April 29, 30, 2015, Kuching, Malaysia, Thursday, Friday

April 29, Thursday was a sea day, crossing the South China Sea

April 30, Friday

Our Borneo greeting

Today we went on a hike in the jungle at Bako National Park, (Borneo), Malasia.  We are on the largest island of Malasia, called Sarawak. We chose the Bako Park excursion where we may see the proboscus monkey.  Our guide said that in the jungle you must respect the jungle.  It is a big supermarket.  we got word early that we would have a wet landing because of the tides, so wear water shoes. 

Our dock in Kuching

Waterfront homes at the boat landing.  Note how the boats are not in the water, ie low tide

We rode on a boat like this 15 minutes to the park

Poles to set fishing nets.  these poles are made from a certain tall, straight tree we saw in the park

 Our skiff pulled up to the shore and we waded in knee high water to shore on a nice sandy beach.

Little crabs made these cool patterns in the sand

It was quite a walk on the sand to the park entrance where we could wash and dry our feet and put on hiking shoes.  We soon took off on a hot and humid hike in the jungle of Borneo.

Rocky shoreline

fuzzy photo of a pit viper way up in a tree

Spiky palms.  the lower leafy plant has a chemical that stops bleeding for birthing Mothers

Jungle jackfruit tree, which has many uses

The jungle trail

"Naughty monkeys around, watch out"

All the animals we might have seen in the park.

Black caterpillars with long fuzzy fur eating bark on a tree

Monitor lizard, cousin of the Komoso Dragon

Naughty monkeys.  They showed off for us and then one grabbed someone's bag.

Baby monkey

High tide with boats floating as we rode back to the landing site.

There were a few flowers.

We hiked in the jungle for about 4 hours!  We went up a very steep trail with lots of roots to an overlook of the shoreline with a mangrove forest.  Proboscus monkeys like to live there.  But in the heat of the day, they like shade better.  We think we heard one. We also heard some birds, but only saw the animals in my photos. We loved the hike in the jungle.  The groups who went to the Orangutang Sanctuary were disappointed, and I don't think they had a cool hike like we did.  

Sunset as we left port.

The Bako Park has nice cabins you can rent and many miles of trails, mostly over boardwalks.  It would be fun to stay a few days and really explore the area.

April 28, Tuesday, Brunei

We began driving 45 minutes to the water village which houses 30,000 people.  A beautiful day with not as much humidity as yesterday in Kota Kinabulu, but only 5 degrees away from the equator.

Our boat



The mosque for the water village

Outside the home we visited that can hold 100 guests

They served sweets and a jelly like sweet rolled in a pandan leaf that tasted like the tea we had yesterday in Borneo.

A home on the water

Brunei is the 4th largest producer of natural gas in the world.  They also just found a new oil field.

Our guide said the homes at the water village are renovated every 3 years, but there was no evidence of that.  They are on concrete poles with wooden walkways.  Transportation is by boat.

We visited the old section.  We drove by the new section for the younger people.  The sultan wants to keep the culture so he built new ones.

Next we visited the Royal Regalia Building.  This impressive building houses the Sultan's chariot, regalia, and many presents he received at his coronation in 1968.  He is now 69 years old.  None of the gifts we saw were from Western Countries.  I noticed that many of the items represented the special handcrafts of the countries which I recognized as ones we saw there such as the silver decorated bowls.  There were many many swords all equisitely decorated.

This Sultan has his own 747 plane.  He is a pilot himself.  He also plays polo and golf.

The people of Brunei love and respect him because of his generosity.  The citizens who are Muslim must follow Sharia law.  A man can have 4 wives.  But the first wife must agree, and no one can have a better house or car.  The women we saw at the museum and the mosque wear a head scarf matching the gown, with jeweled broachs holding the ends of the scarf.  Their faces are not covered, just the hair.



This is the best photo you can take of the Sultan's palace, the largest palace in the world.  It is just over the tree line in the distance.  He also has golden domes.

His home has over 1,000 rooms and 250 bathrooms.  There is a whole subdivision of condos for the servants.  The grounds are beautiful from what we could see from the road.

Entrance gate to the palace

You can see the polo field from the road.  The horses live in air-conditioned stables. His home is surrounded by a river and mangroves.  Proboscus monkeys live in the forest but I couldn't see any with my binoculars.  The roofline of the palace reminds me of the Sydney opera house with swooping lines of white roofing. 

The women's section of the city mosque.

No building in Brunei may be higher than these minarets.

The outer courtyard.

the men's section.

Our last stop was this mosque.  The Sultan built it as a gift to the people.  The two golden domes,  4 minarets, and many small domes, are covered in a total of 45 tons of gold, 2mm thick.  David made the calculation.  It is worth about 1.5 billion dollars for the gold.  The smaller dome holds 1,500 women worshipers and the larger, 3,000 men.  We peeked inside and saw beautiful white marble and chandeliers.

On our way back to the ship it began to rain.

Today there was a 7.8 earthquake in Nepal.  Climbers in a base camp were killed by an avalanche.  Over 3,000 people were killed and many injured.  We are usually unaware of world affairs.  This was a tragedy that will have lasting effects.

We watched on TV The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the Elderly and Beautiful.  The onboard entertainment was the Liar's Club.  All the liars were really good. Our team won a bottle of champagne.

April 26, 27, 2015, Sunday, Monday, 2015, Borneo

April 26, Sunday, was a sea day, crossing in the South China Sea.  We did our usual things, exercise and stretching in the morning, bridge lessons at 9:00am, today we had the mandatory safety drill.  We learned that there are 3 liters of water per person on the life boats and you are not supposed to drink any for 24 hours.

April 27, Monday

Majestic Kinabalu Park scene

We were greeted with drummers and dancers and given beaded necklaces at the gangway in Sabah.

David went on the Majestic Kinabalu Park excursion while I went on the Tribal Cultures and city highlights.  He brought me back a small, almost orange colored inside, banana that was delicious.

A pitcher plant David saw.

Our drive went by the beaches and bike trails along the beautiful bay lined with flowering trees.  The dark line in the water was a school of fish.

We stopped to photograph this hanging building.

We stopped to take photos of this "floating" mosque.

Up in the forested area a former tour guide built a cultural village so tourists can see the different tribal cultures without going all over the island and to remote areas.  There are still some tribal people who live the traditional way apparently.

These women are making dinner.  They are putting chopped meat, potatoes, onions and bay leaf into a piece of bamboo lined with banana leaf and cooking them over an open fire like a hot dog.  She split one open and out comes a complete dinner for a hunter.

This is a Dusun tribal home.  Other tribes featured are Rungus, Bajou, Kasaz.  Almost all the homes are made out of bamboo, are very spacious, sturdy, and look comfortable.  Bamboo fish traps, baskets, big iron bowls and pottery urns are displayed as well as the orchids planted in coconut planters.  Coconut shells are used for bowls, pitchers, cooking utensils, etc.  You can do just about anything with coconut and bamboo.

These young men are making fire with bamboo tools.

Ben demonstrated the blow pipe weapon.  It can take a year to make one out of iron wood.  the little arrows are tipped with poison.  I got to shoot one and almost hit the coconut.

Lots of different tropical foods, many of which I recognize from Hawaii.

We saw demonstrations of beekeeping which was simply to put honey on the outside of a big bamboo with a hole at the bottom side, and wait a couple months and open it up and take the honey and honeycomb which was used for glue.

We saw a demonstration of how to make rice liquor which was distilled, and rice wine.  Apparently the natives liked to drink alcohol a lot.  We were offered a taste.

The demonstration I liked the best was the birds nest cookies.  They put thin rice flour dough, much like crepe batter, into a coconut shell ladel with tiny holes in the bottom.  Then drained it in circles into a pot of boiling coconut or palm oil.  It quickly cooks and looks lacy.  They use tongs to shape it into a triangle.  

Delicious!  I bought two packages.  They are called kueh jala. They could also be called Bahan Bahan.  Then we had our tea, made from pandan leaves and ginger.  Also delicious.

This crocodile mound has spikes on it that the hunters placed their trophy heads on to display a successful hunt.  A hunter must give a head to marry a wife to show he can protect her.

They are making bark cloth for the vest he is wearing.  The fabric is stretchable.  She has on a traditional costume.

They also make rope from this fiber by rolling it.

She is the priestess blessing us with palm fronds in her right hand as we enter the long house for the dance performances.

This is a family home in a longhouse.  Many families can live here, each with a nice big room.

Drummers

Dancers

Later they did a dance with long bamboo poles you had to jump in between as they were moved.  They invited us to try it out.  It wasn't too hard.  I also tried the trampoline device used as a game to reach prizes up high given out for a celebration.  This is still done today but with iPhones and such as prizes.

We were served a traditional lunch.  I especially liked the baby kailan vegetable.  It is a green vegetable that has the shape of baby bok choy but tastes like mild brussel sprouts.

Before returning to the ship we stopped at a market place.  All the little shops seemed to have the same things.  I bought a cotton dress.  I hope it stays together when it is washed.  I also bought a stuffed proboscus monkey for Aurora.  They are found only on this island.  Dan said he saw one for real on their private tour.  The long nose is for making a different sound when mating.  It doesn't particularly smell any more efficiently.

When we got back to the ship I was exhausted.  It was about 95 degrees and humid.  I drank lots of water, but was probably still dehydrated.

Sunset as we left port.

April 24, 25, 2015, Tuesday, Wednesday, Manila, Philipines

April 24, Tuesday, was a sea day.  We crossed the South China Sea

Cooking demonstration by the guest chef (in the background).  David whisked the sauce.  He used his whole body.

April 25, Wednesday, Manila

Before our departure on our Old and New Manila tour, a large group of Dept of Tourism dancers and musicians greeted us on the shore with bright music and even brighter and colorful traditional costumes.  

Stilts and pan pipes at the gangway

Dancers and giants

A very lovely Philipino lady.

The central instrument was zylophone.  Traditional ones on a stand, small pan flutes and very large pan flutes made from bamboo.  Drummers, stilt walkers, and larger than life figures as well as dancers  with  feathers kept dancing for over an hour.

Decorations for a parade tomorrow honoring the 100th anniversary of Anzac.

It was hot and humid in Manila and the city is full of people getting ready for the commemoration, so we encountered traffic jams.

Jeepney used as an on - off bus.

People's Power revolution statue commemorating peaceful overthrow of Ferdinand Marcos

This is the moving Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, the world's largest WWII burial ground with 17,000 soldiers buried here, built and maintained by USA.

We went to the heart of the city to La Loma marketplace, displaying lechon, a Phillipino specialty.

Lechon cooking over a huge open barbecue.  It smelled very good, but there were no free samples.  One medium sized pig sells for about $150.00.

Then we went to the Chinese cemetery where the tombs look like homes, complete with running water and air conditioning.

In the clay pot they burn money.

A very simple Chinese grave.

Sometimes the families stay for the weekend.

This was a comfort stop, but the restrooms didn't flush.  Nor did they at the next stop.

Then we had lunch at Barbara's, right by the rest of the attractions.  The restroom was very busy.  They had a Mexican style  band and a Phillipino buffet.  The dessert was a big tall cake like mound of egg whites topped with a sugary crust like on creme brulee. Someone said it was wedding cake.  At the cathedral nearby a beautiful wedding was taking place.

Flower and vegetable market

Casa Manila, a replica of a lavish Spanish colonial house, built by Imelda Marcos, was after lunch, but we were not allowed photos.  It was a mansion with huge rooms and large furniture, but dark.  

Another wedding party was in the courtyard below.

After the ceremony.  This was in front of  and the San Agustin stone church constructed in 1606 

Fort Santiago.  The national hero Dr. Jose Rizal was imprisoned here for anti-colonial writings.  

Entrance to fort, the walled enclave of Intramuros

Rizal's footprints going to his execution

A sculpture garden depicting the moment of execution of Dr. Rizal  

The park outside the execution display which is a common gathering site for Manilans

MacArthur and Phillipino President in a park near the Intramuros

Part of the fort. 

We walked the wall which overlooked a river.  The river was dirty and smelled.  At a bridge, the waters came together with Manila Bay

Sunset over Manila Bay from the dining room of our ship.

We finally visited a street market.  But it was really just one store near all these other attractions.   We bought two necklaces and two tropical fish magnets for $9.50.  I also bought two nice tops and for me a nightgown at the booths on the pier.  The poor merchants were on the other side of the entertainment and it was hard to get to them.  People didn't try to make there way there after a long day in the heat, so I got a good bargain.

Everyone was exhausted after this 8 hour day, mostly in a bus because, in spite of it being a Saturday weekend day, the traffic was terrible.  Our guide was very knowledgeable about Phillipino history and kept us informed.  She told a lot of jokes. 

There was a Lifeboat full of one women and four men.  The woman said three men had to leave.

The American said I fought for the Phillipines and I am old and not afraid to die and jumped in.

The Japanese said I fought for the Phillipines and I am old and not afraid to die and am a Samurai and sacrifice myself.

The Phillipino said,  I fought for the Phillipines in WW II also, then he jumped up and threw the Chinese man into the sea.

She also told us that there are many rules such as wearing a helmet when riding a motorcycle, and regular traffic rules.  But you don't have to follow these rules unless you see a policeman.

I expected something different from Manila.  For me it was a little run down, and the sights they showed us were grim.  I have never seen such attention to detail and a display like this for the execution of someone.  I have always seen Philipino people as happy, friendly, smiling, agreeable, and eager to please, as we saw with the performing groups greeting the ship.

This is the first time I did not notice congestion.  I have been having trouble since Africa, really.  The air was the worst in India.  It must have been bad in Singapore also, because I even went to the Medical center.  Many others on the cruise were hacking and coughing as well, some even on antibiotics.  It seems to be better now.  In retrospect, it could also be allergies to the Spring flowers and pollen  in the air.