China

Xingang, China is the closted port city for Beijing, which is about 3 hours away.  Since B & I have been to China before, we opted not to travel into Beijing and instead "toured" Xingang.  There was a free shuttle bus provided so we headed off the ship to explore.  We stood in line waiting for the shuttle for almost 45 minutes before not one but 3 buses show up.  We arrived in Xingang after a harrowi8ng bus rid, as the driver must be part Italian...lol! They dropped us off in the Starbuck's parking lot...  We asked several returing passengers what's to see/do and they all responded not much...  But being the adventures we are, we turned up the first side street we came too and found a shop whre I purchased a leather dragon.  We too photos, checked out fruit stands and read shop signs which said things like spa, massage, Texas BBQ Bar & Music, KFC, and lots of Chinese restaurants.  We found a park with some lovely topiary and a plaza shopping center.  The plaza had a bakery, hair salons and shops upstairs.  We rode the outdoor escalator up and found mostly spa-massage centers.  But there was one large sign (movie poster size) that was gaming/grapics so we poker our head in hoping for internet.  When I mimed computer they pointed upstairs: the second floor was a group video game in a circular setting, sort of like the large Wheel of Fortune slots; and the third floor had individual hanging macnines that might have been plinko/pachinko...  It also had a western toilet for which I was grateful...lol!   I took photos and returned to the ground floor – we bought a soda, made the lady a poodle and I gave them an American dollar that was “georged”-someone may get a strange hit…lol!
We were tiring so we headed back to the bus but stopped in Tesa, a large department store, sort of…  The ground floor held small shops and kiosks that surrounded a large electronics store.  Upstairs was a huge grocery store.  B & I split up for 30 minutes and explored on our own.   I found a great dragon ring, but B said he would have to return to the grocery store the next day for a longer visit.  As we were in Xingang for two days that is what he did.  On the second day, he explored the market for several house and I stayed on board relaxing by the pool and participating in shipboard activities.
department store, sort of…  The ground floor held small shops and kiosks that surrounded a large electronics store.  Upstairs was a huge grocery store.  B & I split up for 30 minutes and explored on our own.
And speaking of on board activities, the future Cruise folks sponsored a 4 day event which included a trivia questionnaire, a scavenger hunt, a build-a-ship contest and a crazy game show.  We were allowed a team of 6, but I was the only one who actually participated in all 4 events.  My girlfriend, Lynn, helped me with trivia-which we came in fourth; & the game show-which we came in first…  My ship was also the BEST looking one of the 4 entries and I won a medal for that.  The overall prize was dinner with the Captain, which I also won and will be allowed to invite Lynn & her husband as well as Brian too…  I am looking forward to it as in all our cruising, we have never had dinner with the Captain…
Brian & I are also collecting many “grand dollars”, which are the prize for participating in all the on-board activities.  We probably have over 40 so far & at the end of the voyage we will be able to redeem them for “dam” t-shirts, hats and other “dam” crap…lol!  I refer you back to my original saying:  “it’s not the prize; it’s the winning that counts!”  I have been just about even in the casino lately, but today folded my way to second place in the poker tournament and then tripled my money on the cash table!  Which is great as we are going to Macau tomorrow & I can play there on my winnings…  Brian is still just playing slots and “washing” his George money through them…  He did win a small jackpot yesterday – yeah!  BTW on sea days I continue to walk a mile and figure on shore days we walk at least a mile – have not been as successful at going to the gym but have gone to stretch class one or two times per week.
 After we left Xingang our next port of call was Shanghai – this is our second time there also & I liked it even better this time.  In fact it is probably my favorite city in China.  The architecture is amazing and futuristic and the people are fantastically friendly.  On our first day there we went to the Shanghai World Expo which is a World’s Fair.  We wore crazy American hats and brought over 200 flag pins to distribute.  We were a bit disappointed in the exhibits themselves – each country sponsored one but if you’ve been to Disney’s Epcot Center, you’ve seen better.  It was estimated that over a half-a-million people were there and it took 30 minutes or more in lines to see the displays which were movies & slides about the specific country.  We went to the USA one, Croatia, Austria & one other…  BUT we truly enjoyed ourselves because the Chinese people could not take our picture too many times.  At first, B & I would just pop into a pose (like at RenFest) and they would laugh and take more pictures.  But once one group started, we would have to pose for dozens of photos.  We would finally say “ok just one more” which would end up being 10 more, before we would continue walking.  Usually then someone would chase us down and say “please” or “scuse” and mime a photo – if we agreed, we would be surrounded again with photo takers and Chinese who wanted us to hold their baby or kiss their grandma or….  At one point B was having his picture taken with a lady on his left while I had a guy on my right who was with a different group.  We would swing them out and others would pop in to take their place.  We met several adorable Chinese girls & tried to ask if they would like “American boyfriend” but we just got giggles in response…lol!  Finally we decided we were hungry and took off our hats so we could make our way across the grounds to get some lunch.  We still had our photo taken a couple of times but we were not interrupted while eating…  We could have sold tons of our $1.00 hats if we had them with us – in fact they all asked where we got them and I showed one man the label in mine – it said “made in china”!  LOL!  It was a wonderful experience and we enjoyed the whole day but we were pooped after walking so much.  As we were leaving I traded my hat for a Chinese bucket hat for Jess and we caught a cab back to the ship.  
The Port of Shanghai and the skyline are beautiful and all the buildings are lit up at night.  Also small tour boats travel the harbor and they are lit up as well.  It was a gorgeous sight from the ship.
The next day in Shanghai was Saturday and we decided to do a bit of shopping, along with a million other people…  Shanghai seems to be the “big” city for tourists from everywhere but particularly other Chinese from rural areas.  The shops on the main street were literally jammed with people shoulder to shoulder – if I saw something of interest I would say to B “I am gonna dive in here” and just start elbowing my way in…  These people are not rude, they just do not have the sense of personal space that Americans have.  Occasionally if I was shoved I would just shove back but I tried to remember that it wasn’t personal… We bought a few things and shuttled back to the ship.  Brian decided to walk to a grocery store and took his camera along to shoot the sites.  I went to the Jacuzzi and soaked…  That evening Lynn & I played “Name that Tune” & won – after we went to her “la-de-dah” suite and watched the sail away oohing and ahhing over the pretty lights and beautiful bridge.  As we left the fantastic harbor I commented again on how much I like Shanghai – I hope to visit here again some day.
We have been sailing for 2 days now and will arrive in Hong Kong on Tuesday 19 Oct.  Remember we are almost a day ahead of you…  So far the tropical storm that is heading for the Philippines has only affected us by rocky seas.  The Captain assures us we will arrive in Hong Kong without any difficulties and we are to stay there for 2 full days.  Hopefully the storm will have decreased some by then or we may not have a port in Viet Nam to call…  Hope this finds you all well – will someone please check on my dogs and Sarah and let us know all is well? Thanks – oh and Jess, write…lol!

Winning Sailboat and the above is Shanghai at night