Next stop—Penang, Malaysia!!! So around this time in the voyage I was starting to feel a little homesick. I’m not sure if it was just me or if my fellow shipmates were starting to feel homesick as well. It was now March, so I had been away from home for about 2 months. Malaysia was the perfect fix for being homesick, because Penang totally reminded me of Hawaii. It had the “island” feeling with an Asian flair, the people resembled local people back home, it was lush and green and the Asian food reminded me of similar dishes that I ate at home. So it was nice to be someplace that made me feel almost like I was at home. While in Malaysia, I visited some temples, went to a local neighborhood, a batik factory and got a panoramic view of the city from Penang Hill.
After Malaysia our ship headed to Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam. I loooooved Vietnam and it is definitely one of the top countries that I want to return to. I really want to explore Northern Vietnam like Hanoi and Nha Trang, because I was only able to go to Saigon and the Mekong Delta while I was here. While in Vietnam, I shopped, ate, visited a museum, went to the Mekong Delta and ate their delicious coconut candy, visited some temples and made lots of memories. The people in Vietnam are tiny, tiny, tiny!!! Ten years ago and many pounds lighter I was already wearing a size Large or X-Large. So I’m guessing that if I were to return now, I would not be able to shop…I’m a little to big…haha!!!
After Vietnam, we sailed to Hong Kong. This was my first visit to Hong Kong and it was very short and sweet. I was only here for a full day, because the following morning I headed to the airport and flew out to Beijing, China. I spent a week in China…Beijing and Shanghai. I’ll share images from China in my next post. In Hong Kong, I explored the city and ate. It was a Sunday so many things were closed. It was funny too, because it was a Sunday all the domestic employees were off, therefore the streets were filled with Filipino women!!! They were everywhere and they just ploppped themselves on the sidewalks and talk story, eat, play cards, etc. I hardly saw anyone who was Chinese!!! Although this trip to Hong Kong was short and sweet, it’s okay because I have been fortunate enough to return to Hong Kong twice in the last 5 years.
Here are images from Malaysia, Vietnam and Hong Kong…enjoy!!!
To view more images of my Semester at Sea voyage, CLICK HERE for a slideshow!!!
Check back for my 2nd to the last Semester at Sea post where I will share images from China, Japan and the good ‘ol U.S of A!!! My last Semester at Sea post will be of “ship” life and the traditional Sea Olympics!!! Thanks for stopping by!!!
