BRAVO Princess - A night at the Opera

Congratulations Princess on your new production show “Bravo” … The regular production team were joined by a very talented Soprano and Baritone to perform this excellent show.  So mesmerised were we all that it came to “Time to Say Goodbye” and without a dry eye the team was farewelled with a standing ovation.

And so it is “Sea La Vie” from the beautiful Sun Princess.

The Circle of Friendship

Just before arriving in Yokohama, we arranged to have a group photo of our Cruise Critic Pacific Circlers group.  Thanks to Garry and Mal our photographers extraordinaire.  It is not easy to get 200 passengers to look in the same direction… ok so we are happy with 95%

And so it is “Sea La Vie” from the beautiful Sun Princess.

Russian our way to Vladivostok

The actual sail into Vladivostok was too early for us.  Venturing up on deck at around 5.30 am we found we were already tied up alongside the Vladivostok cruise terminal.  The night lights still illuminated the sky but soon turned off as dawn broke. 

Thumping music was coming from somewhere. “Come on, this is a Princess Cruise, Legends could not be still rocking?” Seen from the bow of the ship, in the distance, a blue strobe light pinpointed the source of the music…. “WOW, they party hard here in Russia.” Apparently, there was a big concert in Central square last night, and the after-party was just finishing up.

The ship handled all immigration procedures, all we had to hand in was a stamped photocopy of our passport which we presented on exit. (NO VISA REQUIRED).

While the final processing was being completed, on the terminal platform, dozens of beautifully traditionally dressed ladies sang and danced to entertain us as part of our welcome ceremony.

Our tour was with Explore Primorye, Primorsky being the name of the territory that Vladivostok is part of. A fairly young tour company headed up by Rada and her husband, Sergey. We later found out they had only been married for just over a week and were waiting for us before heading off on their honeymoon to Japan and Korea.

Rada was our tour guide for the day, and Marie had another group led by Sergey, who we crossed paths with several times during that day.

Our first stop was the Tokarevskiy Lighthouse situated in the southernmost peninsula of Vladivostok.  At first glance, it seems the lighthouse is floating on the water, but as the van bumped its way along the rough roadway you could see a path emerging out of the water which leads you to the rock that it is built on.  Keeping an eye on the waves as they tickled our toes, we followed the path for a closer look.  This reminded me of our time at St Michaels Mount in England, whereas the tide came in, those crossing the causeway looked like they were walking on water.

A few Rubber dinghy's about with men doing a spot of fishing.

We then headed back to the point where we had started from and visited the Vladivostok Railway Station.  “Here ends the great Trans-Siberian railroad. 9288 kilometres away from Moscow.” Well, ends or starts depending in which direction you are heading.

The station is a copy of the Yaroslavsky railway station in Moscow, even as much as the train timetable runs and all displays are on Moscow time.  For a traveller who is not aware of this, it could be a bit tricky. Railway stations are works of art in Russia, and here was no exception. Beautifully ornate fretwork and tiles decorate each of the halls. Masterfully painted ceilings to rival any palace found in Europe.

From there, we wandered around the laneways of the old city where the former Chinatown and gambling centre were. The “Millionka” district was once unsavoury, but now a little trendy and decorated with the occasional street art.

Leaving the old and entering the new, our walk led us down to the Sportivnaya Embankment and as it was Sunday it was a hive of activity.  This is a popular seafront with a carnival atmosphere.  It starts with the aquarium, then a Ferris wheel and sideshows lead into a promenade lined with stalls that run along the water’s edge.  Even with the morning grey skies, we watched as people frolicked and swam in the surprisingly warm water of the sea.

 Further along, we reached a square whose centrepiece is a beautiful fountain,  the waters dance along with lights and music, a little lost in the daylight hours.

Luckily we had a trusty driver and his van to move us around the city to save time and our feet. Next, we found ourselves back down near the port in an area known as the Pacific Fleet Embankment, signifying the first arrival place of Vladivostok’s marine post founders.  Taking pride of place in this open-air museum is the legendary C-56 Submarine. Just as the bell rings on our ship to signify 12 midday, here it is signified with canon fire that still rings in your ears well after the event.  In commemoration, an amazing sculptured wall surrounds the square telling the story of the fallen.

  

In the adjoining park, a small church is still under repair and the beautifully restored Triumphal Arch stands tall, built especially for the visit from the last Tsar Nikolai II. 

We were pretty tired and hungry now and it was lunchtime.  Rada told us that finding a traditional Russian cuisine restaurant was not easy in Vlad, as like most modern cities, everyone seeks out the foreign delicacies of Indian, European or Thai. But they knew of this little gem that served us Borsch (beetroot & vege soup ), crumb chicken and lots of potatoes.  As long as you had Rubles you could also enjoy a local cold beer straight from the tap!

Our afternoon adventure took us to Russky Island, pronounced “Roosky” with the roll of the “R”.  This island was mainly military, but once Vladivostok finally entered the world of Capitalism only 25 years ago, the bases were abandoned and are now home to the University Campus and a new Aquarium that will be opening soon.

First crossing the Zolotoy Bridge that connects the banks of Golden Horn Bay, which then leads us to the impressive Russky Bridge that links Russky Island to the mainland. The Russky Bridge claim to fame is, is being the longest cable-stayed bridge.

To protect the Primorye Territory from invasion several Batteries were installed with one of the largest being at Voroshilov.  Here two three-gun turret mounts (previously installed on a battleship) have been strategically positioned with a firing range of around 35 kilometres.  Luckily only ever fired in practice, strong enough to blow out the windows of homes in nearby villages who had to be warned and to take precautions for the impending blast.Above ground, you could only see the turrets but directly below three levels housed the machinery, bombs and the crew that manned and operated the equipment.

  Visiting a couple of viewpoints on the island was made even more spectacular by the now blue skies and sunshine.  Russky Island is now also popular for holiday and weekend visits and ideal for swimmers and very popular with lone fishermen in their rubber dinghies.

Starting to feel a little viewpoint-ed out, we could not miss probably one of the most popular spots back on the mainland.  Orlinoe Gnezdo (eagles nest ) sits high up above Vladisvostok and although we reached it by van, it is also accessible by funicular if you are doing it on your own.

It was a wonderful day in Vladivostok, not the grey, cold and miserable images you expect from anything that mentions Siberia. It was full of colour, life and beauty.

Just as we were so warmly welcomed this morning, hundreds of Russians lined the viewing platform of the terminal to wave and cheer us goodbye. In return, our Captain blew the horn three times, and we sailed away.

And so it is “Sea La Vie” from the beautiful Sun Princess.

Tour Company: Explore Primorye
Website: http://exploreprimorye.com

Busaning ourselves in Korea.

Our visit to Busan today was attributed to the fact that we were dodging a super typhoon. As it was unexpected, we had no idea what was in store for us.  Having wasted enough of our internet minutes re-organising Incheon and Beijing, we decided to opt for a Princess Tour instead of trying to source it privately….   We chose the Haedong Yonggunsa Temple tour which also took us to the Apec site and ended at the international market in town, where we defected instead of heading back to the ship.

It was a lovely sail into Busan – Amongst the mountains and out of each valley, clusters of white high-rise buildings jutted out, standing straight and tall in stark contrast against the dark green background. The sun was shining and the skies were blue and did not share the same smoggy characteristics of Incheon

I must be dumb, as I was not expecting such a modern city, and if I did do my research properly I would have learnt that Busan is the second biggest city in South Korea.

So today we were doing the Princess shuffle, gathering in the Princess theatre branded with our tour number stickers. Actually ran efficiently well, as we were quickly called to exit the ship and meet up with our bus…

Following the coastline, we crossed the Gwangan Bridge, an amazing and the longest suspension bridge in Korea which boasts two levels for cars to travel across and back. 

Haedong Yonggungsa Temple is located by the sea, so the views are spectacular no matter where you look.  On the walk up to the temple, you first pass markets stalls selling everything from trinkets to delicious looking street food. Then as you get closer you are welcomed by twelve statues representing animals of the Chinese zodiac. Like a guard of honour, they stand lining the path that leads the way.  In every nook and cranny, there is another statue or Buddha to ensure you do not lose your way.  You are led up and downstairs and over bridges, all with breathtaking views until you reach the Temple. Being left to our own devices to wander and absorb the atmosphere, we wandered back to the bus.

The next stop was Dongbaek Island, where the stunning Apec House is surrounded by beautiful gardens and parks. It was built for the 2005 APEC Economic Leaders Meeting.  Once again magnificent views out across the ocean and back towards the city.

Our last stop was the Gukje International Markets, where just like any Asian market you could buy an assortment of souvenirs, clothes, bags, shoes and any type of Street food you could imagine.  This is where we left the tour so we could wander around all the stalls and shops that line the lanes that criss-cross each other at our leisure.

Across the road from the international market is the Jagalchi Fish Market. An amazing place housed in a building whose shape from a distance represents a seagull.  Everything is carefully laid out with water constantly being pumped through the tanks as most of the sea life is still alive. Tanks of crabs, lobsters, sea urchins and fish of all shapes and sizes.  Other unusual creatures, that on first impression, resemble a tray of raw sausages or some other phallic symbol, a little off-putting when they start to squirm around.  One vendor approached us and said that we could purchase any fish and on the second floor they would create an amazing meal for you.

It would have been tempting but we had already tried out the street food up in the Gukje Market.  I enjoyed a small bowl of dim sum, potstickers or Goyzas (depending on where you are from), and Garry savoured a foot long tender honey soy chicken skewer.  

Those of you who have sailed with us before know how much Garry loves his soft-serve ice-cream. Now as part of the Princess user pays policy you are no longer able to enjoy a free ice-cream from the parlour, but instead the new fancy New Zealand brand for a minimum cost of around $5.  You can imagine Garry’s excitement when we found a vendor selling 30 cm long soft-serve ice-cream.  He was licking his lips as he watched the ice-cream spiral higher and higher on its cone. It was thick and really cold, and Garry slowly savoured every millimetre trying to avoid the consequential brain freeze.

I chose something a little more authentic.  Like a doughnut, the batter mixture with a brown sugar filling is shallow fried on a hot plate.  Once cooked and still hot, a slit is made and filled with a nut mixture…. OMG it was worth the 15 min wait.  The brown sugar melted into a caramel sauce that coated the nuts that was sandwiched in the doughnut casing…. I can still taste the deliciousness even though it is now just a memory. 

In Busan, there was a free shuttle from the port to the city. The drop off/pick up was right where we were.  Unfortunately, by the time we were ready to go back, so was half the ship and as we waited in the hot sun the line snaked back well and truly into the market.  Although we waited quite a while for the next bus, several turned up at the same time so the majority of passengers were accommodated.

Back on the pier there was a concert of both traditional and modern dancing (remember Gangman style originates from Korea).  Girls dressed in traditional costume contrasting against the girls with the mini skirts and high heels gyrating to the modern sounds of Korea. As we sailed away you were left with a warm fuzzy feeling whilst they waved signs asking us to come back.  Damn it … another place I want to visit again!!

And so it is “Sea La Vie” from the beautiful Sun Princess.