Seeing 'Round the World' in the rear view

'Round-the-World' in the rearview

I think I may be suffering severe post-ship separation anxiety.  I made it back to my gym today and could have sworn I saw two of our students and one of my fellow faculty members there working out!!  To make matters worse, the announcements at the car wash sounded a lot like “the voice”.  I guess I shouldn’t have played hooky during those “Re-entry and Reflection” sessions the last week of our voyage!!  I think they were supposed to keep us from going nuts when we got back home. 

Of course, it could be just withdrawal from the peanut butter addiction I developed over the past few months on the ship and I’ll be fine once I kick that habit.

Seriously, my participation in the Spring 2011 voyage of Semester at Sea will always be memorable because of the great people I met on the ship and along the way.  The people and the places were the experience of a lifetime!  Although I met many when I was off the ship that I liked interacting with and learning from, I must say that it was some of the great folks I met ON the ship that I hope will be life-long friends.  Some of my students, some of my fellow faculty members, and many of the ‘Life Long Learners’ (as they were known), I will never forget.  They were from such different backgrounds, experiences, and personalities, that the meals we shared, the meetings, and just shootin’ the breeze, all, were forever fun.  I am certain that I laughed more during our 3.5 month voyage than I have in any other such period in my life!  Thanks to many of my shipmates for those, the best of times.

Everyone asks me what my favorite country was of the eleven we visited.  Since I have been to most of the Asian ports several times before, it would be hard to say that Singapore, Vietnam, China, or Taiwan was my favorite since they were not as “new and exciting”.  Many of our other ports going around the globe were places that I had only before dreamed of going: Brazil, Africa (Ghana and South Africa), India.  I really enjoyed all of those countries.  So, here, exactly one month after my return home from the voyage are my most memorable impressions of some of the ports we spent time in:

** Rio, Brazil:  Getting to go to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain here and seeing the panorama of Rio below was worth the trip.  I also liked seeing the Favelas (slums) there and people watching on the famous Ipanema Beach.

** Takoradi, Ghana:  The kids.  They loved having us visit wherever we went and we had a great time figuring out how to interact with them without a common language, which never seemed to take more than a few minutes.  I also was intrigued by the fact that most all of the small enterprises there had religious-oriented names that were often quite comical.

** Capetown, South Africa:  Arriving in the picturesque harbor here was so amazing, surrounded by the oddly-shaped mountains with clouds skimming over the top of them.  Of course, the safari in Kruger and getting to see all of the “Big Five’ was the chance of a lifetime!

** India:  Literally everything here was interesting to me.  Looking into the faces of the people, especially those I encountered in the street or the train station was shocking.  Sometimes looks of great sadness, but other times looks of contentment with life in general.  The Taj Mahal was everything I thought it would be, but my second safari of the voyage, in Ranthambore National Park, was my biggest and best surprise of the trip.

**Saigon:  I am not sure why, but staying in the Dong Khoi area of central Saigon felt like home.  The tree-lined streets, friendly cafes, talkative street vendors, all made me comfortable and allowed me to relax for the first time in the voyage.  Shopping in that area was good, bought lots of art.  It was also great to spend some time with old friends there.

** Shanghai:  Well, the skyline and the shopping here are probably second to none, but what I will remember about this trip to the city was getting “Shanghaied” in the infamous ‘karaoke room scam’. 

I had read about it on the internet but I was in the middle of it before I realized it.  Some friendly, well-dressed stranger strikes up a conversation with you in a bar, then insists to take you to another ‘more exciting’ place near your hotel.  The red flags first went off when the new venue was sparsely populated as we led by the friendly manager to a private karaoke room in the rear.  I ordered a Coke that the menu showed to be 48 RMB or about 7 bucks (red flag #2).  Then the waiter appeared not only with my Coke, but shots of liquor, and full platter of food!  So, ten minutes into this “new fun”, I faked a phone call to step out in the hall and decide how the hell to get out of this mess.  I noticed that my being on the phone made both the manager and my new friend very nervous as they watched from several feet away (red flag #3).  So, I purposefully said ‘police’ and ‘karaoke room’ in this (non-existent) conversation several times hoping to making them think before trying to prevent me from leaving as they were about to do.  Before returning to the room to inform my friend that I was leaving, I checked the emergency exit doors to the stairwell leading down the 21 floors we had ascended to this place.  Much to my disappointment, there was a home-made bamboo barricade there to prevent such escapes.  This was not only a red flag, but where I fully recognized that I might be screwed in getting out of this easily. 

As I went to place where I entered the club to leave, two Chinese guys stepped in front of me and told me “you must pay”!  I told them I would be happy to pay them 48 RMB for the Coke (that I had not taken drink of), but they said I must also pay for the rental of the room and the food and liquor.  I told them that they should ask my “friend” for that as I had only ordered one Coke and spent, maybe 15 minutes total, there.  I threatened to call the police and they said “good, go ahead”.  It was only then when the brainstorm came to me to tell them that I had already called the police in my recent phone conversation, and that the police and my local friend were to meet me downstairs right away.  It was an odd few minutes as they conversed in Chinese, evaluating the possibility of my lie.  This time also gave me the opportunity to notice that the few Chinese door men/bouncers were not stepping in to help my combatants.  So, finally, I decided to make the bold move of slamming my 48 yuan on the counter, pushing them out of the way and quickly exiting (actually, running) down the stairs.

When I got to the ground floor, the guy who took me there to begin with had come down to see what I was going to do, most likely at the urging of the two bosses.  I pointed my finger in his face, calling him a “bad man” and a “criminal”.  He opened a waiting taxi door there for me and told me to go back to my hotel.  I bluffed, “No, I will wait here for the police to arrive”.  He then grabbed my arm to pull me to the taxi when my second brainstorm of the event came.  I said, “not only will I stay here until the police arrive, but they told me to take a picture of you with my cell phone”, as I pulled it from my pocket and snapped his photo as he turned and ran down the street. When he was comfortably out of sight, I smiled, climbed into that waiting taxi, and said “Park Hotel, please”.

Our Last Port of Call: Hawaii

We spent two days on the "Big Island" of Hawaii for our last port of call before heading home to San Diego to complete our circumnavigation of the globe aboard the MV Explorer.  I had been to the island of Oahu several times for conferences in Honolulu, but never to any of the other Hawaiian islands.  So, our short stay in the port of Hilo allowed us to see the famous Mauna Loa volcano, one of the world's largest.  We also headed to Kona on the Big Island where the famous Kona coffee is grown.  I did buy a pound, but at $30-$70/ pound, one was enough.  Since I can buy the best coffee I have ever tasted at home for half that price, I didn't feel compelled to buy more.  Besides, my luggage is expanding geometrically at this point in the voyage and I need to remember that I will soon land in our final resting place in San Diego.  I read that my airline charges $200 for each bag over 50 pounds, so I will try my best to avoid that charge!

We stayed at the awesome resort of Hilton Waikoloa Village just north of Kona.  The place is so big that there is a train to get you from one area of the resort to the next.  We had a great dinner there with a few of my colleagues from the ship (John, Marie, and Doreen) and enjoyed quite a spread at the breakfast buffet the next morning.  Yes, I will fear those bathroom scales when I return home next week as I have eaten like a bear since we set sail in early January.   But, with renewed determination to return to the gym with a vengeance, I am sure things will return to normal for bikini season!

I will write my last post for my voyage blog after we land in San Diego Easter Sunday and summarize the trip and my experience with Semester at Sea.  I have had a wonderful time the past three and a half months and met many people who will, undoubtedly, be lifelong friends.

Big Island pics

A Few Days in Taiwan

Rather than spending four days in Japan as planned, we stopped in the port of Keelung, Taiwan, 30 minutes from their largest city and capital, Taipei.  I think most everyone on the ship was disappointed that we were unable to spend time in Japan due to the tsunami and subsequent radiation leaks there a few weeks before we were to port there.  We were all looking forward to seeing the historical sites in Kyoto and Hiroshima, along with the thriving metropolis of Tokyo.  But, our (shortened) stay in Taiwan was enjoyable nonetheless.  As with the other Asian ports of call, I had visited there before and did not feel the need to do the generic city tour with the museum and botanic gardens stops.  I simply got a hotel room in the most interesting part of the city, Ximending, and returned to some of the places that were fun when I visited Taipei a few years back.  Ximending happens to be where the young folks in Taipei like to frequent and it is also very "Japanese-centric" in that the ubiquitous teenagers there remind me a lot of those in the Harajuku area of Tokyo.  The area is filled with conveyor-belt sushi purveyors, coffee shops, movie theatres, clothing stores, and grafitti-laden alleys.  The people watching there is superlative.  The platform shoes, purple-dyed spiked hairdos, and gothic makeup make it fun to just sit back and gawk.  The food in Taiwan is surprisingly good given that you seldom hear much about this place in sources that tout the best global cuisines.  I did return to my very favorite restaurant in Taipei, the famous Din Tai Fung dumpling restaurant.  You will always wait at least 45 minutes to get a seat in any of their four locations, regardless of the time of the day or the day of the week.  I have pictures below of their dumpling chefs creating the small turnovers with everything imaginable inside.  I understand these chefs are considered artists and are quite well paid for what they do.  The most popular dumplings are the ones that are served hot with a small amount of great-tasting broth inside the dumpling.  This requires that you carefully prick the side with one of your chopsticks and let some of the broth drain into your soup spoon before you devour it.  Of course, I tried many different kinds and was so full at our lunch that I did not eat dinner that evening.  I also included one picture of street food as there are hundreds of roving carts each evening with all types of meat and seafood waiting to be grilled to perfection upon your request.  The squid, although it grosses most foreigners out, is one of my favorites!

The evening would not have been complete with a visit to the bar at the new "W" Hotel adjacent to the famous Taipei 101 (formerly, the tallest building in the world, over 100 stories high).  We got lots of good pictures of this icon from the bar and drank (at least one) expensive drink there.  I show below a funny shot of the menu of drink prices that includes a bottle of champagne that cost 320,000 Taiwanese Dollars (the equivalent of over $10,000 USD).  Obviously, this place normally attracts a wealthier crowd that the poor college professors that were hanging out there our night!

Images of Taipei

China update

Having been to both Hong Kong and Shanghai many times in the past, I didn't really feel the need to do much in the way of "tourist visits" while in these two ports.  Also, having a good friend in each city meant that I did more hanging out, eating, and shopping thing there. My good friend Simon in Hong Kong was actually in the midst of moving to another apartment, so I actually spent one of my days there helping him unpack in the new place and rearranging furniture.  We ate at several good restaurants in the SoHo area (South of Hollywood Road) of Hong Kong near his place and drank coffee at outdoor cafes (when it wasn't too cool).  You will see that the pictures below in both cities are mostly night scenes since I often went to a 'bar with a view' when we decided to head out in the evening.  In Shanghai, my friend Will has started his new travel agency and is busy with all that a new, start-up business requires.  But, it was great to see him right before his first trip to America.  I took some of my students (since they begged) to the famous "fake market" and I think we nearly bought out the place.  The market sells copy Gucci purses, Rolex watches, NorthFace gear, even fake IPhones and IPads.  This big seller this year seemed to be the Dr. Dre headphones that are quite expensive back in the states, over $200.  They sold for anywhere from $20-$50 at the market in Shanghai.  I warned the students that most of these things probably would not last more than a few months after they got them back home, but the allure of cheap stuff is a powerful drug!  All said, I had a great time in each of these ports and got much of my Christmas shopping done eight months early - shopping in China is great!!





 

Shanghai and Hong Kong

Vietnam Dreamin’

I spent a relaxing five days in Saigon, hanging out with some old friends there and just being happy to be off the ship for a bit and not have any teaching responsibilities.  Since I have been to several of the Asian ports on our itinerary, I have planned no major tourist visits for Vietnam, China, or (now, in place of Japan) Taiwan.  So, I got a nice hotel in the Dong Khoi area in central Saigon, ate great food, went shopping, and read newspapers at outdoor cafes.

When my friend, Chau, was not working, we went out and about in Saigon.  There is nothing like enjoying this city from the back of a motorbike!  You notice so much more than you do getting from place to place in the back of a taxi where it is easy to pass the time not paying attention to the sights and the sounds.  But, on the back of a motorbike, you experience this place with all of your senses.  The sights and sounds of the ubiquitous scooters on every street and intersection and the smell of street food and their famous “Pho” soup define the city. 

My favorite coffee shop near my hotel, the Brodard Café, was used extensively in the movie, “The Quiet American”.  It is great to sit in a place like the Brodard on a busy pedestrian promenade and watch the hustle and bustle of this booming place.  The adoption of capitalism here has led to a vastly growing economy and an emerging skyline, but with lots of the old cultural ways maintained.  There are cyclos (a bicycle taxi) on the street, vendors selling loaves of French bread, and locals carrying foods and fruits on a long stick over their backs with a basket on each end.  But, my favorite memory of the Vietnam is the amazing variety of things they will strap to the back of a motorbike and carry from place to place.  I actually bought a picture book depicting some of the funniest of “scooter cargo”, everything from livestock, TV sets, truck tires, to families of five!  I always enjoy this city and would love to come back and spend a few months here!!