The Garfield Legacy Fund

December 29, 2019 We sailed away from Mumbai last night at 17:00, this visit provided a whole new look into a fascinating culture, one that simply survives in millions of lives, and another where their lot is improving through education and adoption of Western ideas and concepts put into practice. Terryl made an inquiry at the Spa for which she was invited to participate in a lucky draw. The Gym area, next to the Spa, was crowded and after a few comments extolling the virtues and relaxing feelings their work provides, the first lucky number was pulled and 6075 (our cabin) received a $75.00 treatment. My arms went up and a loud noise of some kind covered the room. Terryl’s name was on the card and she was thrilled and gave a warm and respectful thank you to all those present. This morning we are cruising south toward the tip of India and will dock at Cochin, India tomorrow morning. The sea is calm, the pollution is gone, the food continues to be excellent along with super servi...

December 24, 2019 Last night was an amazing evening compliments of Azamara Cruise Line that bussed us to Muscat's huge new Convention Centre by the Airport. Once again Captain Filip greeted us as we entered a magnificent auditorium to hear a five piece authentically Muslim band, followed by fourteen piece brass band, both playing their favourite works to the delight of all who attended. In a little over an hour we drove to the ship where the party had already started with more food and music and drinks to be had in several venues. Today Terryl and I shuttle-bussed it back to the Souq to purchase a few little goodies and immediately were at a loss to find the store of choice: a gold shop with our ears, necks and wrists begging to be adorned. Alas, I gave up and walked out of the Souq with the guidance of many vendors, and when seated with a drink Terryl went back in and then, came out fourty minutes later claiming no success once again. Now we're on the ship - have had a nic...

December 22, 2019 Our tour to the Grand Mosque was exceptional in that it is perhaps the most important thing that one must see when visiting the sister city to Dubai, and that is the capital city Abu Dhabi in the UAE. Our driver took us through tunnels and over bridges that appeared to be quite new, and as is the case, spotless. He detailed the area’s relevancy to the Ruler's master plan as well as its Islamic religious dominance of their population which is 20% by birthright, with the expats running at 80%. He talked about the young adult when getting married is given a  significant amount to have the wedding of their dreams, a full amount of money to buy their first home, and a few additional contributions to get their young marriage off on the right foot. We are amazed at what appears to be factoids about their country. They don’t pay taxes, but if they can afford to give 2.5% of their earned or inherited net worth, it is a one time only donation to charity, and their me...

December 20, 2019 Here’s an odd fact: on the way from Dubai to Doha, the clocks go back one hour, and from Doha to Sir Bani Yas the clock goes forward that one hour. And these are very short distances between places. Odd, I thought. Today we are anchored off Sir Bani Yas which is primarily a wild life sanctuary with half of its area set aside for conservation. Azamara is using their Tenders to float the passengers back and forth. Terryl and I have decided to take a pass on this man-made island sanctuary and hit the gymnasium for a first workout in Azamara’s beautifully outfitted and handsomely designed facilities. This was one of my commitments because I just wasn’t doing it at home. My ‘Sport’s Medicine Doctor’ had recommended Physiotherapy and/or Accupunture to relieve some of my issues and concerns for which I did receive 5 sessions of Accupunture as well as a few exercises from a chiropractor named Neil. His treatment is all well and good but I really don’t think there’s an...

Our body clocks are still discombobulated: it’s 04:45 and we’re wide awake. However, the Insider and Azamara never disappoints with access and service such as the self-serve in the Windows Cafe with all types of specialty coffees, juices, fruit and cereals. It’s done, I’m eating, drinking and in front of the MacBook Air typing away with Terryl propped up watching her favourite of many world wide channels presented on board: this one is on specific wild life - lions, antelope, elephants, water buffalo, and others - all roaming in Africa and looking for water and food in their habitat. I had not made any pre-arrangement for an excursion while in Doha, Qatar and I see one that looks interesting. They call it The North of Qatar with a duration of 7 hours showcasing their rich traditions such as pearl diving, the ruins of Zubara Fort an ancient fortress for a fascinating look at archeology in action. The other offerings are a wild ride through the dunes described as a roller coaster sens...

December 17, 2019 Ater a seamless check-out of the Movenpick Jumeirah Beach Hotel our baggage handler loaded our stuff into a Meter’d Taxi (he made a strong suggestion to avoid the black limo type) driven by a grandfather whose home was in Sudan, he asked if we would like some music and if it might be from his country? Our answer was of course; and off we went on a major 12 lane highway to the Port of Rashid. The ride took a little longer than I expected, but only cost $33.00 Canadian. 99.8% of all shipping arrives and leaves from the Port of Rashid which I swear goes on and on forever. One may think that with its size that there could be a problem finding our ship. We passed the Queen Elizabeth 11, the Jewel of the Seas and several others when we found the big A for Azamara docked and ready to board. We paid our friend from the Sudan and he helped the attendant load our stuff on to a cart destined for delivery to our balcony cabin 6075, after which we entered the terminal for reg...

What a day this was. I woke at 4:30 and started on email and blog until we left the Movenpick Hotel for breakfast. As always the promenade was full of activity such as everyday walkers complete with young families, young adults on two wheel motorized scooters, taxicabs cruising along looking for fares and all sorts of people on their way to the beach. Jumeirah Beach is a happening place just outside of the 'Old Dubai' which I will show at the end of this post.  A must see in my view in any significant city is its museum, and here it is: Doorway to Dubai Museum entry fee $1.00 Canadian A Master builder and his apprentice To protect the fort  This fellow did the heavy slugging and appears to be quite happy in his work The women are still covered from head to foot Watch out for the spiked doorways to keep the invaders out Just lying on the Great Wall of the Dubai Museum A little billboard outside the Dubai Museum All manner of her...

By the way the weather has been perfect all week at about 26 Celsius with mostly sun and a few wispy clouds. Apparently the temperature can get to the mid 40's during the summer, but that doesn't stop the people from coming here. They had 15,000,000 come in 2018 and they spent $28,000,000,000.00 on the beach, in the sky, on the dunes, in the hotels, in the massive malls and on the golf courses too. Just look at that cupped left wrist ready to explode at the Emirates Golf Club This young man walked 100 yards and came back with a 7 iron just for me. A display in the lounge of the clubs used by the likes of Woods, Ballesteros, Couples and Els  After a few hours at the Emirates Golf Club having breakfast, hitting range balls and chatting with staff members we taxied back to our hotel to get ready for lunch. What a life. This fellow runs things around here Terryl spoke with this lovely young lady and asked if she could photograp...

With two days left on our tour of Dubai UAE the question raised is, what next? The answer is more of the same. In doing so, Terryl got quite a scare when purchasing some jewelry with her debit card. A salesperson presented the adjusted cost and accepted her card, but returned it with this comment: EMPTY. She tried it again with the same result and as might be the case Terryl thought the worst: HACKED. And yes, once again these people were concerned and helpful without question. Together we called the Canadian Bank and after forty-five minutes we were talking to a lady in Regina who advised that her money was still there. The next day it was the same result. However, when we visited a CitiBank establishment she was able to get plenty of cash using the same card. A pleasant young man gave us his explanation and off we went. No problem...if it happens again she will use my card. What? In the Dubai Mall at five football fields of one way space The aquarium ...

UAE was nothing but rolling sand dunes.  "Forty-seven years after its establishment in 1972, the UAE has become a shining country filled with soaring skyscrapers and architectural marvels. And the country owes its thanks to the remarkable ruling families of the UAE! The royal families of the UAE that serve as the country's rulers have built this brilliant place from the ground up, and are admired for their grace and dignity, hard work and charity. They also rank amongst the world's richest royal families - and some even have a massive fan base on Instagram." (The preceding was written by MyBayut .)  Of course these wonders would never have been without their oil. While riding along on the Hop-on Hop-off bus the narrator casually mentioned that 40,000,000,000 (billions) barrels of oil held in reserve will run out in the year 2040. Furthermore the UAE is ranked within the top Financial Markets in the world along with London, New York and Hong K...