June 21, 2026
Every 3 months the CREW Officers rotate for much needed breaks. The support staff contract for typically 6 to 8 months. Singapore is a big rotation port for us, since flights from here are plentiful and visas are easy to procure for the CREW. Logistics are much more complicated in the smaller ports. Our last sea day heading into Singapore they held an after dinner party, on the aft deck for both CREW and Residents to mingle and say our farewells for now.
Above is Captain Val and Hotel Chief Ivan, Yogi and Stacy from the SPA and Bosco, Me and Bar Manager Mihah. All of them are headed home for much needed breaks, with exception of Yogi and us. Will really miss this gang. There replacements are also nice but we have special bonds with this core group.
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I am also working on collecting CREW action or candid photos for the 2027 CREW Calendar, which I will attempt to do again as a fund raiser for the CREW, at the end of the year. Here's some of our hard working staff in action! They are such a hard working group!
Shopping is huge in Manila - there are sooo many malls! Probably because it is so stinky hot! The air condition draws you in, plus the malls have everything - giant Hyper supermarkets, movies, entertainment venues, sport complexes, spas & medical services, tons of restaurants and every retailer you can imagine. SH Mall of Asia is the 5th largest Mall in the World! I went here 2 different days, first with the ladies- Anna Sherrie & Sarah. Then back the next day with Terri, mainly because I was now familiar with the layout, and could move faster and get what I needed quickly.
Metro Manila is a massive urban jungle with a population of between 18 to 20 Million. Makati City, specifically the the neighborhood of Poblacion and P. Burgos Street is the heart of night life scene, this red light district is heavily concentrated with bars, pubs and go-go venues. I saw a Get your Guide VIP tour of some of the best clubs offered and Bosco and I, decided to check it out. When we arrived at the first venue, we found five other shipmates! We run into ship people everywhere! It's kinda nice, The Community is what we love about this lifestyle!
The Intramuros section of Manila, Philippines is the historic walled core, of this Capital City. Today, the surrounding stone walls are ringed by a golf course, in lieu of the moat from long ago. Below shows comparison from rendering 300 years ago, under Spanish Colonization to Today. Many of the historic buildings, churches, fort and prison remain. Kimberly and I walked it for over 4 hours, and we saw maybe a quarter of it. We sadly gave up due to the heat, humidity and our exhausted feet and missed the Corpus Christi procession to the Manila Cathedral with the Bishop, by just a half hour! If only we had known ahead of time!