commemorating the 96th Anniversary of the Traditional Day of the Party's Propaganda Department (August 1, 1930 – August 1, 2026)

Rotary Clubs around the World

Another opportunity for cultural exchange was with our Rotary Club on board. As club secretary, Jim had contacted the Saigon Rotary Club and arranged to meet up. The only member of their club that was available was Grace who is the secretary.

Jim is secretary of our Odyssey Rotary Club. Here he's chatting with Grace who is secretary of the Saigon Rotary Club. Don't let her youthful appearance fool you, Grace is a Corporate Attorney here.

The traditional exchange of flags between clubs. Our Rotary president, Paul Montoya.

Using Google Maps

I don't know how people traveled before Google Maps! I took the opportunity of a real-life use of walking directions to make #1008 of our Tutorial Videos - GeeksOnTour.com/1008:

Sea Days - Sail Away

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Guld) — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 06:46:00 +0000

When you live on a cruise ship, life is divided into Port days and Sea days. On port days, many people get off the ship. They've arranged for tours, or maybe even a hotel for a night or two. On Sea days, you're looking for activities on board. Anyone who wants to organize an activity or a club, knows that it needs to be scheduled on a Sea day because that is when everyone is on board. Many people think that Sea days are dull and boring with nothing to do. We find it to be just the opposite.

When you've been at port for a while, leaving is called a Sail Away, and it is an event. We've had 'sailaways' on the bow, in our cabin, and in the observatory, but the most special 'sailaway' is when we're invited to our friend's balcony. Nuran has the best balcony on the ship - up on the 8th deck.

Then, I just had to try Google Photos AI feauture to 'Remix' photos as a Art Deco Painting ...

To see exactly how I made this, see our GeeksOnTour.com tutorial #1007 1007.GP-Remix a Photo to an Oil Painting

When we left Ha Long, we knew we had 5 sea days before our next port at Ho Chi Minh City. We have an active line dancing group on board with a very accomplished teacher/leader. So I planned to go to class every day. Jim was voluntold to dress up at Colonel Mustard for a 'clue' themed party and I also attended some choir practice sessions.

We also took care of some GeeksOnTour business and had a zoom meeting with our members.

Lastly, we had a book club meeting - the author of the book is one of our group! An Uncommon Red Guard.

Yen Tu Mountain

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Guld) — Sun, 13 Sep 2026 09:39:00 +0000

Due to difficulty in getting fuel, and upcoming itinerary changes, we ended up having 10 whole days docked in Ha Long. What a treat! There are fireworks almost every night that were visible from our cabin's window.

There was a carnival area with lots of eateries and gift shops right at the end of the dock. And it was all next to a beach with gently lapping waves. Great for walking and just sitting having a 'Bia.' Bia may seem like a strange word, but if you pronounce it - you'll see that it's really quite familiar ... beer.😊

Build it and they will come?

One odd thing abut the carnival area is that it was bordered by dozens of what looked like apartment buildings, but they were all empty?! In fact they did not even look completed. A little research uncovers the term "Ha Long Ghost Towns"

From Google:

Locals will openly tell you that the properties are a mismatch for the community. The units were priced for multi-millionaire foreign buyers or high-end retail brands. When those international buyers didn't show up, the developers refused to drop prices to what local families could afford. [1, 2, 3]

The result is a bizarre modern ruins scenario: immaculate, freshly paved Italian-style boulevards spanning kilometres, completely abandoned to the elements without a single soul ever having signed a lease. [1, 2]

Time on our Hands

We thoroughly enjoy having so much time at one port. We always have plenty of computer work to do which usually means we miss out on some of the sights. But, with all this time, we were very amenable when we heard Charley talking about his plans to go to Yen Tu mountain the next day. Can we go too? Sure!
Charley arranged for a small van and 12 of us piled in for the hour drive to the mountain.
First we walked thru the grounds of a monastery. Then we took a gondola up the mountain to where there was a path with lots of stairs, eventually leading to yet another gondola where we hiked another set of stairs to a golden buddha. All totaled we logged over 15,000 steps that day - almost all were either up or down!

After the mountain our guide took us to a local restaurant that served traditional food. Uh, sorry, but I don't know how they eat some of this stuff 😮 The chicken was a bowl of parts. A conversation with the restaurant staff revealed that they think it's odd how westerners separate the meat from the bone. They just chop it up, bones and all, and put the results in a bowl. These were pretty scrawny chickens to start with. You really had to hunt to find any meat. I just couldn't do it. Another dish was deep fried greens and sardines. Whole sardines. I tried a bite and nearly burned my mouth on the hot oil still dripping from it. I did eat the rice and tofu.

The last stop was a magnificent monastery and garden. I was immediately put into a trance by the multiple chimes strewn about the place. Please play the video so you can hear them and see if you agree.
We returned to the ship in time for dinner ... I was hungry!
And, we stlll had one more day in Ha Long. So relaxing!

Ha Long Bay

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Guld) — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 13:51:00 +0000

We stopped in Ha Long both coming and going. And, I'm so glad we did. Our first stop - on our way north - it rained the whole time. Well, we got off the ship on the morning of the first day and went for a walk, but it started raining that afternoon and didn't stop for 4 solid days. We just stayed home and did our computer stuff.

The ship continued north to Hong Kong, them came back to Ha Long and it was GORGEOUS weather. We were so lucky since this is one of the most scenic spots on the entire planet! Sailing in thru those rock islands takes a couple hours. We were scheduled to dock at 8am, so we had to get up early for the view - it was worth it!

Sunrise in Ha Long Bay

Sometime during breakfast, I overheard Eddie talking to Matt and saying that he was going to just get out on the dock and find a private boat and driver to go on a tour of the bay. I butted in and asked if we could tag along. He said Yes! Oh Boy.

We got there and gathered our stuff to get off the ship. Eddie started bargaining with a tour guide and 2 other people from the ship were nearby and got included in our group as well - Ben and Basia. Amazingly, the boat went on the 5 hour tour with just the 6 of us on board. It could easily hold 40. What a delightful day.

Our tour boat for the day

The big tour boat took us to this lagoon where we got on a little row boat that took us thru a cave.

The monkeys came out to greet us.

Next stop was a climb up to a cave entrance. And, what a cave it was!!

Our group, Matt, Eddie, Basia, Ben, Chris, Jim

The last stop was a beach and we actually went swimming!

The bay includes countless of these limestone karst islands and islets. I've seen counts as high as 1,969 islands although other references put the count at 1,600. According to Google there are 980 islands with formal names.

Google Photos has a fun new AI feature that will turn your photos into rich oil paintings or Art Deco images. I thought Ha Long gave me the perfect images to play with ...

Here is what it looks like to come home to our ship after dark.

I thought it was so beautiful, it deserves to be a work of art .. in oil painting style.

And, let's see what these islands look like as an art deco work of art ...

Oh fun Odyssey - where everyone knows your name

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Guld) — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 11:35:00 +0000

I know so many people here, who live on the ship called the Villa Vie Odyssey - and they all know my name as well. It is so cool!

We all want to belong somewhere. We like being sociable. One of my favorite pastimes is conversation. I so love having interesting people around to talk to.

We've lived aboard the Odyssey for nearly 1 1/2 years now. I can walk down the hall, hear voices behind me and know who it is because I recognize their voice.

One day I came up behind Kit and gave her a pat on her back. Without turning around and looking at me she said, "Hi Chris." We slowed down to chat a bit and Jim kept on walking.

Kit's husband, Randy, looked at Jim up ahead and admonished me "you’re lagging!"

John was also walking in the hall and, as he caught up with Jim, he said "I see you’ve lost your wife, you’ll have to make do with me."

This banter is just a tiny example of our daily lives, but I remember these few minutes in the hallway and how I felt so joyful to be amongst so many friends.

Mealtimes

When we lived in a house, we would have friends over for dinner, or go to their house. This happened maybe once every month or 2. Here on the Odyssey we have the option of conversation around the table 3 times a day!! If you want to be sociable, you find a table for 4 or 6. If you'd rather be quiet, just sit at a table for 2. We've met new people and deepened friendships with others around these tables. We also have the option to specifically invite certain people to join us for dinner. Easily done, just send them a WhatsApp message.

Excursions

Then there are the sightseeing and activity days. Some activities, like the zip-lining in Fiji or scuba diving in Palau, were prearranged group events and anyone who wanted to go signed up beforehand. Others are serendipity, like here in Ha Long when we overheard a conversation about taking a boat tour and asked if we could come along, then 2 other Odysseans happened to be nearby when we were talking to a boat tour guide and they joined us as well. These shared experiences deepen friendships.

Activities

It's doing things together that really cements friendships. Like rehearsing plays, or line dancing, or singing in a chorus. In one play I had a love interest played by Tim. Jim knows not to be jealous when Tim and I grab each other in a hug any time we're nearby! And, same with Jim and his dance partner in another play. My line dancing group is a regular thing where we have so much fun.

The Odyssey "Wave Dancers"

Recently Jim and I acted in a skit called "Time in a Bottle" where he was a genie, and I was the owner of his bottle. 🤗

This production was one of 3 short works in one evening called "Short Attention Span Theatre". It was written by a fellow shipmate just a few days before the performance. So much fun, no pressure.

I look thru all these faces and there's only 1 or 2 that I don't know their names 😊

We LOVE living here!

Hong Kong

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Guld) — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 15:55:00 +0000

I was here with Mom in 1997 when Hong Kong was officially transferred to China. It was an investment tour by John Dessauer. My Mom subscribed to his newsletter and was intrigued by a notice of a tour to China's special economic zones. She asked if I wanted to go - SURE! Here is that newsletter:

It is confusing to me now about why Hong Kong is a separate 'country' from China. I thought that Hong Kong was China, but you need a separate visa to enter mainland China as opposed to Hong Kong. Huh? So, Hong Kong is a "Special Administrative Region" of China. Ok, whatever.

Sailing in to Hong Kong

What I remember most about visiting Hong Kong in 1997 were the tower cranes all over the place, building the high rises. There were plenty of skyscrapers then. Even more now. We only had 2 days here so we figured a Hop-On Hop-Off bus was the best use of our time. I enjoy the audio commentary provided on earbuds as you drive around.

Day 1 we rode the bus all around Hong Kong Island

The ship was docked on the mainland side - otherwise known as Kowloon. Then the water in between is called Victoria harbor and Victoria Peak is on Hong Kong Island. I wrongly assumed that the biggest hills would be on the mainland side - nope - that's the island.

Victoria harbor is in between Kowloon and Hong Kong island. This harbor was very desirable - it's what British were looking for when Hong Kong was ceded to British in 1841

We took the green route on day 1 and the blue route on day 2.

Our Hong Kong welcome was the best!

And the dock was right at a mall. So easy to get off the ship, go shopping, or get to the ferry across to Hong Kong Island.

Walking off the ship, then thru the mall, drops us off right near the ferry.

After crossing the harbor and getting on the bus, we went directly to the tram that took us up Victoria peak and the most spectacular views.

It was great to see some more natural landscapes on the other side of the island.

My notes on the audio commentary told us about:

Kai tec airport in harbor- no more
Taikoo shing - 12,000 apartments - 99 999? year lease
Lots of reservoirs and water testing means Hong Kong has some of the best water in the world
American club is fancy exclusive club in south side of Hong Kong island
Beautiful Stanley was a prisoner of war camp in ww2
Murray house used by Japanese in ww2 - thousands of execution
Repulse bay is for billionaires
Old royal golf club
Hong Kong country club, not exclusive, all nationalities and races welcome, BUT you must pay millions
Ocean park theme park is a major attraction
Hong Kong police are well paid
Ap lei chau one of densest populations in the world
Cyberport, working to turn hong Kong into smart city
Life expectancy high here due to strong public health care
Sun yat sen first president of china, studied in Hong Kong

The next day on the mainland (Kowloon), we took the Hop on bus again.

Here are my notes from the bus commentary

Kowloon

"Electrifying mix of old and new"

Streets named after what's done there, e.g. clothes washing street

Langham place, mall. Upper floors designed like a corkscrew, just keep walking and you'll be going upstairs! No stairs or escalators needed.

Kids work hard in school. It's very competitive from young age.

Saw a Chinese gate - a china town in Hong Kong?! 😂😮

Afternoon tea at the Ritz Carlton?

High speed rail gets you from Kowloon to Shenzhen in 14 minutes

Train station is part of china as well as Hong Kong, you can go thru customs and immigration for both "countries"

Harbor city terminal had an observation deck

Hong Kong has the highest concentration of shopping malls in the world

Dinner at an Irish Pub called Delaneys! Hey, we had Dim Sum at lunch, that was good enough.

Oh Internet, where art thou

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Guld) — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 04:12:00 +0000

I'll tell you where it isn't ... Internet from Starlink is not available for our cruise ship in the waters of southeast China. And, it hasn't been reliable anywhere in Vietnam.

This lack of internet is annoying to some of us and devastating to others. There are people on the ship with real jobs. They are expected to show up, online, for 4-8 hours. These people fear for their jobs.

Jim and I still have a business online. We normally spend 15-30 hours a week creating videos, writing articles, hosting zoom calls etc. We are not expected by anyone at any particular time. We won't be missed during a few days offline. Our only real worry is that someone has sent us an email and is wondering why we haven't responded.

We have a backup

Actually, we have 4 backups! Our primary source of internet is the ships WiFi, powered by Starlink. When we're off the ship, our phones have their own cellular connection. Even on the ship, when it is in port, we can use our cellular options: We have 3 phones and one separate hotspot.

My Samsung phone with an Asia eSim from Saily
My iPhone with an account on US Mobile with international options
Jim's pixel phone with an eSim from Airalo
Any of these phones can share their data using the hotspot feature, but we also have a dedicated hotspot device by Solis/Simo.

The separate hotspot device is so handy. We can set it in the window where it will have the best connection to cell towers on land. And then we can connect all our devices to it - just like any other WiFi hotspot. It can handle up to 15 connections. It has a built in eSim and a global data plan.

We paid $320 for the device including lifetime 1GB/mo international data. This means it works everywhere in the world we go, without doing anything. 1GB doesn't go far, but it's just good to know it's there. When we need to use it more, like here in Vietnam, we pay for 200GB/mo at $90.

On our computers, the Simo hotspot shows up just like all the other WiFi networks.

Vietnam - first sights

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Guld) — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 01:40:00 +0000

Adding a New Country to our Map - Vietnam #28 while on the Odyssey

That's right, we're in Vietnam. After leaving Singapore and 3 days at sea, our first stop was Nha Trang. We had plenty of work to do and no particular plans, but we were anchored there for 4 days so we had to get off once! We took the offer of a car and driver at the pier and saw the top sights. I learned that my Wise card cannot be used in ATMs in Vietnam 😡 The tourist sights we're interesting. I liked the beach the best. The waterfront had a district Fort Lauderdale feel to it.

The Golden bridge in Da Nang

It should be called the handheld bridge. I've seen many photos of this otherworldly bridge and I really wanted to take my own. When we docked at Chan May I set to work figuring out how to get there. As it turns out, the bridge is not an isolated attraction. It is part of a multiple square mile resort and entertainment complex by Sun World - think 'Disney.' Introduction to Sun World Ba Na Hills https://sunworld.vn/vi/banahills/gioi-thieu

It was an hour drive from the port, then a half hour cable car ride up the hillside. We had perfect weather for it, partly cloudy. The cable car travels up so high that it actually was cool at the top. The high elevation (nearly 5,000 feet) creates a cool, temperate microclimate that sharply contrasts with the coastal heat of Da Nang below. Riding on the cable car, you feel the difference every few minutes, getting cooler as you go up and warmer, more humid, as you go down.

The bridge did not disappoint. What a sight!

Just as impressive was the view of the surrounding hills. Unspoiled green hills/mountains as far as the eye could see leading down to the ocean in the distance.

Then, the amusement park with a French flavor because it was the French that first populated these hills. A building that felt like Versailles. A small pointed dome that evoked the Louvre. And lots of statues. Jim made a video of the day: (https://youtu.be/bEf3bhPntgc)

We went with 3 of our shipmates and had a great time. Even the car ride was fun. I gave a little lesson on Google maps. They wanted to understand the "North up" setting and concept as well as the directional blue "headlight". (see Geek's video 350)

Vietnam is surprising me! See our full photo album here.

Sky Dining in Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Guld) — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 07:00:00 +0000

I've made lots of friends on board the Odyssey, one special woman - Lyn H. - and I have agreed to a weekly lunch date. Where I spend a lot of time in my cabin on my computer, Lynn is always out and about having fun with groups of people. She seems to always know about the special things to do in any port. So, when we got together for lunch on Sunday while at port in Singapore she told me about how you could actually have dinner while riding the cable cars.

Well, alrighty then!

The Odyssey in Singapore with the Cable Car line passing overhead.

We've been watching the cable cars that go right over our ship from the main part of Singapore to the Sentosa Island and back. We definitely wanted to take a ride and the idea that we could have dinner too sounded great. Did she want to join us? No. She's having a different kind of special dinner at "Dining in the Dark." Where you are served by blind waiters and you eat in total darkness. She says it's supposed to heighten your sense of taste and smell as you eat. OK ... 🤔

We mentioned the sky dining to our friends Russ and Kelly and they were up for it, so we made reservations for the next night. We had beautiful weather for it - hot, but clear and great views. You start with a cocktail at the open air lounge, then board the cable car which has been all set up with your dinner and wine. It takes one round trip to eat - about a half hour. Then you stay on the cable car for another round trip to enjoy the setting sun. When you get off the cable car you go to the open air restaurant for dessert. What a treat! Delicious food, wonderful company, and beautiful views.

Koh Chang, a delightful surprise

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Guld) — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 06:33:00 +0000

Spending 4 nights in Bangkok was tiring. Jim came down with a mild cold, and both of us were looking forward to getting back home (ship) and crashing. 2 sea days sounded good, and we had no plans for the next island. Several projects are in my plate, from tutorial videos, to submitting bills to our health insurance, to geek website updates. Just staying home, resting and working at our computers sounded good.

The 2 sea days went by in a flash, then we anchored at Koh Chang. The ocean swells made tendering difficult, so it was postponed till late in the afternoon. Didn't bother us since we had no plans. We are anchored here for 4 days. We got some work done and relaxed for day 1 and 2. We decided that we would take a tender in to shore one day just to set foot on land and see what's near the dock. At dinner on day 2 Nuran mentioned that she had arranged for a car and driver for the next day and there was room for a couple more people. We could even ride in with her and she could drop us off at the place where she had a wonderful lunch the day before. Ahh! Sounds perfect, leave the ship on the 10:30 shuttle, go to lunch, and come back.

But, once we got there we decided to stay the day in Nurans truck.

These open air trucks are the primary method of getting around on Koh Chang. They're called Songthaews. A songthaew literally means "two rows" in Thai, referring to the two long bench seats facing each other in the back of a modified pickup truck.

It was a private hire, so we could go wherever we wanted. The driver suggested a waterfall, a scenic overlook, an elephant preserve ... Wait! Elephants?!

We're in.

We were told this was the entrance to a private home.

At the first Elephant place, they were wandering around free.

At the second, they were confined and chained. It was sad, but I did enjoy feeding them. So interesting how they use their trunks like a hand - complete with an opposable thumb!

Nuran had a dentist appointment at 3, so we didn't want to venture too far. We saw elephants at 2 different places, took a delightful walk in the woods towards the waterfall saw the scenic overlook then dropped her off at the dentist.

The rest of us went to lunch at Porns. 😮🤣

Chris, Jim, Holly, Jim

At the end of the day, the monkeys came out to bid us farewell.

Bangkok

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Guld) — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 01:14:00 +0000

The ship didn't actually go to Bangkok. It docked at a port called Laem Chabang, a 1-2 hour drive from Bangkok. Traffic in Bangkok is legendary. You drive an hour or so and get to the city, then it may take another full hour or even more to get to your hotel. Gridlock. The ship stayed there for 5 days! That gave us all plenty of time to go to Bangkok and stay in a hotel for a few nights.

International Health Care

We've been on the ship for over a year now. We considered flying back to Florida for medical checkups but, even though all the medical costs would be covered by insurance there, the flights and travel time would be quite expensive. We also changed our home location from Fort Lauderdale to Gainesville, so we would need to find new doctors. We hear that this takes many weeks or even months to accomplish these days in the good ole USA. So we investigated getting things done over here.

There are several good options in this part of the world for health care, fast, high-quality, and inexpensive. Manila, VietNam, Thailand, and Singapore all came up in our research. On our first visit to Singapore, we signed up for screening packages. In one half-day, we got blood and urine tests, ultrasounds, bone density, mammogram, pap smear/HPV, xrays, and more. Reports with all the results were emailed to us a few days later. All that was fantastic, so efficient and professional. Everyone spoke english. All totaled we spent $2,500 which I do not consider inexpensive. So, we decided to continue with any follow up services in Bangkok.

We heard from a friend on board how wonderful the hospital - Bumrungrad - is, so that's where we booked. The best part is that we could book telemedicine appointments. We did that and somewhere floating in the Gulf of Thailand, we talked to Dr. Vibhakorn. We told her we wanted to book colonoscopy and gastroscopy procedures when we got to Bangkok. After a conversation she said we didn't need those tests for several more years. OK. Jim has some prescriptions he wanted and she said that will be easily handled when we're in Bangkok. Also some vaccinations, and a dermatologist appointment for me. Once again, everything went smoothly and efficiently. We stayed at a hotel that was an easy 10 minute walk to the hospital. All doctors, labs, vaccinations, and pharmacy, was all under one roof. So convenient.

Once again, it was more expensive than I had hoped. We spent about $5,000 there. The majority of that was for Maunjaro for Jim plus a 6 month supply of other meds. He needs to lose the weight that he's gained on the ship! The best part is that Dr. Vibakhorn will be our main doctor, available by telemedicine, wherever we are. She can also interface with the ship's doctor.

Sightseeing in Bangkok

We really loved that our hotel was right beside one of the many canals in Bangkok. There were these long boats that acted as water taxis - getting you where you wanted to go in a fraction of the time required to go by road. Check out the video above - it is NOT speeded up. That is how fast these boats go. What a rush!

One evening we took a water taxi to old town and went up to a rooftop bar called The View. Great view, great food and drinks.

The next day, after a follow up appointment at the hospital for vaccines, we took the water taxi to the end of the canal, then a tuk-tuk to see some temples, then another long boat at the main river to explore the canals on the other side of the river.

The food in our hotel was excellent. That's the canal right outside the window.

Our Odyssey Rotary club joined the Rotary Club of Bangkok South Luncheon

We visited several temples and buddhas. This one was the Lucky Buddha

The hand positions (mudras?) obviously have meanings. I love this one!

Our tuk-tuk (motorcycle taxi) and driver, Charlie. He would wait for us when we explored the temples

Next, we got on this 'longtail' boat for a ride on the river and across to the canals on the other side

Floating market - you could buy beer, soda, trinkets from her. There are times that there are dozens of them. For us, she was the only one.

Big Buddha

Wat Arun

On our last day in Bangkok, we took advantage of the blazing fast Internet in our hotel to do our YouTube show live. Time zone makes live streaming difficult because if we did the show at our comfortable tim of 2pm - that's 3am in Florida and no one would show up! So we did it at 8am our time (9pm Florida, 6pm Los Angeles) and we had about 50 people in our audience. We so enjoyed that.

New Country! Thailand - Koh Samui

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Guld) — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 09:05:00 +0000

Officially, Thailand is known as The Kingdom of Thailand. Before 1939 it was known as Siam. Neither Jim nor I have ever been here before. The country of Thailand has a very unusual shape! Some say it looks like an elephant. The elephant is the offiicial national symbol of Thailand!

Our first stop was an island called Koh Samui. Koh means 'island' in Thai. We anchored off of Nathon Pier and took a tender in. It was a very active town right at the pier. We found a nice little restaurant with air and had some real Thai food. Thai food is known for being very spicy. That's what Jim likes, but I can't handle hot-spicy food at all. I found Pad Thai on the menu and I know that to be a tasty, sweet, noodle dish with chicken or pork, It was delicious! Jim had a spicy shrimp soup: Tom Yum?

Just down the block and take a left at an alleyway and you see brightly colored temple.

Diving

The next day, Jim went diving. I couldn't go because of my skin cancer creme doing its work on my face. I enjoyed a day to myself at my computer.

Tour

I saw all sorts of spectacular temples and Buddhas when researching Koh Samui, so I decided to book a tour thru Ida at our destination desk - no extra charge: $50pp for the day. It was just Jim, Me, and Diedre in a nice air conditioned car and our guide, Emma was great.

Ganesh

Happy Buddha

Just the 3 of us on this tour: Diedre, Jim, Me

Entrance to the Magic Garden

Fantastic Tour!

Blessed be the Flexible, for they Shall Not Get Bent Out of Shape

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Guld) — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 10:39:44 +0000

I'm not sure where I first saw that quote - I think it was Ashleigh Brilliant - but it's always been a guiding light for me. Flexibility, both in body and in mind, are essential for a happy life.

Flexibility of Body

When we first started living on the Villa Vie Odyssey, I was excited that there was a morning stretch class every morning. It is included as an amenity with our monthly maintenance fees. All I had to do is walk down the hall, up two flights of stairs and plop down on a mat. No gym membership, no getting in a car and driving to the gym, so convenient.
Did I go?
Wellllll .... once or twice in the first couple weeks, then I got sidetracked with so many other things and it was months before I saw the inside of the fitness center again. Then, last week I got myself up in time for the 8am class and I did it! I felt SO good after, and I was SO productive all day long! I credit the stretches for opening up the flow of energy in my body. It was so pronounced that I determined then and there that I would go to stretch class more often. Not every day, that would set myself up for failure, but 2 or 3 times a week would be great. Now it is one week later - and I've been 3 times! Oh Boy!

Having a flexible body means that it bends to trauma rather than breaking. For example, when I step on the stairs wrong and my ankle twists all the way over. Sure it hurts, it may even throb for a few days, but there was no permanent damage because good stretch classes focus on every part, including ankles, making sure the tendons stretch so that they don't tear.

The Fitness Center at our home, the Residential Cruise Ship: Villa Vie Odyssey

Flexibility of Mind

Maybe it's because of the way I was raised, but I've never been one to be upset when plans change. Plans? What plans? 😊Before reaching High School, I lived in 5 different states, and they weren't nearby states: Tennessee, Hawaii, Washington, Alaska, Florida. And that doesn't count the many months spent on the road traveling from place to place, or just plain traveling. When I was in third grade we lived in Alaska but took a 6-month RV trip to Guatemala and back.

This mental fexibility serves me well in my current life on a residential cruise ship. I hate making plans, so it's delightful that someone else is doing all that work. I just get to wake up in the morning and look out the window and then at my Google Maps to see where I am today! Singapore? Great, let's go see the Gardens by the Bay, Tarempa Indonesia? Uhh, never heard of it - let's go see. Not stopping in Puerto Princessa after all? Darn, I wanted to go snorkeling in a spot that others recommended. Oh well, now our line dancing group will all be on board for the sea day instead and we can learn a new dance.

Sometimes when things are falling apart they may actually be falling into place

Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Guld) — Sat, 20 Jun 2026 10:47:41 +0000

What exactly IS Singapore? Is it a city, a country, or an island in Malaysia? Apparently, it is all of the above! Singapore is a city-island-country. Singapore (the city) is the capital of Singapore (the country.) If you ask Google if Singapore is a country or a city, here is the response:

Singapore is a sovereign island country and city-state located in maritime Southeast Asia. It gained independence and became a sovereign state in 1965, functioning as an independent nation with its own government, legal system, and economy. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Singapore Tour

Singapore is a wealthy place full of chrome and glass skyscrapers housing all the major world banks.

View from the Fullerton One waterfront mall where we picked up our Singapore Tour.

We had a perfect day for a boat ride on the Singapore River. Starting at an area called Clarke Quay, we headed downriver and under a few bridges till we reached the Merlion (mermaid+lion) statue/fountain that represents Singapore. The city started as a humble fishing village - thus the fish tail. The Lion part came from a legend that the first person to see the city thought he saw a lion and named the town 'Singapura' meaning Lion City. Turns out there are no lions here - maybe it was a tiger?

The Merlion with the famous Marina Bay Sands hotel in the background. Meant to look like a ship resting atop the 3 towers. It houses a hotel with 1,850 rooms. Also in front is a convention center and luxury mall. If you want to stay there, be aware that an average room cost is $1,050 per night. 😮

Gardens by the Bay and the Super Trees

Next stop on our tour was the Gardens by the Bay. Described as one of the most 'Instagrammable Spots' in Singapore. We went there to see the Rhapsody Light show, so we were there after dark. The show was light and music. Think the Epcot nightly fireworks but all orchestrated with these giant high tech 'Super Trees.'

Marina Bay Sands and Spectra

Then it was back on the bus for the short ride to the Marina Bay Sands to watch their light and water show called 'Spectra." I expected water fountains shooting up to the beat of music and displaying different colors. What I didn't expect was the wall of water spray acting as a screen for laser artwork to be displayed. What a show.

Night view of the city from the vantage point of the Marina Bay Sands hotel waterfront

Last Stop - Street Food

Singapore has very stringent health regulations so 'street food' isn't exactly allowed. To accomodate the different vendors - known as Hawkers, a large building was constructed long ago in the heart of the business district. This is called Lau Pa Sat. Once inside it felt like a giant food court with a dizzying number of choices. I had heard about there being good Satay so went on the hunt. It turns out that Satay has its own street on the side of the building. It's called Satay Street! And, it is literally a street with traffic during the day. They close it off and fill it with tables and benches at night. There are 9 stalls all selling Satay sticks - chicken or beef - covered with delicious peanut sauce and seasonings and grilled over an open flame. You buy 10-15 sticks and they are served with a little dish of spicy peanut sauce. I skipped the sauce and thoroughly enjoyed my Satay. Jim loved the spicy sauce.

Yummy Satay sticks. Eating out on "Satay Street" 😊 in Lau Pa Sat market

Tour by Viator

This was a fantastic tour. I highly recommend it and our tour guide 'Jingle' - yes, that's actually her name, just like in Jingle Bells. She was very Singaporean as she told us how she speaks 4 languages: English, Cantonese, Malay, and Tamil.

The tour itself was about 4 hours, but it dropped us off at the Lau Pa Sat and we spent another hour wandering and eating, then found our way to a bus that got us back to the ship.

Singapore River Cruise, Night Garden Rhapsody & Spectra by CYT

Manila and Jose Rizal

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Guld) — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 12:53:54 +0000

Our four-day stop in Manila was a mix of the practical and the profound. After taking care of some routine business—including a dermatologist appointment that, thankfully, went perfectly well—Jim and I got to put on our tourist hats for an afternoon. We headed straight for Intramuros, the historic walled city, and spent hours wandering through Fort Santiago. I went in expecting to see some old Spanish stone architecture, but I walked away completely captivated by the incredible, turbulent history of the Philippines—and one man’s life in particular. I was inspired to come home and find a movie about him - José Rizal (1998) - was quite good.

History of the Philippines

First off, you learn about the general history of these islands - over 7,000 of them! Over the centuries, five distinct flags have flown over the Philippines: the Spanish empire, the British empire, the rising sun of Japan, the stars and stripes of the United States, and finally, the proud flag of an independent Philippines. Each era left its mark, but it was the Spanish colonial period that set the stage for a fascinating historical turnabout.

Jose Rizal

His name is everywhere - Rizal Park, Rizal Avenue, Rizal Sports Complex, Rizal Province. Who was this guy? Rizal wasn’t a military general or a fiery rebel commander. He was an intellectual—an ophthalmologist, a novelist, and a poet. He looked at the harsh treatment of the Filipino people under Spanish rule and chose to fight not with a sword, but with his pen. Through his writings, he advocated for peaceful reforms, equal rights, and better treatment for his countrymen. He explicitly did not organize any violent rebellions. In fact, he believed the country wasn't ready for one.

Rizal didn’t want a war. He wanted equality, education, and respect. But the Spanish authorities couldn't tell the difference between a demand for justice and a call to arms.

The Ultimate Historical Backfire

Threatened by his influence, the colonial government arrested Rizal, accused him of inciting a rebellion he actually discouraged, and sentenced him to death. In December 1896, they executed him by firing squad.

Talk about a move completely backfiring!

By executing a peaceful reformer, the government achieved the exact opposite of what they wanted. They didn’t silence the movement; they created an immortal martyr. The outrage over his execution became the tipping point for the country, igniting a genuine revolution and cementing a national identity that eventually drove the colonizers out. The Spanish wanted to crush a spark, but instead, they threw fuel on a wildfire.

The American era

Then, thru another twist of history, the USA got involved because of the Spanish-American war. They helped defeat the Spanish in the Philippines and were thought to be the peoples' liberator but instead of independence, the Americans purchased the islands from the Spanish for 20 million dollars. Thus began the Philippine-American war 1898-1902 and the Philippines ended up being under the control of the US until the end of WW2. During this time, the US 'Americanized' the islands, setting up school systems and building infrastructure. The US successfully defended the Philippines against the Japanese and granted Independence in 1946.

Today, our 2 countries are considered the best of allies, however the US no longer maintains any military bases in the Philippines - a lease extension was denied in 1992. Subic bay, which was the largest overseas U.S. naval installation during the cold war era, is now a privately owned shipyard utilized by the US for repairs.

Our TukTuk driver on the way back to the ship asked us where we were from. When we said the USA, he said, "Oh we love the USA! They helped us out of World War II."

Mabuhay! Bula! Live Long and Prosper!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Guld) — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 10:26:00 +0000

On June 7, our Odyssey pulled in to the docks in Manila, Philippines. The next day, a major event was planned. The Villa Vie Odyssey was being inaugurated as a Global Flagship of Peace. There were speakers included Chef Reggie Aspiras who gave us a lesson in Philippine language, customs and food. I especially enjoyed the description of the word, Mabuhay.

In the Philippines, they say Mabuhay. It means Hello, Welcome, Long Live, and it means Life. It is said as a greeting, a cheer, a celebration of life, a general expression of joy. In Fiji it's Bula, in Hawaii they say Aloha. They don't all mean exactly the same thing, but I feel they are said in the same spirit, welcome! Cheers! Live long and prosper!

There are more such words all around the world. They go way beyond a simple "hello." They are linguistic hugs—words wrapped in wishes for good health, life, spirit, and mutual respect.

Pura Vida (Costa Rica)
Literal Meaning: "Pure life."
A general life philosophy of gratitude and slowing down.
Sawubona (South Africa / Zulu culture)
Literal Meaning: "I see you."
It is a profound acknowledgment of human connection.
Namaste (India / Nepal)
Literal Meaning: "I bow to the divine in you."
It recognizes the shared spirit or life force in one another. It's spoken with a slight bow and hands pressed together at the chest, signaling humility and deep spiritual respect.
Kia Ora (New Zealand / Māori culture)
Literal Meaning: "Be well" or "Have life."
Kia Ora is a wish for the recipient's health and vitality.
¡Salud! / Sláinte / Skål (Various)
Literal Meaning: "Health!"
Raising a glass and saying these words is a literal invocation of long life, good health, and shared joy around the table.

The Common Thread: Notice how almost every single one of these terms connects back to "Life" (Mabuhay, Pura Vida, Kia Ora) or "Breath/Spirit" (Aloha, Bula). They don't just acknowledge your physical presence; they celebrate your life force!

Chef Reggie's speech

Chef Reggie gave a very entertaining talk. See it in the video below. She begins with Mabuhay.

Island hopping and snorkeling in Coron

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Guld) — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 11:20:32 +0000

What a great day. A van picked us up at the port entrance at 8am and took us to where the boats were. These traditional outrigger boats are so cool, they look like giant water bugs.

First stop was Kayangan Lake. We got off the boat onto a boardwalk then climbed a few hundred stairs to a viewpoint. From there we descended down a few hundred stairs to the lake. Warm, brackish water was wonderful for swimming. Beautiful limestone rock features we're visible underwater even without a mask because the water was so clear. But Jim had his underwater camera that our guide took down and thru an arch. Then she led us into a cave. After a bit more exploring and swimming to the starting point, we hiked back up and over to where the boat waited for us.

Next stop, Siete Pecados Marine Park. This is a protected area with healthy reefs, and lots of fish. 7 little rock Islands. We snorkeled around two of them and saw all sorts of cool stuff. Lots of tridacna clams with bright colored lips were embedded in the coral. Schools of silversides, a big sea snake, fields of carpet anemones - but no anemone fish ❓I saw so much that I didn't feel deprived for not being on scuba.

Third stop was a beach for lunch, then home.

Great day. Good exercise. More evidence to support our bartenders statement that Coron is heaven!

Salt Water Hot Springs in Coron

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Guld) — Sat, 30 May 2026 09:53:00 +0000

First off ... where is Coron? It's at the north end of the state of Palawan, in the country of the Philippines. We were in Palawan back last September when we had a boat ride in an underground river. Now we're back in the Philippines, but not in the exact same place.

There's some really interesting sights near Coron. I'm instantly drawn to the Maquinit Hot Springs. I've been a fan of hot springs ever since my California days in the 1980s. Reading up on it you learn that it is salt water. I've never heard of a salt water hot springs. Gotta go!

Here's the ship docked at Coron:

When we first got here, we went for a walk. Yikes, this is a poor place. The main method of transportation is the tuktuk. Basically it's a motorcycle with a sidecar contraption that can hold several people. This is the taxi service. People who live here either walk or have a motorcycle.

We walked thru the town, dodging tuktuks, dogs, and chickens. Then, down one side street, we saw the Dive Bar. Ha! Sounds like our kind of place. It was nice. As with lots of poor places, there's a big difference when you get to the tourist places. This bar was very nice. We struck up a conversation with the bartenders who were from Manila. Manila, they tell us is a metropolis of 14 million people!! To them, Coron is heaven! Truly, they love it here. The beer was good too. Red Horse, a Philippine brew.

On the walk back, I saw the town thru different eyes - could have been the beer 🥰 but mostly the conversation with the bartenders. Sure, it was poor, but the people seemed happy. It's not a huge, crowded city like Manila and it is surrounded by exquisite natural beauty. We noticed a barber shop striped pole and Jim decided to take advantage and get a haircut.

Nice job! and the cost? 300 Philippine Pesos, or about $3.25. I need a haircut too. Let's see if I get brave enough. After all, in 14 years of RVing around the USA I got accustomed to "hairdresser roulette!"

On to the hot springs

The next day, we saw a message on our ship's whatsapp group that someone had arranged a van to tour the town and go to the hot springs. They had a few spaces left so we jumped on it. We drove thru the town, stopped at the main church in town, then the Cashew factory. How interesting! Cashews grow out the bottom of a 'cashew apple' that looks like a bell pepper. At the factory, the separate the nut from the fruit, shell it, cut it in half, roast it, and flavor it.

The hot springs was delightful. It was hot, but not too hot - my guess is 102-3 degrees fahrenheit. The water was crystal clear and the springs were large, with 3 separate pools. It was obviously a popular local attraction with lots of people there, but still not crowded. We enjoyed soaking for about an hour with a few breaks. Here's the video that Jim put together of our day:

Borneo - Yes, we have no Orangutans

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Guld) — Sun, 24 May 2026 08:38:00 +0000

Jim and I were in Borneo in 1999. It was on our way to a dive trip on Sipadan and Sangalaki. We heard lots of stories about the Orangutans on the island of Borneo and really wanted to go, but we just couldn't work it in to that trip. 27 years later, we find ourselves on Borneo again and I want to see Orangutans!!

From our port in Kuching, we signed up for an excursion (arranged by a fellow resident) to Semenggoh Wildlife sanctuary where they rehabilitate Orangutans. We understood that you were not guaranteed to see them, but chances were good. It was less than an hour van ride from the ship to the park, then we had good walk to the place where they feed the Orangutans. hmmmm ... it's not looking good.

Another group from our ship went the day before.

All we saw was the statue of an Orangutan at the entrance. It was a lovely walk and jungle however.

The tour included a crocodile farm and the fairy cave. Both memorable experiences. We'll just have to come back again (actually the ship is scheduled to return to Kuching at the beginning of November. Maybe fruit will not be in season then!

For more about our stop in Kuching, see of our "Tech Tips and Travel Tales: Episode 322"

In addition to showing where we were, photos of the Orangutan park, Crocodile Farm, and Fairy cave, This 17 minute video also teaches how to use the 'circle to search' feature on your phone to look at anything and get an answer to 'What is that?' We also show the detailed map of our travels and how to make your own, and how to remove the fence from a photo.

The world of money

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Guld) — Fri, 22 May 2026 19:37:00 +0000

We are in Kuching Borneo. We tried unsuccessfully to get some local cash at an ATM. Don't know why it didn't work, our debit card has worked in all the other countries we've been thru. So, when we wanted to purchase a 50 cent item at a local store we didn't think it was reasonable to use a card and pulled out whatever cash I had to see if they would take it. 1 us dollar? No, they didn't like that. Let's see what else I have. How about Singapore dollars or Australian dollars? That's what I had in my bag.

The cash I had in my bag. Indonesian, Australian, Singapore, Philippines, USA 😜

I ended up using the card after all. 2.50 Malaysian ringet is about 60 cents, it shows up on my credit card transactions as 0.64 USD.

QR Codes are not all created equal

Next stop The Monkey Bar for a beer. They had a sign by the register that said cash or QR code only, no credit cards. Well, that should be no problem, we know how to scan a QR code, and we have Google wallet all set up. We also have the Wise app with money in it, and Wise can scan a QR code to send payment. Nope, scanning the QR code just yielded a long number, no link, nothing else popped up, just the number.

Apparently they are expecting you to have a local banking app that will scan the code and pay. The Google wallet is still backed by a credit card and they don't want a credit card.

Maybe the Wise app would have worked. I didn't think of that until we left. Luckily there were other shipmates in the bar and they had some cash, having successfully navigated the ATM earlier.

Turns out the QR codes are for their local payment apps Alipay, or Sarawak pay.

Singapore, Health Screenings and Line Dancing

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Guld) — Sun, 17 May 2026 07:31:00 +0000

I've always been confused about Singapore. Is it a city or a country? There's good reason for the confusion. According to Google, Singapore is both a sovereign country and a city. It operates as a "city-state," meaning its territory comprises an entire independent nation that functions as a single metropolitan area without separate states or provinces. Expressing it a different way, Singapore is the capital of Singapore! If you look closely at the map, it is an island, so pretty easy to delineate.

Health Screenings

The ship was docked here for 3 days, giving us time to take care of some health screenings at the Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre. We had previously ruled out coming back to the states for medical checkups due to several factors. Even though our Medicare and supplemental insurance meant that the checkups would be free for us, the travel would probably cost more than the screenings in Singapore. And, we weren't even sure we'd be able to get appointments within a week or even a month back in the states. Here in Singapore we both had full Executive screenings including blood and urine analysis, physical exams, vision test, glucose, kidney and liver functions, colorectal cancer screening, blood tumor markers. Then I also had a mammogram and ultrasound, bone density test, and pelvic exam. Jim had an abdomen ultrasound and an xray of his neck. This was all completed in one half day!! The grand total was about $2500. We received a .pdf report via email a few days later and then a phone call from the Doctor to discuss the results.

We didn't do any sightseeing this time around. We will be back to Singapore a couple of times this summer because it is the one dependable source for fuel these days. We may decide to get some follow up medical procedures done then, or we may wait until we're in Bangkok, where it is less expensive. There is a hospital there, Bumrungrad that is very well known for it's care of an international clientele. We may even be able to get a doctor who will keep in touch thru video calls - that's what I really want. We do have medical facility on board, but that's not the same. Besides the medical staff on board rotates out every few months.

Another Line Dancing Group

There was another gathering with a local line dancing group though! It was held at the Eurasian Community Center. The "Country Line Dance Association of Singapore" (CLDAS.com) has been dancing for more than 25 years!

Michael (in front) Yeo, and Selina from the CLDAS came to the port to pick us up.

The Eurasian Community House

They are an active bunch of dancers! They prepared a list of 62 😮 dances for us to do together. They were still going strong when I started fading and decided to get a Grab ride back to the ship.

Group shot:

Surabaya and Semarang, Indonesia

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Guld) — Mon, 11 May 2026 07:31:00 +0000

Our sail away from Bali was on the evening of a full moon. So beautiful. And we were invited up to a balcony cabin of our friend Nuran for a 'sail away party.'

Photo using my Samsung S25Ultra at 100X

When we woke up the next morning we were in Surabaya, Indonesia. We didn't get off the ship there, choosing to stay put on the ship for a while. Both Jim and I had plans for the next port, Semarang.

Jim scheduled a tour to the world famous Prambanan Hindu Temple

And Borobudur Buddhist Temple in Central Java. Dating from the 9th century, this site is renowned as the largest Buddhist temple in the world.

I didn't go on the tour with him because I was involved with the ship's line dancers and we were invited to dance with a local line dancing group in Semarang. It is just so cool to have this reason to get together with locals.

The Odyssey "Wave Dancers" getting together with Henny's Line Dancers in Semarang, Java. They even gifted us the sarongs you see in the last photo.

Back to Bali: Rotary, monkeys, and monsters

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Guld) — Sat, 02 May 2026 13:51:00 +0000

We were first in Bali from April 11 to 14, then after Komodo we were back to Bali from April 29 to May 2. We love staying so long in a port. It gives us opportunity to explore and do stuff! In case I haven't mentioned it before, we recently formed a Rotary Club on board. The officers, including Jim as secretary, made arrangements to visit a local Rotary club in Bali.

As soon as we were docked, our group got into a hired van and rode to the location for the Bali Seminyak Rotary group. This is a group of Expats mostly from the US and Canada and at least one from France. We thoroughly enjoyed chatting and getting to know them. Interesting how they made Bali their home, some for as much as 30 years. The president still keeps a full time job back in Denmark (I think) working remotely.

The venue was a meeting room at a high-end hotel. We had a delicious lunch and listened to presentations about their projects.

I especially liked the presentation about their project to create a Plastic Free Bali. They are funding recycling centers and teaching the locals about collecting plastics and using the recycling centers. They say they are documenting the education process so that it can be replicated. That got me all excited thinking that our Odyssey Rotary Club could have a project for spreading this system. Plastics is such a HUGE problem for the planet, it would be a very worthy project.

The group of us representing the Odyssey Rotary Club

All the atendees of the Bali Seminyak Rotary club, including a visiting Australian club and us from the Odyssey

A Day of Exploration

Our friends on board, Kathryn and Frank, arranged for a car and driver for a day in Bali and asked if we wanted to come along. Great! We had been too lazy and preoccupied with our computer work to make any arrangements to see Bali so we jumped at their offer.

There are elaborate sculptures in the middle of every roundabout on the roads in Bali.

Our first stop was the most memorable. The Ogoh-Ogoh Bali. Ogoh-Ogoh are sculptures made of lightweight materials, bamboo, cloth, paper and are crafted into giant monsters. These are carried in a parade on the eve of the 'Day of Silence.' At the end of the day, they are burned as a ritual cleansing - destroying the malevolent monsters. One man made it his mission to save some of the sculptures and display his collection in a museum for the public to see.

Kathryn and Frank in the Ogoh Ogoh museum

Photos really don't do it justice. Check out this video that Jim made:

Pura Taman Ayun temple in Bali Mengui.

UNESCO World Heritage Site: The temple was recognized by UNESCO in 2012 for its significance as a royal temple of the Mengwi kingdom, built in the 17th century.

Jim is standing by the Shri Devi Statue at the Pura Taman Ayun temple in Mengwi, Bali. She is the goddess of fertility and prosperity.

Monkeys and Bats

Alas Kedaton Monkey Forest in Bali, Indonesia is a 6.5-hectare protected forest and nature reserve that houses a sacred Hindu temple inhabited by approximately 1,800 long-tailed macaques.

There are also bats at this sanctuary - Flying Foxes to be exact. A staff person made Jim sit down and put bats into his hands in different ways for photo opps.

Just hanging around, exposing themselves.

The Famous Tanah Lot Temple

Our last stop was this sacred Hindu shrine built on a large offshore rock formation. It is one of Bali's most iconic coastal landmarks.

A well deserved drink at the end of a great day in Bali thanks to Frank and Kathryn arranging it.