India

We just left India.  We had a fun time for most of the time.  When we got there, there were drummers and they played while we got off the shipand they had some type of paint that they would put on the center of your forehead as you got off the ship.  Julian danced and didn't let them put the paint on his head.  Papa says India is a very big country and has a lot of people that live there – over 1 zillion of them. We started in a city called Kochin in the state of Kerala.

It reminded me of Miami with all the palm trees, banana trees,warm weather, humidity, very short rainshowers that come in the afternoon to cool thingsoff, and long beaches with grainy sand.. The people in India call Kerala “God’s own country” because it is beautiful.  We drove down the coast to a beach about six hours away. Kovalam Beach.  Papa wanted to get away and relax for a few days and we were able to do that. Well, except the first day when we all got sick.  Papa called it Dehli Belly.  I called it throwing up on mama and Julian.  Everyone was sick for about a day.  Then when we got better, we went to the beach and pool and had fun.  We saw eagles and hawks flying and lots of fish in the water.

I spent most of the time on the beach with my bucket, shovel, and toy truck.  I looked for treasure but all I found was sand. I also liked being in the pool playing with new friends I met at the hotel.  I went walking into town with his Papa.  On the walk, we saw elephants at a festival, and saw vendors cooking all kinds of food. It was definitely a fun and relaxing time in India, but we were excited to get back on the ship.  Julian was excited to not throw up anymore.  Now we are heading to Mauritius.  I will write more soon.

Our next stop was a place called Myanmar but it used to be called Burma and many people still call it Burma but the government says to call it Myanmar.  I call it Burma because it is easier.  Not many tourists get to come to Burma, so we are lucky to be here.  We went to the capital called Yangon (it used to be called Rangoon.  Neither are easy to say so I call it Yangon). There are lots of pointy buildings that look like gold called pagodas.  We went to a few of them and i walked around with no shoes.

It is very hot here.  Yesterday it was 102 degrees. It doesn’t feel so bad because there is a nice breeze, but we have to put on sun screen.  Julian gets really tired after a few hours outside because it is so hot, but he and I really do like being outside.  We went to a zoo the first day- it was fun because we got to feed the hippos and elephants.  There were lots of otters and monkeys and we saw another red panda, too.  We went to a park and played on another day and then went to visit some of the other pagodas.  The biggest pagoda is called Sweatty Gone.  Papa says it is really called ShweDagon, but I think I am right.  There are many symbols and statues in the pagodas.  The most common one is of Buddha, a famous man that lived a long, long, time ago and is considered holy by many of the people that live here.  In one place, there was a huge buddha lying down.  He was a million feet long and smiling at me.  His feet had some writing on it.  It was cool.  Papa said I could not write on my feet.  Papa is not always cool.


We saw a dancing and music show, and a puppet show, and ate some very good food.  They love to eat fried rice, and plantains, and chicken with spices here.  Papa and Mama loved to eat it also. The people here are very nice and love to sit and talk with me and Julian…even though they don’t always speak English.  This is a beautiful place and we hope you all get to visit someday.  Tonight we leave for India and we will write more then.

Vietnam and Singapore

 
I have been having so much fun, I forgot to write about Vietnam.  It was much more like home.  Hot and humid.  Traffic was crazy.  Everyone rides a motorcycle or moped.  The food was very good, but I didn't eat it.  Julian ate some, and so did Mama and Papa.  I ate french fries and chicken because that is what I like. Mama and Papa tried hard to get me to try something called Pho.  I say no to Pho.

We went to see a couple of shows- one was a water puppet theater show.  It was exciting.  The other show was an opera that was kid-friendly.  That was very fun too.
Mama and Papa went out to dinner one night for Valentine's day and I stayed with Julian and Cassidy.  We played games and ran around the ship.  The next day, we went to the water park.  I didn't want to go in the water because there were so many people.  I finally did because Julian looked like he was having fun.  My friend, Elyse went with us.  So did her mom and dad.  We splashed around for a few hours and then went to eat and back to the ship. 
The next day we all went to a big market called Ben Tahn.  There were so many people there selling everything.  Watches, toys, clothes, food, shoes, coffee, pretty much everything.  It was crowded and busy and fun.  After an hour, I decided I wanted to go to the park so we went there and I played.
Life on the ship is good.  I study during the day with Mama and Cassidy while Papa works.  I play with my friends.  I take Mama's iPad and play a little Tiger Woods Golf or EA Soccer.  Then we watch a movie and I go to sleep.  It is a hard day's work, but I have to do it.
After Vietnam, we went to Singapore.  We were only there one night, so there isn't much to write, but I did something very cool.  I went to a fish spa.  Papa and Cassidy and I put our feet in a big pool that had lots of little fish.  The fish came and nibbled on our feet.  Papa said it was to help clean our feet of bad skin or something like that.  It tickled so much I could only leave my feet in the pool for a few seconds at a time.  Papa and Cassidy kept their feet in the whole time.  I don't think they are ticklish.  Or maybe they like being tickled.  We also went to the zoo and that was very fun.  Now we are on the way to Burma.  I will write more about Burma after we go.

China

Hello again. We went from Japan to China.  It was a quick trip, only two days at sea.  We stopped in a city called Shanghai.  There were so many pretty lights.  It is a big city.  Papa says it has 25 million people and that is five times more than all of South Florida, from Key West to West Palm Beach.  I just know there were a lot of people walking and driving.  It was cold so Mama made us wear coats.  Julian didn't like his coat.  He bit Mama.  Mama was not happy.  Me, Wolfie, Julian, Mama, Papa, and Cassidy (Julian calls her Sana) met a very nice lady who took us in a van around Shanghai.  She took us to a park called People's Park.  There were a lot of people.  On one side of the park everyone wanted to practice English with us.  On the other side of the park there were lots of older moms and dads with pictures of their kids.  They were trying to have their kids get married some day.  It was funny.  Then we went to a garden called Yu Garden. We walked around for a long time.  They are getting ready for their New Year so it was decorated with balloons and dragons and flowers. Then we went to a tea ceremony.  There was a lot of different teas for Mama and Papa.  The tea smelled good.  It didn't taste good.  Papa took pictures and a video and will add it to this blog.  We walked around a lot in Shanghai.  I was really tired both nights.  When I woke up today, we were sailing again.  We are heading to a place called Hong Kong.  It is in China, too.  I will write more from there.

 

 

Sayonara, Japan

Wolfie and I went to Japan. Mama, Papa, Julian and Cassidy came with us. The boat went under a big bridge and we stopped in a city called Yokohama. Then we took a train to Tokyo. Tokyo was fun. When we got to the hotel, there was a cookie for me and Julian with our names on it. I ate mine. I ate Julian's. Papa and Mama woke up early to eat raw fish. Gross. I slept. There was lots to do in Tokyo. I learned how to say hello, and thank you, and raw fish in Japanese. We went to a place with lots of Legos.  Then another place that had so many video games!  Then we ate.  Papa and Mama and Cassidy had more raw fish.  They said they ate horse, too.  I hope they were being silly.  Julian and I ate chicken.  I got really tired both days in Tokyo.  I was up early the day we left.  We took a really fast train to another city called Kyoto. It has the same letters as Tokyo, but it doesn't sound or look the same. Julian and I liked the big tower you could see from the hotel. We met a nice lady who showed us some shrines, temples, and palaces. Then we went to a place to eat that had raw fish on a rollercoaster. It was fun but I didn't eat until the french fries came down the rollercoaster. We are headed back to the ship today. We will go to a place called Kobe by train and get on the boat there and then leave Japan at night. I will miss Japan. Papa took lots of pictures and movies so I can remember. I will add them here.

No Tomorrow

Today is January 20th.  Papa said tomorrow is January 22nd.  That does not make sense.  Apparently if you go left on the map a long time you lose a day.  We will lose January 21st.  I will miss it.  I explained this to Julian.  He laughed and scratched his tummy and fell asleep.  One of my friends on the boat, Elise, understood when I explained it.  She is smart.  We sailed together before in Summer, 2010.  We run around the ship acting like cats.  She meows loud.  I meow louder.  It is a great game.  We still have a few more days until we get to Japan.  This is a long trip.  I am glad Elise is here.

Hilo, Hawaii

We arrived on the island yesterday.  Papa called it the big island.  It is big and I guess there are other islands around here that aren't as big.  Mama said there is a volcano here!  Maybe that is why it is so cloudy.  We went to the zoo yesterday and saw lots of animals.  Papa took pictures and is adding them after I write.  We saw lots of birds, a big pig, lizards and iguanas, monkeys, and animals I didnt know like a marmoset, ring-tailed lemur (he looked like zoomabufu) and a skink (it did not smell that bad).  We went to see the white tiger but he was sleeping somewhere and we could not find him.  Julian liked the zoo, too.  He ran around screaming and pointing everytime we found a new animal.  He is just a kid, so I put up with it.  Papa tried to make me eat something called poi when we went to eat after the zoo.  I ate mac and cheese. Tonight we leave to go to another island called Japan. It will be a long time until we get there so I might write again between now and then.