MARCH 11, 2008 – BANGKOK TOMORROW

I want to write up today before I get too far behind and then I’ll gradually write details of our wonderful trip to see the Wats including Angkor Wat. Tomorrow we are on a long tour in Bangkok, and the day after at Ko Sumai where we have an elephant ride scheduled: Yippee! I think Ed is even going to risk it this time.
Despite being up very late last night (doing the laundry: you know you’ll hear more about this later), we got up before 8 am and managed to arrange stuff and be dressed and ready for the port talk at 10 am, complete with it’s decidedly unique perspective on these ports. Some folks stay just long enough and then leave; I stay for the photos as much as anything else. While listening to this, I worked on some of the photos we took in Siem Reap; there are several hundred. But I have the two cameras charged up and ready for the next two days.
TRIVIA: It turns out that the couple who were being auditioned for our positions didn’t show up while we were gone. So the 4 of us were in good form again. Ro had the questions from the trivia meetings while we were gone, one session of which had been created by another passenger. Bad mistake. Never turns out well.
We didn’t win this morning but then we only missed by a little as we were #2 (Ok, well there was a tie for #1 and two of us tied for #2!) Eric told us to study hard for this afternoon.
SALE: They had some items for 50 and 75% off. Such deals. So Ed we did pick up a few things because they were almost giving them away after all. It ended at noon so it was crucial that we make good choices early.
LUNCH: We were joined by some of our fellow Siem Reap travelers and some who didn’t go. One lady was concerned because she thought she was fit enough to go on these excursions and she’s finding that she isn’t. So she’s reconsidering and checking the little symbols they provide to warn you of how strenuous these excursions can be. By this yardstick, Ed and I are in great shape; we take all the steps and climbs in stride and our muscles do not hurt after it all. And we aren’t dying to get into bed afterward. I suppose we should take heart at all this.
Some of the folks who went to the Great Wall talked about hiring “pushers.” We had pushers on the Galapagos trip too but they did it to keep us from falling into the sea as we tried to get from the dinghies into the ship! It turns out that these Chinese folks are somehow officially sanctioned. They meet you in Tianamen Square, at the great wall or wherever and they have a wheelchair. They are very fast and efficient and they push you around in this chair. You do have to climb up the stairs by yourself (otherwise you’d need to hire two “pushers”) and then resume your seat for the next leg of the journey. These pushers don’t speak English but they’ve done this job a lot as it turns out.
EUROPE 2009: Ben told of some of the cruises Princess has in mind for 2009; none are out in print yet but he thinks we may get something after Singapore. We went as much to support Ben (who joined us for the Galapagos trip) as for the content and the pretty pictures. I continued to work on the photos while listening.
THE GREAT EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI OF DECEMBER 2004. This talk was done by a fellow passenger who has studied tsunamis all of his career; he was at Scripps in La Jolla. His wife has been taking the powerpoint classes on board and he had brought the Captain a copy of his book which included some of this info. So they copied the pictures and tables out of the book and he talked about them. It was actually quite interesting and he is clearly very knowlegable of his subject matter.
TRIVIA (again): we rejoined for another try this afternoon. We were again second and the prize was luggage straps. We’ve agreed we have to win these before the other two couples leave us in Singapore. Since we only have one more sea day before they leave, we have only 2 more opportunities to win. The questions this afternoon weren’t easy. Again some of us come up with answers out of nowhere and sometimes we’re even correct!
FORMAL NIGHT: Ugh. I really didn’t want to get dressed up in finery tonite but we did anyway. Dave and Twyla, Hank and Erna were there. Hank and Erna had made us a plaque to hang about the fireplace with a mounting of the fish we had on our patio. (The fish was made out of bread and they had made it so long ago that pieces of it had broken off and they had to glue them on.) It really was a funny thing for them to do and we have lots of photos. We don’t quite know what to do with it since it has one of the ship’s plates as backing and the bread isn’t going to survive the trip back anyway.
Twyla was wearing an Oriental jacket she got in Kagoshima; Hank was wearing a Hawaiian shirt with (what I call) coo coo nuts on a necklace. We had a lot of laughs over that too.
Dinner was delicious with lobster and large prawns. The dessert selections are sometimes a shot in the dark because the descriptions don’t quite tell you what to expect so we enjoy the mystery of it all.
ENTERTAINMENT: This was a comedy vocal impressionist. He was pleasant enough and clever but he wasn’t a ha ha ha type.
Since we are on tours tomorrow and the next day, it may be a while before I can catch up. That and the fact that there’s something weird going on with this computer. Let’s hope it disappears at some magical point.