TAIWAN

Diana, Diane and me in front of the soldier

Fruit stand at the night market in Taiwan!

Museum

Lunch at the Grand Palace Hotel

Jeff took us to the night market

Pigs Blood!

Taiwan was a port that was added to the itinerary when our Japan trip was canceled because of the earthquake and tsunami.  The first day in Taiwan was really rainy.  I went to Taipei and walked around the city and went to a night market.  The next day, a sweet local family took me and my roommate around all day.  My Mom's friend, Chen, is from Taiwan and set this whole day up for me, which was so nice.  The family was extremely nice and spoke English very well which was helpful.  They picked us up and took us all around the city.  We went to the National Palace Museum first where we saw the famous Jadeite cabbage, meat shaped stone, ivory ball, Mao dong ding and some old carving in jade, stone and wood.  The carvings were amazing.  Some of them were so small they had a magnifying glass to show you all the detail in the sculpture.  Then they took us to Chaug Lei Ts, which is a memorial where we watched the switching of the soldiers.  This is a little marching ceremony that takes place every hour when four new soldiers come out to replace the four that have been standing there.  Then they took us to lunch at the Grand Palace Hotel.  They just ordered a bunch of food to share.  The dumplings are my favorite!  Then we went to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall.  It was a big white building and inside was a big statue of Chiang Kai Shek.  Then they took us to this mall called Baan Ji to have ice cream.  COLD STONE!!  Then we met up with their son Jeff in the afternoon.  He took us to these two markets, Shi Man Ding and Shi Lin Night Market.  The first market had a lot of shops and stuff.  There were people dressed up as zombies in the streets and a little parade because it was their national holiday to celebrate their ancestors.  The night market was just filled with people and the streets were covered with food stands.  Jeff kept saying oh you have to try this!  Bubble Milk Tea, Hong Kong Waffle cakes, Strawberries on a stick coated with this hard sugar, a type of corn dog looking thing, and some mystery food.  The "most interesting" thing that I tried was a rice cake soaked in pigs blood and then coated with crushed peanuts!  He wouldn't tell me what it was until I took a bite! We had a great day thanks to Diane, Jeff and their family!
The next day I went to Taipeii 101 which is the tallest building in Taipeii.  It is about 508 meters and has the fastest elevator in the world to take you to the top.  You can see the entire city from the top. Then back on the ship for our long journey across the pacific to Hawaii,USA!!!

CHINA..Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai!

Great Wall of China!

Hong Kong view from peak

  

Shanghai

 

China was so much fun!  I spent one and a half days in Hong Kong.  The first day in Hong Kong we did so much.  I went on the longest Line of escalators in the world to the zoological and botanical garden.  I also went to the goldfish market which was pretty strange.  My favorite part of this city was viewing the lights at night on the peak.  I also flew to Beijing to see the Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square, The Summer Palace, The Temple of Heaven, Olympic sites and the Great Wall. The Great Wall was amazing!  It was built over 2000 years ago and it stretches across the mountains of Northern China winding north and northwest of Beijing. It was so beautiful and looked like it just went on forever!  Then I got to see the acrobatic show. It was really good.  My favorite part was the motorcycle stunt at the end.  I tried the famous Peking Duck. It was delicious!
Then I flew to Shanghai to meet the boat because we did not have to be on the boat when it was in transit from Hong Kong to Shanghai.  The lights and buildings in this port were amazing as well.  I ate at one of the best dim sum restaurants in Shanghai called Nanxiang Steamed  Bun Restaurant.  I also did a trip to do Sunrise Tai Chi.  They took us into the city square to do Tai Chi and there were other groups of locals doing Tai Chi as well.

My Home for 104 Days!

 Me as Captain! 

My room! 

NEPTUNE DAY!

NEPTUNE DAY! This is a celebration that takes place on the ship every voyage when you cross the equator.  We woke up to Neptune’s court playing instruments banging walls doors and drums out in the hall way to wake us all up.  During this ceremony, we go from being a "pollywog" to a "shellback."  We had to get fish guts poured on us, then jump in the pool, kiss a fish, then kiss the rings of Queen Minerva and King Neptune and an optional shaving of your head.  Jess actually shaved her head and so did her cousin! I thought they were crazy!