Dan and Sue's World Cruise

  March 28, 2025 I’m sitting on our balcony, the morning after our sail away from Penang, Malaysia.   I would have liked to start the blog after returning to the ship while things were fresh, but I just wasn’t in the mood.   I’m trying to get in the mood now.   The sea is fairly quiet as we are about to exit the Straits of Malacca and go around the northern tip of Sumatra than proceed southwest, crossing the Equator for the third time, on our way to the island nation of Mauritius.   We will change our clocks back one hour four times on the six-day voyage across the Indian Ocean. Dragons "protecting?" the world March 27, 2025, Penang, Malaysia As we left the ship, ladies in burkas were handing out welcome gifts consisting of a nice souvenir shopping bag, hand fan, Malaysian notepaper, a local snack and a bottle of water. Welcome gift We boarded bus #10 for our excursion which would take us around the perimeter of the island which makes up half of Penang. ...

Thursday, March 26, 2025 A three-master docked alongside After a quiet night at sea, we awoke to our Queen edging up to the pier at Port Kelang, the gateway to Kuala Lumpur just 20 minutes distant.  We were recovering from a busy two days in Singapore and our tour today was to a museum, local drive around with photo stops and finally another observation tower.  Things seem to be getting a little repetitive!    This area was built on its tin mining starting in the 1800s along with its rubber production.  These were the two natural resources that made it such a desirable place for the British to command.  Its history, like most of the place we have visited, consists of British rule, Japanese occupation during the war, then back to British control, then independence.    Our first stop was the museum with two floors sectioned off into four areas to display: Early History, Malay Kingdoms, Colonial Era and Malaysia Today.  An early ricksha...

 Two days in Singapore, March 24, 25 Marina Bay Sands Hotel over right shoulder We arrive in Singapore after a two-night voyage from Vietnam.   I was here 55 years ago as a young sailor and I remember we had quite a difficult time finding any taverns.   I think the same applies today.   It is an extremely clean city/state/country.   It is all the above!   It is the largest port in Southeast Asia and one of the busiest in the world.   It was once a British colony but seceded to become an independent state in 1965.   It is known for its multi-cultural society, with four official languages: English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil.   Rain Tree with War Memorial "Chopsticks" in background Street scene from bus   Only 5% of residents have a private residential home.   10% live in condos and 90% live I n public housing (high-rise).     It was voted the world’s best place to live in 2015.   Today, it is one of the worlds most dens...