FUN-video: Slow Boat to Singapore – Movie Trailer
March 31, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-video: Slow Boat to Singapore – Movie Trailer
- Our big fat “half-a-world-cruise” adventure covered a total of 46 days and 12,881 nautical miles. We crossed the International Date Line and lost an entire day! The day after Friday was Sunday. Feb 6 just disappeared. But we got it back when we flew home arriving just about the time we left. And we crossed the Equator twice (both directions).
- We spent two days in Singapore after our cruise and took a motor coach for an overnight stay in Melaka, Malaysia. Dubbed “The Historic State” this sweet city was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008.
Here’s a little snippet of the trip. Enjoy!
- Scroll down to see the pictures. They are in ascending order so the last segment is first.
FUN-photos: 2016 Crystal Cruise – Bali to Singapore
March 31, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-photos: 2016 Crystal Cruise – Bali to Singapore
Slow Boat to Singapore – Indonesia & Malaysia
- The last segment took us from Bali to Singapore with another 6 ports of call and 4 days at sea.
- And we had a lot of firsts on this one!
- Borobudur – the single largest Buddhist structure anywhere on earth. Lovingly restored after 14 painstaking years is one of the world’s truly great ancient monuments.
- Kuala Lumpur – Petronas Towers (and KL’s claim to fame) are the “Big Boys” and the official titleholder of the World’s Tallest Twin Towers.
- Penang – a temple here, a temple there, a temple everywhere! And the only Burmese Buddhist temple outside Myanmar.
- Langkawi – Bikinis and Burkas dotted the Beaches.
- Singapore – The Most Expensive Beer on Earth! In the Long Bar at Raffles Hotel and where the Singapore Sling was invented and just celebrated its 100th birthday.
FUN-photos: 2016 Crystal Cruise – Sydney to Bali
March 31, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-photos: 2016 Crystal Cruise – Sydney to Bali
Slow Boat to Singapore – Australia & Indonesia
- The second segment took us from Sydney to Bali with 6 ports of call and only 5 days at sea.
- We never made it to Thursday Island as the sea was too rough and choppy for the tenders to take us ashore. Oh well, Champagne for lunch and a nap instead!
- While it was very cool to go to Komodo and get to see the dragons, the whole thing felt very staged. More like going to a zoo without the fencing.
- And then Balmy Bali…in Monsoon Season. This lovely island with a population of over 4 million is one of the smallest in Indonesia covering an area of 2000 square miles. And with the majority of them practicing Balinese Hinduism there were temples on almost every corner and tucked away down side streets. Every 210 days is 6 months on a Balinese calendar and encompasses a big celebration filled with food, music and dancing. It turns out that we were in for a real royal treat too! Incense filled the air as they prepared a multitude of delicacies for their evening’s feast and festivities.
FUN-photos: 2016 Crystal Cruise – San Francisco to Sydney
March 31, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-photos: 2016 Crystal Cruise – San Francisco to Sydney
Slow Boat to Singapore – South Pacific
- We started with a nice, short flight to San Francisco (and no jet lag) before we boarded the Crystal Serenity for our cruise. While this was the beginning of their World Cruise we opted to just do half of it. And as it turned out was very smart on our part!
- This first segment lasted 22 days ending in Sydney. We had 9 ports of call across the South Pacific with 13 days at sea.
- We celebrated Valentine’s Day and the 13th anniversary of Susan’s 49th birthday. Once again she had a surprise birthday party on board. She didn’t know any of her 8 guests before we got on the ship, so it was a real surprise! And no surprise that we’ll see some of them again.
If you click on the first picture it will allow you to create a slide show.
Word Of the Week #608: Resilience
March 31, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on Word Of the Week #608: Resilience
Resilience – the ability to recover quickly from illness, change, or misfortune.
How quickly to do recover from unexpected setbacks? Do you bounce back or fall apart? Do you have an inner strength that keeps you going?
The Mayo Clinic says, “Resilience is the ability to adapt well to stress, adversity, trauma or tragedy. People who have a resilient disposition are better able to maintain poise and a healthy level of physical and psychological wellness in the face of life’s challenges.”
A resilient approach leads to addressing problems rather than avoiding them, a positive, optimistic outlook and a flexible, adaptive disposition. Research has shown that these techniques engage the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that regulates emotion, thinking and behavior.
If you lack resilience, you tend to dwell on problems, feel victimized, become overwhelmed and turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms, such as substance abuse. You may even be more inclined to develop anxiety and depression.
Resilience won’t make your problems go away. But resilience can give you the ability to see past them, find enjoyment in life and handle stress better. If you aren’t as resilient as you’d like to be, you can develop skills to become more resilient.
Resiliency can be developed by learning and practicing mindfulness and other mind-body techniques. Mindfulness helps you achieve an elevated sense of awareness by consciously recognizing and accepting the present. It brings purposeful, trained attention out of the negative thoughts of the mind and into the reality of the world in the present moment.”
“…more than education, more than experience, more than training, an individual’s level of resilience will determine who succeeds and who fails.”
Harvard Business Review, 2002.
One of my favorite quotes is, “Success is going from failure to failure with enthusiasm.”
This week focus on being resilient. Do you have the ability to be calm, energized, engaged, focused and purposeful…even when things don’t go as planned? Do you address problems or avoid them? Are you consciously recognizing and accepting of your present situation?
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