Puteri Harbour, Malaysia

We are back on Callisto after a break of about three months. The flight was tedious as always and Cathay Pacific had the worst airline food I have ever had the misfortune of being subjected to. We made the decision to make a stop in Hong Kong to break up the flight, get over the jet lag and also to see the city. A very good choice it was too, as everything we saw there was quite impressive. From the transportation to and from the airport, the building, the infrastructure and the energy of the city was amazing. We stayed at the downtown Marriott next to the convention centre  with a marvelous view of the Kowloon and the harbour. We didn't do too much the first day as we were both knocked out by the time change.

The harbour at Aberdeen

We had a busy day after that and we visited Aberdeen on the south of Hong Kong island and then on to Kowloon and the Ladies Market which was full of mostly cheap, tourist stuff. We took a look at the Peninsula Hotel , a Kowloon landmark and then on to the Ritz Carlton Hotel for drinks at the reputedly highest bar in the world.

The 118 bar at thr Ritz. The view was mor like from an airplane than a building

 The hotel was simply stunning and the view of Hong Kong Island from the 118th floor was breathtaking. The bar was hopping and full of well dressed, yuppified locals as well as tourists and all seemed to be having a good time.

Ladies Market, Kowloon

Next day we toured Nathan Road on Kowloon. Crowds of people and every imaginable store packed full of any kind of consumer goods anyone one would need. We got the Admiral a new camera back back to hold all her existing toys plus the new telephoto lens. We wandered around a building called Chunking Mansions which was like a rabbit warren full of small electronics and cell phone stores and tiny Indian restarants. A new, allegedly unlocked WiFi  modem was found there for about $35. I hope it works!.

We had lunch on  the roof of the IFC centre, yet another high end shopping mall overlooking the harbour.

We met with our old friends Marian and Dave from Kilkea who were also visiting Hong Kong on the way back to Langkawi.. Lots of drinks and then an enjoyable dinner catching up on the events of the last three months.

Back to the airport early the next morning. Our bags were checked in at the train station and then a three hour flight to Singapore. We arranged a taxi service from the airport and were met as planned and we were back on the boat 45 minutes later.

The view from the Marriott on Hong Kong Island

Callisto was in quite good shape after 3 moths of inactivity. The exterior was dirty but some elbow grease on the following day set that straight. All the stainless was clean and bright and fortunately there was absolutely no mould inside the boat. Most things are working well. I replaced the air pressure sensor on the Volvo and it started up right away with no more alarms and flashing lights. All the furlers, winches, gen set and watermaker all seem to be good.

The navigation electronics came up but I cannot get any AIS readout and the radar is also playing up but I will attend to that in Langkawi or Phuket when we get there. All the A/C units can on initially but the one in the salon decided to quit yesterday and I can't get it going again. Too bad as it's quite hot and humid in the daytime.

Frank and Karen on Tahina are here and we spent some time over the past few days.

Lots of cleaning and checking to do and we think we will be able to leave Puteri on Monday after fueling and provisioning for the trip north. We will spend Friday and Saturday in Singapore to see some of the sights.

From what we gather there is not much to see up the Malaysian coast so we will head straight for Penang and then Langkawi where we will get the Callisto hauled for some TLC.

Photos to follow.