Semester at Sea - Spring 2007 (Alex Song)

The planning for a S07 voyage reunion has begun!

When? Summer 2008

Where? Europe.

What? An extended indy trip through Europe.

Check Facebook for more details.

I completed all of my final exams and projects for my classes today. I am officially done with classes!

…and I’m suddenly very bored and a little depressed.

What am I supposed to do with the next 7 at-sea days? Everyone else still has final exams and projects through the next week, leaving me to fend for myself. Gah.

Also, our TV picked up a QVC-type channel yesterday, and today we’re picking up C-SPAN. We’re pretty excited - this is the first time since we left that we’ve seen American TV.

My computer crashed sometime during the night. The hard drive is faulty, meaning it’s out of commission for the rest of the voyage.

Not only does this mean no more movie watching at night or surfing the net at my whim, it also means a hell of a lot of work for me to re-do my final assignments that were in-progress but are now lost. The hard part: finding an open computer in the lab during this time. This sucks hardcore.

In other news: Ambassador’s Ball tonight.

Edit: My computer has started working again. Yay!

..would be a cool name for an onboard concert. Unfortunately, there is nothing quite “jammin” about the events taking place (that was really lame, I know.).

We’re in the middle of the Pacific between (you guessed it) Japan and Hawaii, and we have hit the worst sea swells yet. The past 48 hours have been pretty bad - we’ve been sailing at an average of 20 knots, and many of us have been getting tossed around. I have an outside room on the lowest deck (deck 2) in the aft section, where it’s supposedly the calmest, so I shudder to think what my upper deck/forward peers are going through. My roommate and I have had items slide off our table (first time for that), and we’ve also had waves constantly pounding on our porthole. While it’s pretty cool the first few times, it serves as a constant reminder that we’re currently living at 0 feet above sea level and that a breach in the hull would mean we’d be the first passengers on the ship to get soaked.

Also - this is also the first time where it has been cold on the outside decks. It’s like Seattle in the early spring, and we’ve all been donning our counterfeit North Face jackets out there. A nice little reprieve from the past 3 months of heat, but many of us are ready to get tossed back into the sun when we hit Honolulu, San Diego, and the summer season back in our hometowns.

It’s almost 1am, and I’m in an internet cafe right now with my friend Hope in Beijing, China. The government filters are preventing me from accessing any publicly-hosted blogs (livejournal.com, wordpress.com, etc) and from AIM Express. Not only that, but an employee of this place keeps coming by to see what we’re up to. Censorship sucks.

Ho Chi Minh City, here we come!

Day 1 (April 9th) has me getting measured for my new wardrobe, including the suit I’ll be sporting to the Ambassador’s Ball. Which reminds me - I won the raffle to to sit at the captain’s table. Woo.

Afterwards, Megan, hopefully Katie, and myself will be checkin out the various markets in and around HCMC - I need a new camera, and I think this may actually be where I’ll get one. That night, I’ll be meeting up with SAS Fall 06 alumni Anh-Tuan Tran and Abby Wambaugh, just hanging out, having a beer, and swapping tales about our SAS adventures.

I have the morning of day 2 free. Hopefully I can find someone to go shooting with me at the firing ranges near the Cu Chi Tunnels - $1 per round, but I get to shoot all manner of weapons from an M-1 to an M-60! Robert, if you’re reading this, you’d be proud.

In the afternoon, I’m flying to Cambodia! A one hour flight to Siem Reap, followed by check-in at our hotel and a late dinner. And then I’m hittin up the local bars.

The following morning has us atteding a sunrise tour at Angkor Wat. Then breakfast at the hotel, a full-day walking tour of Ta Prohm, and then we continue to Bayon with stops at Ta Keo, Tommanon, Chaosay Tevoda, Elephant Terrace, Leper King Terraces, and the South Gate of Angkor Thom. Lunch is at Viroth’s Restaurant, and afterwards we explore Angkor Wat until sunset. The day ends with dinner at the hotel and a cultural show. Followed by more drinking at the bars.

On our last day following breakfast at the hotel, we’re going on a boat trip to see floating homes and a market at Tonle Sap. Lunch at the hotel, followed by some free time (shopping nearby?), and then we tour Preah Khan, Neak Pean, Ta Som, East Meborn, and Pre Rup. And then we fly back and return to the ship.

On our last day in HCMC, I’ll be picking up my tailored suit and other clothing, and just doing what I need to do (like picking up at Japan Rail Pass). I’m hoping I can find a Korean restaurant in town so Megan can finally experience the worldwide sensation known as kimchee.

Like, seriously. We spent the bulk of our time yesterday literally doing donuts in the waters near the Malaysian/Singapore border, followed by cruising down to Singapore at full speed during the night, and now we’re just sitting here next to the 800+ other ships that are always sitting around Singapore (mostly oil tankers waiting for their turn at the refineries, others are ships needing to be repaired, and then other misc vessels)

And we’re supposed to be in Ho Chi Minh City the day after tomorrow?

I’m guessing most of this has to do with avoiding the pirates in the area (full speed at night, bunkering during the day). I can’t wait to see the ship travel at full speed again - it’s pretty amazing see the water go by that quickly from my lower-deck porthole.

Nothing else to write at this point..my Malaysia/Singapore write-up will have to wait until I finish studying for 2 midterms that I’m taking tomorrow morning, write 3 papers, fix 2 people’s computers, figure out what I’m doing in Japan, finish working on the voyage website, and cleaning my cabin. Not to mention countless other things like cleaning my camera lenses and stuff. All in the next 24 hours.

P.S. I love SAS.

Note: Written April 1st

Malaysia! We’ll be there in the next 12 hours…yee haw!

Day 1 has me departing Penang with my buddy Adam for a quick jaunt to Kuala Lumpur! I’m not entirely sure what we’re going to do there, we’re gonna wing it for a day.

Days 2 - 4 has me in Singapore. Upon our arrival, we’re taking the ‘Footsteps of Raffles’ tour, followed by an exhibition that traces the history of the Singapore River. We then visit the Raffes Hotel (where hives of activities for the high society took place in the 1800s) where we “enjoy some light refreshments” and board a ‘bumboat’ for a cruise along the Singapore River. Disembark at Clarke Quay and check into our hotel, with a free evening.

The following day has us exploring the island of Sentosa, where we can experience ‘Images of Singapore’ (an exhibit that uses life-size figures, animatronics, and special effects to show the colorful cultre and vibrant heritage of Singapore), ‘Underwater World and the Dolphin Lagoon’ where we can see pink dolphins perform. Following that, we’re taking a scenic cable car ride from Sentosa to Mount Faber, the day ending with lunch in a local restaurant and free time in the city.

The following morning is also completely free for us to explore, followed by lunch at the hotel and a flight back to the ship.

I’m in an internet cafe in Singapore right now so I figured I’d pop in quick and post something.

Singapore has been AMAZING. The streets, subways, and even the alleyways are spotless. Litter is non-existant, and it certainly doesn’t seem like the oppressed society I thought it would be. There’s a 7-11 next to our hotel, which is where most of us have been getting our fix for stuff from home, but otherwise we’re living it up. I’ll write a full blog post about this after I get back to the ship tonight - I was racially discriminated against for the first time in my life (in an asian country, even!) and I have a lot of stuff to say about that.

Also, I may pick up a replacement camera here today, so expect pictures again soon.

The new chapter of my life started this morning.

My driver’s license has expired….can you guess what’s up?

Yes indeedy, I am now TWENTY-ONE (that’s 21, or XXI) years of age. It doesn’t mean much while I’m on the voyage, but it most certainly will come May 14th. It means obtaining the ability to purchase alcohol, to be able to legally carry a firearm, to be able to rent a car (at some places), to run for certain public offices, and to be only 4 years away from lower car insurance rates. This is the most significant birthday I will have for the next 19 years.

I celebrated with ice cream cake and hanging out with some friends/acquaintances at post-lunch, pre-dinner, dinner, post-dinner, pub night, and post-pub night (all day, basically). Probably one of the best birthdays I’ve had in a while…definitely in the top 3.

My India write-up will take me a while to get up…there is just too much to write about, and the next two days are midterm days.

This day rocked.