Special Guest Writer Archives

Hong Kong. Day 39. End of the line.

HONG KONG – New Year is going strong here with lion dances, cymbals and drums. Lots of islands, neon, high-rise architecture, noodle shops and bowing. I love it!

DAY 39, DATELINE HONG KONG – New Year is going strong here with lion dances, cymbals and drums. Lots of islands, neon, high-rise architecture, noodle shops and bowing. I love it!
hongkongcollage
Clockwise from top left: Our sampan lady, Floating restaurant, Diarmuid at Victoria Peak, A little bit of Italy, I had the peanut butter sandwich, Night, inside out,

We Miss Saigon?

VUNG TAU, VIETNAM – Lots of motorbikes, lots. Four to a bike sometimes. It’s HOT here but many people were all bundled up against the sun, even gloves and face masks.

DAY 35 DATELINE VUNG TAU, VIETNAM – Lots of motorbikes, lots. Four to a bike sometimes. It’s HOT here but many people were all bundled up against the sun, even gloves and face masks.

Stew note: Editor’s apologies for the chronologies. Yes, we missed Vietnam. I slipped a beat somewhere. This post should be before High Teas on High Seas.

Welcome to Singapore. What goes around, goes around

DAY 30 SINGAPORE … Where the penalty for not flushing a public toilet is $150 and the penalty for drugs is death. Anyway, we had a good time and only got edgy when Diarmuid dropped a tissue (penalty for littering, $1,000).

kikidiurmuidwheel2 Hip baristas – without the tats. We had fried prawns with hot sauce and drank mugs of iced sugar cane juice in a divey lunch spot.

We rode Singapore’s ‘millennial’ ferris wheel.
Back on the ship, happy not to be fined or dead.

Stew note: You can see the millennial wheel over their shoulder?

MORE MALAYSIA. AND SHARK FOOD TOO.

DAY 29, DATELINE KUALA LUMPUR – Asia Modern: young and beautiful with high-rise luxury malls, sophisticated metro, crowded bazaar, dreamy colonial architecture and fabulous food.

The place is decked out for Chinese New Year with red lanterns everywhere. The other twin towers

Muslim kids – and tons of men streaming to mosques with prayer rugs under their arms for Friday prayers

Do they really mean shark?

Stew note: Burger Villa, Burger King, Burger Shark? Shack? Who knows if it is seafood special or not. Surely you tried it, Kiki? Did it taste fishy?

Videos from the streets of Cochin, India. Going Ape. Italian icon daily part of Indian life. Buckle up.

Apes and Vespacars have been being made in Italy for decades. But not rare to see any kind of “old” apes in India. They call them tuk-tuks bee-cause of the sound?

DATELINE, THE APE-FILLED STREETS OF COCHIN, INDIA. – Apes and Vespacars have been being made in Italy for decades. The ultimate is the Ape Calessino which is sometimes found picking up passengers at the train stations or beach side ports of call. It is based on older 1980’s version of Piaggio’s Ape. Its rare to see one. But not rare to see any kind of “old” apes in India. They call them tuk-tuks bee-cause of the sound? Regardless, India got the concession to build this model of ape/tuk-tuk years ago and i think we heard they’ve been turning out 600 a day for years over there to meet the demand and keep the streets abuzzing. (Ape means “bee” in Italian. Because of the sound. Vespa? Wasp.

Ape at speed:

Ape, Kiki asked the driver to slow down to shoot his buddy’s ape coming up on them.