Wonderful, if short day, in Bintan. We're the first cruise ship to visit since before Covid - fabulous welcome with music and everyone is super friendly. I joined friends, Bill and Kayla for our time ashore, we took the ship's tender into the port ad from there we took a bus to Lagoi Bay.
​The island is very beautiful, lush and green with white powdery sand beaches. The water isn't very deep so you could walk out a long way from the beach without the water being over your shoulders. Beautiful sand underfoot the whole way out and a glorious water temperature.
We only had a couple of hours on the beach - I'd definitely return here. Very few people. Just heavenly.
​Tonight we have a photo swap scheduled so some photos we missed at various locals may get posted later today AND we have another welcome cocktail party! Should be a great evening.

Singapore - so much fun and so little time. The ship didn't arrive until early afternoon so we had limited time today. I've been to Singapore before and spent the late afternoon, with Mary and Steve,  on Orchard Rd - very famous shopping street in Singapore. 
We had to take the MRT (subway) to get to Orchard Street - I'm public transportation skills are  pretty rusty. Wonderful underground system though, all you need is a visa card (or you can buy a passcard) and off you go. After our mall shopping we headed to Lau Pa Sat also famous but this time for food. The area used to be on the waterfront and was filled with small vendors - now it's a bit more like a mall food court. Although few North American food courts boast Michelin recognition.
We arrived around 6pm and so had to wait until 7pm for the satay vendors, who are on the street, and the street closes to get our food. Fortunately there was a local craft brewery stall very near buy.
We had a fabulous time eating prawn, chicken and beef satay with peanut sauce.
Thursday I was on my own and took the MRT to the Marina Sands Mall. Had a lovely time walking around, bought some macarons, had lunch and then returned to the ship cruise terminal, also full of shops and restaurants. The terminal also had a foot soak, reflexology and back and shoulder massage place - I spent an hour being pampered. All in all a great two days! Wish Adrian was here...

Unlike yesterday when we could just walk off the ship into the city - today we're docked in the middle of nowhere! We're 45 minutes from Port Klang and further yet from Kuala Lumpur. We chose to spend the morning on the ship. Both of us have been to KL before and today Adrian's leaving the ship. He's traveling home for his daughter, Lark's, high school graduation on Friday. 
This morning we basically got him packed, handled the logistics of letting the ship know he's leaving and when he'll be back, checked on how he gets his visa for Vietnam and so on. 
Adrian took the 2pm ship's shuttle into Port Klang and from there he was catching a bus to the airport in KL. He has an overnight in a hotel and then leaves early tomorrow morning for Calgary - via Tokyo! Through the magic of international datelines he's be in Calgary around 2pm on Wednesday May 17.... I on the other hand will be in Singapore tomorrow! 
Adrian's back on the ship on May 24, just in time for the next Around the World big event - a candle light dinner in caves in Hanoi, Vietnam.

We had another great day - stinking hot though. The ship was docked in the port today so no problem just walking off the ship and exploring the city. We wandered through Little India, Georgetown a Unesco World Heritage site and all over the city. we stopped around noon for a deliciously cool cup of iced coffee. I managed to buy a great outfit while we were searching for a place for lunch. we eventually settled on a little cafe both of us choosing fruit bowls for lunch. 
The city was easy to walk about, some remarkable architecture and great food. Everything we look for!

Today was our second day in Phuket - yesterday when we walked to dinner we found a massage spot next door and a resort across the street - both of these venues are our plans for the day.
We walked the 2 km again and started with a couples massage. The location we chose had a special on today, thai oil massage, oil foot massage and thai foot massage, a total of 90 minutes for 500 Thai Bat or $16 US each.  The cost for both of us was less than the gratuity on a single massage on the ship. 
We had a wonderful time - the massage was amazing and a great way to start our day. Following the massage we crossed the street and bought a day pass to the Panwa Beach Resort giving us access to their pool, lounge chairs and beach. It was low tide - I mean really low tide -we didn't manage to walk out into the ocean far enough for the water to be above our knees. The water was warmer that I like my shower on the ship. The little spec in the middle of the beach photo - is me standing in knee deep water!
We rounded off our day with a late lunch in the Tree Top Restaurant, same one we ate in last night. After another delicious Thai meal we walked back to the ship in good time for our 4:30 all aboard and 5pm sailing. The weather has been consistently 34-36 degrees and very humid.

Well today was an interesting day! We joined a group of shipmates for a private tour of the Phi Phi Islands. The plan was for us to visit three different places on two islands. We were picked up at the ship and travelled to the Royal Phuket Marina to pick up our boat. No photos - we bought the services of a photographer for the trip - but the photos have yet to arrive. 
We let the marina on time and travelled the 1 hour to the first island without incident. Our first stop was a beautiful beach with snorkeling from the beach for those who were interested. Adrian and I had a great time enjoying the white sand beach and incredibly warm water. After about an hour we all loaded back onto the boat to head to our next locale - sadly one of our group, Kendall, slipped on the wet deck when we returned to the boat. She was obviously badly injured with what we initially thought was a dislocated knee. Needless to say we immediately began the 1 hour journey back to the marina and the ambulance waiting to take Kendall to the hospital. 
While walking through the marina Adrian spotted "High Roller" a cannabis store complete with their own grow-op. He bought a few edibles as a consolation prize for our lost tour.
After returning to the ship and getting cleaned up we walked about 2 km to the Tree Top Restaurant for a wonderful authentic Thai dinner. Ending our day on a high note!
NOTE - pictures from our one stop will be posted when we get them....

Pictures from our boating excursion - cut short by our friends injury.

, except forWhat a wonderful day spent with friends in Langkawi. We love it when folks organize trips and invite us to come too! Our group of 11 (Oceania 11) started the day being picked up at the port and driving to the river to pick-up a boat. The boat tour through the mangroves was just the beginning of the fun!
The river wound through the mountains and the riverbank was lined with mangroves, so interesting to see how they grow. So many colours of green.  Our first stop was to see the eagles - the tour operators throw food into the water and the eagles all come and dive. So hard to photograph. 
Our next stop was my favourite - feeding the swimming monkeys. So much fun, we were given small bananas and the monkeys would swim out and take them from our hands. One mama came out with her baby on her back - how that poor baby monkey didn't drown, I have no idea.
After the monkeys we sailed through the crocodile cave (no crocs, cave exterior just looks like a crocodile) and from here we arrived at the bat caves. These caves were very cool - pictures will come later except for Adrian in the bat sign. Lunch was at a floating fish farm restaurant right on the river. They were farming, lobster, shrimp, grouper, anget fish and stingrays. Sooo cool. 
​After the river cruise we headed off to the cable car and sky bridge. An amazing cable car - up two levels of the mountains. Wonderful view of the whole harbour and area. From the top we to an elevator down to the skybridge and very proudly we walked back up to the top!
On the walk back to the ships tender we were stopped by friends who were enjoying a beer and fries and needed some help finishing them. Adrian proudly stepped up and helped drain the pitcher since there were no extra glasses nearby. A great end to a fabulous day!

We had a fabulous day today in Sabang. Very hot and humid day. We walked the main town and continued along the coast for about 2 hours. Wonderful walkway along the water's edge, with benches and beach access for everyone to enjoy. The port area was very walkable, small shops all along our route and lots of Tuk Tuk drivers looking to give us a lift.
​Gorgeous scenery and the friendliest of people. We were continually greeted by folks with many kids and some families wanting to have their pictures taken - some with us.
Along the waterfront is a lookout tower that we couldn't resist climbing. Spectacular view. Lovely water but the beaches we saw were mostly a bit rocky (large rocks) we didn't have time to get to the sandy beaches. 
​Definitely interested in returning to Sabang.