What a wonderful world we have seen! May01

We have arrived back at home in Sydney complete with all 11 pieces of luggage!

And, now it is time to reflect on the extreme privilege of cruising around the world visiting 43 ports in 24 countries.

From the tropical jungles of Costa Rica, amazing engineering wonder of Panama canal, the Chilean lakes and fjords, the isolation of Robinson Crusoe Island, pristine beauties of Antarctica, sheer vibrancy of Buenos Aires, the spectacular adventures of 4 wheel drive in Namibian desert, magnificence of wild life of safari game reserve in South Africa, beauty of the islands of Indian Ocean, overwhelming unique culture and spectacle of India, fusion of modern and ancient traditions of Asia, wonders of nature in Halong Bay, awesome magnificence of the Great Wall, cherry blossoms in Japan and Korea, remoteness of Kamchtka peninsula in Russia...

We have met so many wonderful people along the way.
Many of them will become life-long friends.

It also has been a jouney with unforgettable memories of great hospitality by such dedicated crew and quality of services.

Thank you very much to our friends and followers of our blog.
We hope we brought you some insight into the magnitude of our special voyage.
So long until next time.

Finally the Last day and L.A tour Apr29

All staff, crews and officers get together with the captain for the one last group photo.

Long beach where our grand voyage ends.

We decided to take ship's tour.
It is a half day tour of L.A down town, Holywood and Beverly Hills.
The tour bus will carry our luggage and drop us at the airport about 3pm.
We were under stress as our luggage becomes 4 suit cases and 7 carry-on bags.

We, as a tour group, were allowed to disembark about 9am.
It was very sad moment to leave the ship for the last time.


City downtown view from L.A highway.

Olympic stadium.

L.A is the only city in the world that hosted summer olympic games twice!

This is where Michael Jackson last performed.

This is one heck of beautiful and strange looking building.
'Walt Disney Concert Hall'

Olvera Street.

The oldest street in L.A

This building is supposed to be the oldest in the city.

Greg is enjoying his Mexican Churros

Union station

Hollywood!

Parade of stars in front of Kodak theatre where the Oscar ceremony is held.

Marilyn Monroe is my favourate star!

Inside the Kodak theatre where the red carpet is laid for the big awards ceremony.

This is something new and nice!

Newly developed shopping centre right next to the Kodak theatre.

Hollywood sign on the hill can be visible through the big gate!

I am on the road to stardom! hhh

According to the legend(I mean, our tour guide), one can become a big star in Hollywood if one lies down on this casting couch.

Greg doesn't look so comfortable on this hard couch?

Grauman's Chinese Theatre

Via Sunset strip, our tour bus was heading to the airport through Rodeo Dr, Beverly Hills.

One of the world's most luxurious shopping districts, Rodeo Drive.

Beverly Wilshire Hotel where 'Pretty woman' was filmed.

Tiffany & co.

Famous Beverly Hilton hotel where big Hollywood stars hang around and is the home of the Golden Globe Awards.

Our luggage at the L.A airport.

And, there were more!

Computer bag and a bag of boxes of Panama hat from Equador!

No wonder we were worried about checking in to the airline?

We still have more than 6 hours to kill at the airport.

We bought internet service for 24 hours.

I spent about 5 hours to post and update our travel blogs while we are waiting for our flight.

We barely managed to find spaces for our 7 pieces of hand carry bags to put on the airplane.

Entire flight of 15 hours with airbus A380 was rather good and went relatively quick as I watched 2 movies after 8 hours of sleep.

Rainless in Seattle? Apr26

A view of city and the famous landmark 'Space needle' from our ship's balcony.

Seattle is our last port to visit before we arrive in our final destination L.A.

It was raining in the morning and was getting worse with weather but that doesn't deter us to get off the ship!

Greg, Marcia and Jules's dear friends Marvin and his wife Marilyn welcome and greet us.
They used to cruise with them and now live in Seattle.


Marvin took us to Boeing factory in Everett for day tour.
It took us about one hour drive to north of Seattle from the port.

Greg has been here before but it was long times ago.
He is still very excited about this!

Visitor centre

Museum at the visitor centre.

Marvin at the back.

Model airplanes displayed on the wall of the shop

Boeing 787

The latest and the biggest!

Boeing 777

According to our tour guide, number 7 in front of every Boeing model airplanes plays significant role of their promotional result.

Engine of Boeing 787

Why is the displayed engine Korean Air?

(They are one of the biggest customer of Boeing.)

The most expensive part of airplane is, of course, the engine.

The next most expensive part is wheels and the airplane has 18 of them.

Actual cockpit of Boeing 727.

Run! Heo, run!

You don't want to be run over by airplane!

Ha ha!

I wanted to sit down in the pilot's seat, too!

How big is this engine?

Rolls Royce engine.

It depends on the airplane model, but one engine would cost about 10 to 20 milion dollars!

RR is one of few companies that makes airplane jet engine.

Boeing does not make airplane engine.

This is the biggest building in the world(398,000 square meters) where Boeing 747, 767, 777 and 787 are built.

Dream Lifter is a modified airplane to deliver airplane parts only.
It was very interesting tour.

We have learned a lot about airplanes and Boeing company.

Thanks to Marvin to organise the tour for us!
Marvin took us to see the canal locks on the way back to the ship.

Terminal view as the ship sails away~~~.

We will have to check out the city and Space needle next time when we visit Seattle.
Bye! until then~~