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A simple bike ride around Clifton Park proved to be an enlightening experience into the past. Instead of traveling on our usual nature bike path off Vischer Ferry Road, we ventured into new uncharted territory. While traveling in the car a while ago, I saw that the Clifton Park Bike Trail network had expanded onto Carlton and Ushers Roads. Today I convinced Lothar to try a new trail. After leaving our development it was a brisk ride down Kinns Road Bike Path and unto Carlton Road, which failed to have a bike path connection. Nevertheless we ventured down the road under the one lane under-path of the Delaware and Hudson railroad line. Needless to say our return was not going to be as brisk. After our truck up the hill, we were  pleasantly surprised to once again encounter our bike path at the corner of Van Patten Dr.. Thereafter we were able to circumnavigate the northern part of Clifton Park via Van Patten Drive, Ushers Road, Main Street and Torre Pines Road without hardly any on road biking. At the corner of Ushers and Main Street, we were greeted by an 150 year old country store. I had been in it years ago and it was nothing too spectacular but today it has perked itself up into a modern day deli with a country flare of yesteryear. We stopped here for a delicious cheese cake and iced coffee. The “cafe” had many entrees for the taking, as well enjoying them in a leisurely dining indoor or outdoor atmosphere. Upstairs it boasts a small art gallery of local artists. While sitting at a bistro type table in front of the “Jonesville Country Store“, I could imagine the happenings of over a century ago. Across the street was an historic sign, detailing the history of the corner. There used to be hotel which was erected in 1820 by James Jones at the site. This sadly burned down in 1902. The corner also served as a post coach station, as well as a crossroads of locations north and south. Sitting next to the pretty perennial garden on the patio of the country store, we wished away the cars and pretended it was yesteryear. Shortly later we had to saddle our Trek horses and continue our Clifton Park ride…… concluding a lovely day, close to home!

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.

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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.
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Today is a lazy day. After a sumptuous Asian/Western breakfast here on Penang, Malaysia, we had to go back to bed and catch up on a weeks worth of robbed sleep. At breakfast we could count the Western clientele on one hand. Almost every woman had her knees and shoulders covered (including me), about half also wore the burdaa, 10% the shador. I have no clue how they can do that in this 90 degrees, heat plus humidity. After breakfast, I had to go back to the room to recuperate in air conditioning. There  I also had to do some laundry, the old-fashioned way…..ruba dub dub and scrub, scrub, scrub.

After the well deserved nap, it was time for the Sunday High Tea Buffet. I assumed this would mean some tea and crumpets or small cakes, like in England. Well were we surprised to find a buffet fit for a king and queen, with Asian, as well as Western meal items, like curies, and fish soups, and kebabs, plus cakes, ice creams, and lots of yummy other items, I really don’t know the names of. We spent 2 hours at tea time eating. I think we can skip dinner! Oh yeah, and all this for $ 10. Money definitely goes a lot further here.

The waiter, as all people here, was super nice again. No, no tip expected. We really like their carefree attitude here. I am beginning to think, maybe we are treated so nicely all over…….. because we are older???  Respect for older people here is amazing. Something we  in the West could learn.

Diving in Indonesia is an extraordinary experience. The last few days we have been diving the Flores Sea in the Indian Ocean. I am happy to report the reefs are alive and well. I’m sure it’s because it took forever to get to the location we are in… right now,  Komodo Island  Marine Preserve.  We have done some incredible dives this week from our water home, Mermaid II.  For every dive, we are helped suiting  up in our wet suits on the big boat before stepping into the dinghy and being “scuba dressed” by our personal dinghy driver. He actually puts on my fins, scuba jacket and takes super care of my camera. This is what life as a queen must feel like.  We then have a 2 minute dash to the dive site because they do not moor right on top of the sites, so as not to ruin any corals. Our Indonesian dive master Adnan ,  then makes a final check…air, weight belt, mask, camera? Check!  1,2,3, backward negative entry roll and we are off  again into another dimension. I never tire of the water world. In my previous life, if there was one, I must have been a fish.  Fish and coral life is as healthy as we had hoped. There is an abundance of  colorful  fish of all sizes, as well as masses of soft corals. When we have to use our reef hooks so that we don’t end up down the channel somewhere, it is often difficult to find a stone, everything seems to be made of hard or soft corals. Beyond that, this area is well known for all it’s nudibranches, small, mostly vibrantly colored sea slugs , that adhere to their host coral. With their beautiful patterns and colors, they are warning the fish…I am poisonous!

On Dive day three, the Gods were not with me.  My camera a Canon G9 was new this year and I am still discovering all kinds of new functions. Yes I know, they have always been there, but to me, they are new.  At home I never have, or better said, I never take the time to just “play” with the camera. Then on a trip, I use the same programs again and again. I vowed it would be different this time! Due to so many people on board our boat being camera enthusiasts, I am learning so much.

So today I discovered that the camera actually has a wide screen mode. So on Dive # 3 I was excited to try out this new function.  I must have clicked 30-40 pictures and our knowledgable  dive master Adnan out another beautiful nudibrach specimen for me to photograph.  Before I could even think about focusing, he motions to me that I should give him the camera.  I thought, ok I may not be an expert here, but at least give me a chance to try it myself.  I almost wildly dislodges the camera from my arm and puts it tele lens down. I still questioned his judgment, since the said nudibranch was not in that direction.  Then the realization struck me, my waterproof camera housing had a leak, he saw it and acted like only a pro knew how. For the next 20 minutes of the dive I agonized about my camera.
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After arriving here in Yogyakarta, the cultural heart of Java and Indonesia, we wanted to get the lay of the land near our hotel. We donned the appropriate footwear, flip flops,  so we would fit in with the natives and were off to explore. After about 200 meters of various moveable food stalls, we come upon a mall with three floors of shops and eateries. Wendys is the only foreign fast food place, but there are many interesting local establishments. Most menus are only in Indonesian, but some do have pictures. We are lucky,  lots of the younger people can speak a little English, much more than we can speak their language. Everyone is so willing to help us understand. Our Robinson Crusoe attitude is slowly dwindling as we realize that we really don’t recognize that much on the menus. Our tummies have become rather sensitive and advice us to forgo any adventures for this evening. Dinner will be in the hotel.

First we continue to explore the mall. We find there are many shops geared towards teenagers, just like at home. There are also many teenagers in the mall, shopping, playing video games in the arcades, and socializing in the fast food places. I purposely dressed rather modestly, expecting to find the people here in a primarily Muslim country, doing the same. I was surprised to see so many people of all ages in western clothes;  some are veiled but usually only with the headscarf. I am finding we really look more alike than different. When I read about the city, it said many universities were situated here. Maybe that explains the modernity.

The last place we find is a food market. Once again it looks very western, has lots of western, as well as Indonesian food. We buy some water, honey roasted peanuts to enjoy with the local beer, yogurt and  juice. We pay 60,000Rupiahs and are on our way back to the hotel. Along the way we see the many food stalls cooking up their wares. If only my tummy wouldn’t talk to me, I could be more adventurous!

Over the last few days, we have learned how nice a group of people can be. Wherever we go, the Singaporeans are really nice;  not just friendly because they want a tip, not superficially nice because there’s something in it for them, and also not in order to save face. Just nice! They know we are tourists. Only a small percentage of people that live here are Caucasian and they don’t look lost or baffled in their “homeland”. First night in the mall, a perfect stranger comes up to us and informs us about the free internet offered in all malls to all people in Singapore. We thought great! There was a catch, we needed a Singapore telephone number, to which the company could send an SMS(text message). This we really didn’t know until the next day when we tried to log in at breakfast at McDonalds in the mall.

We actually have a German phone that worked here, but it has a German #, not a Singapore #. Rats. In another 2 months we could change the German SIM card for a Singaporean one. Until then, we are obligated to keep the original card in the phone…an 18 month period before your phone is yours to do with what you want. That is too late for us.

Back to the breakfast at McDonalds. The assistant manager saw us having problems using our computer and gave to us his user name and log in. Can you believe that! We were then able to talk to Sonja via Skype for a half hour for free. We tried Carsten too, but he was probably on duty.

The other evening we were in an Irish pub and when we ordered “still water” to drink, the waiter right away suggested tab water and said there was really no reason to pay for plain water out of a bottle. In Europe, we were used to dirty looks for requesting any water, that did not have a price tag. Amazing how nice he was to a tourist. Remember there is no tipping in Singapore, so no ulterior motive.

Then there was the young Chinese Singaporean, who actually guided  us for about 500 meters  to show us where to find a Hindu Temple. It is not always easy here, since the old shop houses, streets and houses of Gods can sometimes be hidden by skyscrapers. He even apologized for his countrymates’ lack of hospitality towards tourists. Was he living in the same Singapore we are visiting? Maybe we have just been lucky in meeting so many “nice” people.

We are in the air again; this time on a Lufhansa flight between Frankfurt and Singapore. Thanks to Lothar’s ingenuity, we are in Business class with seats claiming to go down to 180 degrees. I view the entertainment guide and see that there really aren’t any new films to be seen. Since having subscribed to Netflix, we are always on top of the latest films, we wish to view. It is already 11PM and the stewardess comes with a dinner menu, which I decline, since I am looking forward to my flat bed and a restful night of sleep. The flight is almost 12 hours long, so that should give me a good ten hours of snoozing time. Before dozing off , I hear the captain remind everyone, “Sie sind verpflichtet sich anzuschnallen”. In English, the captain would ask the passengers to”please fasten your seatbelts”. In German, the translation reads, “You are obligated to fasten your seatbelt”. To the point, wouldn’t you agree?

I try to adjust my seat. It goes down nicely, the top portion to 180 degrees but no matter what I do,  I can’t get my legs to reach that magic number. They are always dangling at least 15 degrees down. Now I know I shouldn’t complain because all those poor souls in Economy have much greater problems, but I feel like I’m sleeping on a slide. After many maneuvers, I finally find a position of comfort and am off into slumberland. The flight was rather smooth, except for some bumpy sections over the Caucasus and near the Himalayan Mtns. The captain came on only once with his obligatory warning.

When at a later time I ask Lothar about the bumps, he casually asks”what bumps”? Either he or I was under the influence of a possible side effect of the Lariam, which we are taking against the mosquitoes. Nightmares! Delusions!???

The next day, after having lost another night and day in time, at  4:00PM local time, we touch down in the city-state of Singapore.

GEMÜTLICH is a German word, which can’t really be translated into English. It can mean comfy, cozy ; a feeling of being content with one’s surroundings, of feeling relaxed.

This morning after we had our first Stau ( very heavy traffic) on our way to Biberach, the next leg of our Spa vacation, we take a detour off the Autobahn and happen to see a McDonald’s with McCafe ……breakfast is saved. Inside the Cafe, Lothar enjoys a Croissant with a cappuccino and I, a breakfast panini with a cappuccino. How’s that for international! And as far as gemütlich goes, the fireplace in the Mc’Cafe created the ambiance. No, this is not in the southern hemisphere!

Due to the summerlike temperatures of 60’s, we had been following the weather rather closely and contemplated leaving the homeland behind and driving over the Alps to Austria or Switzerland , until we saw the weather there. Yes I mean saw; the German TV shows actual webcam shots of places around the world. On the screen, we saw SNOW, not on the summit, but in the foothills of the Alps. It would be considered a gemütlich sight, but not for July. So we decided to extend our Spa vacation. German s tend to enjoy a cross of bathing cultures between the southern Europeans of lounging around the waters of the pools and the northern Europeans, of cleansing the body through various steps of taking the saunas and baths.

After our gemuetliches breakfast, and a 20 mile detour, we are back on the Autobahn A 8 on our way to Biberach. Since my computer was out of juice, just had to plug him in to his own 110 volt plug, located in the cargo section of the car. What luxury! Lothar says we are going to go gemütlich today, in other words, take it easy, drive at 160 km/hr, not the over 240 the car can do . Gemütlich? I really need to revisit this word in the dictionary.