Around dawn this morning we started the passage through the Philippines. The island of Luzon is on the north and we could see a series of islands on the left as we made the approach from the west. It was unbelievably calm today after a few rough days. It was so lovely out there that we had our morning coffee and tea on the deck. Following that we did our exercise routine on the deck and then had breakfast and the start of the day. All day we have been within sight of land on the right side as we turned north heading for Manila Bay and our dock.
The Philippines is home to a large number of the crew, although most are Indonesian. The ship is very generous and accommodating to the crew in a home port as tomorrow. Wives, sweethearts, family and kids will be aboard and seeing the ship with the crew tomorrow. There will be large banquet facilities set up down in the bowels of the ship and many a Filipino kid will certainly have his share of ice cream tomorrow. I hope we get back in time to see some of them although our trip is 8 1/2 hours duration.
We are in Manila for two days as a result of one stop, Cebu, being avoided because of the terrible damage done there late last year. We have been here three times before and are not too keen on Manila as it is terribly busy, large and in some places a filthy place. Tomorrow is our trip to Corregidor, which is the place where the US surrendered to the Japanese in 1942. It is a bit of a shrine for Americans and I can understand it. We have a couple of WW II vets on board and a great deal of the men have served in the forces, much more so than Canadians or Brits. The Land of The Free comes with a price and we also expect them to be the Policeman to the World.
The next day in Manila is a domestic day for us and the Cutlers as we have not had a chance to get any cabin shopping done really, since we left Fort Lauderdale two months ago. The list runs from haircuts to dental floss. After that we have only one sea day before Hong Kong. At Hong Kong we are then at day 58, more than half way through the cruise, and then we turn south and head in the general direction of South Africa although that is still four weeks away.
Pics:
First peek at the Philippines today.
Coffee and tea.
Warm up for exercise class.
Distant view of a nasty volcano.
Last two: The wake of the ship on very calm seas, a rare sight.
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