August 11, 2025

Rain can't stop us from exploring! 8/11 is Japan's Mountain Day!

This is the Birthplace of CupNoodles! Invented by Momofuku Ando  at age 41, an entrepreneur who was broke and needed a new idea. Got idea to flash fry noodles, dry them out and reconstitute them with hot water after watching his mother tempura vegetables one night for dinner. Idea for placing in cup came after trip to USA and seeing American cutting noodles and eating with a fork in lieu of bowl with chopsticks. Simple idea, that has feed so many! We had a fun afternoon walking around the port area.

The rain held off most of the afternoon for us and we came back on the Ship to celebrate Sherrie's 70th Birthday, which we were all surprised to learn about, just this morning! Luckily, I had some decorations handy and we can always count on the ship staff to help us !

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHERRIE!! Saw this quote today and I think it's perfect for a 70th Wish!

KUCHING, MALAYSIA - BORNEO ISLAND

By Pat Patrick • May 22, 2026
BORNEO ISLAND is a fascinating place, that I had honestly only heard of from the reality tv show Survivor. I'm still learning so much, but I had no idea it is the largest island in Asia and 3rd largest island in the World! It is a mini continent, with 3 different Countries sharing the island's land mass ( Indonesia 73%, Malaysia 26% and Brunei 1% ). We are only going to 2 ports in Malaysia now, one in each of the states of Sarawak and Sabah . Below is a video that highlights and explains thing well.

PORT OF SINGAPORE

By Pat Patrick • May 21, 2026
The Port of Singapore is massive and thus deserving of it's own post!

SINGAPORE - CLOUD FOREST

By Pat Patrick • May 20, 2026
Right next to the Flower Dome in Gardens by the Bay is the Cloud Forest Dome .They sell the entry tickets as a joint package. The Cloud Forest currently has a special exhibit, Jurassic World The Experience incorporated into the forest.