traveldiary.stracke.us

We did it! We are back home, after circling the globe during the last 56 days. We flew Lufthansa from Toronto to Duesseldorf (3830 miles),
Lufthansa from Duesseldorf to Frankfurt (118 miles),
Lufthansa from Frankfurt to Singapore (6371 miles),
Singapore Airlines from Singapore to Shanghai (2350 miles) and
Air Canada from Shanghai to Toronto (7520 miles).
We flew 20200 miles in Business Class, using 120000 miles for a Star Alliance award ticket.
It cost us $124 per person to fly once around the globe.
We spent some more time in the air, but paid Economy Class for these flights:
Albany-Newark-Toronto, Munich-Venice, Venice-Frankfurt, Singapore-Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta-Denpasar, Denpasar-Kuala Lumpur-Penang, Penang-Kuala Lumpur-Manado, Manado-Singapore and Toronto-Washington-Albany.
On August 27, we are in Shanghai Pudong Airport, and I recognize “our” Lufthansa 747 “Muenchen” at the gate next to the Business lounge. We flew on this plane last month from Frankfurt to Singapore. This is when I realize, that I already know airplanes by their name. After 18 flights in 7 weeks, it is time to take a break from travel and go home.
We stepped on 10 islands this summer, learned a lot about South East Asian cultures with their respectful and amazingly friendly people, and saw some great underwater scenery and wildlife!

We just cruised the skies non-stop for an entire night and entire day, aboard Air Canada AC 88, a Boeing 777-200LR, without refueling. We left Shanghai on August 27 at “sunset” and flew for 12:40 hours, going east against the travel of the Sun, and landed in Toronto at 19:45, still the same day, August 27!
This time, there was a real sunset. In Shanghai, all we saw was a dirty haze in the “air” and dusk at 5 PM. I was prepared to use our duckbill face masks in the Pudong Shanghai International Airport, but nobody around us was coughing or sneezing. We had to go through immigration, in order to check in our bags. We were a little worried that we would end up stranded here in the Terminal, like Tom Hanks in the movie.
(more…)

Cruising 10,972 m above the world, I look out my window and see offshore islands near Vietnam below. The temperature is -45 degrees C and we are cruising with a speed of 870 km/hr over the South China Sea on route to Shanghai, where we will need to, not only change planes, but actually have to go through immigration in order to claim and recheck our bags for our continuing flight to Canada. China does not allow baggage to be checked through, even though we will not touch Chinese soil, except within the airport terminal.

(more…)

It is Wednesday, August 26, and we have breakfast in bed on our last vacation day in Singapore. Actually, I had to get up and walk from our Marina Mandarin Hotel to the Starbuck’s in the adjoining Marina Square Mall. We spend the morning in our mineral water pool and, in the afternoon take a cab to our next hotel at Changi Village near the airport. The Hotel Changi Village is conveniently located across from the ferry terminal and Changi food hawkers. There are black clouds in the sky, just as we leave for the 15 minute boat ride to the island Pulau Ubin. There is no set ferry schedule and the captain only leaves after 12 passengers are waiting. We are only 10 people at the dock, and we have to pay an additional 50 cents each, in order to make up for his loss in income!
As soon as we reach the information booth on the island, a tropical thunderstorm greets us. This island is today, what Singapore used to look like 40 years ago: rural kampongs (villages) and peaceful country life. Now there are bike paths here and we had planned to explore the island nature preserve. No such luck, it continues to rain. The exploration will have to wait until our next stopover in Sinapore, when we will rent a cabin on Pulau Ubin. We take the ferry back and instead check out the neighborhood shops in Changi Village. Our hotel has a rooftop pool and this is where we relax before dinner. It had stopped raining, as soon as we came back to the mainland (Singapore Island). For dinner we had Udong soup in a Japanese restaurant.
Now it is Thursday morning and I am writing from the Singapore Airlines Krisflyer Lounge at Changi Airport. Our flight to Shanghai leaves at 8:05AM, the first leg of our journey home!

We are back in Singapore and an early morning thunderstorm quickly gives way to sunny skies. In the morning, we explore “Little India” and visit the “Sri Veerama Kaliamman Temple”, a Hindu temple dedicated to Kali, Shiva’s wife.
At the entrance, there is a container for smashing coconuts. This is a symbolic smashing of one’s ego, asking the goddess to show us how to be humble!
At night, we have dinner under the stars at “Breworkz”, and watch the joggers run along Clarke Quay. It is still
78 Degrees and humid!
After dinner, we are off to the Night Safari in the Singapore Zoo. A tram takes us through the open wildlife habitats and we get to see all the big animals: Giraffes, Water Buffalos, Rhinos, Elephants, Tigers, Lions, Hippos and Leopards. They are all very close and at night, we do not even see the moats or fences which hopefully are there somewhere between the animals and us. The only instructions we receive are not to use flash photography and to keep our hands inside the tram! Next, we walk the “Fishing Cat Trail”. The fishing cats keep walking around the stocked pond, but don’t feel like fishing! The Barking Deer are not entertaining us with any barking and the Indian Gharial is nowhere to be found. The huge Flying Foxes are zooming in, feeding on the bananas, hanging in the trees. It is not until I hit my head that I realize that a plastic pane is separating us from the big fruit bats!
We enjoyed our 2 extra days in Singapore and definitely would like to come back another time.

I am getting tired of the mediocre food at Siladen Resort.
We call Silk Air in Manado and are able to change our flight to Singapore from the 26th to the 24th. This will give us 3 more nights in Singapore. Our boat shuttle ride from Siladen to the Barracuda Jetty in Manado is full of suspense.
The engine is more sputtering than running. Are we going to make the flight? The next flight is 2 days from now! We do make it to the airport on time, and our Silk Air A320, airline code MI (!), takes us west across Borneo to our destination:
1 Degree 20′ North and 103 Degree 59′ East, Changi Airport, Singapore.
At 7 PM, we are swimming again in the mineral water pool of “our” Marina Mandarin Hotel. It feels like coming home!
We have our Singapore Welcome Dinner at the “Brotzeit” Restaurant: Brezen, Nuernberger sausages, Obatzda cheese for the hunger and Paulaner Weissbier to quell the thirst. Not exactly Asian food tonight

“Terima Kasih” or “Thank You” is just about the only Indonesian I have learned while here on Siladen Island. While gazing at the flat Celebes Sea from my beach Fale today, I contemplate the fact that there are more than 300 different languages spoken throughout the Indonesian archipelago. I think I have to quit, while I can retain at least a few words in my brain. And it’s not my brain, it’s the H E A T !
After the initial heat and culture shock, we are getting used to the island life. After sleeping through the hot day on Thursday, we suffer from a burst of energy and actually go scuba diving. The island resort is a micro-cosmos, and onboard our boat are only 5 divers: one from Barcelona, Spain, an Italian father and son from Milan, plus Gabi and myself. Our dive boat is a wooden, flat-bottom boat, powered by four 40hp Yamaha outboards. At least theoretically we have four engines. Most of the time, one of the engines is being worked on along the way, while we are being propelled by the remaining three!
The crew and dive guides, as well as the restaurant staff, are all exceptionally friendly and nice. I have plenty of opportunities to practice saying: “Terima Kasih”. The diving is like we have not seen since Vanuatu. We encounter clear, warm waters with hundreds of fish, healthy corals and impressive vertical walls. Yesterday we were using a slow current and effortlessly drifting along an impressive vertical reef wall at the north end of Bunaken Island. Our group was only 3 divers: our guide Perman, Gabi and myself. The boat rides are no longer than 30 minutes and we are back at the resort for lunch at 1 PM. In the afternoon there was more sleeping in our cool bungalow.
Last night, all the guests got dressed up in colorful sarongs for the barbecue dinner, which was served right on the beach, under the stars, with the small waves lapping at our feet. It was still hot at night! Today is our last day on Siladen Island and we take a break from diving. It is Sunday, and we have a cup of coffee on our veranda, followed by a morning swim before breakfast. Most of the other guests are running off to the dive boat, while Gabi and I have a leisurely Sunday “brunch’. After all, we are not at work here and therefore are not going to be rushed! The rest of the day is spent with serious relaxation: swimming, playing pool, eating and sleeping.
Terima Kasih, Siladen!

After a day’s worth of just lounging around yesterday, we thought it was time to peel ourselves off our lounge chairs and do what we are supposed to be doing here………diving. It was a difficult move because the 90+ degree heat and alleged 70% humidity (according to Intellicast Weather) can really suck the life out of you.  We braved it and informed the dive shop, that we would give it a go. The Bunaken  Island Marine Park comes advertised to be one of the best dive destinations in the world. Yeah we have heard or better said, have seen many such advertisements for places in various dive magazines, only to be disappointed upon venturing into the deep blue.  Lonely Planet had informed us, that plastic garbage, that had come down from Manado  with the currents,  could be floating on the surface , if the wind was blowing “wrong”.  One of the Spanish guests here had told us about plastic ware she encountered on the surface on her snorkel; our German friend, who was here snorkeling a month ago, mentioned the same calamity.
(more…)

We arrive on Pulau Siladen (Siladen Island) on Wednesday, August 19th. Our private water shuttle picks us up at Barracuda Pier north of Manado, Sulawesi at 11:30. The jetty on Siladen Island is a ruin and we walk across 2 other boats, through shallow water up to the village. It is very hot, as we walk through the high noon heat. Gabi is using our guide’s flip-flops. His feet can stand the burning ground ,walking down the dusty “Main Street”. The villagers are greeting us with a friendly hello and wave, as we walk by. The houses are made of corrugated tin walls and roofs (with some holes), wood, bamboo or stone. There are even some newer houses, built with cement and regular windows and roofs.
After about 10 minutes, we enter through the bamboo gate of the Siladen Resort. Our bungalow “Violet” is the furthest one from the pool and restaurant. We have a nice lunch, and next want to check out the pool. There are about 20 other guests lounging on the beach, but nobody is in the pool. Then we notice why! The salt water pool is filled with floating pieces of green algae. So much for cooling off in the pool! Let’s hit the beach and ocean instead! We walk down to the beach, but the ocean has disappeared! It happens to be low tide, and the locals are searching for clams in the ankle-deep tide pools, as far as I can see. The water has disappeared to beyond the fringing reef, about 400 yards from shore! Next, I inquire about snorkeling. The only snorkeling spot is at the broken jetty on the other side of the island. We digest all this and realize, that in order to reach water, we have to hike through the searing heat. My first impression of Siladen Resort is disappointment. I guess we are spoiled and in the past have stayed at nicer tropical places.
Our next move: walking back to our air-conditioned bungalow and getting out of the heat. Gabi and I take a long afternoon nap on our four-post bed with mosquito curtains around us.
At this point, it does not look good. I don’t think we will have the energy to go scuba diving here!

Our Hotel Sahid Kawanua in Manado, on the island of Sulawesi, is the only dirty place we stayed at in South East Asia. The bed sheets are gray with stains and holes, the towels are more black than white and the bathroom faucets are falling apart. We fix the broken toilet flushing chain a couple of times. We are the only guests for a late dinner in the hotel’s restaurant. I order a tuna sandwich and am surprised when the waitress brings me a whole fish on a roll. Don’t they know that tuna is supposed to come out of a can, so that I do not recognize it as a fish! Gabi ends up eating my dinner.At least the dinner only costs us 3 USD per person.
For breakfast, we admire a large Asian food buffet with more fish and food that I do not know. Gabi miraculously still has some cereal packages in her suitcase, and all we need is some hot water for our nutritious breakfast. We are the only Non-Asian guests, drinking our own Nescafe and eating our cereal versus soups, rice and fish for breakfast. It shows how difficult it is for me to try unknown food items early in the morning! I am calling our next hotel, the island resort on Siladen and arrange for an early transfer to the island. Lunch will be in the international resort!