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Hong Kong, China
and
Halong Bay, Vietnam |
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Donna
and I had been to Hong Kong just two years ago and so it was not as new
and exciting as Shanghai and Beijing. On our last trip we had done the
tours of the city's sites and so this time we simply went shopping and
then came back to the room and slept. We were still very tired from a
trip to China. |
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A word about unforeseen world events
As we were leaving Halong Bay, Vietnam, President Bush
announced his ultimatum to Iraq. A somber feeling pervades many activities
on the ship as a result of the combination of the significant impact on
many of the passengers of seeing the interior of China and the looming
war with Iraq My jokes have also suffered greatly. Hopefully if things
work out in the next weeks, I will revisit these pages and try to make
them somewhat entertaining. |
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Breakfast on the ship with Hong Kong
in the background. |
Hong Kong is a bustling
city with a very dense population. |
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Donna ordering a size 4 1/2 shoe.
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She was really happy
. She was having the shoe to the right copied. It is very difficult to
find her size in New York. |
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The Hong Kong skyline
at night as we left on our way to Vietnam. |
| The following night
the ship had arranged for a St. Patrick's Day party and a Purim party.
In addition we had been invited to a birthday party for Alicia Stephenson.
What fun!! |
Alicia
Stephenson's Birthday Party |
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The Stephenson women with Donna. |
The greeting of the guests. The Stephenson's
were very gracious hosts. |
Jacquie, the fitness instructor with
Jeff and Paola , both from the tour office. |
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I looked great don't you think? |
The honoree with her daughter |
Danny provided the wonderful background
music. |
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The host. |
The Captain with the host. |
The birthday girl. |
The
Purim Party Rocked |
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The Band rocked. |
Nathan in a dark wig as his costume.
Donna and I dressed as Tourists on a cruise. |
Judy and Loren had great costumes
too. |
Halong
Bay, Vietnam |
| There were a few recent
changes to our schedule. We had originally planned to spend the night
in Hanoi and return to the ship the next day. There was however, an outbreak
of an unusual pneumonia-like illness reported to the World Health Organization.
The epicenters of that outbreak were reported to be Hong Kong and Hanoi.
With safety concerns their priority, the cruise line decided not to stop
in Hanoi to avoid any chance that the guests or crew would be exposed
to what was reported to be a very infectious agent. As a result after
anchoring in Halong Bay for several hours, the ship proceeded to Da Nang.
Donna and I had additionally planned to fly from Da Nang to Saigon the
next day in order to spend two nights in Saigon. As a result of the ship
not stopping in Hanoi, he would now be able to have two days in Saigon
without having to make any special arrangements. Not only did we avoid
having to take an airplane in Vietnam, which Donna was not to particularly
excited about, but it allowed us to stay closer to the ship which was
comforting only because President Bush had just announced the 48 hour
ultimatum to Iraq. |
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Sunrise over the entrance
to Halong Bay. |
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Halong Bay is one of
the most beautiful places in the world. Its serenity can be seen clearly
in these pictures. |
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One of the port agents who came onboard
with the pilot. |
The pilot's boat. |
Donna finally getting warmed up at
the pool after China. |
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Loren and Judy doing
their Florida thing. |
John Sculley , Ex-CEO of both Pepsico
and Apple Computer gave a wonderful impromptu talk about the possible
long term consequences of the looming Iraqi war before dinner. |
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Those carvers were at
it again at the night's barbecue. |
Amy Baker one of the singers belting
it out as part of the nights's entertainment at the barbeque. |
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