DID I PUT THESE IN ALREADY???

We  (me and my much more advanced GEEK) are still having trouble with adding the pictures to the blog.  So bear with us as we make mistakes like sometimes adding a picture twice,     sometimes not at all       and often are not timely with the pictures..   

The good news is that our relationship continues to grow and prosper.

About Kuala Lumpur

 

We were surprised at the large number of hi-rises in 

Kuala Lumpur, interesting, good architecture.  Made me aware of my ignorance and arrogance.                                       ONE OF THE VALUES OF TRAVEL                

In Chinatown    Bob is drawing a stick with a number on it.  Then go to a drawer with that number, pick out a paper with your fortune.  I don't remember his, but mine was to the effect                                         "Nothing will come easy to you.  Work harder"

So I started by taming a dragon

PETRONAS TOWERS IN KL

Hoi An Gided Tour

The marble for these magnificent sculptures comes from the mountain near by. The sculptures were made in the workshops here.

 We went to a silk- making facility.   Here are the silk worms - the start of it all. 

t

BOB'S OBSERVATIONS

                                    SAIGON

“Scooter’s City”: in Saigon, Vietnam (a.k.a. Ho Chi Minh City) the motor scooter reigns supreme* and the pedestrian is an endangered species. There are no chickens left in Saigon, having attempted to cross the road, their genre has been decimated.

The hordes of two-wheelers come in waves of hundreds, sometimes, even thousands it seems and the roads are wide and there is a paucity of traffic signals. One way to get across will be to rent the back half of the seat of a Taxi-Scooter (if you can't lick them - join them).

The choreography is incredible. There seems to be an uncanny para-psychological comprehension or pre-consciousness of the movements of nearby vehicles.

Petty crime is rampant in the form of pick pocketing and purse snatching, further contributing to the dis-attraction of Saigon as a tourist destination.

The Park Hyatt Hotel and its “Square One” restaurant and beautiful swimming pool were our refuge in this lawless, hot and unfriendly environment.

Our positive attitude carried us through. We considered ourselves observers and “made lemonade” as the saying goes.

*5 million scooters, motorbikes or motorcycles.
                                   
                                     HOI AN

The city of Tailors: Hoi An is a small city several hundred miles North of Saigon (near Denang, news of which you may remember from our “police action” several decades ago).
The curriculum in the secondary schools features tailoring and apparel design courses.?????????????
  Several hundred little shops where you can have a dress,         suits, slacks, shirts or other apparel custom made overnight.

We are expecting delivery of our new outfits several hours from now. Hopefully, these will be clothes we will enjoy wearing when we see you next (rather than demanding up as souvenirs of our trip). 

We are enjoying temperate weather now that we have moved several hundred miles North.

HELLO VIET NAM

SATURDAY MARCH 24       

Alarm went off at 5:30.  Plane to SAIGON

Guide picked us up at airport and took us to the old part of town.

VERY CROWDED  HOT   HUMID

Thousands of motor scooters crowded on the streets, driving fast and crazy,
inches apart.  At a park, hundreds of motor scooters parked, looked like a river of motor scooters. Couples, and couples with a kid, on most motor bikes.  On a few, one person with huge packages tied on.

Visited an old  Buddhist Temple.  Area dirty, people sitting on the ground eating, stalls selling candles, flowers etc.  We are sweating.  Guide difficult to understand spouting dates of history.  Next, a crowded hot, still air, market where people hustled us. 
“Good prices mister”, “Try on madam”. 
One high rise building of interest.
                                                   NOT MY IDEA OF A GOOD TIME. 
                                     BOB’S SHIRT IS TOTALLY WET DOWN THE BACK.
We cut the tour short, went to the Park Hyatt Hotel, went swimming in the outdoor pool,
had a beer and a  nap .
Walked into the dinning room.  WOW   It was romantic and contemporary with a kitchen open to view, showing talented, immaculate chefs creating appetizing looking dishes.
And the food was unusual and delicious.  They even had good gin and  vodka.   

SUNDAY
Wake-up call at 6:30 AM
Guide took us to the airport and helped us until security check.  Made it easy.
He is getting to speak much better English.

DANANG
COOL     Guide met us.  Peaceful pace. Sanity. Countryside.
Drove to Life Heritage Resort on the river in Hoi An. 
All pleasant.

Starting with Singapore we do not drink water
or brush our teeth with water from the tap.  No one does.  It is not safe.
One needs to boil the drinking water. 
Seems strange - so advanced in so many ways but water.

King's New Palace Kuala Lumpur

The king is for ceremonies.  This is a gated property with two military soldiers on horses in alcoves on each side of the gate.

The prime minister and the legislature run the the government.  The prime minister is elected every 4  years.  He    chooses the date of the election during the election year.  Currently he is not telling when this year the election will take place