Daniel's mailbag of books arrived in Cyprus at last

Long ago, in the annals of history, when Daniel was still on the MV Doulos - well, three months ago, anyway - he was online, chatting about the vast amount of luggage he was going to have to take with him when he flew to Carlisle. He had at least 100 books, none of which he wanted to leave behind, but thought he might need at least one or two items of clothing. And of course he had his clarinets, and his guitar, and his computer, and various CDs, and his espresso maker...

'So, why not send the books via mailbag?' I suggested. And then had a look at the Singapore Post Office online, learning that he could, indeed, send out parcels of books and other printed papers at a very reasonable rate. They would take 2-3 months to arrive at their destination, but the cost would be FAR less than taking as excess baggage, or shipping via other methods.

He liked the idea so much that he made arrangements for other Douloids to do this too. And in the midst of rushing around packing and helping to take apart the furnishings of the ship, he managed to stagger to the Post Office with 20kg books to send back to Larnaka.

I'd almost forgotten about it, until he asked me in an email, recently, if it had yet arrived. It hadn't... but I was very glad he had reminded me. When I went to collect our mail on Tuesday, there was a little slip saying that there was a parcel awaiting us, too big for the box. I nearly went in to ask for it, noticing just in time that rather than 'small packet' the postmistress had ticked the box for 'mailbag'.

So I told Richard about it that evening, and on Wednesday morning we drove as close as we could to the Post Office. I'm very glad I didn't try to take it anywhere. It was a large and somewhat battered bag that took up quite a bit of space in the back of the car:


When we got home, I suggested unpacking it there and then, so we could carry armfuls of books up our stairs. But Richard said he could manage the whole thing:


The bag really wasn't in good condition at all, but then it had been sitting around in ships for the past three months. There was a hole near the bottom, although all that we could see was cardboard, so I don't think anything had fallen out:


Apparently Daniel had packed all his books in one large box, which had pretty much fallen to pieces by the time it arrived. So Richard pulled out all the books first, then we had a look at the box, assisted by Sophia, who thought it smelled VERY interesting:


When I asked him why the books were all in one box, he said they were only allowed one box per mailbag. And yes, he realised he should probably have packed three smaller boxes inside the large one, but since the majority of the ship's company were sending out similar mailbags of books, boxes were in rather short supply at the time.

I don't know if it was 100 books, but it made quite a pile on our coffee table:


It was a nicely eclectic mixture, from Augustine to Adrian Plass, from Shakespeare to Terry Pratchett. Rather typical of our household, in fact. And a fairly large amount of clarinet music, too.

The mailbag itself provided some entertainment for the cats. Cleo loves boxes and enclosed spaces of any kind. Sophia was clearly fascinated by the scents. Daniel was her 'person' - almost exclusively - so it's entirely possible she could smell him somewhere around. She kept rushing to the front door and looking outside before returning to the box and bag, until I finally squashed them up and threw them out.


None of the books was actually destroyed, but several of them looked distinctly battered:


I hope they'll all still be readable, anyway.


The next question was where to put them, since they couldn't sit on our coffee table indefinitely. Nor did I want them to fade into our subconsciousness and stay there unnoticed, so I thought I'd better find a home for them immediately.

The bookcases in Daniel's room are already fairly well packed with books. Some from his teenage years, some are already retrieved from his time on the Doulos from his furlough two years ago, and even a few brought back by us from our visits:


So I cleared a bit of space on the bookshelves built into the end of his bed, and put them there:

A little anxious at all this organisation

So. Chritmas cake, mincemeat and puddings made. Most parcels ordered for relatives in the UK: thinking I might be away next week, and wanting to use Amazon's super-saver delivery option, I ordered them on Wednesday. To my surprise, I had a steady stream of dispatch notices throughout Thursday and Friday.

We even decided this year to have our regular cat calendars done online... Kodak Gallery were offering a discount for three or more, and then 20% of all orders in addition. It wasn't much more than the cost of printing them here, and MUCH less hassle. It remains to be seen whether or not they turn out better, but the photo quality ought to be superior to laser printing.

I do still need to write and post Christmas cards, and also write our newsletter. But it IS still only November - usually I've made the cake by this time of year, but do everything else during December. I don't really want to write the newsletter until we know for sure what Daniel will be doing in the New Year; currently the most likely option is that he and Becky will go to work in Carlisle for three months, then come to Cyprus in April when I have a 'big' birthday.

But all is confusion on the Doulos, or so I gather from chatting to Daniel on Instant Messenger. Trying to find appropriate places for 300 or so people is something of a major logistical problem. It's a good thing that God is involved.

I'm quite glad I do have the newsletter and cards still to do, or I'd be feeling very anxious. I'm not used to being so organised. I have no idea how some people manage to be completely ready for Christmas by about the end of October!

Saturday rolls round again

I seem to have 'chatted' quite a bit online with both Daniel and Tim in the last day or two. It's great that they both like staying in touch, even while far from home.

If anyone is interested, you can now read the official FAQ about the Doulos which explains rather more about why the ship is going to be decommissioned at the end of the year, and what may happen to the 300 or so people on board. Since Daniel and his girlfriend were due to leave in about April anyway, they may both come to Cyprus mid-January, for an unspecified time. Or they may not. It will be wonderful to see them whenever they do arrive here, but of course they need to do whatever is right - and if that means being deployed elsewhere temporarily, that's fine.

It's much harder on the people who only joined in September, expecting to stay on the Doulos for two years. And also very hard for the people who were due to join a short term programme about now, some of whom were en route when the news broke. I see that one of the possible options mentioned in the FAQ is that a new ship may be chartered, to continue some of the current work. That sounds like an ideal solution to me, but whatever happens there are immense logistical problems to sort everything and everyone out in the next six weeks.

So my mind continues to churn, and it's hard to concentrate on anything much. I slept well last night but woke with a headache, which hasn't really gone all day. I did get out to the Froutaria earlier to buy some fruit and veg, but that's about my only constructive activity today. Oh, and some laundry, since it's a mains water day. Richard has been at King Malu all day. If anyone wants to know in great detail how the work is progressing, he has a new blog about King Malu.

Frustrations and worries in Cyprus and elsewhere

It was a mixed kind of day, yesterday. For one thing, I kept thinking it was Friday, though I've no idea why.

Late morning, I had an email from Daniel, letting me know that after an inspection, towards the end of their major, and quite lengthy dry-dock in Singapore, the end is finally drawing near for the MV Doulos. Major steel replacement is required in order to meet next year's new and more stringent regulations, and the cost would be several million euros. It would take a few months to do, and even then the ship would not be able to sail beyond September 2010. Decidedly not worth doing, although it was a difficult decision to make. And although he seemed pretty certain this was definite, it wasn't quite 'official'... so we couldn't let anyone know.

Naturally, my mind was churning. What would he do next? Will he come directly to Cyprus in January, or do something else until returning - at the end of his commitment - in April? What will happen to the other 300 or so volunteers on the ship, some of whom only joined a couple of months ago, expecting to stay for two years?

(Today it all seems to be official. I saw an update about it on Facebook. Letters are being sent to important people in the organisation, and information to supporters. It's been announced officially on the main page of the MV Doulos website. I gather morale is pretty good on the ship, but some people, naturally, are very upset at the potential closing down of this elderly ship.)

Back to yesterday: I chatted a while online with Tim, who was pondering which of several options he should choose for his next essay. It led me to checking several websites as he mentioned various philosophers. He was feeling frustrated, because some of the academic journals that his course tutors recommended for the essay that appealed to him most were unavailable online, and nowhere in print in any of the Birmingham libraries.

Meanwhile, my many home educating friends in the UK are feeling threatened and very worried about proposed government regulations. These - in a nutshell - comprise compulsory registration, annually (a time-wasting money-wasting exercise at best) and all kinds of restrictions and requirements for home educators, including regular inspections. They completely miss the point that children educated at home are motivated to learn without curriculum, timetable or planned 'lessons'.

On a lesser - but still frustrating - note, I've been getting a bit behind with uploading photos both to Facebook (for friends to see) and Kodak Gallery (where I can order prints). I organised the November ones for Facebook - that was fine. I have a direct plug-in from Picasa, which makes it easy. But when I tried uploading to Kodak Gallery, the java uploading mechanism didn't even appear. Nor was there the usual link to 'easy upload' which is all I've been able to use since having this mac computer. I'm using Safari as my browser now, since Firefox was so slow after recent updates. But when I tried Firefox, wondering if it was a Safari problem, it didn't work either.

I sent Kodak a report on the problem, and had an auto-reply, but nothing more. So I can't upload photos, which means I can't easily order them. Getting prints made in Cyprus costs considerably more and isn't as good quality.

In the evening, we went to play another game of Settlers of Catan with some local friends. That was good. It was a close game, but Richard won eventually. So I took a photo:


It's possible that I shall be going to Germany for a week, with our friend and her 14-month old daughter. Our friend hopes to attend a conference, and the toddler is too small to leave with her father and siblings, but too big to be quiet in a conference. So I'll be her 'nanny' for a week. It could be fun, and certainly different. However, our friend is having trouble with Cypriot bureaucracy, and still doesn't have her residency agreed. Until it happens, she doesn't want to leave Cyprus, in case she's not allowed back again, since she isn't a European. And the conference starts in about ten days, so time is running out. It's a bit unsettling not knowing whether or not I shall be going.

Then, with my fourteen month old friend sitting on my lap, I received a sudden blow to the side of my forehead. It was a hard plastic cup, which she thrust upwards unexpectedly, and was surprisingly painful.

We got home about 10.15pm, and I was tired. But my mind was churning - mostly thinking about Daniel and the Doulos - and the side of my face hurt when I lay on it. I usually get to sleep within about five minutes, but I lay awake for at least an hour.

And yes, I know that in the scheme of worldwide suffering, none of these worries is really significant.

I've chatted online with Daniel today for quite some time, and he seems quite upbeat about the future. I hope I sleep better tonight.

Family newsletter 2008

According to the BBC news site, round robin letters are annoying. Personally, I enjoy getting them and I hope our friends and relatives don't find them too irritating, since we continue to send one out each year by post and/or email. Here, for the record, is this year's missive with a few minor omissions such as addresses, and a few link additions:

Dear Family and Friends,

The latest installment in the lives of our family, beginning with the boys:

... the rest of this newsletter can now be found on our family website. See 2008 Christmas newsletter

Saying farewell to Daniel again

Last night was Daniel's last evening in Larnaka for (probably) at least two years. Tim said he would cook, and Dan suggested they make some Korean style food, which he's enjoyed eating on his travels on the MV Doulos. So Dan directed operations and made a chili-tomato sauce and washed salads, while Tim made an 'omelettish thing', and some chicken coated in soya sauce, and fried halloumi, and boiled some rice, and also made some of our favourite Mediterranean style roast veggies.

Dan was worried it might not be enough, but I think we could easily have fed at least two more people by the time it was all ready:


Daniel explained how to take a piece of lettuce, and then add some rice (using chopsticks) and other pieces of food, dipped in a sauce:

Then you're supposed to wrap it in a parcel and eat with fingers. Tim and I both gave up and started using forks after a while, but it was all very tasty. When we'd eaten what we could, we froze some of the leftovers for another day.

Then we played a couple of rounds of mah-jong, one of the family favourite games which needs four players. We hadn't played it since Daniel got back three months ago.


This morning, Daniel's flight out of Cyprus was at ten past ten, a very sociable time. So he had to be at the airport shortly after 8am. It was a pleasant day, quite sunny but not too hot as we arrived. He doesn't have as much luggage as he did when he first left, two years ago:


I also realised that I've got much more used to digital photography since then. Instead of taking two or three careful photos, thinking about prints, I take dozens and then select a few. Here's Dan heading towards Larnaka airport, pretty confident about travelling these days:



And here he is just inside. It wasn't too crowded at all, and although there was a huge queue for Cyprus Air flights, they were managing them very efficiently, and we only had to wait about five minutes before he was checked in.


So we went and sat in the outdoor part of the restaurant outside for a while. None of us wanted anything to eat or drink, so we hung out for a while... we watched a woman hosing down the floor, which was a bit shocking considering how very low the water supplies are in Cyprus. She didn't wash the part where we were sitting, but left the hosepipe running, so the water started running around our feet.


So, around 9.15 we headed back inside, and said our goodbyes. I thought it would be a lot easier this time - we've done it before, and Dan's flying to England for a couple of months to start with (to Carlisle where he's doing some audio-visual/media training and work). I haven't felt so tearful in the past week - not more than the odd moment - but I still found myself crying as we hugged him once more, and said goodbye. I wonder if it will ever get any easier.

I don't know if we'll be able to go and visit him again; two years seems such a long time. I'm very thankful for email and instant messaging and mobile phones, which at least mean we can stay in touch. I have no idea how parents coped in previous decades, when leaving for another country meant no communication for months at a time.

Kota Kinabalu and some birthday photos (while not in Cyprus)

Here's the port where the Doulos arrived last Friday, after a remarkably calm four-day voyage from Hong Kong. People said it was the calmest sea they had seen in at least two years. The view from the port looks over Mount Kinabalu and some lovely green rain forest. We thought it would be wet here - there's more rainfall in October than any other month here - but so far it's mostly been fine, with a few showers and a dramatic thunderstorm late last night.


Here, as promised, are a few photos from the ' joint 71st' birthday yesterday. After a leisurely breakfast in our hotel about 9am, they opened the large number of cards people had given us to bring, and some presents from the family. Here's Richard, opening the present he had chosen from me:


And Daniel enjoying a new book he was given by one of his uncles:

We were all a bit tired so we didn't do anything much during the morning till about noon, when we went to the Coffee Bean cafe to check email etc, and had lunch there too. They do rather nice toasted sandwiches with salad.

After that we went back to our hotel for a bit, then walked to the Doulos as Daniel wanted to see various people... and he was greeted with ' Happy Birthday!' and a hug from most of the people he met, so progress was rather slow.

At 5.30pm, along with 18 of his friends, we loaded into Doulos mini-vans and drove out of the town, to a Malasian restaurant where we had a very nice meal. It was a bit like a Cyprus mese, with courses arriving a few at a time.


We had managed to order a cake from The Coffee Bean - a delicious chocolate one - which we took with us. The restaurant didn't mind at all - they put it in the fridge until we'd finished the meal. There were even two candles... Richard cut it into 24 pieces (convenient, since two people had been unable to come with us) and everyone sang the traditional birthday song.

Still not in Cyprus: first week in Hong Kong

So, it's now four weeks since we flew out of Cyprus, three weeks till we return. It's great being with Daniel, and we're looking forward to taking a good break with him at the next port. But I'm also starting to feel that a month is long enough to be away from home. I miss the cats. I miss having my own computer. I miss everyday life - Hong Kong is a fascinating place, but it's very busy, rather noisy and crowded, and I'm beginning to get a bit overwhelmed and looking forward to peace and quiet back in Cyprus. Although we will miss Daniel a lot when we say goodbye.

Anyway, I've finally got around to uploading some photos from our first week in Hong Kong. First, here's the MV Doulos, moored in the Ocean terminal at Harbour City, in the region of Kowloon Island known as Tsim Sha Tsui. The misty background of buildings in the distance are on the nearby Hong Kong island:


Here's a busy marketplace a little further away, where Richard and I went one morning via the excellent MTR (Mass transit railway) that's like an efficient and spotlessly clean version of the London Underground. The stalls sold tools and electrical goods of many varieties. Far more his scene than mine, and even more crowded and noisy than the area where we were staying:


Back to Ocean city, and this is a shot which doesn't begin to show the spectacular 'Symphony of Lights and Sound' that is shown at 8pm every evening, from the buildings we can see from the Doulos. They light up and have laser beams in time to some music (if you're in the right place to hear it). It must cost a fortune...


Here are Richard, Dan and Tim looking at something on Daniel's notebook in the small room at a guesthouse where Richard and I stayed for the first six days. The owner was friendly, and it was very clean, but not exactly huge. It was on the 12th storey of a building with a shopping mall at the bottom, and a rather worrying notice in the lift saying ' When the building is on fire, do not use the lift'. We would have been a little happier with the word 'if' rather than 'when' and just hoped that it was an inaccurate translation.


One nice touch in the guesthouse was the provision of plastic sandals to wear in the bathroom. Very useful, since the shower went over the washbasin, toilet and floor. However Daniel tells me this is standard practice all around Asia:


We moved to the Doulos on Tuesday, with the boys' help. Daniel took the day off, so after we'd moved our cases, we decided to have a day on Hong Kong Island, and visit 'The Peak' - one of the high spots with excellent views. We went to the nearby Star Ferry terminal and caught an ancient ferry which is probably much the same as it was 80 years ago - just a shuttle bus on water, really. We paid HK$2.20 each to sit on the top floor going over, since we didn't have exact change for the lower deck. HK$2.20, incidentally, is about 22 euro cents (or 30 US cents)...

When we got to Hong Kong island, in about ten minutes, we decided to take a taxi to the Peak terminal rather than try to find a bus. For four people, taxis are pretty good value anyway; up to 2km costs HK$15, or about one and a half euros... that's however many people are in the taxi.

At the Peak terminal, we queued for the tram, which is pulled by cables and (our Lonely Planet guide assures us) has never had an accident. It wasn't as scary as I expected, and was fairly quick. However I didn't sit near the edge! Richard took a few photos as we went up:


At the top is a mall with a few tourist shops and various restaurants, and an outside path that gives wonderful views all around. We could even see the Doulos in the distance:


When we booked our tickets for the tram, we just had the basic package rather than paying extra to go on the sky Terrace. When we saw the Sky Terrace, I was VERY glad we were not going on it:


We found a pleasant place that sold sandwiches and drinks for lunch, and a good bookshop to browse around, and enjoyed the views for a while. It was very windy, with some rain, and we got very blown about. Eventually we reversed the journey, looking at a few photography shops on the way back.

Here's a rare photo of me with Daniel and Tim on the ferry, the lower deck this time (Dan insisted it was more interesting as we could see the engine) which was even less expensive than the top deck. A decidedly unflattering photo as we were very windblown!


Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention: last Monday was China national day, a public holiday, and late in the evening was a stunning firework display:

Not in Cyprus for seven weeks

It's now almost three-and-a-half weeks since we left Cyprus. It feels like months ago - we've done so much. No way can I blog about it all, but I have half an hour or so, with Richard's notebook computer, sitting in a Starbucks in a large mall in Hong Kong while Richard browses some computer shops... there are dozens of them. I spent a couple of hours looking at some with him this morning but I don't like shopping at the best of times, and computer shops are some of the least interesting in my view...

But I'm rushing ahead of myself.

We flew by BA on 7th September, arriving at London Heathrow about 9.30pm. Picked up a rental car (oddly enough, Avis turned out to be the best value) and drove to my mother's house in Birmingham. Then we slept!

We were in Birmingham for 11 days. During that time we spent four individual days with other members of the family, went to two evening house groups with meals, were invited out to evening meals by four different sets of friends, and two lunches. Oh, and on the first Sunday we went to three church services (Richard doing slots at two of them) and on the second Sunday we went to two (Richard doing two slots at one of them).

It was a busy time! We also did a bit of shopping and Tim spent one Saturday at the Birmingham University open day.

Then we drove to Sussex to spend four-and-a-half days with Richard's mother. Not so busy - we don't have friends in Sussex, and by then were pretty exhausted anyway - but Richard did spend one day at the Southampton Boat Show (I went with him for the journey, then went and sat in an outdoor shopping centre and read a book while he went round the show). We also helped clear out Richard's mother's loft, with several trips to the local dump, and did a bit of local shopping (there's an excellent Lion's bookshop that sells everything at 50p in her town).

Then we celebrated Tim's 19th birthday - Richard's brother came over for the day - and on the Sunday Richard took the 'preaching' slot at two services.

Monday 24th Sept we drove to Gatwick airport, and flew via Emirates to Hong Kong via Dubai. Unfortunately we had a very long overnight wait at the airport... so were shattered by the time we arrived. Richard had pre-booked one night in a guest house, which turned out to be in a noisy shopping mall. The rooms were clean but cupboard-sized, and when we turned on the air conditioning it smelled of cigarettes. It didn't feel very secure, either.

So the following morning, armed with the 'Lonely Planet' Guide to Hong Kong and Macau, Richard and Tim went to look for somewhere else, and found the 'Cosmic Court' guesthouse, nearby, which had rather larger rooms, a friendlier lady in charge, and much better security. So we moved our things there.

Then, at last, to the Doulos to see Daniel for the first time in nearly a year. He is now one of the three audio-visual people, in charge of running technical things for all the on-board programmes. He generally works either 8am-3pm, or 3pm-10pm so has half a day off.

Since Richard and I don't yet have a cabin on the Doulos (that becomes available tomorrow) we've been hanging out in the AV room when Dan is working - a bit small but Richard and Tim find it interesting, and I've been reading some of my books...

However, there was a bed available in Daniel's cabin, and he got permission for Tim to sleep there, which made life easier - and nice for Tim.

Today the Doulos has had to go out to anchor so Richard thought he'd explore some of the vast numbers of computer shops and malls. I didn't really want to stay in the guesthouse on my own all day so I came with him... but sitting at Starbucks typing is a lot more interesting!

Strange, really. In Cyprus, we never go to Starbucks or McDonald's. The former is very expensive there, and I'm not keen on burgers and chips. But since coming to Hong Kong, we've been several times to each... Starbucks because it's the only way we can get an Internet connection (besides, the drinks are very good... and about half the price of Cyprus Starbucks).

As for McDonald's, or the related McCafe, we've been because (dare I admit this?) I'm not actually very keen on Chinese food. We did find a good vegetarian Indian restaurant one night (courtesy of our Lonely Planet guide - we would never have found it without!) and have eaten several meals on the Doulos. But the rest of the time we've either bought sandwiches at McCafe, or meals at McDonald's. We must really be horribly westernised.

We've uploaded photos from the camera to this computer, but I don't have any idea how to access them, so that will have to wait for another occasion!

Tuesday tiredness

It always happens.

I feel as if I'm doing quite well with Christmas preparations - one or two things to do each day as we approach the 25th, but nothing too strenuous or time-consuming. I don't hurry through preparations so as to avoid too much stress, thinking it will be nice to do just a little each day.

Then I wake up one day feeling utterly exhausted, for no apparent reason. Perhaps my brain has gone into overdrive or something. Or too many carols have worn me out.

But I never remember that this is going to happen. So when, yesterday, I had no enthusiasm for anything and kept yawning most of the day, it seemed very odd... I didn't get to the PO Box as planned, nor did I do any of the cooking I had planned for yesterday. Such as the first mince pies of the season...

Today I woke up with a slight headache. I never get much done on Tuesday morning as I help at the local mother-and-toddler group. Still, I did manage to leave half an hour early to give me time to get to the PO Box, where there were several Christmas cards waiting for us, and a book Tim needed for his theology degree course.

I turned on the computer just before lunch and was pleased to see an email from Daniel, who we hadn't heard from in over a week. He suggested it would be a good day to phone, preferably around 7pm his time. The Doulos has just arrived in Bacalod in the Philippines, and that's six hours ahead of Cyprus at this time of year, so shortly after 1pm I phoned. He said it wasn't such a good time after all, since people had suddenly arrived to load water on the ship - one of his big responsibilities as Waterman when they arrive anywhere new. So he had to supervise it for a while. He asked if I could phone back around 8pm his time, which was actually more convenient since we usually eat lunch around 1pm.

It was so good to talk to him. He said it was an enjoyable voyage - they've been at sea for about four days - and he's been taking things easy as he was getting so tired during the recent dry-dock. Loading water was hectic, but he hoped the next few days would be reasonably relaxing. They do get two days off over Christmas, then afterwards will be preparing to welcome the new group of people who will join them in Manila later in January. Unbelievable to think it's almost a year since he went.

I did remember - at last - to post this year's Christmas newsletter and photos on this blog. So that's something. And will probably go and make some mince pies in a few minutes.

But I'm still pretty tired.

Christmas Family Newsletter 2006

Dear Family and Friends,

We knew this would be a year of change. It seems as if it's mostly been a year of farewells....

The rest of the 2006 family newsletter can now be found on our family website.

Ups and downs

The Christmas cake looks as though it turned out fine. I turned the oven off after four hours, but left the cake in as it cooled down. This morning I wrapped it in greaseproof paper and foil, and put it in an airtight container. Other than feeding a couple of times with more brandy (if I remember) I don't need to worry about it again until a few days before Christmas, when I'll do the marzipan and icing.

So that's one thing to cross off my list.

I also wrote three cards. That means there are only about 75 left to do.

I went to the PO Box this afternoon, expecting a few items I'd ordered from Play.com to have arrived. As I got there, I remembered that Richard's colleague still has my PO Box key, which we gave him while we were away so he could check for mail. Very irritating. But I did post a parcel to Daniel (a few music books we'd ordered that arrived just after we left, and a CD Tim has made for him).

Which reminds me, anyone who reads his blog, he's updated it a couple of times this week - not much text, but there are a couple of new photos. Not mentioned on his blog is that the Doulos is currently having lifeboat inspections by a company in Italy. The lifeboats are safe (ie they won't sink!), and the crew have been complimented on their hard work, good attitude, and extensive safety training. On the other hand, the lifeboats are very old and may well not pass the new international safety requirements.

On the way back, I popped into Argos. It was nearly three months ago that we ordered a pair of fluted lightshades from them. We were told they would take 4-6 weeks to arrive. Well, I suppose this IS Cyprus. We were just wondering if the order had got lost or forgotten, when I had a phone call yesterday (asking for 'Mrs Shoe') telling me they had arrived. And indeed they had, packed nicely in a carrier bag, for someone called 'Richard-Sue'. I didn't need any identification, and as soon as I said Richard's name they produced it. That's a good side of life in Cyprus: tust and friendliness.

I also started uploading photos this afternoon, to DirectFoto, so I could order some prints, something I intend to do every couple of months, but keep forgetting. Unfortunately I got in a muddle as I apparently uploaded some before, which I didn't order. And my computer started complaining that it was low on virtual memory - something that happens relatively often when I have Picasa open. Bah. I left the rest till tomorrow.

I wrote the Christmas family newsletter, complete with photographs, about a week ago. Tim set up the colour deskjet printer on the 'guest' computer which runs Windows 98. My computer runs Windows 2000, and for some reason the deskjet printer won't work with that, so I have the black only laserjet printer on my desk.

But no problem, I emailed the newsletter to myself on gmail, then retrieved it on the guest computer.

I could probably have got hold of it somehow through the network. But it seemed easier to do something I understood, and I wanted to see what it looked like as an email attachment anyway.

When I printed it, the black ink looked smudgy. Tim installed a cleaning/setup thingy - the printer hadn't been used since we moved in July - but it made no difference. Indeed, each test print was slightly worse than the previous one. Evidently we needed a new black cartridge. We've had one refilled for the past few years, but I recalled that it wasn't very good last time, and it clearly hasn't lasted well, so it's probably at the end of its life.

But a new cartridge for this rather old printer costs over £20 in Cyprus. If they're even still available. The colour one will probably run out before long, too, and it costs even more to replace new. Which is totally ridiculous, since we can buy a new deskjet printer, complete with new cartridges, for under £40. Truly we live in a disposable society.

Tim suggested I take the file to the photocopy shop and have it printed there. But last time I asked about colour copies, they quoted me 50c per page. 80 copies at 50c each... that too would cost more than a new printer.

But we don't WANT a new colour printer. We only use it once a year. It was an impasse...

However Richard and his colleague have been discussing buying a colour laser printer for the office, for publicity (among other things). They were given a good price, and decided to order one so we can all print our Christmas newsletters on them. Assuming it arrives tomorrow. I might even get our cards and newsletters posted before the 'last posting date', which would be unusual.

Just to round off a rather mixed day, Tim was finishing the last few words of the third assignments for his theology degree course when his ibook notebook computer failed. Dramatically. The mouse ball thing refused to work at first, and when he tried to save his latest version using the keyboard, he got a grey screen (apparently the Apple equivalent of 'Blue Screen of Death') and couldn't do anything other than switch off. When he switched on again, the same thing happened. And again.

Richard thinks it's a hard drive problem. But, alas, the computer is just one month out of warranty. Even worse, there's no Apple repair centre in Cyprus. If it had gone a few weeks ago we could have taken it to the excellent Apple centre in Singapore...

So now Tim's downloading something (on my computer) to enable him to save all his data. Then he'll try reformatting and see if that helps. But he's very frustrated, particularly as he was within about an hour of emailing his essay to the course tutor. It's due tomorrow, though he may be able to get an extension if he has to work on the computer all day.

Dry dock preparations, and leaving Singapore

On Friday the Doulos sailed to the dry dock berth, around the West of Singapore. It was a three-hour sail, so Dan was involved in 'mooring stations' and also carefully checking the water tank levels, as they have to be the same when they finish the dry dock. I hadn't much idea what dry dock involved, so it was interesting to see: they sailed to the top of a kind of floating platform, which had blocks prepared to hold the Doulos. Then air was pumped into the platform, raising it all above water level. The really scary thing, from my perspective, was that the only way out of the ship was along a precarious looking bridge that looked down a LONG way to the bottom of the ship. There's a safety net below but that didn't really encourage me...


Meanwhile teams had been preparing the ship for the internal work (and grubby footprints of those working outside), covering all the carpets with lining paper and parcel tape, and then with boards.


It was pretty confusing for someone locationally challenged like myself, since pictures were taken from walls and all my landmarks for finding my way around vanished. The book exhibition on the top deck was completely packed away, and turned into an eating area since the generators aren't used in dry dock, so there's no air conditioning inside the ship.

About 150 of the Doulos crew (mostly girls) have gone onto the island or other nearby countries to do various work with local groups - some teaching, some aid - and the mothers with small children have gone to a holiday resort for a break. That means there are only about 150 people left on the ship, and they're working 12-hour days, from 7am to 7pm, which of course is daylight hours all round so near the Equator.

Daniel managed to find some dark blue coveralls that have been in the store for a while, since his light blue ones were soaking wet (it rained during sailing...) and hopes they can become the Watermen uniform:


All good things come to an end, and we had to leave that evening. Our flight wasn't till 5am Saturday morning, but we knew Daniel would stay up until we left, and we didn't him up half the night even though there were many things we would still like to have done together. Moreover, we weren't sure how long it would take to get to the airport, and we had various tax rebates to claim on the technology items we had bought. Oh, and taxi fares have an extra 50% surcharge after midnight.. and just to add to our worries, we were told that officially the port gates closed at 10pm, although nobody really believed that.

So we actually left the ship shortly before 11pm. It was as frightening as I had expected walking across that bridge, but I gritted my teeth and did not look down. I didn't even try to carry one of the suitcases! Nor did I do so on the rest of the journey to the port gate, which was almost as terrifying: along a wet, greasy platform with hose pipes in the way, then down some steep metal stairs where again it would have been disastrous to look down. I just held on to every railing I could see, and went one step at a time... not an experience I would like to repeat!

The Doulos looked pretty amazing, lit up in the dry dock:


Dan came with us as far as the gate, then we watched him back on the ship as Richard went to fetch the fourth of our heavy cases and repeated the journey down. Thankfully he doesn't mind heights nearly as much as I do. After that it was all fairly straightforward: there were guards on the port gate, so we signed out, and they booked us a taxi which arrived within a few minutes. It was a 45 minute journey and we had to pay the extra booking fee, so the fare was fairly steep... but still far less than it would have been in Europe. It was midnight by the time we got to Singapore airport which, of course, is very efficient and sparklingly clean.

Last few days on the Doulos

After Dan's half-day off when we went to Sentosa, he had more lifeboat training, including one day when it poured with rain. They had put the canvas covers up but unfortunately they weren't waterproof. However he assured us it was a lot of fun.


Richard says he will never again complain that England is a wet country... Singapore is far, far wetter!

On Thursday night, the last evening at the Cruise Centre berth, we caught the MRT (underground train, like the London Underground but far cleaner and more efficient... like most things in Singapore!) to Little India, Dan's favourite place, and ate at the vegetarian restaurant we had been to twice before, the excellent and inexpensive Komala Vilas which was recommended by someone Richard and Tim met.


We had chapati plates, a filling meal with three types of vegetable sauce, chapatis and popadums, and drinks - and the whole thing came to 24 Singapore dollars, which is roughly the equivalent of two pounds sterling per person!

Days on the Doulos

Once we had returned from our break, Daniel was pretty busy, partly with his general waterman work, but mostly because he was involved in two types of training: one to pass his 'efficient deck-hand' qualification, and one to train as cox-swain for the lifeboats. That meant we got evenings together, but not so much time during the day - although the first course had a couple of much shorter days, as the people involved were all fairly knowledgeable. There was a written test at the end, with a pass mark of 70%, and Dan said he got about 97% so we were most impressed.

The really good thing about the Vivo Centre port was that we could pop off and on the ship whenever we liked, directly into the mall or elsewhere. It was good from the ship's point of view too, since it was a brand new mall with thousands of visitors, many of whom decided to see the Doulos too. Singapore's newest shopping centre right next to the world's oldest passenger ship... a good combination. On the last day at the berth, there were apparently about 20,000 visitors.

One evening we took Dan and his colleague Stéphane, the senior waterman out for ice creams, and ended up at the highly priced but excellent Haagen-Daaz shop, where we could choose from a wide variety of ice creams and toppings. There were even some sorbets, so Tim could have a dairy-free version. We only went there once - other ice-creams were a lot less expensive on other days! - but it was fun as a treat.


The top of the mall had an open deck, with a paddling pool, plants, wooden floorboards, and curvy structures. All built according to the latest feng shui principles, no doubt, and very attractive too. We liked looking down at the Doulos in her dress lights at night. Although as we watched there were a couple of power cuts!


Another day we bought a dragonfruit, something Dan described beforehand as a cross between apetunia and a pineapple:


- inside the consistency is a bit like soft pears, or kiwi fruit with black seeds. Refreshing, though a bit bland. But pleasant enough - and much nicer than most tropical fruits, in my opinion!


During the daytimes we read, or went out, although I gave up trying to upload photos or blogging as the connection at McDonald's was too slow and we were only allowed half an hour at a time. It was nice to relax and do very little, at least in my opinion!

On Monday 20th November, the book exhibition was closed and the Doulos moved to another port, the Cruise Centre berth - not far away, but with no easy access. To get off and on the ship in this place, we had to go through a long corridor rather like an airport terminal, and through extensive security - bags scanned, passports and Doulos passes checked each time. I gather this was still much easier for the Doulos folk than many of the ports they had visited!

Tuesday - return to the Doulos

On Tuesday we had to check out of Perak Lodge Hotel by 10am, but they have a great service where they will store luggage free for one day, so we booked most of it into their secure room. All in all, we were very impressed with this place!


Then we walked first to the SimLim Tower plaza which has four storeys, entirely of technology shops! A geek's paradise, as the Lonely Planet Guide informed us.


Richard and Tim had been here before, and I was glad I didn't go with them. There wasn't even anywhere to sit! Nonetheless, the prices were good, the selection unbelievable. We did some shopping Dan needed - upgraded memory for his mac, in particular, and a large pack of inexpensive CDs. And various other things.

We did sit at the food centre downstairs eventually and had some fresh pineapple juice, then I stayed there while the rest of them went and looked at yet more technology. Then we had Korean food for lunch at this food centre, spicy but more soya sauce flavoured than the Indian food we had been eating.


Daniel then thought we ought to try out an 'ais kechang'- a dessert he had eaten elsewhere in Asia before coming to Singapore. It definitely looked impressive, being a strange mixture of ice, jellies, beans, syrups, and some rather dubious colourings. We all had a few mouthfuls but Dan had to finish it...


In the afternoon we walked a few hundred metres to the Tekka Centre, a seven-storey mall although only about four have shops as yet, but it includes an inexpensive clothes store which takes up an entire storey, where we previously managed to find some trousers with small enough waist for Tim. We were able to buy various clothes for Dan there. Not very exciting, but necessary. Late afternoon, we collected our baggage from the hotel and returned to the Doulos by about 5pm, in time for the evening meal which was prepared by local people, and very good.

So here we are, sitting at McDonald's using their wireless internet. It's rather slow, and photos refuse to upload, though I hope to add them later...

The Doulos has arrived, the family is whole again!

We thought we might get to the harbour in time to see the MV Doulos arrive on Thursday, but in the event she sailed in before 9am and we didn't get there till nearer 10am. It would have been a lot of effort to have got up earlier, particularly for Richard, and as it was we didn't eat breakfast at the hotel before checking out, just had a quick coffee. The taxi driver didn't know where Vivo Centre was; it turned out to be a bit of the harbour right behind a brand new mall called Vivo Centre. We would not have thought Singapore would need yet more malls - there are hundreds! - but this one opened just a few weeks ago, so it looks even more clean and sparkling than all the other ones we've visited. The only sad thing about it is a rather tacky plastic 'snowman' sitting outside - yes, Christmas decorations are here already, including some featuring snow, in a country where the tenperature never gets below 20C.

It's a great port from the access point of view - just literally a few yards across the paving outside the mall sits the Doulos.


Importantly for Tim and me, there was a little cafe selling muffins and smoothies so we sat and had some breakfast while Richard went to look for Dan. He didn't have too much work that day, once they had berthed and checked the water, so he was able to show us around and spend time talking, which was great.


In between times we looked at the next-door Habour mall which had a McDonalds with free wireless networking.


There were also several other unsecured networks available. However as we've now learned that it's technically illegal to access another network, even if unsecured and doing nothing immoral, we prefer to use those we're officially allowed to use. There was a news article in a local newspaper yesterday about a 17-year-old Singaporean who has been arrested for unauthorised use of somebody's unsecured network. Apparently he's liable for a hefty fine and a jail sentence as well, which seems a bit extreme.

Richard and I have been given a very nice cabin, with a bed that folds away to make a sofa, coffee-making facilities, a fridge, a small shower-room, and a comfortable chair and cupboards. Almost like a small hotel room, and much bigger than we had expected. Tim's in one of the tiny cabins which has bunk beds and almost nothing more, sharing with other short-term visitors (one at a time of course!).

Food on the Doulos is much, much better than it used to be with plenty of salads and a fair amount of fruit too. Dan is very busy in his job as 'waterman' which involves a great deal more than just being responsible for the water - he also mends shoes, makes keys, and fulfils various other roles.


Every morning he has to take soundings in the water tanks, and yesterday he had an unexpected request to empty two tanks so they can be cleaned, which turned out to be quite a logic problem, and very time-consuming.

He has been able to take three days of break, having worked long hours for the last few weeks, and was keen to spend at least a couple of nights off the Doulos if possible so he wouldn't get paged at midnight for some emergency, as often happens apparently. We weren't sure if we could find anywhere at short notice (he couldn't confirm his leave dates until Friday) but having consulted our Lonely Planet guide and made a few phone calls, we were able to book a couple of nights into the Perak Lodge Hotel at the outskirts of Little India - slightly less expensive than Sloane Court, since an excellent cold breakfast is included, and rather more upmarket. The only slight disadvantage is that the rooms are smaller, though very comfortable (and equipped with coffee-making facilities and fridges). Oh, and there's free wireless internet in the rooms, as well as papers and even a few novels available to be borrowed.