This morning I woke up early and checked out of the hotel shortly before 6:00 AM. My flight is at 9:05 AM – so under normal circumstances I would generally be at the airport by then. I took a quick taxi to the Kowloon airport station (45 Hong Kong Dollars). The Cathay Pacific check in…
Category: Asia
2020 Singapore to Hong Kong Cruise – Day 17 [Hong Kong, China ]
This morning I attempted to wake up early. I went to breakfast and took a few pictures of the Victoria harbor before attending the lion dance at the hotel at 10:00 AM. The show was quite good, but was more a party for the hotel managers and workers. I was still glad to see the…
2020 Singapore to Hong Kong Cruise – Day 16 [Hong Kong, China – Day 13 and disembarkation of cruise]
This morning I had a quick breakfast in the buffet and disembarked the ship. I took a taxi to the hotel for only 100 HKD. I decided to stay at the Sheraton in Kowloon as I was upgraded to a large 800 sq ft harbor view room. The view from the hotel was so nice…
2020 Singapore to Hong Kong Cruise – Day 15 [Hong Kong, China – Day 12 of cruise]
This morning the ship arrived at 7:00 AM. It was dark, so I didn’t bother setting up the timelapse. Since the museum I wanted to go to didn’t open until 10 AM I rested a while before going out. The weather was quite foggy and dismal as well. One of the malls organized a free…
2020 Singapore to Hong Kong Cruise – Day 14 [Sea Day – Day 11 of cruise]
Today was an easy day. I had breakfast in the main dining room. I went to the origami class today and made a samari hat… Though it was a bit too small for me. I had lunch in the main dining room with a bunch of the other solo travelers. I visited the bridge viewing…
2020 Singapore to Hong Kong Cruise – Day 13 [Ha Long Bay, Vietnam – Day 10 of cruise]
This morning I woke up early to set up the time lapse videos of the sail in to Ha Long Bay. I set up the new GoPro on the starboard side and the old one on the port side. The scenery was quite amazing. The visibility isn’t wonderful, but I guess that adds character to…
2020 Singapore to Hong Kong Cruise – Day 12 [Chan May, Vietnam – Day 9 of cruise]
This morning the ship arrived in Chan May. I was a bit disappointed how small and desolate the area was. I packed my bag of laundry. Because I’m Platinum I don’t have to pay the $19.95 I had a tour from the ship to the Imperial City of Hue. The bus ride was over an…
2020 Singapore to Hong Kong Cruise – Day 11 [Nha Trang, Vietnam – Day 8 of cruise]
Today was the only tendered port of the cruise. The ship was scheduled to arrive at 9:00 AM. I had scheduled a private tour through Viator that was to start at 9:00 AM. I set up my GoPro for a timelapse video as entering the harbor was quite scenic. The ship anchored very near to…
2020 Singapore to Hong Kong Cruise – Day 10 [Phu My, Vietnam – Day 7 of cruise]
This morning we arrived in Phu My, Vietnam. This is the port for Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City), however since I have visited Saigon before I decided to visit the Cu Chi tunnels. The bus ride to the tunnels took us through Saigon, so the trip was over 3 hours each way. Once we…
2020 Singapore to Hong Kong Cruise – Day 9 [Sea Day – Day 6 of cruise]
Today was the second sea day of the cruise. I rested in the morning and woke up in time for lunch. The menu in the main dining room wasn’t too appealing, so I got some pizza and made myself a tuna salad sandwich in the buffet. I was lazy most of the day. I went…
2020 Singapore to Hong Kong Cruise – Day 8 [Sihanoukville, Cambodia – Day 5 of cruise]
This morning I arrived in Cambodia for the first time. The ship arrived on time, around 9:00 AM. I got the first shuttle bus to the port gate. We were instantly mobbed by locals with taxis looking for passengers. I quickly found my tour guide and was told there were 4 more passengers on my…
2020 Singapore to Hong Kong Cruise – Day 7 [Bangkok, Thailand – Day 4 of cruise]
Another early morning. The meeting time for my tour was 7:00 AM. The tour left quickly and the bus was on the way to Bangkok at 7:20 AM. I met a couple who also planned to go to the Grand Palace. I got some cash from the ATM and we attempted to get a cab…
2020 Singapore to Hong Kong Cruise – Day 6 [Pattaya, Thailand – Day 3 of cruise]
This morning I set up my GoPro camera an hour before our estimated arrival to take a timelapse video. I had breakfast at O’Sheehans again to avoid the crowd at the buffet. I let the timelapse record until we docked, nearly 45 minutes late due to port traffic. My meeting time was at 8:45am, but…
2020 Singapore to Hong Kong Cruise – Day 4 [Singapore – Day 1 of cruise]
Gardens by the Bay and first day aboard the NCL Jade
2020 Singapore to Hong Kong Cruise – Day 3 [Tokyo to Singapore]
The start of a very long day. The final leg of my flight is on JAL, which means I am not able to be upgraded, so I’m flying economy. At least I have an aisle seat and a good neck pillow. They have us a pastry after taking off. I ate it later and it…
Checked in for the flight… Most of them anyways
This morning I was pleasantly surprised to receive an upgrade to business class on my flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo before checking in for the flight. Iwasn’t surprised about the upgrade – yesterday they had seven available seats in business class on the flight, just surprised it cleared before checking in. I have the…
First trip of 2020 – 12 day cruise from Singapore to Hong Kong
The ship sails in 5 days. My flight leaves in two. I only booked the cruise on New Year’s Eve. From the NCL app: I’m taking advantage of my status on American Airlines and hope to get upgraded most of the way there and back. I’ve been confirmed in business class on the return from…
Japan Day 11 [Tokyo to Oman]
My round the world trip has been derailed. I’m now flying to Oman from Tokyo on my way back to Houston….. Since my flight doesn’t leave until 2220 I had time to explore Tokyo a bit more. I checked out of the hotel and left my baggage. It was a very short…
Japan Day 10 [Tokyo]
This morning I was going to go to Senso-Ji in Asakusa before all the tourists showed up, but went to the Imperial Palace to see if I could get a ticket for the tour (you get inside the palace, but not inside any buildings) Interesting small door inside large door. Nice view of…
Japan Day 9 [Tokyo / Mt. Fuji]
Today was not a crystal clear day. Unfortunately the tour to Mt Fuji was only available on this day. The sticker for our tour. I paid $15 extra for the lunch to be included… I figured anyplace the bus stopped would be a tourist trap with very expensive food. The itinerary. We went to…