September 23, 2025

Outrunning Typhoon Nando and Celebrating Christy Birthday!

Both events were three days long! Christy had a 3 day extravagansa to celebrate her 53rd  Birthday.  First there was the traditional Ship dinner in the Thistle Dining Room on Friday night. Saturday 11 of us got off the Ship, in the Port of Anping and traveled about 30 minutes by Uber, to downtown Tainan, and the upscale Shangri La Hotel. Here the 6 ladies enjoyed Spa services and the pool and the men went out for drinks and foot massages. Then we all had a lovely dinner at the Hotel and ended the night playing CATCH PHRASE in Christy and Gary's Suite. It was a lot of FUN! The next day we had to hustle back to the Ship by 10 am, as the Captain moved up our departure, to start outrunning the effects of Typhoon Nando. For the Birthday Grand Finale we had a sail away pool cocktail party on the roof deck, complete with guest DJ Brooklyn Shanti. Shanti is a good friend of resident Victor and he wanted to do an event for us, while visiting. I convinced him the perfect time would be during this sail away birthday party. It really brought a whole special element to the event, with great music, lots of dancing and a nice big crowd! It was great FUN!!

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Our fabulous Captain kept us well out of harms way and we cleared the path of Nando. We are the blue dot on above map. We had some choppy waters, but nothing that had people getting ill or scrambling to catch falling shelf items. Just some gusty winds and rain. 

TIOMAN ISLAND, MALAYSIA

By Pat Patrick • July 6, 2026
Fun day in the waters of Tioman Island, Malaysia snorkeling with friends. Life is good! It was nothing fancy, a boat & captain, who spoke minimal English and barely interacted with us, for roughly 7 hours. We started the outing spotting a group of dolphins and was quickly at anchor drop 1 of 6. The distances between the 6 snorkel spots was minimal, which gave us lots of time in the water (at least 45 minutes, at each spot) with an added stop for a lunch break at local restaurants. Even the restaurants were fast and efficient, definitely used to catering to the boat crowd.

HAPPY 4th of JULY from SE ASIA SEA!

By Pat Patrick • July 4, 2026
Wishing everyone a Happy 4th of July! Here on the Odyssey we celebrated in the SE Asia Sea on our way to Tioman Island, Malaysia . We have such a talented and dedicated group of residents here, they put together a fun hour of things to celebrate and embrace a lot of what we collectively love about the USA. Even our residents from other countries - Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Germany , etc. joined in the fun! ( I lent my flag below for decorations)

BINTAN, INDONESIA - BUDDHIST TEMPLE

By Pat Patrick • July 2, 2026
Vihara Avalokiteshvara Graha or Guan Yin Temple is near 500 Lohan, so we also toured the grounds of this large Temple complex. It's dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy and is one the tallest brass statues of her in SE Asia. She is just over 55' tall, coated in 22 carat gold and is surrounded by scenic dragon fruit plantations. The tile work is intricate and textured with great details. The whole place is very tranquil and calming for meditation and prayer.