This will be an ongoing blog for the first half of the cruise. Check out part 2 for more of the story

We are off on a 4 week adventure to Asia. We start in Singapore and end in Tokyo. We stop in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, china, South Korea, and Japan. We left on January 16, 2024 and will be back home on February 17th. A long cruise but we are excited to see areas we have never been to.

It is a long flight, 22 hours on 2 planes.  We arrived into Singapore 2 days before our cruise ship left to get time acclimated as well tour Singapore. We took our favorite “go to” tour on the hop on hop off bus. A great way to see the city and get an overview. We spent some time in China town as well as taking a night tour to see the light shows around the city. Nana got in her daily swim on the rooftop infinity pool. 

We had an easy taxi ride to the port and boarded our ship, the Holland America Westerdam. An easy boarding process and then unpacking once , which is why we love cruises. 

I always work to have something to do on the ship when not on excursions, not eating, not at the bar, not exercising, not sitting in the hot tub. Yes there is some extra time. This trip I brought 3 Raspberry Pi’s to set up for the different train layouts. I also gave 2 Pi s running remotely and I am able to connect to on the ship’s WiFi. I am planning on creating a set of programs that I can use on all the train layouts. Once I get the set completed on one pi I can copy and set up the other Pi’s. Once done I will have 6 Pi’s running layouts in Germany, Georgia, and Michigan.  Each Pi will be running JMRI (Java Model Railroad Interface Program) as well as native python Pi programs. JMRI will be able to communicate with the native programs and the Native programs communicate with the iOT (internet of Things) like IFTT and smarthome devices like cameras, rain sensors, motion detectors and light detectors as well as my current smart home controller, the Universal Devices Eisy. The native programs will also give me the capability of controlling LED display screens that I can mount on my control boxes. These LED display screens are 16 characters x 2 lines. My program plans include the capability of JMRI responding to google and Siri voice commands. I am also trying to be able to text from JMRI. 

We signed up for the Thermal suite which gives us access to heated lounge chairs, a large hot tub, steam room, and sauna. We plan on enjoying this a lot. 

First day was a sea day (Day 2), which was great. We got settled in found what we liked on the ship and made our plans. This day was a Sunday, we were able to get to Mass. Mass is available everyday and Nana is taking advantage of this everyday.  A little train work today but internet is a little slow. 

First stop is Thailand (Day 3). We took an excursion and saw 5 Buddhists temples. Many different types but all very similar. Thailand is on 3% Christian so a lot of temples all around. 

More train work and to test some of the programs I need to be in port to allow my phone to control JMRI via Google and Siri. A lot of work to do. 

Next stop was outside Bangkok Thailand (Day 4). As with many of our Asia stops, the ship docks at the cargo facility far away from the city center and a long bus ride to the city center. For that reason we book excursions as they pick you up at the dock and bring you back.   This excursion was to the Sanctuary of Truth. This an all wood temple that was unbelievable. Many different lessons abounded inside. They are still working on the carvings. No nails only wood joints. 

Back to ship for dinner and some entertainment. While on the bus rides around the country, I work on my train program details, set variables and the research programming strategies. I have a long “to do” list.

We decided to stay on board today (Day 5) and I met the fitness trainer on the ship. The trainer recommended a 5 day weight training program. I am looking to gain muscle after my Bariatric Surgery. In losing a lot of weight I have also lost some muscle. Time to work on getting on bulking up and hopefully losing some additional weight.  The first training session was all about my shoulders. 5 different weight presses with 3 reps of 10 each. Definitely sore after this but felt good. Then into the hot tub to relax. We still energy so we took in a show and did some dancing.  I thought I would get more train time but the day went fast. 

Day 6 we arrived into Cambodia. Another cargo port. We took an excursion that featured a Cambodian lunch along with a hike to a waterfall. The lunch was very interesting and Nana even found a flower crown. She proceeded to buy 4 of them and then gave 3 of them away to Holland American workers on the ship when she got back. The description listed the hike as 2.5 miles and strenuous and that was an understatement. 1.4 miles of a steep climb up a rocky path but once you hit the waterfall it was fantastic, then back down.  Nana even took a dip under the waterfall. The tour was billed at 6 hours but took us more than 9 hours.  Everywhere we go people are so happy to see us. Covid left a 3 year gap at these mainly tourist places and a lot of people were out of work. Everyone wants to share their country which has been great. We will definitely sleep good tonight. Back on the ship but no train time today. Hopefully tomorrow !

Day 7 (Today) features a sea day and it will great to rest but itI will my second day of weight training. It will be good to learn the right way and then I can take advantage of the fitness facility here on the ship. I will have to think about what to do when I finish the cruise but that is far away right now.  Our routine right now is a walk on the deck for thing in the morning, we play “Horse Basketball” but we “Jubilations” for the word. Papa won for the 2nd time. Papa heads down to do his weight exercises, Nana goes to Abs class, Nana heads over to Mass, then breakfast.

We arrived to Vietnam today.  We are in a port city far from Saigon but the closest we will get to Saigon.  So we take a tour into the city.  After a long bus ride we arrive and start to learn the history of Vietnam.   When I was in high school we heard a lot about the Vietnam war and the threat of being drafted hung over all the men in my class.  Just before turning 18, they cancelled the draft and the war in Vietnam had ended.  As history shows it ended badly for the US.  While I had heard a lot about Vietnam I had never really understood what it was all about, why the US was involved and what actually happened.  This tour went a long way in explaining that the US was paranoid about communism, wanted to support democracies and felt pressure from China and Russia.  We visited the presidential palace where a lot of pictures and tv were shown in the last days of the Vietnam war.  It was interesting hearing the perspective from our guide which he clearly sided for the Vietcong that fought the US.  Only 10% of the Vietnam people that lived through the war are alive as the war took a deep toll and life expectancy is lower here.  

Here is our port and all of the excursion buses waiting and enjoying the sunrise.  

Traffic was interesting as nobody obeyed the traffic lights especially the scooters.  There are 10million people in Saigon and 13 million scooters we were told. It was amazing that we didn’t see any accidents here in Saigon.

The US Embassy where a lot of people died at the end of the war.

The presidential palace.  Apparently all the young people like to have their picture taken in formal clothes at the end of the lunar year.  This is the end of the year of the cat, Nana and Papa’s theme song from Al Stewart, “Year of the Cat”.  The coming year is the year of the dragon.  Everyone was taking pictures everywhere……. including Nana.

The tanks that crashed the front gates at the end of the war, the helicopter pad on the roof of the palace, and the war room in the basement of the presidential palace.  

Nana found some dragon beer and we found some gorgeous views of the city high at the top of the tallest building in Saigon.  Interesting, the original name for hundreds of years was Saigon, in the 80s the name was change to Ho Chi Minh City in honor of the North Vietnam communist leader who overthrew the US led government in the South and reunited the country under communist rule.  There is a big push but the residents of the city to change the name back to Saigon.

Day 9, we arrived into Nha Tang Vietnam.  Instead of taking a tour we decided to take a shuttle from the ship and explore the city on our own.  Nana did some shopping we found an interesting restaurant to have lunch at and Nana found lots of flowers for sale.  Each home wants fresh flowers to celebrate the new year which starts in early February.  Lot’s of interesting dwarf trees around.

Day 10 is a ship day.  We are just taking it easy.  Nana has somehow gotten into the NFL football and we got up at 3am our time to watch Kansas City beat Baltimore.  My train work has slowed down and hopefully I will get some progress today.  The network while we are in Vietnam is slower.  I need to connect to the Battle creek Pi or the Peachtree City pi in order to test certain programs and it has been a challenge.  I also need to have my phone connected to cellular to receive texts and use certain apps. I have a camera on each of the Pis in Bc and PTC so I can see the display and verify what is happening but I can’t use without cellular service.   Cellular service in Vietnam has been terrible so far in Vietnam.  Today I will work on programs that I can test locally and hopefully the next couple of ports will have better cellular service. 

Day 9, we arrived into Nha Tang Vietnam.  Instead of taking a tour we decided to take a shuttle from the ship and explore the city on our own.  Nana did some shopping we found an interesting restaurant to have lunch at and Nana found lots of flowers for sale.  Each home wants fresh flowers to celebrate the new year which starts in early February.  Lot’s of interesting dwarf trees around.

Day 10 is a ship day.  We are just taking it easy.  Nana has somehow gotten into the NFL football and we got up at 3am our time to watch Kansas City beat Baltimore.  My train work has slowed down and hopefully I will get some progress today.  The network while we are in Vietnam is slower.  I need to connect to the Battle creek Pi or the Peachtree City pi in order to test certain programs and it has been a challenge.  I also need to have my phone connected to cellular to receive texts and use certain apps.  Cellular service in Vietnam has been terrible so far in Vietnam.  Today I will work on programs that I can test locally and hopefully the next couple of ports will have better cellular service. 

Arrived to Da Nang Vietnam today.  Another cargo ship port !

We booked an excursion to see the artisans of Da Nang.  There are 5 mountains surrounding the Da Nang area.  Lot’s of beaches.  Within the 5 mountains are lots of caves and marble.  We saw the marble being shaped into statues and other marble artifacts at a local marble factory and store.  I could not believe the inventory that this store had in marble statues.  I would love to have such a store in Georgia to get some great art works.  

We then explored the caves which was a lot of climbing up and down steps.  We saw temples, shrines and natural wonders.  We also visited a museum that featured stone carvings that were hundreds of years old.  

I like excursions because you learn so much about the country, the area, and the people.  Da Nang was a very large air base in the Vietnam war as it was close to the demilitarized zone and bombers could reach North Vietnam from Da Nang and return.  Lot’s of returning war veterans on our cruise and one of the people on our excursion was a gentleman that was stationed in Da Nang as a Dentist.  He said he hardly recognized the city.  Now Da Nang caters to tourist for their beaches with exotic hotels and massive beaches.  Even in the middle of winter it was 78 degrees here and very sunny.    Our guide talked about the children left behind when the US pulled out.  The children were the result of frolics with Vietnamese woman and the US military men.  Many children nor their mothers knew who their father was and it was very challenging for them after the US pulled out.  The US offered a special visa program for such children and their families to come to the USA and apparently a lot of Vietnamese took advantage of the visas.  We also heard about the Vietnamese boat people that after the war, the South was taken over by Communists and many people were persecuted.  So then left in very small boats with the hope of going to Hong Kong, Singapore and other countries in this area.  Many of these boat people died or were attached by Pirates for the women on the boats.  The constant fighting here for hundreds of years has taken its toll on the Vietnamese people and you can tell that the Vietnamese want just peace and to live.

Day 11 is another sea day.  Nana and Papa start out their day now with a round of basketball, we see gorgeous sun rises and have the outdoor court all to our selves.  We play a game of “Jubilations” (a version of pig) every morning.  We are getting better everyday and will challenge Joanna, Simon, Nate, Mikey, Betty, and Edi when we get home !

Papa has plans to work on his train programs more today.  Lot’s to do and I like it because you have to research how to get the programs to work and then write them and make them work.  I can get pretty complicated but it keeps my mind sharp and gives me something to do other than sitting in the bars all day.

Tonight is a “dressy night” So papa will be in his kilt for dinner.  I had my fourth personal training session this morning , then the hot tub, lunch then a nap….. a rough life.  Nana and I were the talk of the ship where we walked. Nana had a special flower crown, we got the crown at a local village in Vietnam several days ago and the flowers wilted. That didn’t deter Nana, she asked the flower arranger on the ship to give her flowers to weave a new crown, well he made her a new crown. After dinner was some dancing and listening to some 80s rock and roll.  Looks like no train work today.   Where does the day go?

We arrived into Halong Boy Vietnam today.  More basketball this morning than an exercise class.  Our excursion was a boat ride to the caves and then a nice Vietnamese lunch while we cruised Halong Bay.  The bay was gorgeous with many small islands.  The day started out very foggy but improved as the day went on.  The cave was unbelievable and we climbed up and down the caverns.  Our boat encountered some mechanical issues on the way home and we had to have another boat come and tow us back to the dock, always some adventure.    I was able to get some trucking work done today but cellular service was still very poor.  The ship’s internet has improved.

Day 13 is another sea day, our last before this portion of the trip comes to an end.  In Hong Kong tomorrow most passengers will disembark for the end of their cruise.  Nana and Papa are continuing all for another 2 weeks on the next cruise.  We don’t have to move rooms or even leave the ship though we do have an excursion planned in Hong Kong.  Today will be my last personal training session.  The goal has been to learn exercises that will help me grow muscle that I have lost due to my Bariactric Surgery.    It has been very helpful and if being sore all over means that I am growing muscle then I am growing muscle.  After my last training session, Nana  has treated me to a massage to work out all of those knots.  

We passed through the Quong Zhou Strait which is a narrow passage between two china land masses.  We received the following notification in our state room the night before.  China is watching !

A gorgeous sunset from our dinner table.

Arrived into Hong Kong, what a gorgeous cruise terminal, probably the best we have seen.  This was finished during Covid and we are only the4 4th ship to use it since it opened.  This is Holland America’s first time in China since covid.   It looks like the immigration / visa requirements are pretty strict here as well as Shanghai, our next stop.    We took an excursions here which included (you guessed it) a train ride on the venicular train up to the peak, a ride on a local fisherman’s boat and shopping.  I have been to Hong Kong several times before this and it has grown so much and changed a lot since the British have left.

This will end part 1 of the Asia Cruise blot.  I am going to split this into two since I am getting so long winded.  A great trip so far.