Images of Ship Life

Hawaii

After 11 days of slogging across the Pacific from Taiwan we arrived in Hawaii for a two day stay. Needless to say we were ready to set foot on dry land again upon arrival. A few weeks ago I got online and found an available night at our Worldmark timeshare in Kona, so our plan was to rent a car, drive to the volcano and other sights, and then check in for a relaxing afternoon and evening at the timeshare.

As we left the ship a shuttle took us to the airport where we quickly rented a Ford Fusion, grabbed a map, and took off. It felt great to drive and listen to music as we headed for the Hawaiin Volcanic National Park. When we arrived at the park we got another map and started exploring the area. The National Park is large and contains lava tubes, the active crater, steam vents, and fresh lava flows. We had a great time driving from one attraction to the other. We did a short hike and generally spent a few hours exploring the area. At about noon we decided to leave and head towards our timeshare.

We arrived at our timeshare in the afternoon and checked in. As we were checking in another lady gave us her two bedroom unit, so we were happy to get upgraded from the 1 bedroom that I booked. We settled in the unit and watched a little NBA basketball. Our big plan was to grocery shop and cook a meal ourselves for the first time in over 3 months. We went to Safeway and found that everything looked really good. The kids got hotdogs and Jen and I got a few steaks. We barbequed the meat and had a great dinner with carrots and potatoes on the side.

We spent the evening at the pool which was nice and warm, as well as the hot tub. The kids had a great time swimming and relaxing in the unit. The next morning I went for my long awated run. It was about 75 degrees and sunny in the morning and I ran over 9 miles along the Hawaiin coast. The area we were staying is right where the Ironman Triathalon is held, so I felt pretty inspired thinking about this while I ran. It was my best run in 3 1/2 months for sure.

After breakfast and lunch we headed back around the island for the ship. We ended up going to a nice beach (Hapuna) on our way back, and returned the car and boarded the ship. Hawaii was a quick stop, but we had a great time on the Big Island.

Images of Hawaii

Made in Taiwan

We just finished up three days in Taiwan, where everything used to be made. We bought snacks, beer, etc., and are stocked up for an 11 day trip across the Pacific to Hawaii. We made one trip during our time in Taiwan and a few walkabouts around our port city of Keelung. On our first day in Taiwan it was cold and rainy, and since we haven't been in the rain for 3 months we weren't sure what to do with it. We bundled up, got a map, and decided to walk around Keelung. The map had a park, so we walked to the park and just explored the area. We ended up on top of a hill with a big Budah temple and golden lions. We took a few pictures and walked back towards the ship. Jen ate at Starbucks and the kids and I ate lunch at Burger King. At this point in the trip we are starting to hit the known commodoties for food. We've found it much easier if we keep the kids happy. Vivian has done a great job with trying different food, but William likes his chicken nuggets and fries. It's amazing how many restaurants around the world have chicken nuggets and fries. We got back to the ship in the late afternoon and just took it easy and had dinner on the ship. We're getting pretty institutionalized. On day 2 in Taiwan we decided to take a train and metro to a hot springs located about 40 miles away. We walked to the train station, rode the train to Taipae, and hopped on the metro to the hot springs. The hot springs is in an urban setting, and they have public and private hotspring offerings. We went for the cheap public offering and climbed in with about 500 other local Taiwanese people. After about 3 minutes in the hot springs I noticed William and Vivian were itching like crazy. When I looked closer they both were reacting to the water and turning cherry red. Evidently there are chemicals in the water that cause the skin to react, but you then get into the "clean" cold water to purify. William and I purified our skin and we all got dressed and headed elsewhere. Having enough of hot spring action we walked to the thermal valley, got some ice cream, and the girls hit a starbucks. We decided not to spend the night at a local hotel and had dinner in Taipae and retraced our steps back to the ship. On day 3 we decided to take it easy and hang out in Keelung. We walked around, went to a park and stocked up on snacks for the big trip ahead. We are getting ready to be in Hawaii and then San Diego!! In running news I've been hitting the treadmill pretty hard lately and had a PR of 13.1 miles the other day. I hope to really put in the treadmiles on our way to Hawaii. If the ocean is calm I should be ok. Observations of Taiwan * Taiwan is not the modern country I thought it would be. They have poverty a plenty and old fallen down buildings everywhere. I guess everything is not made in Taiwan anymore. * I saw my first scooter accident in Taiwan. With thousands of scooters and motorcycles buzzing around it was bound to happen. All people on the scooters where ok. * It's very hard to run on Taiwan roads. The sidewalks are parking lots for scooters, and the roads are full of scooters and other vehicles. They even drive scooters on the sidewalks that aren't full of parked scooters. * Taiwan gets a lot of rain and is mountainous with a lot of vegetation. Unfortunately most of the vegetation I tried didn't taste that good.

Images of Taiwan

Shanghai

My main goal in Shanghai was not to get Shanghai'd. This goal was accomplished as our family is on board and ready to leave for Taiwan. The city of Shanghai has 20+million people but it feels like no more than 100million. Shanghai makes Hong Kong look like small. I've never seen such a big city full of skycrapers in my life. We managed to see some of the local sights and enjoy what the city has to offer. On our first day we were set to go walking around on our own when a lady said there were openings in the city tour bus for the day. We decided to fork over some yen and go with the guided trip. The trip stopped at a China Town in China, and of course the shopping bazaars. We enjoyed an authentic Chinese lunch which consisted of a lazy Susan in the middle, and the waitresses bringing plate after plate of food. We shared the food in the middle with about 8 other poeple. The kids loved to spin the wheel until the fries or other goodies was next to them. After lunch we stopped at a Budah temple and had some tea. Things were going smooth until William burned his tongue on some hot tea. He managed to recover, but he's not a big temple or tea fan at this point. After dinner (same as lunch), we went to see the Shanghai Acrobats. The show started at 7:30pm and consisted of several balancing, gymnastic, magic, and contortion acts. The kids absolutely loved the show and kept saying "How can they do that?" It was pretty amazing stuff, and William and Vivian each got a souvenoir from the show when a magician was pulling playing cards out of everywhere and throwing them into the crowd. One interesting thing on day 1 was at the temple. William had to go to the bathroom (#2) and when we found the "Happy Room" as they say in China, it had just a hole in the ground and no toilet. So William grabbed onto my ankles and did his business. When he was done he said "That was complicated." Out of curiousity when he was done he opened the next stall to find a regular toilet. I guess they have facilities for all cultures at the temple. On day 2 we decided to walk around and go up the 2nd tallest tower in Asia. We took off directional walking and soon found the prominade. The tower was on the other side of the river, so we found the sightseeing tunnel to cross over. The sightseeing tunnel was expensive but had music and disco lights as you moved underground in a little boxcar. We decided to pay for the ticket to go as high as possible in the tower and ended up spending about 2 hours in the tower. The most fun part was walking on a glass floor 360meters up in the air. The kids had a great time walking around and looking down below. The tower also provided a great view of how big Shanghai is and how many skyscrapers there are. We had a picnic lunch on the prominade, and the locals were taking pictures and staring at us pretty hard. The Chinese are especially fascinated with the kids. At one point Jen waved at a group of Chinese women and about 20 of them came running up and surrounded us. They began touching all of us and taking pictures like crazy. Vivian ate it up, but William pulled his shirt over his head and went into turtle mode. After the tower we walked around the city some more and ate dinner. We did two dinners with the kids eating at McDonalds and Jen and I eating at a Chinese restaurant. The Chinese restaurant was good, and all the waitresses were extremely helpful. They stared at us for most of the dinner, and were extra polite and quick when my beer got past half empty. On day #3 we decided to split up. The girls were going shopping, and William and I were going to go to an Aquarium. William and I got a cab and made a quick trip to the Aquarium. Cab drivers don't speak English so I used the old circle the place on the map trick. We made it no problem and had a great time at the aquarium. The aquarium had three floors of exhibits and a one way track through it all. They had lots of fish tunnels you walk through and even an escalator going through a fish tunnel. William and I made it through pretty quick and decided to have lunch. He picked McDonalds again, and had his usual Chicken Nuggets and fries. He was elated when he discovered 5 nuggets instead of 4 in his box. After lunch we walked down to Dairy Queen and had an ice cream cone. From there we caught a cab and headed back to the ship. Other Observations/Thoughts I found that China has a huge selection of cheap beer and found the Coors Light of China. It's called SNOW Beer and is about 50 cents a can. The Chinese people are very friendly and dress extremely nice. Even the guy peddling the three wheeled bike with plywood down the road has a three piece suit on. Shanghai is building like mad. They say that 1/5th of the World's crane's are in Shanghai right now. The tour guide said Shanghai's bird is the crane. There are a lot of people in China, and as one Chinese man told me, "All Americans look the same." **I did get a chance to run in Shanhai and it was nice. As for my workouts I've been putting in quite a few miles on the treadmill and doing some Navy Seal workouts with a group. I am working out about 6 of 7 days and trying to keep the buffett at bay. Best wishes to all.

Images of Shanghai