AT SEA DAY ONE FROM SHANGHAI TO XINGANG (BEIJING) - Woke up and took a shower this morning, but today I set up the shower with my glasses on, discovered that I was washing my body with shampoo and washing my hair with body soap. The Mariner Society was treated with a champagne brunch. I sat at a table of ten, the lady next to me from Texas was celebrating her 70thbirthday, a male couple from Honolulu and me; the rest were from Australia Anticipated Mass for Palm Sunday was well attended and after that I went to the Ocean Bar for a Philippine and a Japanese beer. I had to get dressed for dinner at the Canaletto Restaurant, an Italian restaurant with a limited menu but well done. I was beginning to dine alone when ... read more

CHAPTER ONE - It finally happened, I was overdue. I have traveled extensively the past 15 months with no health problems, but this morning I awoke not feeling well. I know it wasn’t mal de mere because the sea was smooth; I was extremely tired and had no appetite. I ventured to the buffet so that the stewards could get in, but I didn’t feel like trying anything. I went back to my room and went to bed. Later I decided I didn’t have the desire to get dressed for the formal evening and I cancelled my reservation for the Pinnacle Grill. I felt slightly better and tried the “late night snack” buffet and had a small piece of quiche and a fruit salad. Back to bed, tomorrow’s another day. I’m blessed that this was a ... read more

KOWLOON SUNDAY Sunday in Hong Kong reminds me of the movie “Sunday in New York” which reminds me of “The World of Suzie Wong” starring Nancy Kwan. (The tour guide yesterday wanted to know if I was looking for Suzie Wong as we drove through the area where the movie was shot). Other well known movies of the 40s and 50s were shot on location here; “Love Is A Many Splendored Thing” and others I can’t remember now. I had another breakfast at the buffet and then walked to church, the Rosary Church. They have masses in English and in Chinese. Surprise, I went to the English one. It is a small, pretty church surrounded by tall buildings and the service was packed with people. On my walk back to the hotel I was again approached ... read more

There’s at least one company (Key West Express for example) that advertises that “getting there is half the fun”. I don’t know that it applies to getting to Asia. I remember that as a youth I would always ask my father "are we there yet?" when on what seemed like a long trip. This is a long trip. I’m writing this chapter in Seoul, South Korea (actually Incheon Airport) during my five hour layover to Hong Kong. I got up Thursday morning at 4:00 am in Sarasota and got to Detroit for my transfer flight at 12:30 pm to this airport. Everything went smoothly on the 14 hour flight from Detroit to here. It was a Boeing 777 and I had purchased an upgrade to economy class which was a good value for me. But, to ... read more

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA - THURSDAY A Jazz Brunch was served in the main dining room with the music provided by a five piece band; piano, bass, drum, clarinet and trumpet. Very good musicians. Baton Rouge is the capital of Louisiana and has about 200,000 residents in the city and another 600,000 in the suburbs. Many people are employed by oil producers and refiners, the port, two colleges and government. I started my touring on the USS KIDD, a World War II destroyer restored and serving as a Veterans’ Memorial. She was hit by a Kamikaze plane in April 1945 killing 45 crewmen and wounding 55. There were 300 on board. The sleeping and eating arrangements were very small. About six volunteers were happy to answer questions; none had served on this ship, but all were in ... read more