What to See in Ghangzhou - Beijing Road

Guangzhou is well known for its many handicraft products as well as its famous delicious cuisine. Along with its close promximity to Hong Kong and its many cultural attractions, no wonder Guangzhou is one of China's principal tourist destinations.

There are a lot to see in Guangzhou, China! Beisdes beauitful scenic locations such as the Wetland National Park, Bai Yuen Mountain etc. there are also numerous museums, historical sites, huge squares and famous streets. Beijing Lu's is one of these interesting streets. Its origins go back over 2,000 years. We visited Beijing Road, one of the busiest pedestrian streets in Guangzhou. If you like shopping while travelling, this is a street you must visit as there are many many stores selling many different kinds of clothes. It is also a street where one could taste local snacks and different food. We saw many anceint buildings renovated and restored beatifully. We were blown away when we reached an area and saw an excavated section of a thousand-year old street covered by transparent glass for visitors to have a clear view.

We visited many interesting stores using many creative ideas to attract visitors on Beijing Road. It was an area full of people and there was an energetic vibe everywhere we went. It was a fun place to visit with many things to see. We found that English speaking visitors like us had no problem shopping / eating at the shops there as many employees could understand English and we could communcate with them and got what we wanted. RT, Beijing Road Guangzhou, China 022024

What to see in Guangzhou -Haizhu National Wetland Park, an Oasis in One of China's Mega Cities

My husband and I enjoy walking and exploring natural scenic locations whenever we travel. We were travelling in Guangzhou, China and came upon the Haizhu National Wetland Park. What made us very happy was that this National Wetland Park, located right within the city area, was easily accessible by public transit, therefore we didn't need to sigh up for any tours or rented a car to get there.

After our lunch with our visitor,T. we decided to visit this national park. T. offered to drive us there but it was an easy walk and we enjoyed the exercise. Therefore we declined the offer and agreed that we should meet at the park. After about 30 minutes of strolling leisurely on the streets of the Haizhu district, we arrived at the park. Since we are over 65 years old, our admission to the park was free!

The park was awesome with colourful flowers blooming, red lanterns hanging from the trees lining the walkways of the park and a few photo booths with Year of the Dragon decorations set up for visitors. The park was too big for us to see everything in one day. We even rode on one of the park trains taking us to me some parts, but not the entire park. We rested and enjoyed a bubble tea and smoothie at a nice cafe serving up lattes, icecreams, and snacks. There was a nature centre and camping ground for school groups as well.

We were glad that we visited the park and learned the following; 1. Haizhu National Park is the first national wetland park in the Guangzhou. 2. It is the largest wetland park among China's biggest cities. 3. Due to the diverse habitats provided by its rivers and lakes within the park, 64 species of fish are found at the Wetland Park 4. In 2018, the Government of Guangzhou implemented the Guangzhou Wetland Conservation Regulations and confirmed the wetlands' permanent conservation status. 5. Guangzhou city abandoned over $1 trillion in commercial development value in order to preserve the wetland as a green haven in the urban area - Thumbs up to the Guangzhou City governement choosing ecology over business profits!

Guangzhou is a mega city, one of the five largets cities in China with a population of 15.31 million people,( Dec. 31, 2019 ) We didn't expect to find such a beautiful, spacious green space here. We were delighted and surprised to discover this oasis in the middle of Guangzhou city. We loved the park and enjoyed visiting it tremendously. We hope that more visitors - Chinese nationals and non Chinese alike will discover and visit this wonderful piece of national treasure and will enjoy its natural beauty and tranqulitiy as much as we did! RT, Guangzhou, China 02022024

A Sea of Red Around the Canton Tower at Lunar New Year Time in China

T. a young person who was embarked on a solo driving trip in China came to visit us while we were in Guangzhou. We took him to visit the Canton Tower and the area aound it in the downtown area of Guangzhou. We even got him to try some Chinese herbal medicine drinks.

This was a wonderful time to visit China. Less than two weeks’ time before the lunar New Year, many public places were decorated brightly with red flowers and new year decorations. There are many modern and creatively designed buildings in downtown Guangzhou. If you are interested in modern architecture, this is a place you must visit. It seems that China does not discriminate any great artists or engineers.

She only wants to have the world’s best designed buildings and architectures for its cities. Guangzhou does have many beautiful modern buildings as many of which were designed by some of the world's best and most famous architects. RT, Guangzhou, China

What to see in Guangzhou - Xiaozhou Village, a Historic and Cultural Area

Guangzhou is a huge metropolitan Chinese city located not too far from Hong Kong. We flew from Canada to HK, and took the fast train to Guangahou. It didn’t seem long at all. We were lucky to have a family member acting as our tour guide taking us to many different places in this busy city. There were lots to see!

We went to the Xiaozhou Village, founded in the early Ming Dynasty. It is situated in the Haizhu District within Guangzhou city. With the convenience of the city's subway system, it was easy getting there.

Xiaozhou Village is one of the first fourteen historic and cultural preservation areas. We enjoyed visiting this ancient village and were awed by its beauty and tranquility. We particularly liked the 10 km waterway running through the village. The scenery was mesmerizing. This ancient village is doted with old buildings, bridges, old city gates and comfortable outdoor furniture for visitors to enjoy a berverage or snack. This place had a relaxing, welcoming vibe of the bygone era.

One stone bridge , the Hanmo Bridge was built in the Ming Dynasty with a one piece solid granite and could accommodate more than twenty people at the same time. It is one of the well preserved stone bridge around. We could have spent a whole day there.

The next evening, T. in his solo driving tour of China, came and visited us. We took him out for a Thai food dinner and visited the spring flower show afterwards. Lots of vendor there selling flowers, snacks and local snacks. We were pleasantly surprised to see a Tim Horton coffee shop there. Tim Horton is one of Canada’s most successful franchised restaurants. We felt good seeing a bit of Canada right here in China. RT, Xiao Zhou Village Guangzhou, China 022024

Making Some Nice Russian Friends on a Delightful Sunday in Guangzhou, China

No matter what country we have travelled to in any part of the world, we always look for a church where we can attend the Sunday Service on Sunday. It was no exception during our travel in China. We landed in Guangzhou on late Friday night. After a day of rest on Saturday, we looked for a local church for our Sunday worship. We did find an English church not too far away. We prayed hard that J. would come with us. At the beginning, he was reluctant as he was enjoying his late sleep in for the weekend. I didn't give up but kept praying while I was preparing food in the kitchen. Finally, just before our departure from the apartment, J. agreed that he would come with us. Hallelujah, how great was that. Parents, don't give up, just keep praying for your kids and grown up children. They will come around one day TO God.

We hailed a taxi and arrived at the address. It wasn't easy to find but the church people were helpful. As soon as we called them, a lady came and guided us to the church gathering place. It was an unit localted high in a big highrise building overlooking the city of Guangzhou.There were about fiftenn twenty people at the service and it was biligual with earphone translation. The preacher was passionate about his messaage and the congregation was friendly and welcoming. I was glad that J. was willing to sit through the entire sermon without leaving his spot. We were very impressed with the warmth of the congregation. After the service, everyone stayed behind for coffee and friendly chats for a long time. I have ever seen a church where people were so willing to stay behind for social time. We were told that most people would go for a lunch afterwards every Sunday after the social time too. We were invited to join them this time too.

We did join the church for lunch at a restaurant in a shopping mall. The shopping mall was huge even in North American standard! Because it was close to New Year, all the shops were all deccorated. In the main hall, there was a huge golden dragon placed in the middle welcoming visitors to the mall. This was more than a shopping mall. It offered many things to its visitors. With our new friends, we had a good time sitting at the viewing station watching kids and grown-ups alike having fun on the skating rink! We didn't expect to see a skating rink in a southern Chinese city with hot climate most of the year.

There were many interesting things to see such as arts classes and educational displays. There was an animal display in a museum within the mall! I could imagine how excited our children would have been if we had brought them here when they were young.

We had a fantastic time talking, enjoying a nice lunch and getting acquainted with our new Russian friends. Thank you, our wonderful friends in China!You have made our visit to Guangzhou an absolutely wonderful experience and we look forward to seeing you again in the future! RT, Guangzhou, China 02252024

A Fast and Easy Train Ride from Hong Kong to Guangzhou, China, Prior to the Lunar New Year of 2024

I have learned about the great importance Chinese place on celebrating the Chinese New Year in China. Each year, around January and February, we would hear and see pictures about the greatest annual migration of people on earth when millions of Chinese travel with China and try to make it back home to be with their families. Even the satellites are able to pick up images of the heat emitted from China due to these tremendous migration movement. I have seen reports of these satellite images on TV and are awed by them. I never experienced Chinese New Year in China, therefore we decided to experience it in peron in 2024, the Year of the Dragon.

We flew to Hong Kong, stayed one night at a hotel near the airport. The next day, after a visit to Tai O, we took the train to Guangzhou, a southern Chinese city.

Before leaving Canada, we were able to purchase our train tickets online. It was easy, no problem at all. The cost was very reasonable. We compared the cost of our plane tickets. If we had taken the direct flight from Toronto to Guangzhou, China, the plane ticket would have cost us about Can$ 1000.00 more than if we flew to HK and then taking the train to Guangzhou. It was an easy decision for us. We bought both the plane tickets and train tickets online in Canada. We began our Asian holiday by flying to Portugal, then catching a connecting flight to HK, and from there taking the train to Guangzhou, China. However, one of the Air France flights was late therefore delaying our connecting flight to HK. Fortunately, we were not in a hurry to go to a wedding nor did we have to be at our destination for a specific date. Otherwise, that would have been stressful for us.

The train station in Hong Kong was impressive, spacious, modern and efficient. There were many shops and restaurants opened for dining and for some last minute shopping. Though there were huge crowds, the lineups and boarding were orderly. It was not as scary as we had imagined.

The train station personnel was helpful when we were not sure where we were going. We had no problem clearing custom and boarded our train to Guangzhou. It was a comfortable and quiet train ride for about 2 hours. The trian left HK shorlty after 7pm and we arrived in Guangzhou a little after 10p.m. It was so good to see J. again. He was waiting for us at the train station. We hugged each other tightly. Missed him so so much!!!

After leaving the train station and trying to hail a taxi, we happened to see a local brigade of the firemen changing shift across the street. It was interesting to see how the firefighters, fully dressed in their fire fighting gears, reporting to their roll call and ready to help the local people in their fire fighting tasks. An Interesting event! We look forward to our adventure in China for the next few weeks! RT, GUANGZHOU, CHINA 01262024

Visiting Tai O Village & Encountering an Unpleasant Situation on Lantau Island at a Stopover in Hong Kong

Our trip to China has taken a little while since we didn't buy a direct flight ticket to our destination city. We are retirees and not in a hurry so it was OK for us to stop over in Portugal and then in Hong Kong where we would take the highspeed train to our destination city in China. We stayed overnight at the Regala Skycity Hotel, close to the HK airport and enjoyed a nice breakfast there.

Taking advantage of our stopover, we decided to tour the Tai 0 Village on the Lantau Island in Hong Kong. Growing up, I always thought that Hong Kong was very small as most of the population seemed to be concerntrated on just the HK island and the Kowloon peninsula. Now that I am more aware of geography, I have realized HK is much better than I thought as there are so many islands included in the territory of the city.

Never visited Tai O, this time we purposely made a visit to this village. After breakfast we hailed a taxi which took us there. We could have taken a bus from the airport but to save time we took a cab instead.

Tai O village used to be a quiet poor fishing village. But now it has become a weekend go to destination for HK residents wishing to escape the hustle and bustle of the city We strolled on the narrow streets looking for little cafes and restaurnatns for the seafood for which Tai O was famous. We tried little snacks and drinks there and here and visited an old Catholic church.

It was evident that Tai O residents enjoy a traditional life in their village with many modern facilities and services offered by the government. We saw a community centre offering various services and festivities related to the New Year, a modern looking high school and local buses offering services to the locals. There were many shops and restaurants opened for business. Tai O people are proud of their traditions; a museum was open on the day we visited showing displays of the people's past way of lives, the tools they used and their history. We took a short boat tour which took us near to the houses built by the water. It was amazing to see how families for generations living in houses built on water. We took a stroll along the broadwalk leading to a small beach and the resort houses nearby. Some of these houses were for rent during the summer as vacation homes for tourists. It would not be a bad idea to rent a place like that for a week or two if we visit HK during the summer.

On our way back to the hotel, we rode on the bus which took us pretty close to the hotel. There was a small incident on the bus - 3 or 4 non Chinese teenage boys got on our bus which was full with no seats. Some sat on the floor while some stood on the bus. At the next bus stop, two or three more passengers got on but these boys didn't move to the back of the bus where was more room. These passengers who just got on had to stand very close to the front of the bus which clearly was posing a risk for them should the bus take a sudden stop. I thought these teenagers were not aware of what the need was at the time so I called out to them to move to the back, but they ignored me. I said to them again in English becasue I heard them talking among themselves. But again they ignored me and refused to move to the back. So I spoke to them again in English in case they didn't hear me. Then they started calling me racial names and all sort of stuff. I just had it. In the Chinese culture, people are usually polite and cooperative trying to accommodate other people. They would simply move to the back when an elder person requests them to do so out of respect for them. But being from the Indian culture and English speaking, these highschool boys didn't understand nor have they any repsect for the Chinese culture even though they were studying and living in Hong Kong. They were making fun of me and mocking me in English assuming that I couldn't understand them. I did and I shot back and we got into some heated arguments in which the boys kept telling me loudly to shut up. Finally, the bus driver had to stop the bus and told the boys to move back. These boys dressed in private school uniforms finally did move. Attending in private schools is not cheap. Did these expensive private schools fail in their education of the young? I wondered what did the students learn in their elite school about respecting the local culture and being considerate of others in public space. Nothing? Should I tell my family, I got in trouble again in one day in HK as I couldn't stand stupid people's behaviour in public? RT, Stopover in HK

The Travel Bug Strikes Again and Here We Go!

I have always heard about how exciting the Chinese celebrate their lunar New Year - which they call Chinese New Year. in China. Every year in Canada, the media always report the world's biggest migration on earth - when Chinese people travel back to their home villages or towns to see their families during this time of the year. I have never personally experienced the lunar New Year in China therfore, I asked my husband if we could travel to China to experience Chinese New Year first hand. He agreed!

We did all our preparations, bought our tickets, packed our bags and off we went. This time instead of going to Asia via the Vancouver, Japan route, we went the other way. We chose to go through the European way and our first stop was Portugal, a country we thought of visiting recently. We left Toronto around 9p.m. and arrived Lisbon at 9 a.m. the next day. Not knowing the language or anybody in Lisbon, Portugal, we thought we would just wait for our next connecting flight at 10p.m.at the airport. But the nice man at the airport cafe told us that downtown Lisbon was only 20 minute bus ride away and that we should go there for lunch, look around and come back. With this nice man's encouragement, we listened. We locked up our lugguage at one of the lockers and off we went waiting for the bus taking us downtown.

The ride was easy and the bus fare was cheap. We were downtown in less than thirty minutes, no time at all. What a nice day it was. With the sun shinning, and soft breezes blowing on our faces, it felt wonderful, not cold at all. We walked around the downtown area, taking in the sights and sounds of this beautiful, unhurried city. Lisbon gave me the impression that it is not a very big city but is steep in history and with lots to see. The first impression we have of Lisbon was how much of the city's roads have been paved with cobbles stones and mosiac tiles. We needed to be very careful walking on these streets as they could get slippery easily.

We strolled on the huge square on the waterfront, up the winding narrow streets in the CHIADO neighborhood. The streets were alive with pedestrains and tourists but not overly crowded. There were many sidewalk cafes and restaurants, souvenior shops catering to visitors to the area. We found a not so busy street and parked ourselves at one of the sidewalk restaurants to enjoy a codfish lunch, and people watched while sipping on the coffee and watched the world go by for a little while. What a nice and relaxing way to spend an afternoon. Soon, it was time getting back to the airport. We could hardly wait to visit Portugal again for a longer time on our way back to Canada RT, Lisbon, Portugal 24012024 24012024

Celebrating Lunar New Year at Home in Canada

As an Asian Canadian, we are fortunate living in Canada. We have freedom of speech, religion, mobility and many other things. One of the things we value most is freedom of maintaining and celebrating our own cultures and traditions without being called out by our governement officialls in high places.

There are many special annual occasions and festivities in Canada which we observe and celebrate with our fellow Canadians. In addition to celebrating Canadian holidays, we also celebrate some of our more significant Asian occasions with our friends and families. The Lunar New Year is celebrated by thousands of families across North America.

This year we celebrated the Lunar New Year as usual with a big dinner and invited our other family members and closest friends to our house. It is always a joyous occasion and family event and we are glad that we are keeping the tradition going by getting together around the time of the new year! RT TORONTO

We' ve Gained So Much by Welcoming Newcomers in Our Home in Canada

We love living in Canada! Canada is one of the most culturally diverse countries on earth. Canada opens its door and each year we welcome at least 250,000.00 newcomers from the four corners of the world. This is a regular number of new immigrants the Canadian government allows to get into our country through the official immigration process. However, if there are any special situations such as natural disasters, conflicts or wars happening in the world, Canada will allow additional number of refugees of wars or victims of disasters and admit them into our land as a relief for victims.

We, as Canadian citizens, applaud our government's efforts to help refugees and victims and many of us also open our homes to welcome them. In January of 2024, we were privilaged to open our home and welcome a newcomer family to our Waterloo home. Upon our invitation, the family of six, two parents and four kids came and spent an evening with us. We treated them with some traditional Canadian food, desserts and after dinner games for the kids. We discovered that no matter what rich food we served our guests, nothing tasted as good as their own native food. Instead of chicken nuggets and french fries we thought the kids would like, the most popular dish for that evening turned out to be rice and beans and cabbage! Wow, I learned something that night about what kids like to eat.

Another evening, we received two international students from Europe in our home. One of the exchanged students from Waterloo university finished her four month term in Canada and was going back home. We received her and her friend at our home on her last night in Canada. We cooked together, shared a meal and had some great conversations. What a fantastic time we had!

Sometimes we think by giving up some of our time and effort to help other, we are sacrifing something. How wrong are we! Time and time again, we have found that by helping others and opening our homes to strangers, we gain so much joy and happiness in return. We thank God immensely for giving us the health, the mobility and the resources to do what we can and share with others! We look forward to welcoming and serving more newcomers to our homes in Ontario, Canada RT Waterloo, Canada

Goodbye to Our Virgin Cruise & Connecting with Family in Florida

This was the last day on our cruise and we were a little sad coming to the end of a wonderful cruise. Up early, we enjoyed a nice breakfast at the Razzle Dazzle Restaurant. After spending five days on this Virgin cruise, we just realized that that we could have had breakfast at the ship's nice restaurants for breakfast as well as for lunch and dinner. Our family had a fantastic experience with the Virgin cruise! One thing that impressed me most was the types of activities offered to their cruise passengers allowing them to be connecting with others a little easier than the other cruises we have had experienced.

E. has had a blast on this cruise. At first he was hesitant about it but we encouraged him to choose his cruise line and he was happy with his Virgin experience. I thank God who listened to my prayers about giving him the opportunity to know more people and make new friends. It was a pleasure meeting the family of three from Florida and E. got along with the two girls well. O, God of almighty, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you for your grace and mercy and the blessings you have bestowed on us on this trip. Though I only asked that you would bless E. with making at least one friend on the cruise, through your abundance of grace, you have blessed E. making with more than 1 friends. I thank you and am deeply grateful to you, God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, for all the blessings you have bestowed on us. I trust your provision and that you already know what we ask for before we even pray for them. God, thank you again for your mercy and love! We disembarked and were at the Thrifty car rental by 11;15am But our car was not available and we waited for 1 ½ hours before we could get our rental car. It was a 3 ½ hours drive from the cruise terminal to our relative's place in Sarasota. We hadn't seen each other since the last time we visited Florida way before COVID. Lots have happened since and we looked forward to seeing him and his family again.

We texted P. not to wait for us for dinner as we know we woould not make it before 630pm for dinner. We arrived shlrtly after 7pm. There were some pizza, salad and sweets waiting for us. We met P.and his wife's big family spending time there for Christmas. We sat in front of the fireplace in the backyard and caught up with each other at their new house for about an hour. I knew it was important for E. and his most favourite cousin to see each other and be reunited after COVID again. Though it took us a few hours of driving back and forth, as a family we must make an effort to try to keep in touch and see each other whenever there is an opportunity. Since we were in Florida already, how could we not drive that extra few hours for a quick cousin reunion there? I am well aware of the fact that out of sight, out of mind. So glad that we made the drive. So good to see P., his wife and the two girls who have grown up a lot since we saw them last time. With kids, if we haven't seen them for a year or two, we really noticed their growning up. What a nice family settled down in Flroida from Canada. Happy for them indeed. We took a family picture to send to our big family and made my brother very happy. We couldn't believe how handy and efficient how P's wife has been fixing everything in the new house. Nice job, M.

We drove to Tampa for the night. E. booked a hotel for us and we spent a couple of days sightseeeing around the area before heading back home. It was thoughtful of him booking and paying for our stay in Florida while visiting there the whole time! RT, Florida 12272023

A Fantastic Day on a Bimini Beach, Bahamas - Day 5 of Our Virgin Cruise

TUESDAY - Bimini, Bahamas Our cruise ship sailed to Bimini, Bahamas, the second port on our 5th day cruise.

It appeared that there was not much to do on this island. I think the cruise ship companies together with the other resorts on this island created a Beach Club right by the ocean front especially for the enjoyment of the cruise ship passengers. The focus of our activities took place around the Club House on the beach. We were taken by a tour bus and dropped off at the waiting area by the Club House entrance. There were a few numbered cabanas with loungers in front of them as well as many loungers and chairs scattered throughout the beach area. One thing we didn’t do was reserving a cabana which could shield us from the sun. Fortunately, it was a cloudy morning.

We met D., her 2 girls, their friends and chatted for a bit. We picked a shaded area right in front of Cabana 25 and whats hap E. of the info in case he needed to find us. Having no desire to be roasted under a hot sun, We had never spent an entire day on a beach until today. It was a good day being on the beach as it was not too hot and the sun was not too strong. It was just perfect weather for lying around and enjoying the beach. We ordered some food and drinks provided by the cruise ship and enjoyed our first full beach day. While my husband was enjoying his do nothing beach day with a beer and a coconut by his side, I strolled on the shore along the ocean. Dipping my barefeet in the ocean and listening to the sounds of the waves had a soothing effect on me. I just loved the feeling of being close to a body of water!

There was an abundance of food avaialable for us. We simply lined up to order our drinks and food at the food counter and bars. Young people were playing beach ball, swimming in the water and playing games in the pool; some were soaking up the tropical sun while other were relaxing and enjoying a nice time on the beach. I was surprised at how fast time flew by when we were simply lying around on the beach! E. came and told us it was time to leave this beautiful place, how sad! We reboarded the ship around 5pm and reboarded our cruise ship.

After a light snack – I finally got to try the Scarlet Lady dessert from the bakery. I went to my first Zumba class on this trip on the terrace. I wished I had discovered this class on day 1 of this cruise. It was a beautiful place to have the exercise class. There were only about 7 - 8 participants but I enjoyed both the view from the terrace and the exercise to loosen my well fed body. While I was in the class, I saw E. running around the track below us a few times. Wow, he's taking his exercise seriously. Thank God that he has learnt to look after himself with regular exercises. We were too tired to attend other events after the beach outing. Though we made reservation and were given the time slot at 9pm, we arrived at the restaurant shortly after 7pm and we were seated before 7:30pm! A lesson learned- never be afraid to ask for an earlier time for your dinner even though the assigned time might be much later. We were able to change our dinner time every time we asked and were able to have it much earlier.

This was our last night of the 5 day Virgin cruise, we had dinner at the Test kitchen which served us a six course meal creatively prepared using different ingredients and beautifully presented with detail explanation by our server. That was the best meal, a fancy dinner with small portions, exactly what we needed after a few days of heavy meals. We went back to our cabin to pack for tomorrow's disembarkation but didn’t go to the karaoke with E. and his friends. I watched a great interview on MSNBC with Arthur Brook who co-wrote a book on The Science of Happiness which talks about the main ingredients for a happy life; and some practical things to do to start the path to a happy life 1. Faith – read something spiritual or pray everyday for at least 15 minutes 2. Family – call your loved ones and talk to them everyday 3. Friends – make real friends and in person connections, not online friends and zoom friends 4. Work - which makes you feel that you are helping and uplifting others A very good interview and an excellent book to buy for our sons for next Christmas or birthday! RT, Day 5, Virgin Cruise 12262023

Spending our first Christmas at Sea with the Virgin Cruise

Monday - Our First Merry Christmas at Sea December 25, 2023 was our first Christmas spent on a cruise ship! We thanked God for His blessing that we could spend time together as a family with our son peacefully and happily with good health. It was truly a blessing for having good health and the mobility to enjoy this cruise trip! Thank you God, for your grace and mercy! I was busy reading and sending out Christmas greetings from our cruise ship to friends and families. We got a call from Y. who called us wishing us merry Christmas. It warms our heart every time when our son remembers us on these special occasions. We talked for almost an hour and I was able to share a Christmas message with him, prasie God! After the phone call, we met E. on Deck 15 for breakfast. He didn't seem like too happy and not in a good mood at all. I wondered what went wron Then two nice ladies came by and told E. that they were looking for him. E. was wondering why these two ladies didn't return his messages since they had so much fun together at the pool party the night before. At last, He figured out that he had their phone number wrong. They had a good chat and I even met their mom. What a nice family! After this, E, was happy again as he found out the real reason why his messages were not returned.

We still had almost $200.00 bar credit so we had it transferred to E. who could use it with his friends. As a Chrsitiian family, Chrsitmas has an importnat place in our lives. We always have big celebrations with family and church friends at home. One of the traditions we have been carrying on for all these years is exchanging gifts with family members on Christmas day. We enjoy buying gifts for each other and the value of the gifts are not important, but the thoughts and love represented in these gifts are more meaninful to us. We went to the roof top terrace, sat on a swing and opened the presents together. The whole thing didn't last for too long but it was an important moment and occasion for us. However, when the gift opening was over, I kicked myself afterwards for not taking the time to pray and share a few scriptures with E. O, God, forgive me and please help me to be a better Christian parent. May the holy spirit remind me next time to grab every opportunity to share the word of God with our loved ones and with whosoever we come into contact.

We had our Christmas dinner at the Pink Agave restaurant, our first Christmas dinner ever on a cruise chip. We enjoyed the dinners on this cruise a lot! The food was quite good with polite and attentive serving staff. No complain at all. There were lots to do after dinner on the ship. There were always shows and entertainment throughout the ship's theatres and lounges. This evening, we went to

the karaoke lounge where audiences were not just listening to the songs but also active participants taking the stage and bell out their songs wiht gusto. We met up with E.'s new friends, had some drinks, talked and enjoyed other sailors' performance. A fun time. E. did an excellent job introduing newcomers to the group and getting people together. I had a good chat with M's mom too. Loved that we were able to have a good time with our son and his newly made friends together. An enjoyable evening indeed! RT, On Board the Virgin Cruise Ship 25122023

Why We Liked the Virgin Cruise Ship - Scarlet Night, Gunbae Drinking Game and No Fee Photos

Prior to our cruise holiday and while deciding on which cruise company we would choose, we were not sure if going to the Virgin cruise would be worth it as it was more expensive than the other cruise companies. However, now that we are on it, we are glad that we chose Virgin this time we have noticed that Virgin does things a little differently from its counterpart cruises. There were a few things we really like about the Virgin cruise; 1. Scarlet Night - Tonight was Scarlet Night when sailors ( passengers) were supposed to dress in red. We learned about the Scarlet night from the Virgin website and were prepared for it. We looked so nice all dressed up in red. Everyone felt happy and were excited about Scarlet Night. Our son even went and bought red glassed for all of us to wear for tonight's event. Many sailors were taking pictures with each other. We had some nice pictures taken and were very happy about that. 2. No professional photogrpahers on board - One particular thing we noticed different about the Virgin Cruise was that there were no photo booths set up on the ship where professional photogrpahers would be waiting and pouncing on passengers to have their pictures taken at an expensive fees. Instead, There was a nice place set up with a silver background and anyone could just go and have their pictures taken there with their friends or families for free. How cool was that! We did just that and took some nice pictures at the beautiful setting. Taken by us, these pictures turned out very nice and we could use them as our CHristmas pictures for our friends and families. We also could take our time at the DIY photo setting and had a lot of fun taking our pictures there.

3. Gunbae Restaurant - After our one day port visit to Puerto Plata, we looked forwward to our dinner back on the cruise ship. Our dinner reservation was at 9pm at the Gunbae Restaurnant serving Korean bbq food. Not wanting to having dinner so late in the evening, we arrived to the restaurant at 8pm. Thank goodness, we were able to get in at an earlier time! There were no indiviual seats or seats for two at this restaurant. Each table could accommodate between 6 to 8 people at a time therefore guests would be required to share the table with other diners. Seated beside two ladies of Indian decent, we had a fantastic time learning the Gunbae drinking game from our server. Gunbae means drinking to the bottom of the glass. The game started with everyone at the table with a glass of saki. Then each diner at the table would start counting. Whenever you came to the number 3 or multiple of 3 or a number containing the number 3, instead of saying the number out loud, you just clap at the number 3. Whoever made a mistake would finishing drinking his/ her glass to the last drop. Every diner partipicated in this drinking game with enthusiasm and we could hear clapping, laughing and screaming all through the restaurant. We started the game and the game went around a few times but I was the second one to be kicked out of the game while E. was the winner. Everyone had a great time as it was a very fun dinner! This was our very first interactive dinner on a cruise ever! Really enjoyed it and we had a good conversation with our fellow diners at the table. After dinner, there was a late pool party beginning at 10;45pm, too late for us. We met two of E.'s new friends and we went to our cabin and called it a day! We had tons of fun at our port excursion and at dinner and so did our son! We thank God for a super fun day! RT, On board the Vurgin Cruise 24122023

Puerto Plata - The First Shore Stop on Our 5 Day Virgin Caribbean Cruise

Day 3 We slept really well last night and were up feeling great!. The Virgin cruise ship arrived at Puerto Plata a little after 9a.m. We were able to enjoy a full breakfast on Deck 15 before debarking the ship. Orginally, we would like to do some snorkling in Puerto Plata but it was all booked up therefore we decided to do a self guided walking tour of the historical part of the city.

The cruise terminal in Puerto Plata looked mondern, clean and neat with numerous shops and restaurants. It looked like the terminal was built specifically for cruise passengers. It was funny that as soon as we walked off the prank of the cruise ship, we were recognized as being from Toronto, Canada, and greeted by a few local men warmly. We scratched our heads asking ourselves how did they know that. Then we figured out the reason. Being an avid baseball fan of the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team, our son was wearing the Blue Jays baseball hat today while walking around Puerto Plata which is a baseball city which loves their baseball players.

They know all the baseball teams well and their famous players playing on the Jays Team. Therefore, they know a lot about our Toronto baseball team as the citizens of Puerto Plata follow their famous players playing for the TORONTO team! We even had a gentleman coming up to us offering to buy the Blue Jays hat from our son who had quite a few good conversations with the locals. Puerto Plata has a population of around 350,000 people but the business area and downtown streets were not too busy at all except for the cruise passengers running around during the day. The police was doing a great job trying to keep the tourists safe. They stopped the traffic and waved us to cross the street safely and quickly. Whenever we stopped and hesitated about where we were going, there was always an officer or someone friendly coming up and offering to help us. We saw uniformed police officers with guns strapped around their waists. There were a few roadside stalls but the vendors did not harass us to buy any of their items. We liked that the merchants left us in peace, browsing on our own leisurely.

We visited a few places as they were all within walking distance from each other. We first arrived at the church located near the main square but just missed the 11 a.m. mass. we strolled around the square with some nice Christmas displays. Not far from the square were two interesting streets:

Pink Street - the entire street painted in pink, including windows, shutters and so on. The another street was the Umbrella Street where numerous umbrellas of different colours were hanging upside down. One place which we enjoyed visiting was the Amber Museum. We learned:

1. How amber was formed deep down in the ground 2. When there are fossils such as little bugs, insects embedded in the amber stones, they are worth much more 3. The Amber Museum's logo has a lizard embedded in a round amber stone. The movie Jurassic Park asked for permission to use their logo and replaced the lizard with a dinosaure! How about that! There was also a small cigar museum with a few displays explaining the growth and process of cigar making. We leanrt a lot about cigar planting and the making of them. The last place we visited was the amphitheatre and the fortress ruin fronting the ocean. As we walked toward the fortress, we saw a few strayed skinny dogs wandering around. One was so weak that it was lying in front of the church totally motionless. A kind hearted wheelchaired person kept pouring water on his head and body. After a few minutes, it started to move a little. Thank goodness, it was not dead!

After about 20 minutes of walking, we reached the fortress. From the outside, it looked quite nice and I knew that it has much history. But the only regret was that no admission was allowed and we couldn't get any infomration about this fortress ruin. Not sure if it would open another time or just closed on the day we visited. We walked back to the terminal and I was able to buy a nice white shirt for E. as a Christmas present. Very happy about that! It was a day filled with many new things to see and new experiences. We thank God for a super fun day! RT, On board the Vurgin Cruise 24122023