Friday, 29th July, 2011
Block of the day - Dresden Plate
We travelled over to Clatterbridge this morning. I met up with Deryn to collect some flyers for the Stitch and Creative Crafts Show at the beginning of December - thanks Deryn! And then we went in to the hospital and - guess what! We were told there was at least an hour's delay for the treatment, so we sat in one of the cafes and had a snack and coffee. We wandered back to the waiting area for the machine, and settled in the for the wait. After half an hour or so, we realised that no-one was actually going through for any treatments, so queried what was happening. Shortly afterwards, a lady came and sat down to talk to us. We knew straight away that this was serious! She explained that the machine still wasn't working and that, even if we waited, it would be after 6.00 p.m. before Richard would be seen and it would be better if we forgot it for the day and went home. We were really cross - 60 mile round trip for nothing - and told her so. Not that it was her fault but two appointments cancelled and we've only be going just over a week. Maddening! So they've given Richard another double appointment day at the end of August. We already have one of these next Friday when we have to be there by 9.00 a.m. for the treatment and then we hang around all day for another one at 6.00 p.m. There has to be at least a six-hour gap between treatments. He can have a place on a day ward for these hours, or we can go out of the hospital if we wish. Perhaps a walk on the beach at Thurstaston is the thing.
So, we departed and went to Costco at Ellesmere Port and then home. Back again on Monday.
Christine
POSTSCRIPT - We've just had a telephone call from Sarah Jane (?) to ask if we could please come along at 7.00 p.m. on Monday. Richard has been temporarily transferred to the other machine (V10-6) but of course there is already a packed list of patients for this machine for the day, hence the time of the appointment. What next?
Friday, 29 July 2011
Thursday, 28 July 2011
Sixth Appointment
Thursday, 28th July,2011
Block of the day - Trip around the world
Another easy day. A quick trip into Chester first thing to do some urgent fabric shopping at Abakhan, and then on to the Oncology Centre at Clatterbridge. The usual procedure, a weekly weigh-in, and then Richard was about half an hour late going in. Afterwards, straight home for some home-made soup.
More of the same tomorrow
Christine
Block of the day - Trip around the world
Another easy day. A quick trip into Chester first thing to do some urgent fabric shopping at Abakhan, and then on to the Oncology Centre at Clatterbridge. The usual procedure, a weekly weigh-in, and then Richard was about half an hour late going in. Afterwards, straight home for some home-made soup.
More of the same tomorrow
Christine
Wednesday, 27 July 2011
Fifth appointment
Wednesday, 27th July, 2011
Block of the day - Bargello
Usual day - early appointment, enema and drink lots of water, and then wait. Richard finally got in to the machine around 12.00, and we were away. Stopped off at Marks & Spencer to buy a few basics and then home.
Richard is feeling quite well and fit. A member of staff at the hospital said that tiredness and feeling rotten might kick in about half way through the programme, but we'll see. So far, so good
More tomorrow.
Christine
Block of the day - Bargello
Usual day - early appointment, enema and drink lots of water, and then wait. Richard finally got in to the machine around 12.00, and we were away. Stopped off at Marks & Spencer to buy a few basics and then home.
Richard is feeling quite well and fit. A member of staff at the hospital said that tiredness and feeling rotten might kick in about half way through the programme, but we'll see. So far, so good
More tomorrow.
Christine
Tuesday, 26 July 2011
Fourth Appointment
Tuesday, 26th July, 2011
Block of the day - Attic Window
Our fourth appointment. We got there early, no problems, but for some reason Richard had to wait an hour to go in to have his radiotherapy. Never mind! Straight home and put the kettle on.
So far, there don't appear to be any side effects from this treatment. Richard is well and fit. Hooray!
More tomorrow.
Christine
Block of the day - Attic Window
Our fourth appointment. We got there early, no problems, but for some reason Richard had to wait an hour to go in to have his radiotherapy. Never mind! Straight home and put the kettle on.
So far, there don't appear to be any side effects from this treatment. Richard is well and fit. Hooray!
More tomorrow.
Christine
Monday, 25 July 2011
Third Appointment
Monday, 25th July, 2011
Block of the day - Machine-pieced flower
The day started off strangely - a complete power-cut at home. Rang the electric co. who said they were dealing with it, and it all came back on in about half-an-hour.
Set off for Clatterbridge half-an-hour early, booked in and Richard started the usual system of enema and then drinking lots of water. After a short wait, a young lady came and took us to the other machine, V10-6. The whole place seemed quiet and orderly, everything working properly, so I think this change of machine was only because it wasn't busy. The treatment was done and we left the hospital very quickly. If every day is like this one, we'll breeze through it all.
We drove into Heswall and visited the famous Oxfam store and the even more famous Christopher's, which is still going strong. Then coffee at Lingard's book shop and a bit of shopping at Tesco. Back to Lymm to pick up some prescriptions and home. No Tour de France now, so the afternoons seem strange!
Back tomorrow
Christine
Block of the day - Machine-pieced flower
The day started off strangely - a complete power-cut at home. Rang the electric co. who said they were dealing with it, and it all came back on in about half-an-hour.
Set off for Clatterbridge half-an-hour early, booked in and Richard started the usual system of enema and then drinking lots of water. After a short wait, a young lady came and took us to the other machine, V10-6. The whole place seemed quiet and orderly, everything working properly, so I think this change of machine was only because it wasn't busy. The treatment was done and we left the hospital very quickly. If every day is like this one, we'll breeze through it all.
We drove into Heswall and visited the famous Oxfam store and the even more famous Christopher's, which is still going strong. Then coffee at Lingard's book shop and a bit of shopping at Tesco. Back to Lymm to pick up some prescriptions and home. No Tour de France now, so the afternoons seem strange!
Back tomorrow
Christine
Friday, 22 July 2011
Second appointment
Friday, 22nd July 2011
Block of the day - Log Cabin
We started the day with a telephone call to say that 'our' machine was once again not working! Ring back in an hour! Here we go again, we thought.
We rang back and - good news - the machine was still not working but they could fit Richard in on to the other machine's schedule, but to wait another hour before coming in. We set off at 11.30 a.m., and were told on arrival that the first machine had just started working again, but - of course, there was a bit of a wait. Go away for an hour and come back at 1.20 p.m. We repaired to the WRVS cafe and had coffee and bacon sandwiches, which were excellent.
Back to the machine. The usual enema and drinking three cups of water, and then wait. Richard finally got in to the machine at around 2.15 p.m., the procedure took about ten minutes, and then we were away. Straight home - well, via the library to pick up some books to alleviate the boredom of waiting, waiting.
Two days off - Tour de France and the German Grand Prix, not to mention England v. India with the lovely Geoffrey Boycott commentating! Oh joy!
More on Monday.
Christine
Block of the day - Log Cabin
We started the day with a telephone call to say that 'our' machine was once again not working! Ring back in an hour! Here we go again, we thought.
We rang back and - good news - the machine was still not working but they could fit Richard in on to the other machine's schedule, but to wait another hour before coming in. We set off at 11.30 a.m., and were told on arrival that the first machine had just started working again, but - of course, there was a bit of a wait. Go away for an hour and come back at 1.20 p.m. We repaired to the WRVS cafe and had coffee and bacon sandwiches, which were excellent.
Back to the machine. The usual enema and drinking three cups of water, and then wait. Richard finally got in to the machine at around 2.15 p.m., the procedure took about ten minutes, and then we were away. Straight home - well, via the library to pick up some books to alleviate the boredom of waiting, waiting.
Two days off - Tour de France and the German Grand Prix, not to mention England v. India with the lovely Geoffrey Boycott commentating! Oh joy!
More on Monday.
Christine
Thursday, 21 July 2011
First session
Thursday, 21st July 2011
Block of the day - Strip Rail
Well, we made it - first session done. We arrived around 3.15 p.m. and found our way through to the reception desk, not an easy task in this hospital. Richard was directed to machine V10-6. I had in mind that we were down for V10-4, so queried this. But just for today Richard was to use V10-6 which, of course, was in a completely different location. A kind lady took us through, and we 'signed' in. For these radiotherapy sessions to work, one has to have an empty bowel and a full bladder! So, quick enema and then three cups of water. We didn't wait too long, and Richard was ushered in. He had to lay on a bed, the machine was lined up with his tattoos etc., and then it rotated and sashayed around him for 10 minutes. And that was that. No after-effects that we can see, so so far so good. We had a cup of coffee in one of the WRVS cafes and then left.
Clatterbridge Hospital is on the Wirral, so is very handy for the Brimstage Craft Centre, some rather nice towns and for Cheshire Oaks/Colliseum retail park - very difficult to pass by these places without calling in. Today, we stopped in the Colliseum retail park at the M & S food shop and bought something nice for tea. Now to catch up with the Tour de France and those mountains.
More tomorrow!
Block of the day - Strip Rail
Well, we made it - first session done. We arrived around 3.15 p.m. and found our way through to the reception desk, not an easy task in this hospital. Richard was directed to machine V10-6. I had in mind that we were down for V10-4, so queried this. But just for today Richard was to use V10-6 which, of course, was in a completely different location. A kind lady took us through, and we 'signed' in. For these radiotherapy sessions to work, one has to have an empty bowel and a full bladder! So, quick enema and then three cups of water. We didn't wait too long, and Richard was ushered in. He had to lay on a bed, the machine was lined up with his tattoos etc., and then it rotated and sashayed around him for 10 minutes. And that was that. No after-effects that we can see, so so far so good. We had a cup of coffee in one of the WRVS cafes and then left.
Clatterbridge Hospital is on the Wirral, so is very handy for the Brimstage Craft Centre, some rather nice towns and for Cheshire Oaks/Colliseum retail park - very difficult to pass by these places without calling in. Today, we stopped in the Colliseum retail park at the M & S food shop and bought something nice for tea. Now to catch up with the Tour de France and those mountains.
More tomorrow!
Prostate journey
Wednesday, 20th July 2011
Today, Richard should have had the first of his 37 appointments with a radiotherapy machine at the Oncology Centre at Clatterbridge Hospital on the Wirral. 'Should' is the important word in that sentence! We got there and checked in and then noticed a sign that said that everything was running 60 minutes late. No problem, we thought. But then a very young lady (everyone looks young these days) came to talk to us and told us that one of their two machines was out of order and had had to be removed somewhere to be mended. We could wait to have a go on the other machine, but it would be at least three hours ahead. We asked what time they finished work and the answer was that they finished work when all the appointments had been seen. So, on balance, we decided to call it a day and go home. 60 mile round trip for nothing! And so disappointing.
So - we start again tomorrow.
Today, Richard should have had the first of his 37 appointments with a radiotherapy machine at the Oncology Centre at Clatterbridge Hospital on the Wirral. 'Should' is the important word in that sentence! We got there and checked in and then noticed a sign that said that everything was running 60 minutes late. No problem, we thought. But then a very young lady (everyone looks young these days) came to talk to us and told us that one of their two machines was out of order and had had to be removed somewhere to be mended. We could wait to have a go on the other machine, but it would be at least three hours ahead. We asked what time they finished work and the answer was that they finished work when all the appointments had been seen. So, on balance, we decided to call it a day and go home. 60 mile round trip for nothing! And so disappointing.
So - we start again tomorrow.
Sunday, 24 October 2010
Thursday, 14 October 2010
Photographs
Having tried and failed to download photographs on to a DVD, I have now added a selection of photos (from Vancouver to Busan) to Flickr. More photographs from the remainder of the trip (China + some extras) will be added next week.
Thursday, 7 October 2010
Lovely Lymm
Hello again
We're home.
We flew back from Beijing yesterday. Our flight was 11.15 a.m. local time (around 03.15 a.m. English time), and landed at Heathrow at around 3.00 p.m. It was a good flight but the food was the worst we've had the entire trip (and that's saying something)! It was more or less inedible. The world's favourite airline? The motto on the side of the plane was 'we're flying the flag'. Not in our eyes! We then contacted our car parking firm and the car was waiting for us in the short-stay car park as soon as we walked out of the airport. And we set off north. We had thought to stay the night somewhere en route, but Richard felt fine and we just kept going. It was daylight all the way (very sunny, actually), and we used the M6 toll road which helped (£5.00, can you believe!). We got home around 6.30 p.m, which was great. We were met with an urgent 'phone call from no. 1 son - bad news, we thought! But, no - just to say they have got a new kitten. Lovely Nala died a few weeks ago, and left a hole in their household, obviously. This one is ginger (shades of Vaclav) and is called Oscar. Hooray for Oscar!
Our time in Beijing was amazing. We disembarked in a port called Tianjin which was an amazing city in its own right. There happened to be a World Climate Conference going on there as we landed. They seem to be building all round it and reclaiming land from the sea - you'd think China was big enough, wouldn't you? But no - they need more. We then got on a coach and went up to the Great Wall. The journey - as mentioned in the previous post - was something else. Coming back to this country and driving here just put it all into perspective. China is mad! We saw at least 5 accidents, and there were more that we didn't see. You take your life in your hands every time you get into a car or bus. The road up to the wall was crowded with enormous lorries (longer and bigger than ours) which were going up to Outer Mongolia or somewhere to collect coal and bring it back to somewhere in Beijing - presumably for power stations. This part of the road was the one that had a 10-day traffic jam a few weeks ago - and we could see why. The wall itself was incredible and we managed to walk a few feet up some steps to one of the little houses that are all along it. It was so hot and crowded that we retired to a rather elegant tea-house for a good argument and one latte coffee. We had stopped on the way up at a government-owned jade factory. Jade is considered very lucky and most girls are given some at birth, when they marry, etc. And jade comes in many different colours. It was all very expensive so we didn't buy any. But they had some good toilets - which was great. They actually had seats, a door you could lock and - wonder of wonders - some toilet paper. This tells you a lot about some of the other toilets we used!
We got back to the hotel at around 5.00 p.m. and booked in. We were shattered, and, after finding the executive room where the computers were, we hastened to bed. For some reason, I couldn't log in to this site, so sent an email to Lucy which she added to the blog - thanks, Lucy!
Next morning we were booked on an all-day trip and set off very early to Tiannenman Square. 1st October is one of the Chinese national holidays, and it lasts for 7 days, so you can imagine the crowds. The biggest queue in the world was already in the Square waiting to get in to see Chairman Mao's embalmed body - whatever turns you on I suppose - and it could only have got worse through the day. We were escorted down the side of the square, which is enormous - biggest in the world, we were told. Then we crossed into the Forbidden City and walked right through up to the far end, where we got back on to our bus. This place is truly staggering. The colossal ego of the emperors was evident everywhere - you can't imagine what life must have been like back then. I must watch 'The Last Emperor' again to get a better idea of all this. After the Forbidden City, we were taken the Silk Factory, where we were shown how silk is made and what they can do with it. Once again, we were under pressure to buy - but we resisted. From there we went to a small (and rather dirty) restaurant for an 'authentic' Chinese meal - which Richard loved and I didn't - but I managed to eat some of it. And then we went to the Temple of Heavenly Pleasure, where the emperor processed once a year to pray for that year's harvest. This was the most beautiful building - I think my favourite of all the ones we saw.
Back to the hotel, and we decided we just had to go up to see the Bird's Nest Stadium. We took a taxi up to the northern part of the city (just £5.00). Again, it was very crowded, but we went in. It cost 50 RBN to enter but fortunately I had copies of our passports with me. As I was over 60, I had to pay 25 RBN but Richard - because he's over 70 and is much venerated - got in free! He was well chuffed. We walked through the stadium - and what a building. Truly inspirational. Again, because it was their national holiday, there were all sorts of different shows going on there - a military band was playing, there were tumblers, dragons, acrobats, drummers. Next door to the stadium is the Cube, the building used for the swimming events at the Olympics, and further down were two more huge buildings used for other events. We had passed the velodrome on the way back from the Wall. The Chinese certainly put on a terrific show and these venues are all obviously still much in use. Let's hope London can come up with as good a show in 2012.
By the time we got back to the hotel, it was after 6.00 and already dark. Another quick meal in the hotel, and then bed. Beijing is a huge city, nearly all of it high rise, and so crowded.
And then on to the bus again yesterday morning and off to the airport. Once again, the Chinese had surpassed themselves with a brand-new airport terminal (3), built to resemble a dragon and a carpark outside built to resemble a turtle. Everything in China is done to bring luck, fortune, good health, etc. All buildings - in fact most of the city - are built on the Fung Shei principle and every symbol has a meaning. Even the car registration number that you're given is considered lucky etc. No. 4 is very unlucky indeed, and you don't see many with that number on.
So - home. Washing underway, post read, email quickly scanned - already thinking about what we have to do next. But so many memories in our heads from this holiday. And around a 1,000 photos to download!
Bye!
We're home.
We flew back from Beijing yesterday. Our flight was 11.15 a.m. local time (around 03.15 a.m. English time), and landed at Heathrow at around 3.00 p.m. It was a good flight but the food was the worst we've had the entire trip (and that's saying something)! It was more or less inedible. The world's favourite airline? The motto on the side of the plane was 'we're flying the flag'. Not in our eyes! We then contacted our car parking firm and the car was waiting for us in the short-stay car park as soon as we walked out of the airport. And we set off north. We had thought to stay the night somewhere en route, but Richard felt fine and we just kept going. It was daylight all the way (very sunny, actually), and we used the M6 toll road which helped (£5.00, can you believe!). We got home around 6.30 p.m, which was great. We were met with an urgent 'phone call from no. 1 son - bad news, we thought! But, no - just to say they have got a new kitten. Lovely Nala died a few weeks ago, and left a hole in their household, obviously. This one is ginger (shades of Vaclav) and is called Oscar. Hooray for Oscar!
Our time in Beijing was amazing. We disembarked in a port called Tianjin which was an amazing city in its own right. There happened to be a World Climate Conference going on there as we landed. They seem to be building all round it and reclaiming land from the sea - you'd think China was big enough, wouldn't you? But no - they need more. We then got on a coach and went up to the Great Wall. The journey - as mentioned in the previous post - was something else. Coming back to this country and driving here just put it all into perspective. China is mad! We saw at least 5 accidents, and there were more that we didn't see. You take your life in your hands every time you get into a car or bus. The road up to the wall was crowded with enormous lorries (longer and bigger than ours) which were going up to Outer Mongolia or somewhere to collect coal and bring it back to somewhere in Beijing - presumably for power stations. This part of the road was the one that had a 10-day traffic jam a few weeks ago - and we could see why. The wall itself was incredible and we managed to walk a few feet up some steps to one of the little houses that are all along it. It was so hot and crowded that we retired to a rather elegant tea-house for a good argument and one latte coffee. We had stopped on the way up at a government-owned jade factory. Jade is considered very lucky and most girls are given some at birth, when they marry, etc. And jade comes in many different colours. It was all very expensive so we didn't buy any. But they had some good toilets - which was great. They actually had seats, a door you could lock and - wonder of wonders - some toilet paper. This tells you a lot about some of the other toilets we used!
We got back to the hotel at around 5.00 p.m. and booked in. We were shattered, and, after finding the executive room where the computers were, we hastened to bed. For some reason, I couldn't log in to this site, so sent an email to Lucy which she added to the blog - thanks, Lucy!
Next morning we were booked on an all-day trip and set off very early to Tiannenman Square. 1st October is one of the Chinese national holidays, and it lasts for 7 days, so you can imagine the crowds. The biggest queue in the world was already in the Square waiting to get in to see Chairman Mao's embalmed body - whatever turns you on I suppose - and it could only have got worse through the day. We were escorted down the side of the square, which is enormous - biggest in the world, we were told. Then we crossed into the Forbidden City and walked right through up to the far end, where we got back on to our bus. This place is truly staggering. The colossal ego of the emperors was evident everywhere - you can't imagine what life must have been like back then. I must watch 'The Last Emperor' again to get a better idea of all this. After the Forbidden City, we were taken the Silk Factory, where we were shown how silk is made and what they can do with it. Once again, we were under pressure to buy - but we resisted. From there we went to a small (and rather dirty) restaurant for an 'authentic' Chinese meal - which Richard loved and I didn't - but I managed to eat some of it. And then we went to the Temple of Heavenly Pleasure, where the emperor processed once a year to pray for that year's harvest. This was the most beautiful building - I think my favourite of all the ones we saw.
Back to the hotel, and we decided we just had to go up to see the Bird's Nest Stadium. We took a taxi up to the northern part of the city (just £5.00). Again, it was very crowded, but we went in. It cost 50 RBN to enter but fortunately I had copies of our passports with me. As I was over 60, I had to pay 25 RBN but Richard - because he's over 70 and is much venerated - got in free! He was well chuffed. We walked through the stadium - and what a building. Truly inspirational. Again, because it was their national holiday, there were all sorts of different shows going on there - a military band was playing, there were tumblers, dragons, acrobats, drummers. Next door to the stadium is the Cube, the building used for the swimming events at the Olympics, and further down were two more huge buildings used for other events. We had passed the velodrome on the way back from the Wall. The Chinese certainly put on a terrific show and these venues are all obviously still much in use. Let's hope London can come up with as good a show in 2012.
By the time we got back to the hotel, it was after 6.00 and already dark. Another quick meal in the hotel, and then bed. Beijing is a huge city, nearly all of it high rise, and so crowded.
And then on to the bus again yesterday morning and off to the airport. Once again, the Chinese had surpassed themselves with a brand-new airport terminal (3), built to resemble a dragon and a carpark outside built to resemble a turtle. Everything in China is done to bring luck, fortune, good health, etc. All buildings - in fact most of the city - are built on the Fung Shei principle and every symbol has a meaning. Even the car registration number that you're given is considered lucky etc. No. 4 is very unlucky indeed, and you don't see many with that number on.
So - home. Washing underway, post read, email quickly scanned - already thinking about what we have to do next. But so many memories in our heads from this holiday. And around a 1,000 photos to download!
Bye!
Monday, 4 October 2010
Beijing
Posted by Lucy - via email
Hi all.
Sorry - can't access the blog tonight, so this is a quick email instead.
We've had a busy few days - Qingdao on Saturday (smelly, noisy, but interesting), then Dalian on Sunday (beautiful, graceful city but it rained) and today we're off the ship and have visited the Great Wall. What a busy exhausting time, particularly today. We had to get up at 5.30 a.m. only to sit and wait for over an hour before the Chinese authorities would let us off the boat. We then got a bus which took us up to the Great Wall, the journey mostly through the suburbs of Beijing and the traffic was mad! We passed 5 accidents on the way, and the traffic was continually changing lanes and honking horns. Quite nerve-racking.
When we got to the Wall, it was very hot, busy, noisy and dirty!!! But amazing. We managed to walk a few steps and then retired to a tea room. How people were walking up and down the thing I can't imagine. It went on for miles, and that was only the bit we could see.
The bus then took us back in to Beijing, where we're staying at the Marriott City Wall Hotel - very sumptuous and grand. We've just had a quick meal and then it's bed - we're shattered. Tomorrow we're off to see the Forbidden City, Tiannenman Square, lunch, the Temple of Heaven (or something ) and then a visit to the Silk Factory. Probably another early night, and we'll be making an early start to the airport for the flight home.
No idea what hour we land, and we may stay over somewhere on the way back from Heathrow. We're both well, though tired, and looking forward to getting home. The weather has been very mixed - very hot today - what's it like back in England?
Happy Birthday Tony
Love to all
Christine and Richard
Hi all.
Sorry - can't access the blog tonight, so this is a quick email instead.
We've had a busy few days - Qingdao on Saturday (smelly, noisy, but interesting), then Dalian on Sunday (beautiful, graceful city but it rained) and today we're off the ship and have visited the Great Wall. What a busy exhausting time, particularly today. We had to get up at 5.30 a.m. only to sit and wait for over an hour before the Chinese authorities would let us off the boat. We then got a bus which took us up to the Great Wall, the journey mostly through the suburbs of Beijing and the traffic was mad! We passed 5 accidents on the way, and the traffic was continually changing lanes and honking horns. Quite nerve-racking.
When we got to the Wall, it was very hot, busy, noisy and dirty!!! But amazing. We managed to walk a few steps and then retired to a tea room. How people were walking up and down the thing I can't imagine. It went on for miles, and that was only the bit we could see.
The bus then took us back in to Beijing, where we're staying at the Marriott City Wall Hotel - very sumptuous and grand. We've just had a quick meal and then it's bed - we're shattered. Tomorrow we're off to see the Forbidden City, Tiannenman Square, lunch, the Temple of Heaven (or something ) and then a visit to the Silk Factory. Probably another early night, and we'll be making an early start to the airport for the flight home.
No idea what hour we land, and we may stay over somewhere on the way back from Heathrow. We're both well, though tired, and looking forward to getting home. The weather has been very mixed - very hot today - what's it like back in England?
Happy Birthday Tony
Love to all
Christine and Richard
Friday, 1 October 2010
Still at sea!
Hello!
Yes - we're still at sea. Today (1st October) we're in the Yellow Sea en route for Qingdao, a port city that has belonged at different times to Germany and Japan. It has China's most famous brewery as well as lots of German-style architecture. We're not going on an organised tour but catching the shuttle bus downtown to see what there is to see. The weather has got progressively warmer as we've come south, today is around 20o and the sea is calm. I've just done a load of washing (last one before we get home again) and this afternoon we have to present ourselves to the Chinese immigration people to see if we're fit to let in! Apparently, if you're not in good health, they won't let you land. How we're supposed to fly home from Beijing next week if you're not allowed into the country I don't know.
Tonight is our last formal night. Two things have been decided for us while on this cruise - one is that we are not cruise people and we'll probably never do another one. The other is that we're not dressing-up people either. Having said that, we've had a fantastic holiday and seen places that we'd never otherwise see. Most people on the ship are lovely and we've had fun talking to people from all over the world. The dynamics of the ship have shifted in the last few days and there are now lots more Chinese and Japanese on board, with the consequence that all the announcements etc. are done in two or three languages. For instance, last night the film "Invictus" was put on and it was dubbed into Japanese. Very strange.
Since the last blog, we've been to Muroran in Japan and to Vladivostok. From Muroran, we took a tour up to Sapporo - an enormous city that was celebrating its Autumn Festival - just like Manchester the week before Christmas! We also went to a traditional Folk Village - that was very interesting.
Vladivostok was a very different place. It was dull, grey, everywhere crumbling, nothing much to show us in the way of museums, etc., and made us quite depressed. The people must be depressed too - living on the edge of the Pacific Ocean with no other Russian cities nearby. To get to Moscow on the train takes 8 days and costs a fortune. We heard that they send some of their children to Australia for their high school education as it is so expensive in Russia, and the universities likewise. We went through a submarine museum but there was no Roman alphabet signage to help. The only place that was interesting was the train station which, I think, dates from before the revolution - it was beautiful.
Yesterday, we were in Busan in South Korea. What an amazing place that was! The industry and life there was buzzing. We took a tour up to some beautiful temples in the hills around the city, and then came down to explore the fish market. It must be the biggest one we've ever seen. Half was selling dead - though extremely fresh - fish, and the other half was selling live fish, kept in enormous tanks. I've never seen such a variety. There were little sea slugs that we crawling around their little plates - quite disgusting. After that we took the shuttle back downtown with the intention of finding an internet connection. The whole city is wi-fi free, so we thought it would be a doddle! But what we hadn't reckoned with was that, although the keyboard had both Korean and western letters, when I typed in our name and password on AOL it came up with Korean script. The place where we were couldn't understand that we wanted to switch to western script, so we gave up. We went to Macdonalds and had a coke instead! That is why I'm once again using the ship's very expensive internet cafe. Hopefully, we'll be able to get a connection at the hotel in Beijing where they might be able to understand what we want better.
We've been remarkably lucky with the weather. The sunshine and calm seas that we had in Alaska seems to have followed us all the way across. We've had the occasional choppy sea, but it's never bothered us. I know that the captain has been dodging a typhoon that was much further south, so he obviously knows his job. And it looks like China is going to be quite hot.
So - we're nearly at the end of our holiday. Qingdao tomorrow, Dahlian on Sunday, and Monday we land at Tianjin where we are doing a trip to see the Great Wall before getting to our hotel. I can't believe it's been nearly four weeks.
Hope Martin had a happy birthday yesterday.
Richard is getting progressively better, just coughing - but that's nothing new. All we've got to worry about now is if the Chinese let him in! They look a stern lot, very official and officious.
Will try and blog next week - if not, see you when we get home. Oh - for a good cup of tea!
Christine
Yes - we're still at sea. Today (1st October) we're in the Yellow Sea en route for Qingdao, a port city that has belonged at different times to Germany and Japan. It has China's most famous brewery as well as lots of German-style architecture. We're not going on an organised tour but catching the shuttle bus downtown to see what there is to see. The weather has got progressively warmer as we've come south, today is around 20o and the sea is calm. I've just done a load of washing (last one before we get home again) and this afternoon we have to present ourselves to the Chinese immigration people to see if we're fit to let in! Apparently, if you're not in good health, they won't let you land. How we're supposed to fly home from Beijing next week if you're not allowed into the country I don't know.
Tonight is our last formal night. Two things have been decided for us while on this cruise - one is that we are not cruise people and we'll probably never do another one. The other is that we're not dressing-up people either. Having said that, we've had a fantastic holiday and seen places that we'd never otherwise see. Most people on the ship are lovely and we've had fun talking to people from all over the world. The dynamics of the ship have shifted in the last few days and there are now lots more Chinese and Japanese on board, with the consequence that all the announcements etc. are done in two or three languages. For instance, last night the film "Invictus" was put on and it was dubbed into Japanese. Very strange.
Since the last blog, we've been to Muroran in Japan and to Vladivostok. From Muroran, we took a tour up to Sapporo - an enormous city that was celebrating its Autumn Festival - just like Manchester the week before Christmas! We also went to a traditional Folk Village - that was very interesting.
Vladivostok was a very different place. It was dull, grey, everywhere crumbling, nothing much to show us in the way of museums, etc., and made us quite depressed. The people must be depressed too - living on the edge of the Pacific Ocean with no other Russian cities nearby. To get to Moscow on the train takes 8 days and costs a fortune. We heard that they send some of their children to Australia for their high school education as it is so expensive in Russia, and the universities likewise. We went through a submarine museum but there was no Roman alphabet signage to help. The only place that was interesting was the train station which, I think, dates from before the revolution - it was beautiful.
Yesterday, we were in Busan in South Korea. What an amazing place that was! The industry and life there was buzzing. We took a tour up to some beautiful temples in the hills around the city, and then came down to explore the fish market. It must be the biggest one we've ever seen. Half was selling dead - though extremely fresh - fish, and the other half was selling live fish, kept in enormous tanks. I've never seen such a variety. There were little sea slugs that we crawling around their little plates - quite disgusting. After that we took the shuttle back downtown with the intention of finding an internet connection. The whole city is wi-fi free, so we thought it would be a doddle! But what we hadn't reckoned with was that, although the keyboard had both Korean and western letters, when I typed in our name and password on AOL it came up with Korean script. The place where we were couldn't understand that we wanted to switch to western script, so we gave up. We went to Macdonalds and had a coke instead! That is why I'm once again using the ship's very expensive internet cafe. Hopefully, we'll be able to get a connection at the hotel in Beijing where they might be able to understand what we want better.
We've been remarkably lucky with the weather. The sunshine and calm seas that we had in Alaska seems to have followed us all the way across. We've had the occasional choppy sea, but it's never bothered us. I know that the captain has been dodging a typhoon that was much further south, so he obviously knows his job. And it looks like China is going to be quite hot.
So - we're nearly at the end of our holiday. Qingdao tomorrow, Dahlian on Sunday, and Monday we land at Tianjin where we are doing a trip to see the Great Wall before getting to our hotel. I can't believe it's been nearly four weeks.
Hope Martin had a happy birthday yesterday.
Richard is getting progressively better, just coughing - but that's nothing new. All we've got to worry about now is if the Chinese let him in! They look a stern lot, very official and officious.
Will try and blog next week - if not, see you when we get home. Oh - for a good cup of tea!
Christine
Saturday, 25 September 2010
Catch-up!
Hello
Firstly,thanks for the comments. We're so sad to hear about Nala. She had a happy life with you, but you'll miss her. How's Josh coping? And - yes - we did miss your anniversary and your birthday, Becki. How bizarre! We've been putting our watches back one hour for the last few days, tonight as well, and then to lose a whole day. Tomorrow, I gather we put our watches forward as we'll be sailing east for the first time, but after that we start putting them back again. At this moment, it's 10.40 a.m. on Saturday, 25th September. At home, I think it's around midnight on Saturday night. Very weird. Hope the Waltons had a happy anniversary and birthday, anyway. We were thinking about you all. Wendy and Peter - thanks for your emails. Hope you have a fantastic time on your cruise. You'll be pleased to know that we've had good weather all the way down, the sea calm and only occasionally choppy. We're not the best sailors, but we've been fine. Richard says he went to a classic car chatty thing yesterday but was disappointed that most of the people there (Americans) didn't know what a classic car was! Shame!
Secondly, we are now in the Pacific again, following down the Kamchatka peninsula and sometime later today the northern island of Japan, Hokkaido. We land in Muroran early tomorrow morning. We have a tour booked which will take us up to Sapporo (WinterOlympics?), which will take all day. We could probably find a computer there somewhere, but we won't have time as the tour takes so long. So we are using this on the ship - special deal of 20 mins. for the price of 10 - best offer yet! We've been at sea for a week now, and it's been a long one. There have been lots of things to do, lectures, shows, food to eat!!! etc., but we'll be glad to get on shore again. There's a professor on board who's been giving lectures on Korea, China and Japan, and he's been fascinating. There is a lady on board who gives talks about what to expect at each destination, and she's very knowledgeable and friendly, so that's been really useful.
Richard is much better now - his chesty infection has improved - but, of course, he now has a bucketful catarrh! He's coughing and splurting all over the place - and his handkerchiefs are disgusting. We have quite a good launderette on the ship, and I've used it twice so far - I'm sure many of you are wondering how I'm coping on the washing front! Being away for a month has it's problems! We have a very pleasant cabin with everything we need. It's on deck 8, near the sharp end of the ship, so we feel quite a lot of the movement - but it hasn't stopped us sleeping.
I'll try and blog again either from the ship or from one of the ports we're visiting next week.
Hope everyone is well - love from the Pacific Ocean!
Christine
Firstly,thanks for the comments. We're so sad to hear about Nala. She had a happy life with you, but you'll miss her. How's Josh coping? And - yes - we did miss your anniversary and your birthday, Becki. How bizarre! We've been putting our watches back one hour for the last few days, tonight as well, and then to lose a whole day. Tomorrow, I gather we put our watches forward as we'll be sailing east for the first time, but after that we start putting them back again. At this moment, it's 10.40 a.m. on Saturday, 25th September. At home, I think it's around midnight on Saturday night. Very weird. Hope the Waltons had a happy anniversary and birthday, anyway. We were thinking about you all. Wendy and Peter - thanks for your emails. Hope you have a fantastic time on your cruise. You'll be pleased to know that we've had good weather all the way down, the sea calm and only occasionally choppy. We're not the best sailors, but we've been fine. Richard says he went to a classic car chatty thing yesterday but was disappointed that most of the people there (Americans) didn't know what a classic car was! Shame!
Secondly, we are now in the Pacific again, following down the Kamchatka peninsula and sometime later today the northern island of Japan, Hokkaido. We land in Muroran early tomorrow morning. We have a tour booked which will take us up to Sapporo (WinterOlympics?), which will take all day. We could probably find a computer there somewhere, but we won't have time as the tour takes so long. So we are using this on the ship - special deal of 20 mins. for the price of 10 - best offer yet! We've been at sea for a week now, and it's been a long one. There have been lots of things to do, lectures, shows, food to eat!!! etc., but we'll be glad to get on shore again. There's a professor on board who's been giving lectures on Korea, China and Japan, and he's been fascinating. There is a lady on board who gives talks about what to expect at each destination, and she's very knowledgeable and friendly, so that's been really useful.
Richard is much better now - his chesty infection has improved - but, of course, he now has a bucketful catarrh! He's coughing and splurting all over the place - and his handkerchiefs are disgusting. We have quite a good launderette on the ship, and I've used it twice so far - I'm sure many of you are wondering how I'm coping on the washing front! Being away for a month has it's problems! We have a very pleasant cabin with everything we need. It's on deck 8, near the sharp end of the ship, so we feel quite a lot of the movement - but it hasn't stopped us sleeping.
I'll try and blog again either from the ship or from one of the ports we're visiting next week.
Hope everyone is well - love from the Pacific Ocean!
Christine
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
All at sea!
Hello everyone. This is a quick update from the ship. As I suspected, there was no internet access in Whittier, and we've been at sea ever since. Today is Tuesday, 21st September, and tomorrow is Thursday, 23rd September. I don't know what day you're all at, but that's the date here!
We have a fantastic train ride at Skagway, quite stupendous. The next day we cruised through Glacier Bay and after that we cruised through College Fjord. Both were utterly magical and undescribable. We then docked at Whittier for the day, a one-eyed town if ever there was one, while some passengers got off and more got on. We are now sailing westwards across the Pacific. We followed some of the Aleutian Islands down - including Kodiak - and then crossed north into the Bering Sea, still following these Aleutian Islands. We'
re about half way through the Bering Sea now. We cross the IDL at around 2.00 a.m. tomorrow morning. Sometime after that we cross south out of the Bering Sea and follow the Kamchatka Peninsula down towards Japan's Hakkaido island. We reach Muroran on Sunday morning, and we have a trip booked to take us up to Sapporo and some other places of interest. I'm hoping that I can find an internet cafe there and will be able to write more.
Unfortunately, Richard is unwell. He has a terrible chesty cough and more catarrh than anyone should be asked to deal with. He went down to the see the doctor yesterday who put him on a nebulizer and then on to antibiotics. If anything, he seems worse today, but hopefully, once the antibiotics kick in, he'll improve. I'm taking back down to see the doctor later this afternoon, whether he likes it or not. He looks and sounds awful!
That's all for now folks. This is costing a small fortune, and I won't tell you what the doctor's appointments cost. Ah well!
Christine
We have a fantastic train ride at Skagway, quite stupendous. The next day we cruised through Glacier Bay and after that we cruised through College Fjord. Both were utterly magical and undescribable. We then docked at Whittier for the day, a one-eyed town if ever there was one, while some passengers got off and more got on. We are now sailing westwards across the Pacific. We followed some of the Aleutian Islands down - including Kodiak - and then crossed north into the Bering Sea, still following these Aleutian Islands. We'
re about half way through the Bering Sea now. We cross the IDL at around 2.00 a.m. tomorrow morning. Sometime after that we cross south out of the Bering Sea and follow the Kamchatka Peninsula down towards Japan's Hakkaido island. We reach Muroran on Sunday morning, and we have a trip booked to take us up to Sapporo and some other places of interest. I'm hoping that I can find an internet cafe there and will be able to write more.
Unfortunately, Richard is unwell. He has a terrible chesty cough and more catarrh than anyone should be asked to deal with. He went down to the see the doctor yesterday who put him on a nebulizer and then on to antibiotics. If anything, he seems worse today, but hopefully, once the antibiotics kick in, he'll improve. I'm taking back down to see the doctor later this afternoon, whether he likes it or not. He looks and sounds awful!
That's all for now folks. This is costing a small fortune, and I won't tell you what the doctor's appointments cost. Ah well!
Christine
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