Dear family and friends,

I can't believe how far behind I have fallen with this blog, but this segment, in particular, has been very, very port intensive. That means that almost every day, we have been in port. I will have to step way back in time and begin on March 15 in Koh Samui, Thailand. Koh Samui is about 20 miles off of the mainland, and only 13 miles long and 9 miles wide.

Our options for the day were rather limited, because Koh Samui is an island without much more to offer than beautiful beaches. However, if one was so inclined, one could visit Hin Ta and Hin Yai, or Grandfather and Grandmother Rock, or maybe Phang Ka Snake Farm. Since I hate snakes with a passion, we decided to book a day at a luxury resort, Nikki Beach Club. This was a great idea! The setting on the beach was beautiful and there were large, double sized sunbeds on which to relax. The water was shoulder high a long way out, so we spent a lot of time in the sea, which was probably 85 degrees. When we weren't relaxing on the sunbeds or in the ocean, we enjoyed cooling off in their infinity pool. What a perfect way to spend a hot, hot, hot day!

March 16, Bangkok—or Bangkok 2 hours away! This was a stop that could have been improved upon. Travel into the city from our docking spot in Laem Chabang, seemed hardly to be worthwhile since we were only in port until 6:30 pm. We have visited Bangkok in the past, so this was a day to explore the area close to the ship or take a shuttle to a mall about 35 minutes away. There was some shopping opportunity in the terminal, and many people chose to stay close to or on the ship. We made it a day to do laundry and catch up on emails, and I was succumbing to the “Crystal Crud” that has been circulating around the ship. People were coughing and sneezing and blowing their noses and spreading the bugs all over. If people would confine themselves to their cabins when they are sick, we wouldn't see such an easy spread. Lectures sounded like midnight in a TB ward!

March 17, Sihanoukville, Cambodia. If we thought Indonesia was impoverished, Cambodia is far, far worse. One can't think of Cambodia without thinking of the horrors inflicted upon this country by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. He systematically killed one to 3 million of Cambodia's citizens (out of a country of 7,000,000. He began with the intellectuals, the doctors, the educated, indiscriminate whether they were adults or children. Those wearing glasses were killed, because it was assumed that wearing glasses meant that one could read. The country was decimated! It is still attempting to rebuild.

We didn't have a regular shore excursion scheduled, rather a volunteer opportunity. Crystal offers volunteer excursions in many ports. In Sihanoukville, our visit was to an orphanage. The description of this “tour” stated that we would be helping out in the garden or teaching the children some songs, etc. We had collected boxes of toothbrushes and toothpaste, which our dentist, Dr. Michael Dorociak had donated. Other previous guests of Crystal had arranged to have boxes of donations delivered to the orphanage by Crystal. This is the second year in a row that Dr. Dorociak has made a generous donation. Last year, he gave us 12 dozen toothbrushes and tubes of toothpaste to donate to the people of Fanning Island. Not only is he a great dentist, he's a very generous person! I skipped the orphanage because I didn't want to give the children my respiratory infection, but David went. He was very impressed with how happy the children seemed, how clean and well groomed they were. The facility itself was immaculately clean and the classrooms were well organized. The children are getting a first rate education, perhaps better than they would in a regular pubic school. They study English and learn computer skills as well as other academic subjects. The orphanage has very beneficial arrangements for housing and caring for the children. There are individual “houses” with a house mother, so that the experience is less institutional and more like a family with a mother and brothers and sisters. The children gave a performance and mingled with the guests. David came away very impressed with the facility and uplifted by the happiness of the children.

March 17 is St. Patrick's Day, and a very special date for our family—it is our son Ben's birthday! Happy, happy birthday, Ben! We love you very much and were so glad that you visited us in December and that we could spend a week with you in Los Angeles before the cruise.

St Patrick's Day onboard Crystal Serenity was celebrated on March 18, and the ship was decorated with shamrocks, green balloons and leprechauns, and many of the staff wore silly hats and bowties! The entertainment that night was “Lord of the Dance,” a terrific show much in the same vein as Riverdance. What a talented group of entertainers we have on board! The show was followed by an Irish sing-along in Avenue Saloon. What a fun (and late!) evening!

Ho Chi Minh City! For those of us who lived through the Vietnam War, it will always be known as Saigon. Indeed, most of the locals prefer the name Saigon. We docked in Saigon in a cargo port, quite a distance from town, but shuttles were available. The ride took anywhere from 35 minutes-2 hours, depending upon traffic. And what traffic there is! There are cars, trucks and buses, but the most popular form of transportation is motor bikes or motor scooters. I was amazed at the ability of the motor scooters to weave in and out of traffic, up on the sidewalk, go the wrong way down a one-way street, turn around 180 degrees in the middle of traffic, etc. Often there are 2 or more people on the scooter. Loads of food, 100 lb bags of rice, building materials, sheets of glass, pallets of bricks, huge cooking pots, etc are somehow lashed to the bikes and carried to wherever they are going. Amazing are the entire families on the motor bikes or scooters—a child in front of the driver, a child behind and then the mother. Sometimes we saw what appeared to be newborn babies cradled by their mothers who didn't even hold on to the driver. Incredible and scary! I had to look up the number of motor bikes and scooters in Saigon, and found there were 5,800, 900 registered in January, 2014. There are probably more now. Twenty years ago, it would have been bicycles everywhere, but now there are very few bikes. Cars are very expensive. Our guide told us a Toyota Camray, built in Vietnam would cost $60,000 US, a Camray built in another

country would be $80,000. A Lexus costs $120,000 US. A Mercedes will set you back $300,000! This is a country of contrasts: A Communist government is in power, and it does not give its citizens free education or healthcare, but it is also a city of private enterprise. It is a city steeped in Colonial architecture, yet with new, huge condominium blocks. However, many building sites looked deserted, as if the project was begun and not finished. The homes are shoulder to shoulder with one another and very narrow, but perhaps 6 stories high, with many family members sharing one house. They are narrow for the same reason that the houses in Amsterdam are narrow—taxation. Our guide told us that his house had 5 bedrooms and 18 people. We were scheduled to have three days in Saigon, and so took a tour the first day that gave us a glimpse of the city. There are still buildings with Colonial influence, including new builds. It was chilling to see the US Embassy building where those who helped the US army attempted to escape what lay before them by hanging on to the rudders of the helicopter on the roof of the embassy. I'm sure some of you remember that photo. Our guide pointed out his father in the photo. His father had tried to flee Vietnam since he was an interpreter for the US Army. When he didn't make it onto the helicopter, he was forced to spend two years in a re-education camp.

Our guide had one child, and those working for the government were penalized if they had more than one child. Their pay may be cut, they might be demoted in rank, etc. Those who are employed in private enterprise, if they can afford it, can have larger families.

Our tour of Saigon ended with the obligatory shopping stop. This time it was well worth it. We visited a lacquer workshop and saw gorgeous pieces being made. We added to the economy by purchasing a variety of items.

This was another country where we were required to carry landing cards, but not passports. The second day, we went into the city on our own. Our goal was to visit the large public market. We had visited the market in Chinatown the day before as part of our tour, and that seemed to be utter chaos, with people smoking, eating under their small stands, cheek to jowl. So many of them sold the same thing, it is hard to believe they make a living. There were sections for food, both fruit and vegetables and raw meat (I saw three huge rats run through the food aisles, but nobody paid any mind.) and restaurant equipment, clothing, flowers, accessories, etc. In between the chaos were motor bikes running up and down the aisles collecting deliveries. A madhouse!

We made our way to the market, and on the way passed a silk shop that advertised clothing made within 24 hours. Since it was next to the Rex Hotel, and was clean and attractive, we thought we would give it a try. David had wanted me to have a traditional Vietnamese dress made, called an “ao dai.” The ao dai is a close-fitting long tunic over flowing pants. I picked out some beautiful silk and they took my measurements and promised it to me by 10 am then next morning. We continued on our way to Ben Thanh Market. This is a bargain-hunters paradise! Almost anything you want is available to you here, and if you are the “first customer this morning,” you are very lucky—maybe! We found silk pajamas for David a la Hugh Hefner, silk scarves, and some souvenirs for the boys. David also found some “genuine Columbia zip-off pants” for $10 a pair, and silk “Polo” shirts for less. Exhausted, hot and overstimulated, we made our way to the roof-top restaurant at The Rex Hotel. The Rex has a long history, being the officer's headquarters for the US Army during the Vietnam War. It has been totally redone and now has a great restaurant with a beautiful view on the rooftop. We had delicious Vietnamese coffee, springrolls and pho, which I learned is pronounced “furrrrr, with an uplift at the end.” Evidently, if I said “fa” they would not have known what I was talking about.

We returned to the ship and enjoyed a great dinner in Silk Road with new friends.

The third day, being Monday, we were warned that travel into the city and back would take much longer due to traffic. We took an early bus into the city and arrived at the silk shop only to find that the outfit hadn't arrived, yet. They asked us to return in 45 minutes, so we did some exploring and found a great little book store and art shop. When we returned, it had still not arrived, but they assured me that it was on its way by motorbike in the traffic. True to their word, the dress arrived just a few minutes later. I tried it on and it fit great except that the pants legs and sleeves had to be shortened. The tailor did that as we waited. Both David and I were thrilled with the way it came out! A lovely souvenir of Vietnam!

I had an opportunity to wear it sooner than I thought, because people dressed in clothes they had bought on the trip or costumes for the Purim party on March 22. The magilla was read by the rabbi, and we all stamped our feet and shook our noisemakers every time Haman's name was mentioned. Non-Jewish friends of ours came, too, and really enjoyed it. Purim is celebrated as is told in the Story of Esther in the bible. Haman, the wicked adviser to the king planned to have all the Jews in the kingdom killed, because they would not bow down to him. Esther, who was one of the king's wives told the king and he had Haman hung on the same gallows that he had planned to use for the Jews. It is a happy holiday and there was laughter and Israeli folk dancing, a performance by the dancers and music by the Crystal band dressed as a Klezmer band! Delicious hamantoshin, three-corned pastries filled with poppyseeds, apricots or prunes, were served. They are made in this shape to remind us of Haman's three cornered hat.

Our second stop in Vietnam, was Chan May, and the ancient city of Hue. We again took a tour that took us to the Imperial Temple, the Citadel (where bullet holes from the Vietnam War can be seen,) a Dragon Boat ride down the river, lunch at a lovely old hotel with a folkloric presentation and a visit to another market. It was a long day, our tour began at 7:15 and we didn't return until 4:30, but rewarding. We tumbled into bed that night exhausted!

Ha Long was our last stop in Vietnam. One could choose a three hour bus ride into Hanoi or a morning or afternoon cruising Ha Long Bay on a junk. We chose the latter, and were very happy with our choice. Junks holding about 80 people each tied up to the ship with a pontoon next to the ship, and we boarded that way. It rained off and on all day, but the rain, clouds and mist gave it a mystical quality. Ha Long Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage site with over 775 islands called karst. The karsts are formed when water erodes limestone leaving both big and small islands, some of which are recognizable shapes. Legend has it that dragons protecting Vietnam spit jewels and jade to create barrier islands to protect the country, and these islands are the ones in Ha Long Bay. The islands were beautiful and trip I was glad we selected.

We had a welcomed sea day on March 25 and arrived in Hong Kong yesterday, the 26^th of March. What a change! We last were in Hong Kong over 20 years ago and it has grown dramatically! It now appears much more like the international jewel of a city it is. Since we felt quite comfortable doing Hong Kong on our own, we planned our two days well. The ship is docked at Ocean Terminal right in downtown Kowloon and connected to a huge mall, Harbour City. It is also right next to the Star Ferry terminal. We arose early and took the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island. Our goal was Maxims in the City Hall for dim sum. We had eaten there the last time we visited HK and loved it. No longer the cavernous hall with formica tables, the restaurant has grown up. It is now a beautiful room with crystal chandeliers. It is still mobbed with throngs of people, many, many local. We had number 138 and a long wait for a table, since they were only on 34 when we arrived. A nice British older man gave us his ticket number 75, since he also had a lower number. We, in turn, passed our number to a couple visiting from Taiwan saving them 67 numbers. The waitresses still push carts around with little plates or baskets of dim sum. When you make a choice, your card is stamped with their code. All of the food was good with the exception of some steamed pork ribs which were way too greasy. After stuffing ourselves with dim sum, after all, we hadn't eaten since breakfast, we made our way on foot to an area called “The Lanes.” (I should mention that all of the shopping recommendations were made by Carole Klein, who spoke on shopping in HK. Carole works as head of PR for The Intercontinental in HK. As an example of small world, Carole grew up and her mother still lives on Ransom Lane, exactly across the street from where we lived in Memphis. She knows many of my friends from Memphis. She has lived in Hong Kong for the past 20 years and knows her shopping!) After making a few purchases, we walked further and took the “Mid Level Escalator.” This is an escalator that climbs the side of the hill in HK for a 20 minute ride. You can get off at various streets, and we opted to get off on Hollywood Rd. Closer to the Central, Hollywood Rd is the street of antique shops, but further out, beginning in the 200 block, there are Chinese medicine shops, coffin makers, etc.--a taste of old Hong Kong. We then took a taxi back to the Star Ferry and once in Kowloon, walked to the Peninsula Hotel to look for a custom leather shop in the hotel that Carole had told us about. We then walked to the Inter-Continental Hotel and then back to the ship. At the end of the day, we had walked over 7 miles as noted on my Vivo-fit watch.

Last night we enjoyed the light show in Hong Kong Harbour, but more dramatic than the lasers were the array of changing lights on the office buildings. What a fantastic skyline!

Today, we took a taxi to the Jade Market and founds some wonderful goodies, and then off to the Ladies Market to look and buy an item or two.

We have just sailed out of Hong Kong to the tune of Louis Armstrong singing “What a Wonderful World!” Every time I hear this song, I am taken back to my wonderful Crystal ships.

All for now, and thanks, folks, for being so patient for me to catch up.

Love to you all! Xiamen, China is our next stop.

Pictures to follow...very slow connection now

 The Vietnam Cultural Show

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