MARCH 20, 2008 –
NO TAJ MAHAL FOR US TOMORROW

I couldn’t sleep well last night; got up at one point and went into the bathroom to read and work crossword puzzles. Ed knocked on the door later so I came back to bed but still didn’t sleep much.
MINOR INSURRECTION (MAJOR?): A call came at 8 am that there would be a meeting of all the folks on the Taj Mahal trip at 10 am with the tour staff. So Ed got up and got ready and he went to that meeting while I went to the lecture on Mombai. Then at 4 pm there was yet another meeting. Basically, the itinerary of the trip to the Taj Majal does not comport with what was advertised in the tour guides and what we thought we were paying for.
The people here on the ship have been gems. In fact, we can say that about all of the staff here on the ship. The problem is with HQ and the local vendor. Once during the day, the itinerary was changed slightly to accommodate one complaint, but other discrepancies still remained. In the end, they said if you go, you’ll get a 25% discount on the cost. If you don’t go, you’ll get a full refund.
Ed left it up to me. I decided against it. I have enough trouble flying and getting around. This wasn’t feeling right at this point and my gut said don’t do it. So we opted out. We’ll do it some other time. This is a great disappointment for us but I think it’s the right decision considering the circumstances. We picked out tours in Cochin and Mumbai on the outside chance that we can pick up one at this late date.
COKE SUPPLY (no, not that kind): it’s dwindling. We’ll have to look for a resupply somewhere. I knew you’d want to be kept up on this important news. The most we consume between the two of us is 4 per day. We’re now down to Ed’s Coke Zero which I drink only under protest.
PORT TALK: MUMBAI: Same speaker as yesterday. Same format. Lovely photos. Most of the meat we were all looking for came during the question and answer session at the end. I loved seeing the photos of the temple on Elephanta Island and thanks to Fr. Sean for putting us on to this last trip. There’s a tour of the Jewish sights and I suggested we do that since the other tours often covered places we saw last trip. (We’re still not sure what we’ll do in Cochin tomorrow.)
MORNING QUIZ: All were here in good form. We came out #3. It was a tough one. Ed remarked that the winning team has been rotating among those present for the last 6 times. Princess baseball caps were the prize this tie. Jeff leaves us tomorrow in Cochin. We told him he has to provide a replacement or we won’t let him off the ship. Mary and Elizabeth both have an idea of folks to invite, though both are women. I’d prefer a man frankly. That would equalize the representation among us and sometimes the dynamics of the women is very off putting.
LUNCH: Sat with the USC boosters among others. We discussed the Taj Mahal trip and the complications. I was surprised, well I guess in retrospect I shouldn’t have been, that a few women were talking earlier about the trip and were afraid of the security issues for the train and bus part of the trip. I guess I’m surprised to find such concerns on these sponsored trips.
TARGET IRAN: Scott Ritter, former UN chief weapons inspector, shakes up some of these folks who are die hard Bush supporters. Many of the questions lobbed at him from the audience were designed to show him up as being wrong. He backs up his remarks with public data and invites the listeners to look these things up on google by giving dates and titles.
HOLLYWOOD’S SWEDISH BEAUTY: Barry talked about the career of Ingrid Bergman. I had spoken with him prior to his talk about her lymphedema. He knew her arm was swollen to 3 times it’s normal size but he didn’t know the nature of the condition. When she was filming “Golda” she was in substantial pain from this condition.
As always, he has a very pleasant presentation style and his clips are perfect enhancements to his remarks. He has met on one or more occasions all of these folks about whom he speaks.
QUIZ TIME: We were moved to a different location for this afternoon’s trivia and many folks were missing; they were at the 4 pm meeting about the Taj trip. We came out #2…again. The prizes were luggage tags. One question: what is the only venomous mammal. Fortunately the group put down my answer, platypus, before turning in the paper, because they didn’t have a better offer. Many were skeptical but it was correct. So, keep that in the back of your trivia closet. We had questions on MS, mad cow disease, nematodes, millipeds…all kinds of useless information we try to retain. Frankie was the staff who called out the quiz today. Folks still try to game the staff about answers. He put down the microphone, ran his neck in circles, took a few deep breaths (while I was fanning him from nearby) and repeated his rule about the correct answer, that is, if it has multiple answers, all must be present and correct in order to get credit. One question was about the five instruments in the woodwinds section. The answer will be printed at the end of today’s blog. Hee Hee
Roy is still going to the Taj and he volunteered his photos to us. This is so nice of him as he has a serious camera and that he’s still speaking to Ed is nothing short of amazing. Ha.
DINNER: Dave and Twyla are going on the Taj overland tomorrow; Lea and Bill have made private arrangements to go to the Taj; Hank and Erna remain on board with us. Erna was married to an Indian man who died with some property in India. She will be busy with this issue in Bombay. Food was way too good tonite as it usually is.
AQUARIUM SHOW: We saw probably thousands of dolphins and a few whales on the starboard side during dinner. Fish went flying now and then probably trying to get out of the grasp of the mammals chasing them. So many people went across the dining room to observe this show that the ship started listing and we were asked to return to our seats.
TONITE’S SHOW: Piano entertainer, Melanie Spanswick. She is a classically trained pianist and she chose some very interesting pieces, including one Gershwin. Ed is a Gershwin afficianado and he was disappointed as this pianist doesn’t put the emotion into her playing that others have done on this cruise. Still, I think there’s nothing like live music and each time I’m struck by how good the band is on here as they accompany these performers as if they’d been working together for a long time.
HOW ABOUT A HALF-YIPPEE? We turn our clocks back ½ hour tonite. Here it’s the politics of Pakistan and India. We get another half hour when we leave Mombai (the locals still call it Bombay; go figure). And apparently on Vanuatu (don’t hold me to this spelling) which is someplace we’ve already passed, they turn the clocks ¼ of an hour. What’s wrong with this picture?
LET US HEAR FROM YOU: For some of you, it’s been a long time since we’ve heard from you. Are you still alive? Breathing? Have you won the lottery yet? Anything else we’d love to hear about. Ppppllllleeeeaaaasssseeee. Hugs to all.
COCHIN TOMORROW: I’m looking forward to seeing the Chinese fishing nets again.
Trivia’s answer: saxophone, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, flute (piccolo is considered one type of flute); the latter was news to me but I listed the others easily enough. One fellow wanted to argue that orchestra and something else (band?) were different. What do I know?

MARCH 20, 2008 –
NO TAJ MAHAL FOR US TOMORROW

I couldn’t sleep well last night; got up at one point and went into the bathroom to read and work crossword puzzles. Ed knocked on the door later so I came back to bed but still didn’t sleep much.
MINOR INSURRECTION (MAJOR?): A call came at 8 am that there would be a meeting of all the folks on the Taj Mahal trip at 10 am with the tour staff. So Ed got up and got ready and he went to that meeting while I went to the lecture on Mombai. Then at 4 pm there was yet another meeting. Basically, the itinerary of the trip to the Taj Majal does not comport with what was advertised in the tour guides and what we thought we were paying for.
The people here on the ship have been gems. In fact, we can say that about all of the staff here on the ship. The problem is with HQ and the local vendor. Once during the day, the itinerary was changed slightly to accommodate one complaint, but other discrepancies still remained. In the end, they said if you go, you’ll get a 25% discount on the cost. If you don’t go, you’ll get a full refund.
Ed left it up to me. I decided against it. I have enough trouble flying and getting around. This wasn’t feeling right at this point and my gut said don’t do it. So we opted out. We’ll do it some other time. This is a great disappointment for us but I think it’s the right decision considering the circumstances. We picked out tours in Cochin and Mumbai on the outside chance that we can pick up one at this late date.
COKE SUPPLY (no, not that kind): it’s dwindling. We’ll have to look for a resupply somewhere. I knew you’d want to be kept up on this important news. The most we consume between the two of us is 4 per day. We’re now down to Ed’s Coke Zero which I drink only under protest.
PORT TALK: MUMBAI: Same speaker as yesterday. Same format. Lovely photos. Most of the meat we were all looking for came during the question and answer session at the end. I loved seeing the photos of the temple on Elephanta Island and thanks to Fr. Sean for putting us on to this last trip. There’s a tour of the Jewish sights and I suggested we do that since the other tours often covered places we saw last trip. (We’re still not sure what we’ll do in Cochin tomorrow.)
MORNING QUIZ: All were here in good form. We came out #3. It was a tough one. Ed remarked that the winning team has been rotating among those present for the last 6 times. Princess baseball caps were the prize this tie. Jeff leaves us tomorrow in Cochin. We told him he has to provide a replacement or we won’t let him off the ship. Mary and Elizabeth both have an idea of folks to invite, though both are women. I’d prefer a man frankly. That would equalize the representation among us and sometimes the dynamics of the women is very off putting.
LUNCH: Sat with the USC boosters among others. We discussed the Taj Mahal trip and the complications. I was surprised, well I guess in retrospect I shouldn’t have been, that a few women were talking earlier about the trip and were afraid of the security issues for the train and bus part of the trip. I guess I’m surprised to find such concerns on these sponsored trips.
TARGET IRAN: Scott Ritter, former UN chief weapons inspector, shakes up some of these folks who are die hard Bush supporters. Many of the questions lobbed at him from the audience were designed to show him up as being wrong. He backs up his remarks with public data and invites the listeners to look these things up on google by giving dates and titles.
HOLLYWOOD’S SWEDISH BEAUTY: Barry talked about the career of Ingrid Bergman. I had spoken with him prior to his talk about her lymphedema. He knew her arm was swollen to 3 times it’s normal size but he didn’t know the nature of the condition. When she was filming “Golda” she was in substantial pain from this condition.
As always, he has a very pleasant presentation style and his clips are perfect enhancements to his remarks. He has met on one or more occasions all of these folks about whom he speaks.
QUIZ TIME: We were moved to a different location for this afternoon’s trivia and many folks were missing; they were at the 4 pm meeting about the Taj trip. We came out #2…again. The prizes were luggage tags. One question: what is the only venomous mammal. Fortunately the group put down my answer, platypus, before turning in the paper, because they didn’t have a better offer. Many were skeptical but it was correct. So, keep that in the back of your trivia closet. We had questions on MS, mad cow disease, nematodes, millipeds…all kinds of useless information we try to retain. Frankie was the staff who called out the quiz today. Folks still try to game the staff about answers. He put down the microphone, ran his neck in circles, took a few deep breaths (while I was fanning him from nearby) and repeated his rule about the correct answer, that is, if it has multiple answers, all must be present and correct in order to get credit. One question was about the five instruments in the woodwinds section. The answer will be printed at the end of today’s blog. Hee Hee
Roy is still going to the Taj and he volunteered his photos to us. This is so nice of him as he has a serious camera and that he’s still speaking to Ed is nothing short of amazing. Ha.
DINNER: Dave and Twyla are going on the Taj overland tomorrow; Lea and Bill have made private arrangements to go to the Taj; Hank and Erna remain on board with us. Erna was married to an Indian man who died with some property in India. She will be busy with this issue in Bombay. Food was way too good tonite as it usually is.
AQUARIUM SHOW: We saw probably thousands of dolphins and a few whales on the starboard side during dinner. Fish went flying now and then probably trying to get out of the grasp of the mammals chasing them. So many people went across the dining room to observe this show that the ship started listing and we were asked to return to our seats.
TONITE’S SHOW: Piano entertainer, Melanie Spanswick. She is a classically trained pianist and she chose some very interesting pieces, including one Gershwin. Ed is a Gershwin afficianado and he was disappointed as this pianist doesn’t put the emotion into her playing that others have done on this cruise. Still, I think there’s nothing like live music and each time I’m struck by how good the band is on here as they accompany these performers as if they’d been working together for a long time.
HOW ABOUT A HALF-YIPPEE? We turn our clocks back ½ hour tonite. Here it’s the politics of Pakistan and India. We get another half hour when we leave Mombai (the locals still call it Bombay; go figure). And apparently on Vanuatu (don’t hold me to this spelling) which is someplace we’ve already passed, they turn the clocks ¼ of an hour. What’s wrong with this picture?
LET US HEAR FROM YOU: For some of you, it’s been a long time since we’ve heard from you. Are you still alive? Breathing? Have you won the lottery yet? Anything else we’d love to hear about. Ppppllllleeeeaaaasssseeee. Hugs to all.
COCHIN TOMORROW: I’m looking forward to seeing the Chinese fishing nets again.
Trivia’s answer: saxophone, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, flute (piccolo is considered one type of flute); the latter was news to me but I listed the others easily enough. One fellow wanted to argue that orchestra and something else (band?) were different. What do I know?

MARCH 19, 2008 – HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TRUDY!

LAUNDRY: Yep it’s that time again so this time Ed got up and went to the laundry room at 7:30 am. Now those of you who know him will appreciate what a sacrifice that was. I got showered and dressed and went up there about 8:20 am and things were percolating along. There were lots of husbands in there and they knew what to do including ironing! Amazing. One of them is a surgeon and I was almost speechless when I saw him doing the laundry and ironing!
Because the washers only take 20 minutes, and the dryers take 40-45 min., there is always a wait for the dryers. One woman took clothing out of the dryer, said she had 3 things that still needed some drying, shut the door, turned it on, and left with the other clothing. About 15 min. later, the dryer went off, she wasn’t anywhere around, so a lady who had been waiting for a long while opened the door to remove the 3 items. You simply will not believe this: the dryer was empty and had been running for 15 min. that way! So the legends of the laundry room continue to produce mind boggling vignettes.
COOKING AROUND THE WORLD: Commendatore Alfredo Marzi is back with us again and he regaled us with mushroom soup, tequila shrimp, and a dessert that is customary for Father’s Day, today the feast of St. Joseph, in Italy. It is like a beignet or sopaipilla with raisins soaked in rum and toasted pine nuts in it. After frying (or baking in the oven), you roll them in granulated sugar. Mmmmm mmmmm, delicioso.
SHOW AND TELL: Frankie had asked me to bring my Shanghai jacket to show and tell at 11 am. I told him I had to go to trivia. He said bring it anyway, wave at me and I’ll let you go first. So I did, but he had some women who wanted to make bingo. So they went first. Then there was a lady who had purchased half the inventory of every stall she ever passed (well I exaggerate some), so I left while I still had 10 min. to make trivia.
TRIVIA: We were in full form today, lots less tension (helped by the fact that I wasn’t the scribe and I sat at the far end from Ed), and we WON. We got Princess Cruises world clocks (again). As we get these and we look them over more thoroughly, they really are quite nice. We’re taking bids from the folks at home.
Speaking of world clocks: Ed and I put our Treo on a city when we change time zones. We finally found out that we are now on Dakha Bangladesh time. Some zones are 30 min (near Mombai for example) and there were parts of the Pacific where we had to compute GMT – (and later +) to get the ship’s time.
LUNCH: Some folks we knew. One couple: the wife is OK, the husband is a terrible bore. We’ve been subjected to him before. It goes with the territory.
JAMES BOND: Nigel West amazed us again. He regaled us with the life story of Ian Fleming making connections with his books and events and people in his own life. Apparently, he was not a very likable guy and copied ideas from friends. Still we loved getting all the tid bits.
PORT TALK: COCHIN: This was given by an Indian lady in a gorgeous sari. She talked for 20 min. before getting to the photos, all of which were very interesting. However, she was supposed to talk about Cochin, and all she covered was India’s history and major sites some of which we knew about, many we didn’t. I left in time to get to trivia but I understand from others that she never covered anything about Cochin. We’ve been there before but many others have not.
TRIVIA: Whole group in attendance. Sid was the scribe this time. The quiz was done by a fellow passenger. This is never a good idea and you always know it’s not going to work out well. It didn’t. We made 10 points; the winning group made 12 but just barely. Still we were #2 again. The prizes were Princess Cruises tote bags. I don’t need one but would love to get one. As usual, we chose some answers among us that were wrong when at least one of us had the right answer. Thankfully, no one takes it personally.
Speaking of time zones, tomorrow night we turn our clocks back 30 minutes. Go figure. The politics of that must be a maze.
OVERLAND TRIP: Ed and I thought we were going tomorrow but it turns out we weren’t reading the daily list correctly. We just got our itinerary and he’s complaining about the schedule; He isn’t at all pleased when I remind him to go with the flow, blah blah blah. We have to get up at 4:30 am at least one day; we have a 5 hr bus ride on another day. I just look at the schedule and show up when and where I’m supposed to and enjoy whatever the experience is. He’ll come around. At least he can sleep on a conveyance; I can’t.
DINNER: Twyla, Davie, Bill, Ed and I. Politics got started; not a good idea. Ed and I are the only Dems at the table and Fox news is a steady source of info for the others. CNN isn’t coming in today but Fox is. What does that tell you? Rupert Murdock has it all wrapped up.
ENTERTAINMENT: A fellow who does the music of Nat King Cole. I don’t think we’ve seen him before and if not, then this is the 3rd singer we’ve had on this cruise who “does” Nat King Cole. I’m going to sit at the back and sneak out if I can’t take anymore. If I know Ed, he’ll stay for it all.
GOOD NEWS: Many of you know of our friend from China who was our hostess during much of our China visit. She has been in the states going to nursing school for several years now. We received word today that she passed her licensing exam and is now a Registered Nurse. We are so proud of her. The barriers she endured, and the sacrifices she and her family made so she could do this are unbelievable and too numerous to list. She works so hard and we never doubted she’d be successful on her first try.

MARCH 18, 2008 – HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TRUDY TOMORROW

We woke up early enough; the sun is very bright in this part of the world now. So we had some fruit to tide us over and I went to the first lecture and Ed joined shortly after. Each day, we both feel somewhat better. It just takes time.
ESPIONAGE IN THE PACIFIC: Nigel West is a Military Intelligence Expert, who gives a very crisp, well organized presentation. He does not use notes and is right on with responses to the questions. Basically, you are never alone, even in the darkest part of the Pacific. He discussed several covert operations, some I had heard of, some not.
TRIVIA: Jeff wasn’t with us as he had been up all night with the St. Patrick’s Day decorations and he had slept late. Maria joined us. There was a lot of tension this morning, at least from my orientation; lots of control issues coming out (I will no longer be the scribe and I’ve changed my seat position). Some remarks were not very kindly stated. Still we again came out #2.
LUNCH: Bill and Lea, Fr. Crispin and some ladies we all know were our luncheon guests. We talked about voyage experiences past and present.
ELEPHANT MASSAGE? There are some lovely photos of Roy around the elephants but none about his elephant massage. Here’s the backstory: Ed had told him about his own elephant massage and encouraged Roy to do that. So on yesterday’s outing, Roy volunteered for the baby elephant massage. But as I already told you, this male massage was different. I had no idea how much as I was too far up in the bleachers to see everything. I saw another passenger have this massage, not Roy. Roy was wearing shorts and the handlers put bananas up his short’s legs and the elephant took his trunk up there to retrieve the bananas while keeping his foot on Roy’s chest so he couldn’t object. There’s more but I’ll spare you. So Roy now says he’s after Ed for encouraging him to volunteer for this massage. We are laughing our heads off, and while Roy’s laughing too, his face is beet red.
THE SCIENCE AND POLITICS OF DISARMAMENT: Scott Ritter, former UN Chief Weapons Inspector and author of Iraq Confidential, talked about his work in the Soviet Union and Iraq when he was a Marine and later, UN weapons inspector. His remarks and evidence are very damning about the initiation of the war in Iraq. I’m very curious to see the reactions of those folks who are great supporters of the war and this Administration.
BEYOND CAPE FEAR AND THE SEA OF DARKNESS: Capt. Mike Irving, a Brit, talked about Henry the Navigator and many Portugese explorers. It’s very interesting but he is using slides which seems terribly archaic but wouldn’t bother me, but he reads his remarks word for word. I like the content but have to concentrate to get past the reading.
TRIVIA: Well we didn’t come in #2 this afternoon; Jeff rejoined us. We weren’t the worst either I hasten to tell you. If we had missed one less question, we would have been #2. But some parts of the interactions are difficult. Ed’s opinion shows in his actions within the group but I just sit back, write down my answers and make a few comments now and then. We REALLY miss Val and Eric, Ro and Murray. Sigh. Reality strikes.
FORMAL NIGHT: We got gussied up, I in my new Shanghai gorgeous jacket, and Ed in a suit and tie. Lea and Bill weren’t with us as they had an invite that conflicted but the rest of us were there and we had a fun time sharing a little of everything.
SHOWTIME: The young kids on board (the dancers) did a bang up job with the show “Words and Music” which featured many tunes with choreography most of it focusing on Broadway tunes. Everyone always enjoys these evenings.

MARCH 17, 2008 – PHUKET
HAPPY SAINT PADDY’S DAY

The ship’s movements alert you to how close to port we are. We woke up at 6 something and the ship docked promptly at 7 am as planned. We had ordered room service but Ed decided not to go because he wasn’t feeling well and he wants to be OK for the overland to the Taj Mahal. Since he went to the MD yesterday, all he has to do is to show that receipt and they’ll refund the cost of today’s excursion.
I was down in the cabaret lounge before 8 am and we left promptly at 8:10 am as advertised. I was glad they had made the following announcement last night: If you arrive at the bus and you do not yet have your sticker, you will be required to come back on board and get your sticker in the Cabaret Lounge. This was said because some couples have one person go to the bus so they can get good seats while the other one picks up 2 stickers in the lounge. There was a clapping of hands with this announcement.
There are always seats for disabled and the tour guide in the first seats on both sides. One couple are each very wide and so they take two seats each and the tour guide arranges for a lift to the sites.
We left fairly quickly and I managed to get Sally (from Ko Sumai) again. Another passenger from the UK, Rojer, shared seats with me. Very pleasant fellow and I enjoyed visiting with him.
WAT CHALONG: This is a lovely setting and there was a Buddhist ordination going on that we were allowed to view quietly from the back of the temple. There are several temples on these grounds and we were allowed to roam freely as long as we took our shoes off before entering, no hats and no sunglasses, shoulders and knees covered. These wats and temples are so gorgeous that words don’t do justice to them. On a hill in the distance is an enormous (as yet unfinished) sitting Buddha which was erected after the Tsunami of 4 yrs ago; more than $1 million USD were collected to build this.
In addition to the religious buildings on this area, there were stalls with the usual tourist clutter for sale. There were so many dogs and cats around; I was surprised. One little puppy kept following us everywhere.
ISLAND SAFARI: This is the same company where we went on Ko Sumai, but their site here is much better developed. They have rice paddies for you to see, a water buffalo who does the work and upon whom you can sit for a photo. I wanted to ride the buffalo but it wasn’t covered in the package we had today so I contented myself with watching the buffalo work, getting a bath, and then having folks, mostly kids, sit on it for photos. If they weren’t tame, they could do a lot of damage with those horns!
First we went to ELEPHANT CAMP where there were 3 baby elephants. They did many of the same tricks we were shown in Ko Sumai but one was a little different: the elephant puts it’s trunk on your cheek and suctions it and smacks as if kissing you rather than the scalp massage. There was one other difference. A man was asked to volunteer for a very special Thai massage. He had to lay on his back and the towel was put over his pelvis and chest, but not his groin. On his private parts, something was put down on him. The baby elephant begins the massage her foot and then removes whatever had been put on the groin and begins to massage the private parts with her trunk. This was unexpected and very funny.
ANOTHER ELEPHANT RIDE: My partner for this ride was a fellow passenger. We had a good time and agreed that this ride was “smoother” than the one in Ko Sumai. To begin with, the cushion seat was different: we didn’t slide on it. Furthermore, there wasn’t a seatbelt on this one: they had a wooden rod across which we could hold onto. The ride again was about 30 minutes and included a trek through a muddy creek where the elephant kept exploring the waterway with her trunk. No she didn’t spray us but Mike did mention the possibility. This elephant was 27 y/o and the mahout has worked with her for 18 yrs.
They offered the usual photo of you on the elephant for $10. There was a lady selling Thai leather cutouts; her father taught this to her and she is teaching her daughter. At least that’s what she said. It all looks like it’s laser cut to me.
THAI LUNCHEON: This was buffet style with many wonderful selections. The fruits are so tasty here, especially the papaya. We got bottled water with the meal. At this location they grow orchids but few of them were blooming.
USUAL TOURIST TRAP: This is a lapidary place. As you walk through, they show gems in various stages of preparation. The next room is? Well of course, a place where they have lots of jewelry and you are guaranteed to have one or more salespeople with you at all times. Many of us headed upstairs for the “crafts” section. Lots of lovely linens (actually Thai silk in most instances) and dishes plus other mish mash. Leaving this area takes you into a coffee shop where you can have a free soft drink and wait for the serious spenders; if they wanted to stay even longer, the facility will get them back to the ship (about 30 min away by car).
RETURN TO SHIP: There are a number of stalls in the pier area. Not many folks were tempted but there are still die hard “shoppers” who can’t go by a stall without looking.
Ed was washed and dressed and watching TV; no surprise there. He was sure that his decision to stay in was the right one.
WHILE I’M THINKING ABOUT IT: I encountered a different kind of squat toilet today. (I just know you’re all very excited to hear about this.) For those of you uninitiated, Western toilets are not usually found in the rural areas. A squat toilet is usually simply a keyhole shaped basin flush (no pun intended) with the floor. More commonly, there is a bucket of water nearby and you pour some of this into this basin to “flush”. Also, while I’m thinking about it, you do not put anything non-biological (don’t you love how discrete I am?) into this toilet; you put tissue (which you must almost always provide yourself) into a garbage can nearby.
Well this one today was keyhole shaped and there was the expected bucket of water nearby and the trash receptacle too. But the ceramic wasn’t flush with the floor; it was about 2-3” elevated all around, and about 3-4” wide with a crosshatched section on each side perfect for your shoes. I guess this is the latest in “modern” technology in the rural areas of Asia.
DINNER: (the sequencing of these entries is not lost on me either). Hank and Erna weren’t at dinner but everyone else was. Bill got his camera stolen off of him in a crowded place; he had it hanging over his shoulder. It was a nice one but they can probably get it replaced via American Express. However, the loss of several hundred photos is the more sad loss. There are so many people who have lost or had damage to their cameras. Linda was telling me that she went into the ladies room at the Harbor Front terminal in Singapore and saw a very nice camera which clearly had been left inadvertently. She and Claude checked the photos on it and identified the owner who, not surprisingly, was a fellow passenger on this ship and returned the camera. You can imagine their relief upon receiving it.
ENTERTAINMENT: Tonite’s entertainment is an Asian dulcimer player. I walked past his cabin and heard the music so I may miss it. I got very little sleep last night and it was useless to try to get any when I returned this afternoon. Late entry: I did go to see him after I cleaned out my email. He is delightful and the selections of music run the gamit but show off the instrument beautifully. And again, I have to remark about how skilled these musicians on the ship are. They get the music of the guest performer on the day of the performance and they play absolutely flawlessly!
TWO GLORIOUS DAYS AT SEA: Oh boy. We will receive our arrival and departure forms for India in our mailboxes tomorrow and they must be returned to the purser’s office by noon tomorrow. The Indian immigration authorities must be on board. If it’s like last time, they’ll require that we personally appear before them before they’ll stamp our passports. Since we are going on an overland, we will have to have our passports with us (I’m assuming here.) The free space in my passport is becoming every more precious. The guy stamped across the staple area the last time. I pointed out the blank spaces above and below the written materials in the beginning of my passport but he didn’t bite. I wonder if they have rules about where these must be put. If I had time and thought it would work, I’d go to an American consulate or embassy somewhere and ask them to put in some extras. I thought about doing it before I left the US but I was afraid I wouldn’t get it back in time for leaving. It took so long to get the China and India visas, there wasn’t much time left. You can bet when I get home I’ll have them put a double set of pages in as my passport doesn’t expire until 2015. Then there’s always the Irish passport route; Fr. Cribben carries both but only used the Irish passport for Pitcairn.
ST. PATRICK’S DAY: Speaking of the Irish, the ship is decorated for St. Paddy’s Day, the drink waiters are all in green plastic hats (they already wear green jackets), and there are green items placed strategically all over the ship.
YIPPEE! Again. We turn our clocks back one more hour … again.
Ok, that’s all for tonite. I’ll clean up my emails and then send this out. Hope all is well.

MARCH 16, 2008 – HAPPY SAINT PATRICK’S DAY SON!

We woke up as the sun leaked through the curtains. So eventually we started moving around but it was more like a crawl. It takes us forever to clear out the cavities in our head and lungs. I got dressed and put on the kebaya I got yesterday. Ed approves and I got so many compliments on this outfit, particularly since Ed had prevailed on me to get the scarf that went with it. The ensemble is lovely and I tell everyone that I have an appointment to apply for a job as flight attendant for Singapore Airlines.
I’ve suggested Ed go to the MD this morning as his diabetes complicates his recovery though his blood sugar seems to be doing fairly well despite all this. Perhaps all this exercise we’re getting is balancing that.
PORT LECTURE, PHUKET, THAILAND: David has left and today’s lecturer was from the company that provides the busses and tour guides in Thailand. The gentleman had lovely photos, and though he speaks with a heavy accent, he enunciated carefully and was not hard to follow. His daughter was helping him with the computer. He answered all the questions folks had at the end.
ED’S MEDICAL APPOINTMENT: He finally went and the MD gave him some antibiotics to take: Azithromyacin. You may know them colloquially as a “Z pack” in the US. Once we get up and get our lungs and noses cleared out, we keep pushing ourselves daily.
TRIVIA: We formed a new group and made a name out of the initials of our first names: JESMEB (or jesbem I’ve forgotten now). One fellow is new to the ship (again); he does the decorations so he’ll be up all night tonite doing the St. Patrick’s Day décor. Elizabeth and Sid are from British Columbia and Bermuda; Mary (or Margaret) is 100% Irish, lives in London. We came in #2…again. The prizes were Princess tote bags.
SUNDAY BRUNCH: We sat with some folks from other trivia teams and relived this morning’s questions. The food includes a nice selection of meats, both cold and hot, seafood of various kinds, fruits and salad selections.
SPYING 101: THE IMPACT OF ESPINAGE ON HISTORY: Apparently this speaker gave a talk while we were on the overland to Angkor Wat. Some of his assessments were in contrast to those of speakers we had on the first leg of our trip. He sounds British and I think it’s always interesting to hear a different perspective though with these spy guys they can’t always tell you where their information I is from. He says that 85% of intelligence is from easily available public sources.
HOLLYWOOD’S MAVERICK: THE LIFE AND CAREER OF CLINT EASTWOOD (1930-): Barry, the BBC producer again doing a bang up job. Eastwood is hardly my favorite person but Barry did him justice in terms of his career and parts of his personal life. The film and video clips are always absolutely perfect and illustrate the points extremely well.
TRIVIA: #2…again. The prizes this time were passport pouches. I was the scribe and I put down moderation instead of modulation for one answer; I showed the written answer to all at the time. I felt bad that it was written incorrectly even though two of the men in the group knew the difference. Much like my dissertation where so many folks looked at the manuscript and still there were errors of transcription, I remain amazed at such events. We would have tied were it not for that error. Otherwise, we weren’t sure of the answers, such as a quotation: which Shakespeare play is it from? We didn’t even discuss the one it was attributed to. We did get some really tough ones correct that other groups missed. So overall, you win some, you lose some. Next sea day we’ll be at it again, but I won’t be the scribe next time. Ed can do it and hope they’ll be able to read it.
DINNER: Hank and Erna, Dave and Twyla (in her new Thai skirt—now I have to figure out mine). Hank had he venison and Erna, who is pretty much a vegetarian at this point in her life, tried to look the other way. We had a wide ranging discussion.
JAMILA: This young lady, who sings with the 5th dimension when she’s not doing a starring role in Aida and such Broadway shows, was a delight with a very robust voice and a nice entertaining style; and she’s got a great figure and the dress to match.
We have an early “call” in the morning for our tour in Phuket (pronounced Poo-ket) so Ed’s preparing the room service order.

MARCH 15, 2008 – SINGAPORE

We still aren’t feeling great but we did manage to get ready and leave the ship around 10:30 am. We took the cable car to Sentosa Island. Val had told us this was a nice trek. There is a very tall tower on the top of the hill here but it is only an circular elevator that goes up and then down. We had good views y of the city from the cable car and this is one of the fastest ways to get around in this city if the cables go to your desired destination. Before I forget: Singapore is only a few degrees north of the equator and the humidity rivals the temps for wearing you out.
SENTOSA ISLAND: This is kind of an amusement park. There is a show here called Images of Singapore and we went through that. It has some clever devices used in the show such as holographic images projected inside a fountain. Once you see the initial show, you then walk through numerous life sized dioramas which depict various events and circumstances in Singapore history; not all of it is flattering by the way. For example, they talk about the opium use by the Chinese coolies and how bleak their lives were.
At the end of this is a shop where they have many Singaporean related items including batik items; the dress for the ladies (think the advertisements for Singapore Airlines) is called a kebaya. It is quite lovely. Ed insisted on getting the silk scarf and fan that matched. I thought the scarf was too expensive but I didn’t realize that it is a full sized silk scarf, not just a neckerchief. The outfit is gorgeous but identifiable as Asian.
We had lunch here at a small café. We had a corn chowder, satay and mixed vegetables. It was Ok but I wouldn’t order any of it again.
BACK ON THE CABLE CAR: Ed had gotten the extended tickets which took us to Mount Faber. I should tell you that the entry near the cruise ship terminal is in the middle of this cable car route so that in one direction is the island, and in the other, the mount. On the Mount there is an elegant restaurant where they have taken old cable cars and made them into intimate spaces for a romantic dinner. It’s quite cute and includes two kissing bears and heart shaped pillows. There are resorts here, as there are on Sentana Island where there are world class beaches. We stayed long enough to get into a very long qeueu which snaked through the shop. They had some of the same items we had purchased previously for slightly less cost but there was no place to try things on and no room or privacy so I didn’t regret our previous choice.
HARBORFRONT CENTRE: We found a pharmacy in this huge mall and Ed restocked his pharmacy for the room. As we headed back to the gangway, we met Dave and Twyla. Dave saw the MD here in Singapore about his fractured pinkie. As it turns out, it was healing nicely and so he’ll have to wear the brace for two more weeks and then gradually begin to reuse it. In the meantime, he’s trying to get the range of motion back in his wrist which has been immobilized all this while.
Twyla said their were about 20 people on the shuttle to the medical center. Jim came up and he had a root canal for an abcessed tooth. I don’t know what the other problems were.
The man who won the photo contest had hurt his spine during a ride on the tender. He has been in the “hospital” downstairs and was taken off the ship by ambulance to fly home for future care. As I’ve noted before, we have numerous folks with knee problems and a lesser number complaining of hip pain.
During the conversation with all these folks, another passenger came up and he had gotten a haircut in the mall. We had been looking for a place to do this and so he gave us the card he was carrying. If we hurried we had just enough time to do this.
BEYOND A SIMPLE HAIRCUT: We had trouble finding the place since the design of this huge mall isn’t very straightforward. They were busy but agreed to do our cuts. They seated us and gave us each hot green tea and magazines (Cosmo and Women’s Mags for me; car and business mags for Ed). Soon enough this tiny Asian woman quietly indicated that I should join her. She is the hair washer but that doesn’t do justice to her.
The chaise lounge looking chair you sit and lie in is so much more comfortable than any others I’ve been in. There’s no neck strain and it is a very relaxed position. Folks with carotid narrowing would have no problem here. So the wash starts. But this is MUCH more! She gives you a long scalp massage. But she’s still not done! She does acupressure on your scalp and neck—and she finds all the trigger points; you can feel those chakras. She rinses your hair and starts again, this time with another solution which I think must have been a deep conditioner as my hair is wonderfully smooth and soft now. And the spoiling continues. Eventually, it ends and your head is wrapped up and you’re taken to the chair where the owner, Liz, takes over to cut your hair. I showed her my driver’s license photo as a sample and she asked about the back and I told her straight across and shingled, which is exactly what she did.
The touch of these women is so gentle but there’s no question about what they are guiding you to do. When another person comes to ask a question, their conversation is so low you can’t make out any sounds. So she cut my hair, dried it a little more, cut it a little more, and I have a new hair do.
By this time Ed had finished his massage; all I told him was “you’re in for a treat.” Now he knows what I was smiling about. And Liz cut his hair nicely as well.
We boarded the ship at 5:20 p and our curfew was 5:30p. We feel we accomplished a lot in the long run.
DINNER: Hank and Erna weren’t here but someone had spoken with them in the mall so they’re getting better. We all talked about our experiences on our outings. Lea and Bill went to Raffles where they had 3 Singapore Slings and a bottle of beer; the bill came to $99. They did some shopping but one of the bags was left in the cab on the way back; it had a shirt and two small toys for grandkids so most of their purchases were intact. Bill wore Ed’s shirt to dinner (that is, they had purchased shirts exactly alike).
Lea and Bill, Ed and I went to the Casino Lounge to listen to a singer who is with us for the entire trip and whose voice is marvelous. Then we headed for the cabaret lounge; I made a side trip to our room and Ed joined me there saying: You don’t really want to see a juggler do you? So that took care of that.
I was doing some things in the cabin and Ed turned on sports (he’s watching much more sports events in the last year than at any time I’ve known him). I took the book Water to Elephants to the Casino Lounge and read as best I could here until folks started gathering there for an event. As I returned to the room I saw Ed and Rich in the hallway talking and Ed had the laptop with him to download some stuff.
Then began my nightly routine of washing out my medical devices, taking out my contacts, washing my face, brushing my teeth…jeez, I don’t remember it taking so long when I was younger!
WHOOPIE! We get another hour back tonite; we are back on Bangkok time again. Don’t ask; we don’t understand either.
We valiantly tried to get as much sleep as we could last night but neither of us got much sleep; both of us hacking and coughing periodically. When one of us finished, the other began. I will say I think this Nasarel (what a nasty medication) does help and I’m taking my puffers religiously so I don’t get asthma attacks.