Hi everyone! I was having internet trouble but now this is all fixed. Yesterday I went to Paul's cabin and wrote a long post ONLY to have the internet connection stop right as I pushed the "add reply" button....grrrr!! Now I have my own laptop back in action again. YEA! I'm glad Joanna has done such a great job of keeping you up to date.

Before I forget...I want to tell you what a cute surprise we received in our cabin the other night....We each received a certificate with out names printed saying "Mrs. Marcie Matassa experienced 96 knot (150mph) winds and 60 ft. (20m) waves on FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4TH, 2005 ABOARD M/S SEVEN SEAS VOYAGER in what has come to be known as "The Bass Strait Perfect Storm" BY ORDER OF THE CAPTAIN" Each is signed by Capt. Dag and an official looking seal. Cute huh?

Yesterday we had a better excursion than Joanna, Tony and Paul (they all went on the train). We instead opted to go on the "Aboriginals and Army Ducks". Going on the Army Ducks on land and water was kind of cool since we had never done anything like that but it was so HOT! We mostly enjoyed seeing the Aboriginal dancers perform. After the dance they took us to a large grass field where they taught us how to throw a boomerang (mine went all of about 10 feet!) and then they did spear throwing. They are soooooo good at this type of thing! Anyway, it was interesting seeing this. We finally ate in Latitudes last night. This was the first time Tom and I have ever eaten there on any of our Voyager cruises. The menu was always way too exotic for my simple taste but last night the menu looked great so we jumped on it. The whole upside down theme is so cute. They have tables attached to the ceiling upside down, even a bartender hanging upside down. Everything was backwards....we were served dessert first and our last course of the evening was the appetizer. Yes meant No when you were asked questions and we were greeted with "Good Bye" when we walked in. It all took some getting use to!!! Anyway, it was done very well and as always we had a good time.(I'll post a photo of this). We invited Joe, one of the guys who works in the Tour Dept as our guest (the only way the staff is able to eat in any of the restaurants) so it was a real treat for him. Just before dinner I had received a phone call from Steph, the food and beverage manager, informing us that they had bought every bottle of Sambucca in Cairns yesterday. 12 bottles which is suppose to last us until Hong Kong. I thought that was so nice of him to call with good news since his last phone call was to inform us that the Sydney delivery of Sambucca didn't make it! It seems that I have gained such a reputation with this Sambucca thing! Word travels fast amongst the bar staff that last night even the cute little barmaids were saying "Mrs. Matassa we have Sambucca on board". Joanna told you about Garreth (the Antonio Banderas look alike). He is gorgeous for sure and just as nice as can be! When others are ordering Sambucca he's giving them the "black Sambucca" and saving the "white Sambucca" for me, Tom, Joanna and Tony. What a guy!! I will need to take a photo of him.

Tonight we have a table for six (Joanna, Tony, Paul, a nice guy named Hans, Tom and me). It will be very international because we all put in special requestsfor everything from enchiladas & Tacos to Wiernerschnitzel to Paella.

Later today, I'll try and post some "people" pictures...no scenery! I'll make that another thread.
Off to Trivia!

Well, we arrived here in MaDang, New Guinea early this morning. Tom and I were out on our balcony around 7:30am as we were passing small sparsly populated islands. There were so many people standing on the edge of the water, barefoot, waving and smiling! By 8:00 we were docked and it seemed like the entire village must have showed up for our arrival. Again, lots of smiles, barefeet, and waving.

We ate breakfast and didn't get off the ship until around 10:30. The main street by the dock was an outdoor market set up just for us... Lots of local townspeople selling handmade "stuff". This is definitely a 3rd world country! For the ones that have teeth, they're red. I'm not sure what they chew (rubbarb??) but something is turning their teeth red. I think most of us on the ship were determined to buy something...anything to help these poor people. Joanna and I bought lots of necklaces at prices like 3 for $1. There were two precious children that were selling who knows what. I had no use for whatever they were selling but instead just handed them a $1 bill and then took their photo (below). Tony (and many others) bought a handcarved wooden tribesman statue. Others bought the wooden masks, animals, purses, etc. It is so HOT and HUMID here! I brought a bottle of water off the ship but gave it to one of the local "vendors" as she needed it much more than me. One of the passengers whipped out a bottle of nail polish and was painting a young ladies' fingernails. I'm sure this was the first time she'd ever seen nail polish but seemed very fascinated!! (photo below) And to think yesterday I mentioned to Joanna that I was going to look for a salon in MaDang to have my nails done since the prices on the ship are so high!! Yeh, right! It is so true...travel is one of the best forms of education!

The scenery here is beautiful and tropical with very tall mountains, lush green vegetation, and lots of palm trees. I'm not sure the decent of the New Guinea people...guessing Africa? According to today's Passages, there are 175 different languages spoken. Cannibalism is suposedly still practiced on the South Island!! The people we saw today knew a few words of English....One dollar, Two dollars, Thank you, that's about it. They did accept USD$ with no problem. I was so happy to contribute to this very poor economy. I took several photos.... Radisson reps at the gang plank were spraying some type of de-bugging spray from a large canister on anything wooden or basket woven type thing before allowing them on the ship. (Good idea!) Our stewardess said that anything wooden had to go in Radisson's freezer for 3 days to kill any insects! Spraying makes more sense!

After returning to the ship, we couldn't get up to the pool bar quick enough for a cold drink. Boy did that Margarita hit the spot! Poor Joanna was wearing one of her new shell type necklaces and it "bled" all over her yellow shirt. Hopefully the club soda will remove the stains.

Is everyone having a great Valentine's Day? Tom surprised me with such a sweet card this morning. I have no idea where he got it as I tried (unsuccessfully) to find one here on the ship yesterday. He won't tell me where he got it but I'm pretty sure he brought it from home. We haven't seen too many Hallmark stores lately!

Last night we ate with J & T at the table next to Jean-Michel Cousteau and his wife. He's much better looking than his Father. Tonight the 4 of us have reservations at Signatures for Valentine's Day. We sail for Truk at 5:00 today. Everyday is certainly a new adventure! As Tom said, "we're certainly not in Sydney anymore!"

Hug your honey today!

Photos taken in Madang today:

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and THE BEST part of returning back to the ship after shopping:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/marciematassa/5a2550a9.jpg

P.S. Thanks Masaki, I'll tell Tom!

Editing to add: we just sailed away. On the starboard side we did see some much nicer homes, definitely the "high rent" area of the island compared to the shanties we passed early this morning. Again, everyone was out waving good bye to us!

Well, we’re now pulling out of Truk, Micronesia. From the sea (at a distance) this looks like a beautiful island! It is so green, tropical and lush! It looks very similar to the French Polynesian islands like Moorea and Bora Bora, even the water is that gorgeous shade of turquoise. It is small, only 7 sq. miles. Unfortunately, when you get on land it’s an entirely different story. This is another very impoverished island. The people live in little shanties and it’s quite a depressing eye opener. Even so, they seem happy, very nice and love to smile! There were lots of US bombings here during World War II and in February 1944 the US Navy bombarded this base and sunk 60 Japanese ships. There are still over 100 wrecks (airplanes and ships) beneath the water and some large rusted ships very visible sticking half way out. It appears that not much has changed around here since the war. This morning there was a complimentary excursion to the Blue Lagoon Resort. You were able to swim, snorkel or scuba dive (viewing some of the sunken wreckage) or just sit at tables eating fresh fruit... We went over with Joanna and Tony then on the way back stopped at a local market. Tony wanted to buy cigarettes and they had Marlboro Lights for $15. a carton. No problem using USD $$.

This morning lots of cute elementary school children in uniforms took a “field trip” to the Voyager. I’m sure they had the time of their life touring the ship and it was probably just as big an eye opener for them as it was for us when we got off the ship. The kids even sang in the Constellation Theater. When we returned they were just walking down the steps so we waited at the bottom of the gangway stairs to allow them off. As each one got off they stopped and shook our hands and said “Thank you”. One even reached up and gave me a big hug! Joanna and I felt like we were a couple of Radisson Ambassadors. Luckily Tony had his camera out and got some photos that I’ll post soon. This was so sweet and really made the whole stop worthwhile!

Last night we were to watch a “Live” Dive made by Jean-Michel Cousteau and Capt. Dag at 9:15pm in the Constellation Theater on the big screen. Unfortunately, Mother Nature didn’t cooperate and the wind and the currents made it impossible for the satellite to film it. Now they’ve announced that there will be some footage from this dive shown later today. We’re waiting for an update on all this.

Everything here onboard continues to be great! Last night Tom and I had special ordered Dover Sole and it was great! There’s plenty of Sambuca on board now. I believe my Sambuca withdrawals must have really gotten around. Besides the phone call to our cabin by the F & B manager, at least 10 other bartenders and barmaids have all come up to me and said “Mrs. Matassa, we now have your Sambuca” Even Capt. Dag came in the Voyager lounge night before last and specifically singled us out, walked up and asked if we were enjoying our Sambuca! My photo was probably up in the crew lounge so they could throw darts at it! Oh well….it is plentiful now!!

I can’t remember if I wrote you about the Country Fair they had 2 days ago on the pool deck? They had the crossing of the equator ceremony and immediately following they had booths set up for games. One was throwing a basketball to knock an officer in the swimming pool (I actually hit it!), piatas, ring toss on bottles of Gin, an elephant race (like the wooden horse races they have on some ships), a "is the price higher or lower?" game, and lots others….about 15 booths in all. Each booth represented a department like “housekeeping”, “the boutique”, “the casino”, “bar staff”, etc. Each time you were successful you won a ticket and then at the end they had a drawing for 10 lucky people to win your choice of $25 or 25 tokens. I had about 25 tickets in but never had my name drawn. Paul’s name was drawn twice!! It was his lucky day.

Tomorrow is a sea day and then on Saturday we’ll be in Saipan. We 4 have a Submarine excursion booked to view coral, fish and more wreckage from World War II. This should be a great excursion!

Again, sorry for rambling….that’s just me!
 

oday is our last day here in Shanghai. This is a fabulous city with so much to see and do. It’s the 10th largest city in the world (Tokyo is #1) with a population of 17.8M. I'm happy we had a full 2 1/2 days here. As you can tell, I LOVE IT HERE! It’s similar to NYC with the hustle and bustle but more so. It’s nicknamed “The Paris of the East”.

On Thursday we went out with Joanna and Tony. Our first priority was finding an ATM to get $$. With our Bank of America card it had to be from Bank of China. Luckily we found one in the Westin hotel when we were walking (the other ATM machines didn't work!). After this we went to a huge shopping district with so many REALLY GOOD knock-offs. You can buy these at unbelievably cheap prices. I bought 6 purses (mostly Gucci), 2 pairs of Louis Viuitton shoes, a leather belt and lots of other small things. You can buy anything from DVDs to golf clubs to sunglasses, Rolex watches any type of clothing…you name it! It’s a paradise for bargain shopping. While we shopped Tom went into a place for a hair cut. We 3 shopped some more and an hour and a half later...still no Tom! We went to check in on him and he was just finishing up. They first gave him a 20 minute scalp massage, and then massaged his neck, back and shoulders. Next they very cut his hair (he says it seemed like one hair at a time), then blew it dry. The price for all this.....$6.

Thursday night we went to the most fabulous Acrobatics Show at the Ritz Carlton. These young guys and girls were amazing! We had 6th row center reserved seats. We really enjoyed this so much but were exhausted just watching all their stunts. It’s really a MUST SEE!

The architecture here is so pretty and at night this city looks like the Las Vegas strip with all the bright lights. It's very cold here (but not raining). Taxi cabs are so cheap too which is great. There are people everywhere here. Crossing the street is like taking your life in your hands. There are taxis, bicycles and motorcycles coming from every direction. A red light doesn’t mean anything. You must look about 5 different directions. The people all seem nice enough but English is not commonly spoken except in the larger hotels. Most people know a few simple words, except the taxi drivers. Radisson printed out all sorts of things in Chinese for us so when we get in a taxi we just point to the Chinese version of where we’re going. I wouldn’t consider leaving the ship with out this!

Yesterday was even better than Thursday… if you can imagine! I got my hair colored, a deep heating condition, a 10 minute head massage, shampoo & blow dried, a mini-facial, an entire new set of nails w/ French manicure, a pedicure and a 40 minute message for $75 including tip. All and all, there were 7 different people who worked on me. I’ve never felt so pampered. Joanna got her nails done and a shampoo/blow dry. Even Tony got a hair cut. Of course anytime you’re having something done to your hair, it includes a wonderful scalp massage. It was heaven for all of us! All I had done on the ship would have cost over $400. (outrageous prices charged in the spa). After this we hit the Tommy Bahama store and purchased 12 shirts and 2 pairs of shorts! Tom got some new slacks even some sunglasses. Joanna bought a Rolex watch, shoes, several purses, a kimono jacket…and lots more too! I just can’t believe the prices. We’ll need to figure out how we’re going to get all this home. Oh well, we have almost 2 months to work on this.

Last night we had dinner at a nice hotel. Tom, Joanna and Tony had the Peking duck and. I had the sweet and sour spareribs….everything was out of this world! We even had 2 bottles of Chinese wine. Riding home in the taxi we marveled at what a beautiful city this is with all the spectacular buildings and lights. I think this is the prettiest “night time” cities I’ve ever seen.

Today Joanna and I are going back to do more damage before sailing away at 1:00 for Hong Kong.! This is a tough city to say good bye to!

P.S. Radisson supplied us with several pre-stamped postcards to mail out…nice gesture!!

I'm including some of the Photos taken in Shanghi. Unfortunately, none of these can possibly tell the story of the absolute chaos on the streets with all the people, bicycles, taxis honking their horns nor the beauty of the magnificent architecture. I'm sorry I didn't take more photos of this...guess I was too busy shopping.

The first photo shows ducks hung out to dry if you look closely to the right.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/marciematassa/ashanghi-04.jpg

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Red traffic lights don’t mean a thing:
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Shop Til you Drop:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/marciematassa/ashanghi-01.jpg

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Tony and Marcie getting pampered….
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/marciejpg"> http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/marciejpg">

1/3 of all of China’s imports and exports go through this busy harbor
http://img.photobuckmarciematassa/ashanghi--1.jpg"> http://img.photobuckmarciematassa/ashanghi--1.jpg">