"Packing is F-U-N" (sure)

A comment about my previous posts: some of the descriptions I have posted from previous voyages in no way reflect the organizers of Semester at Sea, but the incompetence, immaturity, and insensitivity of some of the students that were on board the ship. Those incidents were isolated, and if the organizers did find out about them, those students would be immediately expelled. Semester at Sea is a fine organization and has come a long way from the small organization that is was in the 1960s.



Now onto packing,
This is how my preparations for Semester at Sea (SAS) happens everyday if I did not have a packing list:

Example 1:
(In my head)
"Ummm.... What do I need.... Ummm.... I think I need more t-shirts" (1 hour elapsed)
*exaggeration*

Example 2:
"Damn, did I forget something? Oh yeah! underwear!"


Fortunately, packing for SAS comes easily due to a handy dandy packing list that SAS provides for us on the website. Without it, I'm bound to forget something important such as sea sickness pills! (Thank god for them, or else I would probably be throwing up on some poor girl's face even though I have never done that before) Packing though, is actually quite expensive and time consuming, especially since I will be at SEA for 108 days! My most recent purchase was a $20 36 inch duffle bag from the swap meet. The bag is durable enough for me, and was most importantly cheap; I will definitely be putting my bargaining skills my mother has taught me into excellent use. (at vendor: "I only have 1 dollar for this shirt, take it or leave it!") That way I can make sure I still have some money left over for capitalistic survival in the United States of America.


Oh yeah, before I forget, here is my exact schedule with dates and times (color coded for easier reading):

Fall 2008 Itinerary/Calendar

Destination	Arrive Depart	Day	Date	Time
Nassau, Bahamas	Depart	Friday	29 August	1700
Salvador, Brazil	Arrive Depart	Sunday Thursday	07 September 11 September	0700 2000
Walvis Bay, Namibia	Arrive Depart	Friday Tuesday	19 September 23 September	0800 2000
Cape Town, South Africa	Arrive Depart	Friday Thursday	26 September 02 October	0800 2000
Chennai, India	Arrive Depart	Tuesday Saturday	14 October 18 October	0800 2000
Penang, Malaysia	Arrive Depart	Wednesday Sunday	22 October 26 October	0800 2000
Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam	Arrive Depart	Thursday Tuesday	30 October 04 November	0800 0600
Hong Kong/Shanghai, China	Arrive Depart	Thursday Tuesday	06 November 11 November	0800 2000
Kobe/Yokohama, Japan	Arrive Depart	Friday Tuesday	14 November 18 November	0800 2000
	(Cross International dateline, add one day)
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA	Arrive Depart	Thursday Thursday	27 November 27 November	0800 2000
Puntarenas (San Jose), Costa Rica	Arrive Depart	Sunday Tuesday	07 December 09 December	0800 2000
	(Transit Panama Canal - Thursday, 11 December)
Miami, Florida, USA	Arrive	Sunday	14 December	0800

Also, here's the mailing info and time info if you guys are interested, because I would like some mail!

PORT	ADDRESS OF PORT AGENT	SUGGESTED AIRMAIL DATE
Salvador, Brazil Phone: 55 71 3241 4990 Fax: 55 71 3243 5633	OCEANUS AGENCIA MARITIMA Av. Estados Unidos, 555 7th Floor / Room 712 40015-010 Salvador, BRAZIL	August 24
Walvis Bay, NAMIBIA Phone: 264 64 201 2200	OCEAN LINER SERVICES The Maritime Building 2 Third Steer / PO Box 4 Walvis Bay, REPUBLIC OF NAMIBIA	September 5
Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA Phone: 27 21 419 8660 Fax: 27 21 413 0290	JOHN T. RENNIE & SONS 19th FLOOR No.1 Thibault Square 8001 Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA	September 12
Chennai, INDIA Phone: 91 44 252 12032 Fax: 91 44 252 43813	J.M. BAXI & CO 3rd Floor, Clive Battery Complex 4 & 4A, Rajaji Salai 600 001 Chennai, INDIA	September 30
Penang, MALAYSIA Phone: 60 4 2623 245 Fax: 60 4 2627 989	INCHAPE SHIPPING SERVICES SDN 4th Floor Unit 4B Wisma Saw Chong Thuah 39-c, Pengkalan Weld 10300 Penang, MALAYSIA	October 8
Ho Chi Minh City, VIET NAM Phone: 84 8 823 1052 Fax: 84 8 822 0108	GENERAL FORWADING & AGENCY 5th Floor Osic Bldg. 8 Nguyen Hue Ave. D. 1, Ho Chi Minh City, VIET NAM	October 16
Hong Kong, CHINA Phone: 852 2746 7312 Fax: 852 2744 3240	INCHAPE SHIPPING SERVICES (HK) Ltd. Units 1802-1805, 18th Floor Nº 3 Lockhart Road Wanchai, Hong Kong, CHINA	October 23
Shanghai, CHINA Phone: 86 21 6323 1350 Fax: 86 21 6329 1519	PENAVICO SHANGHAI 3/F 13 Zhong Shan Road (E 1) 200002 Shanghai, P.R. CHINA	October 27
Kobe, JAPAN Phone: 81 78 391 3046 Fax: 81 78 391 3105	INCHAPE SHIPPING SERVICES Kenryu Bldg, Room Nº 502 6 Kaigan-dori, Chuo-ku Kobe-shi, Hyog-ken 650 0024, JAPAN	October 31
Yokohama, JAPAN Phone: 81 45 201 6991 Fax: 81 45 212 1614	INCHAPE SHIPPING SERVICES 2F Asahi Seimei Yokohama Honcho Bldg 36, 4-Chome Honcho, Naka-ku Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa-ken 231-005, JAPAN	November 3
Honolulu, HAWAII Phone: 808 599 8604 Fax: 808 599 1950	INCHAPE SHIPPING SERVICES 521 Ala Moana Blvd Foreign Trade Zone Number 9 Suite 256 Honolulu, HI 96813	November 13
Puntarenas, COSTA RICA Phone: 506 440 2000 Fax: 506 440 0202	R. Smyth & Co S.A. 500 M. Norte del Super Santiago Rio Segundo Alajuela, COSTA RICA	November 23

Time Aboard Ship

Based on Eastern Daylight Time - the time on the ship is ahead EDT by the number of hours listed below:

• Brazil (+1 Hour)
• Namibia (+6 Hours)
• South Africa (+6 Hours)
• India (+9.5 Hours)
• Malaysia (+12 Hours)
• Viet Nam (+11 Hours)
• China (+13 Hours)
• Japan (+14 Hours)
• Hawaii (-5 Hours)
• Costa Rica (-1 Hour)

One more week until I leave. I'm getting more and more anxious and excited as the final day is slowly approaching.

Until the next post,
Alan Shih at Sea (ASAS)

*Pretty clever acronym huh?*