“Somewhat” Incredible India!

Well as I finished the Beatles show tonight, and made my way to the bar I wondered what I should do with my extra hour and a half of time. We are heading toward Dubai from India, and it’s time for yet another time change, I figured I should write down a few thoughts before I forget them.
So as some of you know I have a friend that lives in Mumbai, India that I used to work with on Carnival about 9 years ago. We lost touch over the years as our emails changed, but thanks to Facebook we have found each other again. I was supposed to see him last November when the ship was going to India, but a few terrorists put a stop to that plan. I arranged via email when we would meet.
When I finally could get off the ship, we had boat drill, captains meeting, and liferaft training, I made a quick call to see if he was on his way and with in minutes we were talking like the years were nothing.
As I waited for him to arrive I started to notice all of the taxis and the poor people begging for money. The taxis are black and yellow just like you see in the movies.
We headed off toward his place to catch up for a few hours before I had to be back on board for a rehearsal.
On the way to his place he asked if I wanted to go out to eat or have something at his place. I didn’t care, so he called a place he knows and had delivery waiting for us when we arrived. His place is a good 45-minute drive from the ship depending on traffic.
I also meet his new girlfriend on the drive. She was a very nice Indian girl (as opposed to someone from outside India, like his ex-wife) I don’t recall her name [sorry] but I do know that she works for Chase bank.
After showing him some photos of the past few years, we had a very nice lunch. I don’t know what it was called but it was a favorite of theirs. A very mild curry, kind of sweet with a little spice, rice, chicken and a bit of potato.
After we finished lunch we headed out into the neighborhood for the main goal of the day, besides seeing each other, to get a baby blanket for my niece’s baptism. We went to a few baby stores and finally found what I liked. Then I changed money at a western union, and got the blanket. I think my sister will be very happy.
He didn’t want to drive back to the ship so he ordered me a air-conditioned taxi (they are blue not black and yellow, and have digital meters). We then took a tok tok or rickshaw, don’t remember what they called it back to his place to wait for the taxi.
I had to be back on the ship to get ready for an Indian Folkloric show. I won’t go into much about the show.
I had wanted to get back together with my friend but for some reason he couldn’t do anything, I didn’t really want to know. I did ask him if he could get together the next day, he would see what was going on and email me.
The next morning I had another rehearsal, for our production show this time, and then was able to get off the ship (we were in port for two days). Anyway after some convincing by his girlfriend that we hadn’t seen each other in years, and it would years before we see each other again, he drove across town to see me.
He took me to a very nice Chinese buffet type place that he used to work at. Kind of like a Mongolian Grill that we have in the USA, but more like a stir fry. It was very nice. We then walked around and saw the Gate of India and the Taj Mahal Hotel. This is the hotel that got attacked.
We said our goodbyes and I headed back to the ship. Good By India.

Bye Bye China

Well sorry to everyone that has been waiting for an update, now that we are back to normal cruises finding time isn’t as easy. Sitting here waiting for Love and Marriage to start I couldn’t think of much to do so here I am writing.
Well I know I said in my last post about Japan that we would have boat drill, well sometimes things go the right way, they postponed it to the next day.
Now that we have been to Japan I want to correct what I said last time. What actually happened with the port was this. All of the passengers had to take a shuttle from the ship to immigration in the terminal, about 200 yards. I don’t know exactly what went on at immigration (we didn’t have to do it) but what friends told me was it was a long line and yes they did fingerprint all of the passengers. Once all of the guests were off the ship, they finally let the crew off. We walked right by the buses to the gate, and meet in front of the terminal. I don’t see what the big deal was in making us wait.
We didn’t have much time in port, but we did get to walk around for a bit. Japan seems nice, but I really can’t give a good answer.
The next day we were in Busan, South Korea. Now let me start by saying I wasn’t expecting much. Once boat drill was done, we headed off. The shuttle buses that we had to take us into town have got to be some of the nicest buses I have ever seen. Once downtown, a quick fill up at Starbucks (yes they are everywhere), and then it was off to find the Red City bus tour. Oh let me interject and say that when you change dollars into Korean Won, you feel rich! 1 – 1,300. Starbucks was about 8,000. Anyway back to the bus, it was a very nice hoop on hoop off type of tour. We stayed on the bus most of the time. The only stop we did make was to see the APEC conference center. It was very interesting. Busan was a very pleasant day.
After Busan we headed back to Singapore for the last time. I can’t hold it in any longer, yes I have been getting things to spoil my niece. Mary when you read this, hopefully I will get a box off to you in a couple of months. Things should still fit her. I might send you some photos to peak your curiosity. I expect videos and photos.
The next real port to talk about was Hong Kong. Before you ask, yes I did get my new camera. Hong Kong is great, it’s like China but western. The only bad part is they don’t bargain as much, they do bargain but you can’t get the prices as low on some items.
I guess that basically brings things up to date.