The Oriental Cruising Company

 

No, you don't want none of this!!! Signature hand time!! 
#ROB'SHANDSTOREMEMBER 

Ashlee and I took another HUGE CRUISE to close out the year with 5 new countries checked off the Been-There List.  The craft beer was a little hard to find, but I did have some success.  

11/23 - Hello, India (that's one)!  The Taj Mahal was nice but some wonder of the world, at least I could buy a beer on The Great Wall of China.   I was able to have a macro-brewed Kingfisher Ultra lager that was OK from United Breweries in India, a subsidiary of Heineken, at lunch later on.  

11/24 - Hello, Mumbai, and hello to actual craft beer in India!  We had dinner and libations at the Effingut Brewery near our hotel tonight.  The food was good (and spicy) and my decent half-pints of theirs were as follows:  Salted Guava Wheat, Dry Stout, and the Japanese Rice Lager.

All those half-pints got me a badge that I don't think is accurate, but then they never seem to be on UNTAPPD.  

11/25 - Honestly, just like craft beer, it was hard to find a lot of beauty in India with all the smog, the litter and the throngs of people everywhere, but, again like craft beer, it was there if you looked hard enough and with a very narrow focus.  

At dinner tonight at the very-American-named restaurant, The Table, I had the very good Gondhoraj Bajra Ale from Great State Aleworks in nearby Pune, India.  

11/26 - The beer choices on the ship were woeful (and expensive) so I started getting into hot tea.  This sunrise cup pictured above was just the start.  Hey, it's brewed and it's flavorful just like beer!   I wonder if there's an UNTAPPD-like app for tea drinkers?? 

Our first port today was Goa, India, and this was about as close to craft beer as I got there.  There just wasn't time to seek out GBC unfortunately.  

I also struck out on waterfalls in India. I had some flagged for possible visits but came to realize very quickly that with the crazy, snarled traffic there, a location that was two hours away might turn into six hours in commute and I just couldn't risk it with the time limitations of being on a cruise.  Bummer.  

I did find this little beauty that I called a "radioactive Dew."  It was pretty good, especially since I haven't had one in days.  Tasted like they use cane sugar like in a Mexican Coke.  

11/28 - I finally broke down and paid the ridiculous cruise price of $12 for a can of so-so new-to-me beer while at sea for a couple days.  The Yebisu (Premium) lager is made by the macro-brewers Sapporo.  They had another one available, but I just couldn't pay that price again for sheeple beer.   

11/30 - Evidently there are many types of Buddhas, but my favorite is the classic chubby, happy one because, hey, I kind of relate.  Welcome to Sri Lanka (that's 2)!

A big frosty Lion Lager on the verandah of the beautiful Galle Face Hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka is better than no beer at all.  Lion Brewing is a macro-brewing subsidiary of the Carlsberg Group.  Not a bad beer, but I think the setting really helped with its overall perception.  

It's slim pickings in Sri Lanka for any kind of beer, so I checked out the Lion Ice pilsner next which again wasn't awful and didn't cost $12 like on the damn boat.  

A little later in the evening I had a decent Tiger Crystal lager at Ahasa, a very cool bar situated in a skybridge 29 floors up connecting the two towers of the ITC Ratnadipa Hotel and private residences.  This Thai-founded beer is mass-produced currently by Heineken Asia in Singapore. 

Your lack of craft beer angers me, Sri Lanka!!

Waterfalls in Sri Lanka were a strikeout as well due to weather.   The small island country had just recently been rocked by a cyclone that made travel into the interior a bit sketchy especially since I was locked to the ship's schedule.  

12/1 - I guess there's always tea to fall back on.  And Sri Lanka makes a lot of it.    

And what many consider some of the best in the world.

When we got back on the ship tonight, I broke down again and ordered an overpriced can of mass-produced new-to-me beer called The Premium Malt's - a decent pilsner from Suntory Spirits Limited in Tokyo.    

A couple days at sea had me enjoying the cruise ship's outside movie theater up on the 12th deck.  I rewatched F1, such a great movie and a couple others that were OK.  

12/5 - Welcome to Thailand (that's 3)!  I didn't have any waterfalls scoped out for Thailand, but here's a sign to one nearby to put on the Next Time list because I definitely want to try and come back.  What a beautiful place!! 

Thailand did not disappoint when it came to nature porn!  There was tons of this incredible deciduous karst limestone inside the Ao Phang Nga National Park.   

When your long, long bucket list gets one checkmark shorter.  I been wanting to see the karst towers in Thailand's Phang Nga Bay for a long time.  This pic is from James Bond Island (Khao Phing Kan).   

Also, on James Bond Island (some of The Man with the Golden Gun was shot here) are these very cool leaning limestone cliffs that create a cave beneath them.  The Thai name for the island, Khao Phing Kan, which translates to "hills leaning against each other." 

There looked to be some great bars in Phuket's harbor to seek out some craft beer maybe, but we just had no spare time.  I had to settle for a bland Chang Beer (3.5%) lager with our tour-provided dinner.  It's another mass-produced bore from Thai Beverage PLC.  

12/6 - Greetings from Malaysia (that's 4)!  I didn't even have to get off the ship to see the nice Fort Cornwallis Lighthouse (original one built in 1882).  It's also known as the Penang Harbor Lighthouse after its most recent renovations back in the 1920's.  It's neighbor to the left is the Queen Victoria Memorial Clock Tower built in 1902.  

I was "floating" in my sock feet high above the streets of George Town, Malaysia, this morning.  65 floors above the streets in the Komtar Tower.  This reminded me of the glass floor in the tower in Calgary, Canada, a few years ago. 

Hey, that looks like a real beer!!  Well, it sure is!!  Still mass-produced, this beautiful and very tasty Connor's Stout Porter is made by Carlsberg Malaysia and was my best beer so far on this trip.  So good, in fact, I had two actually.   I found this beauty at the Brussels Beer Cafe while the gals were shopping in the giant mall nearby.  

Beforehand, I also had a bland Tiger White wheat beer from Heineken Asia on my first stop, a cool bar/eatery called Gravy Baby, but their beer selections were weak.  

I question the accuracy of this UNTAPPD badge, but you do you.   

Always a good SIGN in any country!! I knew I was in the right place when the girls stopped into a nice chocolate shop on a hip little street in George Town and I whirled around and saw this sign!  There were also the words CRAFT BEER!!!  I had stumbled upon the Momokaka Beer Store!!  And, yes, they had a couple of craft beers actually made here (well, over in Kuala Lampur, but close enough).  I bought single cans of the couple local craft brews they had.  More on these babies (that I was able to get back on the ship with no fuss - I was willing to kill them on the dock if need be) later.  

12/7 - Lord, I'm gonna miss these kick-ass omelets and fried rice every morning made to order on the ship.   

 Back on this ship this afternoon after a tour to Kuala Lampur, Malaysia, I was able to crack open my first craft beer bought yesterday at the Momokaka Beer Store in George Town.  The Syok IPA was hoppy and delicious.  It's made by Monster and Beer Brewing just north of KL.   Thanks Celebrity Cruise Lines for letting me bring it and its companion back on board yesterday.  

Oh yeah, I found another Asian Mountain Dew.  Well, Ashlee did actually atop the KL Tower.  While it looks like the MD Zero cans here, it was just a regular Asian Mountain Dew in taste. 

    12/8 - I was able to toast our last full day on the ship at sea with my other purchased can of craft beer from the Momokaka Beer Store in George Town a couple days ago.  It was the solid NEIPA called Wah Piang also from Monster and Beer Brewing from near KL, Malaysia.   Cheers to a great cruise and trip so far and onto exciting Singapore tomorrow!! 

12/9 - Hello, Singapore (and that's 5!)    From 57 floors up on the roof of the amazing Bay Sands Hotel, I enjoyed a bottle of the very good session IPA called Star Gazin' from Rye and Pint, a microbrewery right here in town.  There's craft beer out there, folks!! Let's go find it!! 

A perfect place to celebrate year 13 on UNTAPPD!! 

Well, I finally photographed a waterfall in Asia.  Too bad it's man-made.  But it's still over 100' tall and in the amazing Cloud Forest Dome at the Gardens by the Bay here in Singapore.  This city is mind-boggling!!   

It was expensive, but it's a big ol' check off the bucket list.  I've wanted to swim in this amazing infinity pool atop the Bays Sand Hotel ever since learning about it over 10 years ago!! 

12/10 - I captured this incredible bayside sunrise today alone atop the Bay Sands Hotel which was fine by me. 

Brunch was at a familiar name to me, Black Tap, the NYC-founded burger and beer joint that also has a location in Nashville.   And like there, this one had a nice list of local craft beers to choose from and I had the following with my great Americanized food:  the very good SG LAHger from Brewlander, a microbrewery here in Singapore; the Brewlander Joy (Session IPA); and a few sips of Ashlee's decent Belgian Witbier from the macro-Lion Brewery also here in Singapore.  

Live, Laugh, Lager!  I like that mantra!  And it was a pretty special beer that I checked in to earn this badge.  See below.   

Well, I thought it was cool...this amazing pic got no traction when I posted it on Facebook.  WTF? 

She's a rare one! While not the greatest beer I've ever had, this may be one of the rarest in regard to check-ins on UNTAPPD.  Less than 260 check-ins!!  I had to give it 5 stars just for that fact.  The Beach Rd. Lager is brewed exclusively for this one bar by the big German brewer, Paulaner.  And it went great with the free peanuts at this famous and historic watering hole, The Long Bar, in The Raffles Hotel where the Singapore Sling was invented.  

Well, Dim Sum good beers!   I had a pretty good Gold Medal Taiwan Beer tonight with our dim sum dinner at Din Tai Fung here in Singapore.  This Japanese-style rice lager is made by Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation which is listed as a microbrewery in Taipei.  

OK, if you say so, UNTAPPD 

I knew the odds were not STACKED in my favor to find a lot of craft beer in Asia, but I did OK, and there was definitely more I missed.  

12/11 - We got home safe after literally flying around the world on this trip that was great from start to finish even if there were gaps in good beer along the way. 

And remember, if the beer ain't great, you can always do like the Singapore Merlion and spit it out!