Back on the Queen Elizabeth and onward to Malaysia


Back on Board – on toward Malaysia

After a wonderful three days in Singapore, it was time to get settled again on the Queen Elizabeth. Unexpectedly we were assigned back to the same stateroom. Since we vacated it for a month, we figured we could be anywhere. It was a bit like coming back home, though our tablemates for our early dinner have changed rather dramatically – not quite as lively and so soft spoken that I am challenged to hear any conversation. Finding a different place at the table has helped – nice people, though.

We had planned to use UBER to get to the ship but found that a company called GRAB has bought UBER in Singapore (they cover most of southeast Asia). The changeover was to happen in just a few days. Anyway, with that unknown (and no cash for a regular taxi), we thought we should get started with time to spare. Then, of course, our UBER driver was there in 5 minutes and off we went. He gave us a bit of a verbal tour as we went straight through the city center. This put us at the port before noon. We found that the security personnel weren’t even at work yet, so had to wait about 50 minutes for that – did have a chance to change my last few Australian bills into Malaysia ringgit. Then, it was a day for long lines – finally onboard about 1:00 and off for lunch.

I had expected to see a lot of people from our first segment but that has not been the case. A few familiar faces but there was a big changeover in Sydney and then Osaka and Hong Kong, so it’s really a whole new cruise.

Our Malaysian ports were one right after another, so very busy AND very hot once again. Malacca (or Melaka) is a tender port, but for some reason there were issues with the harbormaster and they required that most of the tenders had to be local boats. This took several hours to sort out, but eventually we got ashore. It was the first time the QE had been there (and I suspect the first time Cunard as well – maybe the last as well). There was very little information to use to get around the town, though it has a positive reputation as a place to see. It has a World Heritage designation for it’s red (or dark pink) historic area. We found our way to a church ruin that was visited by St. Francis (he actually died nearby). We then went through some back neighborhoods (we’d consider them alleys). There wasn’t anything seemingly dangerous at all, but I wasn’t quite sure we were headed the right way (as usual, my husband and his GPS were correct). We went to a temple and old well, then up some hillside stairs to a Chinese cemetery. It was quite different, with half-circle arched entrances into hillside graves (somewhat reminiscent of Hobbit houses). Once we were back down the hill and negotiated some pretty iffy intersections (no sidewalks or crossings that we could find), we arrived at the river, with a very nice pathway along both sides for a ways. We needed to eat, so followed our hostess’ (from Singapore) advice that if we didn’t have any other guide to eat where the locals are eating and it should be okay. My lunch was served on a large leaf and most people were eating with fingers but they offered me tableware. It was very tasty but really too hot for us. After we ate, we walked along the riverside cafes back through town and our tender. There was a whole new situation as we boarded at once, but once in the river one of the engines was overheating. Rather than risk it with passengers, we were taken back to the dock, got off the tender, then on another one. It took a bit of time on a hot day. However, both of our tender rides were on the ship’s tenders and there were other very iffy reports of rides on the boats (any boat seemed to be in service) that were very questionable and with no visible life vests, etc. In the end everyone got back to the ship safely and we headed further into the Malacca straits.

Our next port was Penang, which is a nice city. We chose to just wander around again (a better map this time). Many old colonial buildings still in use, some nice temples and churches. We visited a pier area where people live in small homes (not much more than shacks) out over the harbor. The neighborhood has been there a long time and seems to have electricity, etc. – even a communal toilet. Along another pier were several small shopping stalls where I bought a couple of small things. It was a nice town to visit, with much more to see if you take a taxi or have more time. We were back on the ship for a late lunch.

Stan’s Photo Blog (numbers got a little mixed up, but they are from Malaysia)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1B21pW5FY1kt-DZVG_LQfqNGn-_IRHcjL


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