Roger Daltrey croons on a cruise? Also, western Australia working hard for biz

I've heard of rock and roll themed cruises, usually with slightly lesser-known bands hanging about to mix with their fans and such. But an item in USA Today Travel got my attention today by reporting that cruise ship passengers on the Queen Mary 2 noted that esteemed rocker Roger Daltrey, lead singer for The Who, took to the stage at sea recently and belted out "Pinball Wizard" and "My Generation," which, back in the day, was a challenge against the very sort of people who took cruises instead of snorting coke and jumping off stages and lighting their guitars on fire at hippie music festivals.

I don't know, but sources tell me Daltrey did a reworking of "My Generation" for the Queen Mary crowd.

"People try to put us down, just because we cruise around, Trips we take don't look bold, hope we don't die before the buffet gets cold."

Just a rumour...

WESTERN AUSTRALIA LIKE AVIS

Spotted a fairly stupid beginning to a pretty good story on Forbes.com today. The writer does a nice job talking up how Perth and other parts of Western Australia are working to get more tourism. But he starts off the piece with a rather inane comment, asking "Why don’t the majority of travellers to Australia tend to have a Western leaning?"

I got news for you, bud. IT'S A BLOOMING LONG WAY, THAT'S WHY!

Most North Americans get only two weeks of vacation a year. It's already a honkin' huge hassle to get to Sydney from, say, Toronto or New York. It's not many folks who are going to get up, have breakfast, fight the traffic to Pearson, wait in line at the airport, clear security, take a five-hour flight from the eastern seaboard to Los Angeles, wait three hours for their connection (or more), take a 14-hour flight to Sydney in economy with obnoxious, seat-slamming people in front of them and bad airline food and then land in Australia and think, "Gee, let's skip the Opera House and Manly Beach and Melbourne and the Coast Road" and take ANOTHER five-hour flight across the enormous country of Australia and check out Perth.

Don't get me wrong. I've never been to Western Australia, but it's tops on my list for my next Australian visit. I've seen the Barrier Reef and Sydney and Melbourne and the outback, not to mention ultra-fabulous Lord Howe Island WAY off the shore of eastern Australia. But I haven't seen Perth or the magnificent, long and lonely beaches of the west or the Margaret River wine region. And I'd dearly love to do that. Perhaps sneak in Adelaide and the Barossa Valley, too, or even take the train across the Nullarbor Plain.

CATHAY PACIFIC BLITZES TORONTO

Cathay Pacific is celebrating its new, daily, twice-a-day non-stop flights from Toronto to fabulous Hong Kong. From May 16 to June 12, the airline has wrapped nearly every available Union Station surface with advertising to promote awareness of the newly expanded schedule. The advertising creative is centred around the airline’s unique “People and Service” campaign, featuring real-life employees.

On  June 1^st and 2^nd the company’s visibility at Union Station will spread its wings further as commuters visiting Union Station will receive a memento from the on-site Cathay Pacific Street Team, according to a press release issued today.

It's certainly an attractive airline and the convenience of getting to Hong Kong on a non-stop is enormous...

 

 

Canadian travel market on the upswing?...Good deals at Peninsula Hotels

The folks at OpenJaw have a story today that suggests the travel business is rebounding in Canada. But it might not be so great for consumers.

The story says the head of the Hotel Association of Canada, Tony Pollard, told a meeting in Toronto last week (The Best Western Leisure Travel Summit) is projecting a 7 per cent growth in the leisure travel market this summer.

A top official with the Canadian Automobile Association said CAA offices have noticed a 7 to 12 per cent increase in leisure travel activity. It should be good news for the industry, but there are concerns about pricing and other issues. A senior v.p. with Best Western said bookings are up 7 per cent this year but that rates actually are lower than a year ago.

Pollard said the average daily rate for a hotel stay in Canada is $125 to $130, and he says that's too low. Open Jaw quoted him as saying that is "insufficient to be able to sustain operations" and that it's time to increase rates.

PINING FOR THE PENINSULA

Nice breakfast today with folks who represent Peninsula Hotels, where you can find some really solid deals this summer.

They've got a promotion on the go called Summer Splendour from now until the end of September, with special discounts at all nine of their properties in Asia and North America. At the Peninsula Bangkok, a marvellous property I stayed at a couple weeks ago, you can get a room for $285 U.S., with a one-way limousine transfer to the airport, upgrade to the next room category, a complimentary afternoon tea for two at the lovely Lobby restaurant, plus daily buffet breakfast (it's terrific) for two at the River Cafe (great views; see photo above from across the river) and unlimited, in-room wireless Internet.

The Peninsula Beverly Hills is going for $585 U.S., with one-way limo, room upgrade, a $100 spa credit, daily American breakfast for two and free in-room wi-fi. At the Peninsula Chicago you'll get a room for $475 with room upgrade, a $100 dining credit, a $100 spa credit, daily American breakfast for two at The Lobby or through room service and in-room, free wireless.

Peninsula Hotels is celebrating a big year, as it's the 35th anniversary of the property in Manila (awesome photos on their website), the 20th year for Beverly Hills and the 10th year for Chicago.

I was told you can book a room at the Chicago Peninsula and get a second night for $10, while you can book two nights in Beverly Hills and get the third night for $20.

They're working on the new Peninsula Paris, which will open near the Arc d' Triomphe in early 2013, and also looking at London and India. Alas, nothing in Canada for now....And nothing near the airport in San Francisco. Which is too bad, because the area south of San Francisco, between the Golden Gate and San Jose, is called the Peninsula by folks who live in the Bay Area. Which means...Oh, never mind.

BY THE WAY, if you go to the lovely TOCA restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton here in Toronto, you might want to skip the peameal bacon. I wanted to show off our national bacon dish to the folks from Peninsula Hotels but I didn't give them any to try as it was, frankly, pretty weird. Peameal bacon should be thickly sliced and smoky and a little salty, but this was sliced wafer thin and didn't have enough of that good old peameal bacon flavour to my mind. A better selection of jams at the table also would be nice. But the scrambled eggs were good and the muesli looked tasty. And tbey serve great coffee from Balzac's, the best coffee house in the city.

I'm told by a colleague who shall remain nameless that they hire very hot bartenders who can do amazing things with liquid nitrogen and ice-cold vodka martinis with a twist. The patio looks great, as Star Travel guy Adrian Brijbassi pointed out in his recent review of the hotel.

Also by the way, in case anyone from the taxi industry is listening, both folks I dined with this morning said they rolled into town on Sunday and had cab drivers who didn't know where the Ritz-Carlton was located. It's on Wellington, folks, right near the CBC building and Metro Hall.

 

 

 

 

 

The lowdown on lower Manhattan...Wickaninnish Inn in B.C. top spa award

New York City (you may have heard of it) has launched a campaign called "Get More NYC: Lower Manhattan."

It's aimed at revitalizing the bottom of Manhattan Island, which isn't quite the most glamourous part of town. Still, there are some terrific options.

I stayed at the very nice Thompson hotel in the financial district, called the Thompson Gild Hall. It's on Gold Street and it's quite a nice spot. The service was spotty when I was there last summer, and it was a little hard to find a New York Times on Sunday morning given the paucity of shops. But there's a great bar and restaurant in the hotel, a cool, masculine lobby (see photo) and a terrific, second-floor library.

There are some nice restaurants in the area, and it's only a short walk to one of the best parts of Manhattan - Water Street, with tons of pubs and picnic tables set up on the street and people - gasp - walking about with cans of beer.

Lower Manhattan has great parks at Battery Park and there's been lots of renovations down near the World trade Centre site. There's also cool cemeteries as this is the original settlement for European settlers in New York City.

I find the South St. Seaport too touristy but kids probably would like it.

WICKANINNISH SPA AWARD

The Ancient Cedars Spa at the stunning Wickaninnish Inn in Tofino, B.C. has been voted the top year-round Resort Spa in Canada in the 2011 Spa Poll conducted by Conde Nast Traveler.

I don't know a lot about spas, but I found this one particularly wonderful on a visit a couple years back. There's lots of cedar and wood and they soak your feet in wonderful water with marbles and roll them about and you can get a massage with the sound of the sea just meters away; the smell of the trees and the sea salt tingling in your nose.

The hotel itself also is stunning, and the food at the restaurant, The Pointe, is magnificent. Easily one of the great hotels of North America...

 

 

 

Cruising the Mosel River with Star Travel guy Richard Ouzounian

            When you’re touring Germany, you soon learn that the Mosel River unfortunately winds up playing second fiddle to the Rhine and that’s unfortunate, because it’s a fascinating region, not just for its history and culture, but for its wines and liqueurs, which can possess a complexity underneath their surface sweetness that Rhine wines often miss.

            The Avalon Waterways river cruise that my wife, Pamela, and I recently took was largely devoted to the Rhine, but it detoured down the Mosel just long enough to make us want to go back and revisit the region at length at a later date.

            We first entered the area at Koblenz, where the Rhine and the Mosel intersect. It’s a proud military city whose strategic position has made it crucial for more than 2,000 years.

           The citadel of Ehrenbreitstein still provides a sense of what it was like to look over the juncture of these two great rivers from a position of command and it’s impossible not to be moved by the giant sculpture of Emperor William I, which stands at the place where the rivers meet.  It’s supposedly the largest equestrian statue in Germany, if not the world and I have no reason to doubt that.

            But if Koblenz assaults you with its power, then Cochem wins you over with charm.  It only has 5,000 residents, but, inch for inch, it’s one of the most fascinating cities I’ve ever encountered.

            It too dates back over 2,000 years and elements of every stage of its development remain side by side to marvel at.  Also, reminiscent of New Orleans, is the fact that the centre of the town lies to far below the river that it floods regularly, about once every 10 years and the residents cope with it by  making sure the ground floor of all their homes and stores are made of tile so they can be easily cleaned when the waters recede.

            Pride of place, however, goes to the Reichsberg Cochem, which stands high above the city.  First built in 1131 and left in ruins by Louis XIV’s troops in 1688, it was restored in 1868 by a millionaire businessman, Louis Frederic Jacques Ravené, who created it as a tribute to his young wife.

            The work he did is extraordinary and you can spend hours wandering through the complex, multi-leveled rooms.  But underneath, you’ll feel the lingering sadness of the castle’s history.

            Shortly after the renovation was complete, Ravené’s wife left him for a younger man and he died a year later of a broken heart.

            That may depress you so much that you’ll be forced to seek solace in one of Cohem’s charming cafes, sipping their unique schnapps made from the local “red peach”, which is actually a frumpy grey on the outside, with a brilliant scarlet fruit inside.

            Something to think about as you sit and drink and think about the power of history, architecture…..and romance.

Star Travel guy Richard Ouzounian cruises the lovely rivers of Germany

            To celebrate our 34^th anniversary, my wife, Pamela, and I took a river cruise down the Rhine and Mosel rivers on Avalon Waterways’ newest ship, the Panorama.

I’ll be reporting about the whole experience of river cruising in the Travel section in a few weeks, but I wanted to blog about some of the things we saw and did along the way.

            After boarding in Frankfurt, the first place we stopped was Mainz, a city of about 200,000 which can trace its original Roman origins to the first century BC. Nowadays its best known for three things: it was the home of Johannes Gutenberg and his printing press, about 80% of the city centre was destroyed by bombing during the Second World War, but has been restored to its original architecture by the city fathers and finally, it has one of the most awesome markets I have ever seen.

            We were lucky enough to be there on a bright Saturday morning in spring and Spargel was the word. It was the height of asparagus season, but in this part of Germany, it means white asparagus and you could practically go snowblind from the displays of virginal stalks piled on the market tables. I also encountered some glorious red carrots, radishes in abundance and enough sausages to gladden the heart of anyone who ever got homesick for Ocktoberfest.

            It was wonderful to see hundreds of local Mainz residents pleasantly jostling each other as they sampled their wurst of choice with glasses of Rhine wine and discussed everything from the weather (a dry spring which left the Rhine almost too low for cruising!) to the soccer championship being held in town.

            Any doubt about how devoted the residents are to their sport?  Even the sacred statue of Gutenberg in the town square was decked out in full soccer regalia. Go, Mainz!

           We also stopped in Rudesheim, a charming small town where wine and brandy making are the big industries and everyone is constantly pressing cups of Rudhesheimer Kaffe into your hands, sweet with caramelized sugar, dense with whipped cream and heady with the local Asbach brandy.

            Rudesheim also has a glorious museum called Siegfried’s Mechanical Music Cabinet, which is devoted to music-making machines through the centuries, some of them too astonishingly complex to believe!

            Cologne was another revelation. It’s Germany’s fourth-largest city, but its major concern these days seems to be recreating its past, especially in the long-gestated creation of its Jewish Museum.  They allow the public to watch all the excavation and restoration in progress and it’s possible at this point to see the foundation of the Roman ruins, dating from 38 BC, with the structure of the Jewish buildings that were erected on top of them a few hundred years later.

             The big calling card, of course is Cologne Cathedral, which began construction in 1248 and has never been completed.  No, really! As soon as one wing is finished, another is in need of restoration and there are centuries of artisans who are constantly employed working on this towering structure.

            Our guide told us that the most coveted job in Cologne is one on the restoration crew, because it’s the most secure position possible.  She also drew our attention to some of the gargoyles that had been recently restored, one of them in the image of the mascot of the local soccer team.

              Of course, Cologne is also the home of Eau de Cologne, the grandmother of modern perfume and it began here, in 1709, not under the banner of 4711 as is frequently thought, but in the house of Farina, which is still open and dispensing fragrant history.

             Did you know Napoleon loved their eau de cologne so much he had a special pocket kept in his boot to hide a bottle of it?  Wellington may not have smelled as good, but who won the battle of Waterloo, anyway?

 

 

Iceland ash cloud part two? Crazy menu listings in Vietnam: squidzel and crips

Here we go again?

The Telegraph in London today is reporting all flights between London City airport, Heathrow and Scotland were cancelled this morning because of the Icelandic ash cloud. We've got a ways to go before the disruption matches that of last year, but it certainly can't be helping European travel markets...

I was in Belfast last year when "ash cloud from hell part one" hit and had to spend an extra night, then make my way to Great Britain via a ferry to Stranraer, Scotland, then a train to Glasgow and on into London. Not so bad as these things go, but still a pain.

The scene was crazy at the Canadian embassy in London, with folks trying to get onto planes that simply weren't taking off. Let's hope it doesn't come to that again...

CRAZY MENU ITEMS IN VIETNAM

I love checking out funky menus when I travel. It's probably not nice to make fun of people's inability to master anything as silly as the English language, but I can't help it.

In Hanoi last week, I spotted a casual cafe near Hoan Kiem lake that offered up "roasted pork rips," "lemon sauce and chilly pork" and, my favourite, "steam squidzel." I don't know about you, but I've always thought Vietnamese cooks do great things with squidzel.

Also on the same menu was "stir-fry squid and several tastes." I don't know if they mean a whole whack of flavours or that you'll probably not like it much and only get down a few bites.

Finally, gang members (this blog has a HUGE following with gang members, our researchers tell me) take note of this offering "crips with butter."

Vietnam, of course, isn't the only country that mangles English language menus. I've seen fried lamp for sale in Athens. When I was in Bangkok a few days ago, there was a food cart that said their food was "good, delicious, soft fragrant and frame clean and good health," and how do you argue with that?

Just down the road was a place offering "volcanic fried mussel and oyster." And I thought they only had that in Iceland....

FOUR SEASONS HONG KONG

Thanks again to the folks at the Four Seasons in Hong Kong for a great stay last Friday. It's a fabulous hotel with great food, killer views of the harbour and Kowloon and a wonderful swimming pool. They have a large pool for swimming laps and vary the temperature of the water to suit the conditions. They
also have an infinity pool that makes you feel as if you're swimming over to Kowloon, and they keep that at 28 degrees. In addition, there's a spa/hot tub that's kept at 38 degrees and a small, cylindrical "plunge pool" that's 15 degrees for when you really need to cool off or for when you want to try that Scandinavian cold water/hot water thing.

I can personally report that a plunge in 15 degree water is very, um, bracing, even on a warm May afternoon in Hong Kong.

The views are superb and they also have cool sculptures. They'll bring you cold, citrus-infused water and a cold towel as soon as you sit down, as well.

WATCH OUT FOR BAD ROWS ON BOEING PLANES 

I've never really used those websites that give you outlines about what seats to avoid on what airplanes or airlines. I tried today but couldn't get seatguru.com to work and seatmaestro didn't seem to have what I wanted.

The reason for checking is that I was on a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to Toronto on Saturday. The flight was fine - they have good service and food and lots of entertainment options - but I was in a middle seat in row 41 on a Boeing 777 (I don't recall the exact plane model) and noticed a few things.

I like the way you slide down in your seat for a reclining position but that the seat or shell in which it is housed doesn't tilt back into the person behind you, if that makes any sense. It's a wonderful feature. I also noticed a small button above the tray that pops out, allowing you to hang up a light jacket or a sweater. Clever.

On the other hand, there was almost no clearance between the floor of the plane and the seat in front of me. I usually can slide my knapsack, which is full of camera gear and my laptop, under the seat in front of me but I had to unpack a bunch of stuff this time to get it to fit, and then there was very little place to put my legs for a 14-hour flight.

If you're going to take a long flight in the future, I'd advise checking to see the model of your airplane and such and try to determine the best seat. It could prove a very valuable investment...

 

 

 

 

 

A mad dash through Hong Kong highlights...Lovely Four Seasons hotel

HONG KONG - One of these days I'm gonna give myself more time in this great city. But, once again, I'm here with just a few hours to spend.

Still, that's more than many folks so I'll be sure to enjoy it.

I always love coming into town and seeing the massive apartment buildings in front of the even more massive mountains, then spying small beaches and the huge shipyards on the way to Kowloon. I wrangled a room from the great folks at the Four Seasons and find myself typing this as I look out behind me to the Kowloon skyline (see photo).

It's a beautiful, elegant hotel, with first-class service and a gloriously marbled lobby with those awesome views. Quite different from the Sofitel Legend Metropole in Hanoi, but distinctive and classy all the same.

Had a quick check of another hotel in town I'd read about, the Cosmopolitan, and its sister property, The Cosmo. More on those later in the pages of the Star, but suffice to say it's a great bargain if you want to stay close to the action in Central but are on a budget.

Also had a few moments to take the tram up to Victoria Peak and do a 15-minute walk through the forests/jungles at the top, snapping a few photos of the city skyline and Kowloon and the famous Star Ferry. I've taken too many pics of late and my hard drive is full, so I've borrowed a photo from elsewhere. But it's a pretty fair representation of the view one gets from the peak, and it's always a blast to stand in the middle of such thick greenery and listen to birds chirping and then look down - WAY DOWN - on one of the great metropolises of the world.

A helluva bargain for five bucks (Cdn.) return, although I didn't have time to take it back down and had to grab a gypsy cab to get me back to the Four Seasons in time for a dinner in nearby SoHo....

More to come on Monday, I hope, on wonderful Hong Kong. And check Star Travel in coming weeks for stories on Hong Kong and Vietnam.

Happy Victoria Day Weekend!

 

 

 

Vietnam countryside, Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel, morning tai-chi and more...

There's a million things to see on the highway (and not quite highway) on the from Hanoi to Halong Bay and the eastern coast of Vietnam. It was raining when we pulled out the other day and passengers on the backs of the ever-present motorbikes (it's said there's a campaign to make Hanoi's motorbikes one of the seven modern wonders of the world, and it's not a completely crazy idea) were huddled under tarps and rainjackets, unable to see a thing while the driver whizzed on.

It's a lovely drive, past deep green rice paddies and wide, muddy rivers and occasional gravestones peeking up out of the rice plants; seemingly placed at random but almost certainly with reason. The homes along the way are hit-and-miss in terms of quality; many finished and gleaming and others in a rather sad state. Creme with brown trim is the overwhelming favourite colour scheme, although you'll spot the odd green or delft-style blue.

The homes are usually narrow and three to four stories tall in both the city (seen here) and, especially I think, the countryside. I surmise that it has something to do with property taxes; perhaps the situation being that taxes are based on the footprint, not the square footage. But my driver didn't speak English and I keep forgetting to ask anyone else. Although most of the homes are painted, it's usually just the front that gets the treatment. Most of the time the sides are bare, grey concrete in the country.

There were a few cows and water buffalo scattered along the road, although nothing like the menagerie you see in India. Both on the way to Halong and on the way back, our driver pulled into one of those money-making pit stops filled with tourists who file en masse into a giant room filled with locally-made scarves and blouses and trinkets and statuary and, of course, food and drink for sale. The country seems rather crazy about crackers, I must say. There were dozens of varieties on sale at the rest stop, and when you go to a temple you often see offerings of not only fruit but rice or wheat crackers - and the occasional cookie. Hey, the gods must know what they like, so who am I to argue?

On the way back from Halong Bay I spotted dozens of dusty roadside stops with sloping racks of dark pineapples for sale. A few minutes later, they were replaced by row upon row of tiny green or yellow bananas.

I only had the little bananas once on this trip. When I was at the Novotel in Halong Bay, a girl who was working at the breakfast buffet walked by. I saw melon and oranges and dragonfruit on the buffet but wanted, in good North American fashion, banana for my corn flakes. She looked at me, then glanced around and said "I'll go ask."

A minute later she returned, flashed a huge grin and handed me three little guys.

"It's our secret," she whispered.

Absolutely delightful.

Back in Hanoi, I bedded down for two nights at the stunning Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, formerly home of Jane Fonda and, not so long ago, Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, a bevy of Saudi Arabian princes and, a few years back, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The latter had the Graham Greene suite, named for the author who used to frequent the hotel in the glamour days (not that it's not glamourous now). They liked Jolie so much they've named the Italian restaurant in their new wing after her. It's called Angelina, not Jolie, in case you want to phone for reservations some Friday night.

The place simply reeks of money and intrigue and mystique and glory. There are uniformed door men with hats, old cars that will drive you about, enormous ceiling fans in the glassed-in Le Club Restaurant and a lovely pool where, unbidden, the staff in pith helmets and khaki shorts will deliver sorbet, chilled water, cold towels, fresh fruit and mango ice cream cones. Not bad.

Mornings are awesome in Hanoi, especially over at Hoan Kiem lake, where they do tai-chi in the cool (kind of) sunrise hours. I spotted three 14-year-old boys out for a morning constitutional, and when do you see that in Canada except after a night at the all-night bars in the Entertainment District. There were older guys with their shirts off exercising at the side of the lake, as well as groups of women exercising to music. I could here them chanting something that sound like "oh ai ya, aaack, aaack, aaack, aaack, aaack." I gotta admit it sounded a bit like the aliens in Mars Attacks or a wounded duck, but it was quite cool.

After a while they gathered in sort of a conga line and started slapping each other on the back, as if giving a brief massage. Over to one side, a woman in a crop top and tight, short pants was gyrating back and forth as if trying out for a Vegas show, thrusting out her bum and swaying her hips back and forth. That was, um, pretty good, too.

On to Hong Kong tomorrow for a quick stop before flying home on Victoria Day weekend and a date with the maddening crowds at Humber Nurseries....

 

Heavenly Halong Bay, Vietnam...And a repeat on Avalon Cruise news

HA LONG BAY, VIETNAM – There are far too many UNESCO heritage sites. This one doesn’t make that list.

Ha Long Bay has long been famous, and rightfully so, for the majestic limestone islands that rise suddenly out of the sea in the northeast section of this green, lovely country. There are said to be 1,969 islands in the bay, which stretches for miles and miles. Most are towering columns with sheer, vertical faces of rock and tree that plunge directly into the South China Sea; creating a magical, surreal effect.

Add in the hundreds of Asian-style sampans that ferry tourists from Vietnam, France, Milwaukee and Manitoba about and you get a scene that simply screams “Asia.”

It’s the stuff of dreams, albeit more crowded than one would like. Still, on my visit this week the crowds of boats weren’t too thick and it by no means spoiled the view or the experience.
Many folks opt to spend the night on a cruise boat and visit outlying islands, including Cat Ba Island. I didn’t get the memo on that, through my own haste and improper planning, but I did get the basic, four-hour tour that takes folks out to one of the islands closest to the mainland.

It features an enormous cave discovered by a farmer only a couple dozen years ago. Oddly, the government folks who run the attraction have installed dozens of garish blue, green and red lights in the cavern, thus making it feel a bit like Las Vegas instead of a natural wonder. Still, there are areas where you can see past the glitz and get lovely views of fantastically-shaped stalactices of all forms and sizes.

The basic tour then ferries tourists around the back side of the island to a floating fishing village, where folks have been eking out a living on seafood (and, now, tourism) for thousands of years. One man I spoke with, who I’ll feature later in the Star, is ninth generation in the village.

It’s a pretty lonely life, but the mainland is 45 minutes away and it’s lovely and peaceful as can be and there’s a tiny, floating school and several shops selling fruit and cigarettes and crackers and beer. There also are two floating banks, so commerce can’t be all that bad.

Many folks like to rent a kayak and explore a pair of beautiful lagoons reached via small entrances only five or ten feet high. They’re absolutely magic; still and wondrous and surrounded by massive cliffs of rocks and trees.

Okay, the kids singing what sounded like a German beer song might have put me off for a second, but the music didn’t last long and I loved the quiet. It was great chatting with some of the village residents, who posed for a photo with me (I don't usually go for this sort of thing but my guide liked the idea).

The boat then passes past a pair of famous rocks called the Fighting Cocks, although my excellent tour guide prefers to think of them as “Kissing Chickens.” I suspect he has a solid future in p.r.

I was staying at the lovely Novotel on Halong Bay, which has a very good restaurant and a fabulous pool with views out to the islands, although it’s usually overcast from what I can see. There are dozens of waterfront cafes and restaurants scattered up and down the coast in what looks a bit like Wasaga Beach without the beach. (They’ve tried installing sand to create beaches but it appears to be a losing battle).

I had lunch at one spot he mentioned. It was okay, but the chicken feet in my lemongrass and chile chicken I could do without, and it would be nice if the beer wasn’t room temperature on a day when the thermometer reads 30 degrees or so. Still, it’s a great part of the world that’s justifiably famous, and it’s easily one of the most beautiful places I’ve had the good fortune to visit in my life.

 AVALON CRUISE NEWS

Star entertainment/travel guy Richard Ouzounian files this report:

Avalon Waterways is betting big on the successful river cruising market by launching three new ships in 2012, leasing two more to its family and adding a series of routes around the world.
The brand new Avalon Ankgor will debut in Sept. 2012 on a 14-day Mekong River itinerary that will make it the only passenger line to cruise all the way from Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh City, without a land break, on a ship custom-built for this route and featuring only 16 staterooms.

 In Egypt, they will be upping their offerings by 30% over 2011, through chartering the MS Mayfair and the MS Kasr Ibrim, adding Lake Nasser to their waterways for the first time.

And on their consistently popular European routes, two new luxury ships, the Vista and the Visionary, will join the newly-christened Panorama, adding 20% more voyages on their journeys that run through France as well as extending all the way from Amsterdam to the Black Sea.  They'll also be adding themed "Legacy" cruises, such as Jewish Heritage and European History, joining others like Tulip Time, Art and Impressionism and Burgundy and Provence Jazz Cruise.

For more information visit www.avalonwaterways.ca

WELCOME TO VIETNAM…ASIAN BREAKFASTS...AVALON CRUISE NEWS

HANOI - I arrive in Vietnam and the first sign I notice on the side of the road is a giant, powder-blue sign affixed to an apartment building with giant red letters that scream “English for Future.”

Yeah, I guess you could say this country has adapted rather quickly. It was only 40 years ago that the USA, the country where I was born, was bombing the living bejeezus out of this part of this most beautiful of countries for reasons most Americans never quite understood. But a lot has changed. The government here labels itself as a Socialist republic, but the key here, like most parts of the world, is commerce. Followed by making a buck. Followed by making money, if my point wasn't clear already.

“We understand that American people are different from the American government, just as Vietnamese people are different from the Vietnam government,” my tour guide in Halong Bay told me. Maybe it’s just what people say, but everywhere I’ve been in the last two days I’ve found warm, generous people eager to practice their English – and apologetic when they don’t get it right. And I call say is – I think – “thank you” and “hello.”

It’s been a real eye-opener, and I’ll get into more about that in a future column on our website and in the paper. It’s important, but there’s a bigger subject I feel compelled to tackle at this critical juncture in the world’s history: breakfast.

I’ve been to Japan and China and Hong Kong and now Thailand and Vietnam, and I still don’t understand the breakfast thing. I mean, what’s with the rice and the noodles and the fish and the spicy chiles IN THE MORNING? Every breakfast buffet I go to in Asia, and in North American or Pacific nations or European markets that cater to Asians, I see similar layouts. When I left my hotel in Hanoi Sunday morning at 7 a.m. to find an ATM, the sidewalks already were filled with people squatting on tiny stools or on their haunches, dipping into bubbling bowls of soup and noodles with the most exotic-looking bits inside. (I don’t quite know what the deal is with the al fresco dining, whether they simply enjoy it or don’t have room in their apartments to sit down for a meal. I suspect it’s the former but if anyone has thoughts on the matter I’d seriously like to know. As someone from a culture in which many people don’t even acknowledge one another on the street, I find this communal eating thing to be really cool).

Anyway, I know North Americans are pretty unique in our breakfast habits – pop-tarts and toaster waffles and crazy cereals with cardboard-like marshmallow-ish products shaped like yellow stars and green clovers. I know it’s not healthy and that it’s pretty amusing to most folks in the world. Or perhaps frightening.

(As a side note, I urge anyone interested in the great breakfast debate to pick up Bill Bryson’s great book about living in the U.S. - The Lost Continent - and the chapter in which he analyzes the massive rows of horrible cereals at his local supermarket in New Hampshire. It’s brilliant).

So, yeah, we’re a little strange when it comes to breakfast – and I’m not even going to get into the chicken and waffles with maple syrup thing they do in the southern U.S. for lunch. But in our defence, I have to say we’re not alone. Italians are, I can say without the shred of doubt in my mind, koo-koo for Cocoa Puffs.

Well, Cocoa Krispies if you want to get technical about it. I was at the Turin Olympics for the Star and there were two kinds of cereal each morning; Corn Flakes and Cocoa Krispies. Last time I was in Italy I wandered down to the breakfast buffet and found…Cocoa Krispies. I think the Italians have a secret crush on the stuff. I really do.

But the point is these are exceptions. For most of the world outside North America and Europe, breakfast appears not that different from other meals of the day, which I find kinda depressing. I mean, I love lunch and dinner (and, just like the hobbits in Lord of the Rings, second breakfast and tea) just fine, but breakfast is such a key meal for me and I enjoy that it’s completely different from other meals.. And I want cereal or yogurt or good, Swiss birchermuesli and big loaves of crispy French bread (plenty of that in Vietnam, thank you) and butter and six or eight kinds of jam and probably some bacon or sausage and, sometimes, pancakes with maple syrup (cooked in bacon fat and crispy around the edges when I make it for myself at home) or raisin bread French Toast or sometimes a toasted sesame seed bagel with cream cheese and blackberry jam, which sparks looks of mock disgust from members of my own family.

My hotel here in Halong Bay, the lovely Novotel (see photo of the pool bar and the infinity pool - very nice) has strawberry jam and honey and, I think, orange marmalade (nasty, wicked stuff) but not raspberry or blackberry or pineapple, which is disappointing. The Sofitel in Bangkok had papaya jam with lime and a bunch of other tropical jams such as pineapple and passionfruit, all of which I scooped onto a plate and mixed together with wild abandon, tossing culinary caution to the wind in a certain devil-may-care, go-for-it, manly gusto attitude that I thought might’ve attracted a few ladies to my table but, alas, no.

I’d love to come back to the breakfast buffet here at 11:30 a.m. and try the Asian food they have laid out for breakfast. I’m sure I’d love it. The kitchen here at the Novotel makes a fabulous bowl of pho, the famous Vietnamese noodle soup with chicken or beef and basil leaves and crunchy, flavourful green onions. I wish it was a little more spicy, but they’ll bring you limes and chiles and, I think, tamarind sauce if you want a little more fire in your bowl.

(This is a bit of a tangent (gee, really?), but what's with the scrambled eggs in France and here in Vietnam. They barely cook them, and you get this soupy, yellow gunk on your plate instead of nice, fluffy eggs. And don't get me started on uncooked bacon, a specialty all over Europe and in some parts of Asia.)

The food for the Asian buffet at breakfast is great. I just can’t eat it in the morning. I haven’t quite figured out what congee is, but it looks like I could probably manage it. I think it’s a bit like oatmeal or cream of wheat, which my Dad and I used to eat on a cold winter’s morning in California when I was a kid, albeit with brown sugar and honey, not fish sauce and scallions and chiles. My Dad also used to eat something called Wheatina, which I haven’t seen in 50 years. It was filled with all sorts of tiny bits and my sister and I used to call it “bird seed.”

Not unlike Jerry Seinfeld, I was always more into breakfast cereal. One time, when I was a kid, I counted 31 boxes of cereal at my house. And there were only two kids in the family. I still have probably ten open boxes at home in Toronto, and that’s a little strange.

So that’s my take on the most important meal of the day. Looking at the tiny, slim folks that surround me in Vietnam, I can almost guarantee you they’re completely right in the breakfast department and I’m doomed to an early death by too many brown sugar-cinnamon Pop Tarts (the ones without the icing on them, in my defence) and white-bread toast with sugary jam and too many bowls of Captain Crunch.

OVER TO STAR ENTERTAINMENT/TRAVEL GUY RICHARD OUZOUNIAN, WHO FILES THIS REPORT ON AVALON CRUISES...

Avalon Waterways is betting big on the successful river cruising market by launching three new ships in 2012, leasing two more to its family and adding a series of routes around the world.
The brand new Avalon Ankgor will debut in Sept. 2012 on a 14-day Mekong River itinerary that will make it the only passenger line to cruise all the way from Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh City, without a land break, on a ship custom-built for this route and featuring only 16 staterooms.

 In Egypt, they will be upping their offerings by 30% over 2011, through chartering the MS Mayfair and the MS Kasr Ibrim, adding Lake Nasser to their waterways for the first time.

And on their consistently popular European routes, two new luxury ships, the Vista and the Visionary, will join the newly-christened Panorama, adding 20% more voyages on their journeys that run through France as well as extending all the way from Amsterdam to the Black Sea.  They'll also be adding themed "Legacy" cruises, such as Jewish Heritage and European History, joining others like Tulip Time, Art and Impressionism and Burgundy and Provence Jazz Cruise.

For more information visit www.avalonwaterways.ca
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