Dear friends,
After now a little more than 3 weeks my vessel the „Cap Manuel“ finally arrived in Mexico, and I find some time to write emails and blog. We started in Hong Kong on the 3 of November one day later than planed; which gave me the opportunity to enjoy this big city one day and one night and trust me I did not waste any minute. The airplane landed around 6 in the morning and a nice sedan plus driver was already waiting for me. Checking in the hotel was not possible at this early time as the room was only available form 11 o´clock. Eager and still filled up by stewardesses I booked a city tour at the reception which started like 2 minutes later J lucky me… so ne the next 5 hours I spend I a nice new MAN exploring various sights of Hong Kong and the surrounding area. After the educational part I decided to treat myself with a new lens for my camera; as we all know it supposed to be very cheap here, but disappointment followed. Never the less seeing all this busy Chinese people on the street shopping for electronics was a nice thing to see and made me a little jealous as well as the can buy a much greater variety on cell phone brands than we in Germany of any other place I have been yet. So it got dark and it was time for me to have supper; Hong Kong compared to the rest of China is quit a developed place, I mean nearly everybody will understand English and even in the smallest soup kitchen they will provide you with an English menu. 2 years in Beijing and I meet 3 taxi drivers who spoke a little English but still did not understand me. Well fed and a little rested I felt the 12 hours of airplane chair in my back and of course there was just one solution àMasterCardàMassage .
One whole hour of pure evil Chinese deep disuse massage cured me of any pain and released so much adrenalin that sleeping was not an option. Back at the hotel, finally my room was ready I quickly changed and went out to hit the bars. Al you people knowing me a little better know how I react when somebody tries to but ice or juice in my drinksJ. I must say that the local Hong Kong girls are as pretty as my former colleges in Beijing mentioned. After finding some company we went to see the big skyline with all its colorful signs and displays, unfortunately there was a cyclone coming towards the city so a lot of mist made in impossible to take decent pics. After a couple of ours sleep I was ready to meet my new working place. Via private shuttle service we arrived at the harbor and there she was 230 meters long 40 wide brand new made in Shanghai. As time is money I quickly changed in to a boiler suit and stood in less than 5 minutes on the main deck helping to store provision. Here I must say that I was happy and surprised more than 4000 kg of food and beverages: Beer form Netherlands, French water, Argentinean beef, Australian lam, Danish cookies and the list went on and on. The crew on board is spitted in to officers and seaman. Officers represented by the eastern European countries like Russia, Ukraine and Poland the seaman crew was pure Philippine. They did not even dare to place me in to the Philippines in the mess room, no; I am sitting and dining with the officers, cold beer for every meal, nice steward, and room service when needed. But sometimes I sit with the crew as they are much more fun and share more time together than the officers.
It is really amazing how many animals you meet hundreds of kilometers away form the shore. Seagull accompanying us for days, flying in our wind next to the vessel or 200 dolphins on the coast of Costa Rica hunting for flying fishes ?!? 
When we arrive at a port they will send us some security guards to watch the vessel, thievery and stowaways are a big problem but as you can see they are very cute ;). 
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