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Doin' All The AsiaDoin' All The Asia
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Doin' All The Asia

January – February 2025
  • Laura Folk
A 55-day adventure by Laura Read more
  • Laura Folk
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  • Vietnam Vietnam
  • Taiwan Taiwan
  • Japan Japan
  • Philippines Philippines
  • Malaysia Malaysia
  • Brunei Brunei
  • Thailand Thailand
  • Show all (8)
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Couple, Cruise ship, Friendship
  • 56.4kkilometers traveled
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  • 36footprints
  • 55days
  • 293photos
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  • Laura FolkTravelerDoin' All The Asia

    Keelung to Kaohsiung

    January 28 in Taiwan ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    26-28 Jan 2025

    More of the same for me. I'm making an effort to get some more vertical time in- and yesterday I had breakfast AND some lunch, and some rice and soup today. I'm still mostly hanging out in the cabin. This is getting old.

    We had to do the Taiwan Immigration thing again, but blessedly didn't have to stay off the ship for long. Then Philippines temperature check. Luckily, I 'm not running a temp.

    I went topside for sail away. The Kaohsiung skyline is impressive, and the Navy area was close to our berth.    Read more

  • Laura FolkTravelerDoin' All The Asia

    4 More Days- And I Think I 'm Alright

    February 2 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Today we're back in Koto Kinabalu. I'm feeling pretty well. We had a really good excursion last time, so decided to do a quick walk down the pier to the terminal.

    We joined Darla and Rick in La Cucina- for dinner.Read more

  • Laura FolkTravelerDoin' All The Asia

    Brunei - Take Two

    February 3 in Brunei ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    I did a diy excursion with Darla and Rick. We took the ship shuttle to the bus station, and took the $10 air conditioned bus from Maura into Brunei center- about 1/2 hour trip. The bus let us off at a building that houses a mall, and the French and German embassies - maybe more. We located an ATM , then walked toward the market. On the way, we happened upon a Chinese Temple - and sat inside for awhile. It was hot and humid, so we took it easy.

    The market featured mostly fresh foods- fruits & vegetables. Darla picked up a big bunch of tiny bananas. As we walked, a man stopped us, and offered us food. He didn't want any payment, and we were a bit confused. He served Darla and Rick some noodles, broth, and some kind of meat, followed by chicken, rice, and vegetables. I declined, since I'm being careful of my stomach, being on the mend after 2 weeks. I did eat a few of the bananas.

    Turns out, the man's sister was married yesterday, and feeding people is part of the continuing celebration. Darla had some magnets and necklaces that she gave, and a small amount of money to the bride.

    The entertainment was provided by a bunch of monkeys who raided the dumpster, and then went into some of the booths.

    We walked to a coffee shop where I had a chocolate drink, and D&R had some pastries.

    Back to the bus and the ship. We gathered in Spinnaker for RummyQube, and then to the Crew Show. The highlight was one of the AV guys who is an opera singer. His rendition of Nessun Dorma had me on the verge of tears. What a treat.    Read more

  • Laura FolkTravelerDoin' All The Asia

    Phu My-> Vung Tau

    February 6 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    We had a great excursion with D&R- our guide was Xuan ("Soon"). We got a lot of history, great views of Jesus on a mountain, golden Buddha, stop for iced coffee, and an amazing lunch that went on and on. .

    We stopped at a museum of international military uniforms, and the owner (Robert Nelson) walked in while we were there.

    The day was topped off by a dessert that was very unusual to our Western taste.

    As we left port, we had dinner in La Cucina-and saw the white Jesus on the mountain.    Read more

  • Laura FolkTravelerDoin' All The Asia

    Saigon Feb 11-12 2025

    February 11 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    We took advantage of the overnight to spend the night in Saigon, taking the ship's "Saigon on Your Own" bus ride. Our guide walked us to the Saigon Prince Hotel (4*-$78 incl breakfast- really nice room), then took a walk around the area. Celebrations for New Year's/Tet continue. We opted for dinner in the hotel restaurant - fresh & fried Spring Rolls and a stir-fried seafood dish. Delicious!!!

    In the morning we went to breakfast- everything you can imagine - fruit, pastries, rice & dinner -worthy main dishes, salad... We had typical Western with coffee, yogurt, juice, fruit & pastry, and I had a little bit of salami.

    Our tour guide, David, picked us up, and we were off on our adventure after collecting the rest of our people.

    We went to the Independence Palace- the Presidential Headquarters during the war. We saw the outside of Notre Dame Cathedral - under renovation. The War Remnants Museum had interesting exhibits, some of which reflected revisionist history. We ended our tour at the Post Office Building that contains a lot of shops as well as still functioning as the Post Office.

    We returned to our hotel, and got a Grab back to the port.    Read more

  • Laura FolkTravelerDoin' All The Asia

    Valentine's & Dinner w/Officers

    February 14 in Brunei ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    We were in Brunei today - decided to skip it (visit #3). It's Valentine's Day. We spent some time in the Atrium Lounge with our bartender, Sindi.

    Then dinner with officers. We were with Alvina- Assistant General Manager, and Frederick, Executive Housekeeper. I hadn't met Frederick before, since he just returned to the ship after 2 months vacation.Read more

  • Laura FolkTravelerDoin' All The Asia

    Kota Kinabalu - Mangroves & Monkeys

    February 15 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    We had a long bumpy ride to the river where we boarded a boat to go through mangroves. The main attraction is Proboscis Monkeys. Supposedly we saw them- but most of the monkeys we saw were jumping through the trees - so we didn't see noses. It was very enjoyable - and hot. I got a mild sunburn on my arms- glad it's not bad.

    We did see a baby crocodile sunning on a branch. We had a Malaysian lunch. Then back to the ship    Read more

  • Laura FolkTravelerDoin' All The Asia

    Puerto Princessa-One More Time!

    February 16 on the Philippines ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Started the day by doing the laundry - which in our case is counting everything, logging it on the list, and rolling it to stuff the bag. (I'll do some undies later).

    Then a real treat- Zoom with Pat, Tom, Jim, & Sue. I shared some of the local panorama, and had a quick catch-up.

    We got off the ship and took a tricycle to the SM Mall, where I was able to get some Robitussin - yes, the cough is back. Really back. We had a bev, and I got snacks for our amazing steward, Kris- and some "genuine Philippino junk food" to bring home. Then a tricycle back to the ship in time for La Cucina soup. That stuff's been keeping me alive.    Read more

  • Laura FolkTravelerDoin' All The Asia

    Bye Bye Boracay

    February 17 on the Philippines ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Back to Boracay for the fourth time. Took the tender, got the necklace, bought the shuttle ticket, went to D'Mall and a peek at the beach. Then to lunch at Jeepney Stop-Halo Halo for me- Philippino dessert with milky ice, fruit, jello, ice cream, and coconut milk. It was pretty tasty. Wayne had a replay of the yummy fried lumpia we had there last time.

    Will- our Cruise Director showed up. Fun to see him. Then back to the ship. Still coughing up a storm. We had dinner in Crossings - and Aktur- Judy's favorite waiter, took care of us.    Read more

  • Laura FolkTravelerDoin' All The Asia

    Manila -The World 's Largest IKEA

    February 18 on the Philippines ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Yes. Really. We went to the Mall of Asia and The World's largest IKEA. (You can Google it!)

    We were joined by Dennis and Jane, who've been with us on a couple of other cruises. We had a great time looking at all the stuff - a few items that were geared toward the Asian market, including a kiddie spoon and chopstick combo, (I got one for our Chinese bartender Sindi who's expecting a nephew) and a sushi paddle that stands up on its handle so you don't get rice all over the counter.

    The Mall of Asia is 3 huge buidings- with a 2-level carousel, a Pokemon headquarters, and all the sores with all the things.

    The taxi back to the ship was a minor adventure - there are lots of ports along Manila, and it was difficult to identify the correct route to our ship. I could see the ship, but we overshot it by about 2 km- stopped at another port, and they aimed us in the right direction. I had a lung-rattling coughing spell that didn't want to end. The poor driver kept wanting me to drink water, even offering me his own thermos. Needless to say, I couldn't think about drinking anything - I was focused on breathing.

    Back aboard, we went to La Cucina where I had my life-saving soup. I hung out on the stateroom, and dinner was a quick one in the buffet.    Read more

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