Esri

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I promised a post about each day, so here we go. I glanced out the windows at Réunion and decided not to bother. The reviews were mixed at dinner time. Jo Ann took a HAL tour and said the island was beautiful. Louise took the same tour and said it was dull and uninteresting. Mary said it “didn’t speak to her” so she didn’t go past the port. Kay went to the terminal station and used the Wi-Fi, which was iffy.

I spent the day in my cabin dealing with a sinus headache and trying to free up space on my laptop’s hard drive. I made sure everything was backed up and then deleted all the backup copies of my original RAW files of my photos saved when I imported them into Lightroom. That freed up half the hard drive. Hurray!

I also booked an overnight at a Big 5 game preserve near Cape Town. It is called Inverdoorn and in addition to specimens of the Big 5 rescued from all over Africa it features a Cheetah rehabilitation facility. I booked through ToursbyLocals and will have a private guide who’ll pick me up at the ship, show me part of Cape Town and then drive me to Inverdoorn. We’ll have lunch and an evening game drive (3+ hours) followed by dinner. I hope to have time between lunch and the evening game drive to have a “Cheetah encounter”. They are based on availability and the weather – apparently windy or stormy weather upsets the Cheetahs.

Unfortunately we won’t have time on the second day for a morning game drive because I have to be back to the ship by 1:00 PM. We’ll have an early breakfast, drive back to Cape Town to finish our city tour, and then back to the ship. Since I’m doing this tour, I’ve canceled my Tala Game Park excursion with HAL. They have a waiting list and someone who otherwise wouldn’t get the opportunity will happily take my place.

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I’ll start with an apology for my lack of posts in the last week to ten days. I have a variety of excuses ranging from sinus headaches to homesickness/grief/feeling sorry for myself to ennui. However, I know there are quite a few people who look forward to these little notes from my great adventure, so I’ll strive to do better. I am going to change the format a bit.

Reading back over my posts, many of them (sea days are the worst) sound exactly alike. If I get bored writing them, how must my readers feel? So in the interest of brevity and variety I’m going to try not to simply recite my daily agenda.

The menus are on repeat (quite frequent repeats, actually) so unless something is really awesome or terrible, I won’t be listing what I eat. The same with Trivia – unless something interesting happens, just assume I went to Trivia. If I go to a show or watch a movie, I’ll let you know. When I finish a book I’ll let you know how I liked it. Finally, if something exciting happens, you’ll definitely hear about it.

In the absence of something notable happening on a sea day, I’ll post a short note describing the day’s overall mood and whether all is well. For port days I’ll post a brief note telling a bit about the port and whatever I did there. A longer description of my excursions will follow later with photos (even if it follows after I get home). My entire portfolio of good photos from this trip will be published as they are processed – almost certainly later in the year.

Before closing this post I want to mention that I took tours in both The Seychelles and Mauritius. Both were HAL tours – one was a private car in The Seychelles and one was a bus tour in Mauritius. The difference between those two experiences has convinced me that I’m not taking any more “get on and off the bus” tours this trip.

The one exception will be the Tala Game Park trip in Durban, South Africa. I really want to go on a game drive (partially to see how my knee, hip, and back hold up so I can decide whether to go to Kenya in August), but the trips offered on ToursByLocals.com can’t be completed in the time we have in Durban (I don’t want to miss the ship!). I am working on booking a ToursByLocals trip in Cape Town to a Big 5 game reserve. I’ll be cancelling some other excursions during this next round of sea days. I’ll devote a sea day post to explaining what I cancel and what I keep.

Yesterday I received three invitations to upcoming big events. The Captain’s Dinner is on Wednesday, 26 March. There’s a Mariner’s Appreciation Day Cocktail Party hosted by HAL’s CEO, Stein Kruse and his wife, at 4:15 on 30 March. Earlier that afternoon I am invited to hear Archbishop Desmond Tutu speak. I’m looking forward to all three events.

Read this one on Go With Me -- includes photos!

Pat, what makes is the night safari so special? ( besides the howling wolves)

I imagine you are seeing nocturnal animals, but how does this differ than a regular zoo visit?

I had heard about this tour, so would love to know some details.

The difference is mainly the animals are more active. They are the same animals you see in a Zoo, for the main part -- they are mostly Asian animals, of course, but they are moving around more. There was also a completely different feeling, seeing them there in the dark. More like you were in their world instead of them in yours. It is a Zoo, it's just a little different experience. In a normal Zoo you might have a nocturnal house with small animals, but we saw elephants, tigers, lions, and wolves, etc... in the night environment. If I had to choose BETWEEN the Night Safari and the Zoo, I'd take the Night Safari, because as nice as the Zoo is, it is still a Zoo like many others.

By the way, I didn't take the HAL tour so I am reporting hearsay, but several people, including my tablemate Kay, told me that their experience on the HAL tour (with busloads of people) was not the same as ours with our four (including Phil). Kay took the HAL tour in 2012 and they stood in line for an hour and a half to get in and then the line for the tram was so long they didn't get to see ANYTHING. Folks on the HAL tour this year stood in line a long time, but at least got to take the tram ride.

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I did it again. I woke up crying after dreaming Paul was leaving me. I hate when that happens – it feels like my subconscious is slandering the poor guy… This morning I got up and logged on to the Internet and caught my sister. I felt better after I’d talked to her. My babies are all right. Tut’s doing great and being a real pain in the tush (which is a good thing). She says everybody misses me, but that means she misses me. The cats and dogs will realize they’ve missed me when I get home, which is soon enough.

The crew had a pirate drill at 9:30 this morning. The captain told us that in the remote chance that we were actually faced with dealing with pirates our job is to go and sit in the hallway. I just wonder how he expects me to get back up…

I went to breakfast in the Lido. Then I bought myself a rare cup of coffee at the Explorations Café. I’m reading a book on onOne Perfect Photo Studio, in bits and pieces, now. I’m going to play with that this afternoon. I know I should be diligently post-processing those photos for Singapore, but I love my toys and learning new ones does more to keep my mind occupied that performing the same ten or fifteen steps in Lightroom over and over.

We got lots of points (sixteen) in Trivia again, but once more it was one short of finishing “in the money”. Oh well, it will get rid of a single digit score in the cumulative total. The only controversy today seemed to be whether “scarf” was an acceptable answer for “What does babushka mean in Russian?” The answer is “Grandmother”. The scarf gets its name from who wears it. We had “Grandmother” (for once they went with my answer over someone else’s – I guess they are learning to trust me), but a lot of people had scarf. The thing is I think we use the term in English to mean scarf, not in Russian. Not going to fight about it though.

I skipped lunch today because I’m eating in the Pinnacle Grill. It is “Menu Surprise” night. I hope I’m not surprised right out of anything I want to eat!

I spent the afternoon post-processing pictures from the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari. Then I wrote up my blog entry for that day and posted the photographs and blog post. Now to finish the second day in Singapore.

There was one seating in the Pinnacle tonight for the Menu Surprise dinner – 6:45 PM. I met Susie and her friends right on time and we all agreed we were famished (we are all early diners). We had a very nice evening. Since the staff were all wearing saris or Indian jackets and turbans and there were cute little elephants on the table (we all got to take one home with us), we surmised that the menu would be Indian or similar cuisine. We’re such great detectives.

The appetizer was a mixed plate of Tandoori Chicken, grilled spiced lobster, roasted potato, fried eggplant, and a vegetable fritter. It was all good. I liked the fritter and the lobster best, then the eggplant. The chicken and potato were good, but not outstanding.

Next we had a Tomato Shorba – tomato broth flavored with turmeric. It was slightly spicy and very good.

The main course was Murgh Makhni (chicken in curry sauce), Malai Jhinga (shrimp in a delicious coconut sauce), cauliflower and green peas in curry sauce, rice, and three kinds of flatbread. The shrimp was excellent, the vegetables tasty, and the chicken didn’t fare as well. Only one of us finished the chicken and the rest of us only took a bite or two. It really didn’t matter though because we’d already had plenty to eat.

Dessert was Jalebi (it tasted like funnel cakes with cane syrup) and Cardamom ice cream. It was delicious.

The dinner included wine or beer. They served a nice sweet California white called Conundrum with the appetizer and soup and then a merlot with the entrée. Since I had two and a half glasses of the white, I only sipped the merlot which is not a favorite of mine.

After dinner I put together a collection of photos to enter in Part III of the Photo Competition. I started from scratch with post-processing and finished them up after midnight. I’ll post them with tomorrow’s blog post.

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This morning I woke up crying. I dreamt that Paul was leaving me. Of course, he did leave me, but not willingly. Spring has sprung, I guess. This is the time of year that I realized I was going to lose him and every year, except 2012 when I was busy trying not to die, I’m right back at the beginning. I always believe I’m past the point where I have to force myself out of bed and remember to breathe in and out, but then it hits me.

I wake up and go to bed in tears. If I had a car I’d be like Pavlov’s dog, tearing up as soon as I buckled my seat belt and started the engine. I’ve loved him for thirty-two years now, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that it still hurts that he’s gone. I really miss my dogs and my cats – they don’t let me cry. Mab still believes her job in life is to make me laugh and Molly is the best cuddle bear you could ever have.

I hid in my cabin all day except when I went to lunch on the Lido and to dinner with Jo Ann. I told myself (and Jo Ann) that I skipped my shore excursion because of the smog, but I just couldn’t leave the cabin. I apologize to all my loyal readers, especially anyone who was waiting for Sri Lanka. I won’t let it happen again.

I didn’t sit and cry all day though. I finished Death Comes to Pemberly and then read a technical book on using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to post-process landscape photos. The book is called Landscape Photography Workflow written by Matt Kloskowski. Matt is a noted landscape photographer who teaches classes and seminars on using Photoshop and Lightroom.

I read through the first half of the book (the general workflow) and was pleased to find that my current Lightroom workflow mirrors Matt’s. I did learn a quicker way to adjust the exposure in my photos though so all was not lost. It was also encouraging to find that I’ve gotten far enough in my use of Lightroom to be using nearly the same processes as a professional photographer and noted Lightroom expert. Matt does use onOne Perfect Effects (hyperlink) for adjusting contrast, clarity, and vibrance (which I’ve been doing in Lightroom). I have Perfect Effects installed on my ultrabook and I will give his method a try this afternoon.

I spent about two hours working on my photos from Singapore in Lightroom. I finished the ones from the Zoo that I’m going to use in my post on the first day and most of the ones from the Night Safari. That means I should be able to get at least that post up before we get to Victoria on Thursday. I have a couple of really good shots of the wild moneys we saw on the way to the Zoo. If there is an appropriate category in this segment’s Photo Competition I will enter at least one of them.

Dinner tonight was in Canaletto. I had the Sulumi (cold meats) appetizer and the Rigatoni with Spicy Italian Sausage. I added three of the delicious meatballs they serve as an appetizer to the rigatoni. Jo Ann and I both thought they were giving us half portions of our entrée, but they didn’t. They promised half portions when we come back! I had the Tiramisu Trio for dessert. They were delicious, but the portions were larger than I thought they would be. I will gladly eat there again before the end of the cruise.

After dinner I read a short novella by Stephen King from an anthology called Legends. It is a collection of novellas written by great fantasy authors including Ursula K. Le Guine and Anne McAffrey. I’m looking forward to reading more of them.

I logged on to the Internet twice during the evening hoping to catch my sister online, but missed her both times. The fourteen hour time difference makes it difficult. I did manage to update my Adobe Creative Cloud software though.

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Before I forget, the fire yesterday wasn’t really a fire. A gasket (a very large gasket according to the Captain) leaked hot air and caused a temperature sensor to react. No danger, Will Robinson.

We did get a letter from the Captain about measures being taken to protect us from pirates. The letter emphasized that the chance of pirates attempting to board this ship is very low because we move quickly and have a high “freeboard” deck (Deck 3). In addition to technical difficulties apparently pirates don’t like to deal with cruise ships due to it being bad public relations to attack innocent rich people. (Not the Captain’s words – he simply said there would be a huge public outcry to do something about piracy, something pirates want to avoid.)

In the event we run into a group of stupid pirates, there are security measures in place. We have extra security guards mounting a 24-hour pirate watch. There is razor wire mounted on Deck 3. We have sound weapons and high pressure water hoses to repel boarders. Finally, we report our position every thirty minutes or so and if we fail to do so the nearest authorities will be notified automatically. Bottom line, we are unlikely to be bothered by pirates and if they attempt to board us they probably won’t succeed.

This morning I woke up early, around 7:15 AM, so I went to breakfast in the Dining Room. I had orange juice, pancakes with maple syrup, and bacon. After breakfast I went back to the cabin for a few minutes. Then I went up to the Explorations Café to see Barbara about an itinerary for a hired car in Victoria, Mahe, The Seychelles.

Barbara’s going to put together an itinerary for me. She said with the hired car from HAL we should be able to see just about everything there is to see (it is a small island). She’s going to make sure walking is minimized and photo ops are maximized. She’ll also make recommendations for our lunch stop.

From Barbara I went to the Ocean Bar to read until time for Trivia. The trivia questions were pretty hard today, but we had a lot of questions worth multiple points. We ended up with sixteen points which adds nicely to our cumulative score, but we didn’t finish in the money for today.

I went up to the Lido with Jo Ann for the Mongolian BBQ. We had a nice lunch and I asked her to join me on my excursion in Victoria. She accepted, so I’m looking forward to that. Jo Ann is a little less high energy than Mary so it should be a relaxing day.

This afternoon I finished reading The Postmistress and then I helped Jo Ann download her photos from her camera, iPhone, and iPad to her new notebook computer. I showed her how to do it so she should be okay when she needs to do it again.

I started a new book just before dinner – Death Comes to Pemberly by P. D. James. I was a little confused by the first few paragraphs talking about Elizabeth Bennett, Mr. Darcy, and all the other characters from Pride and Prejudice, but realized it was one of those “sequels” to Pride & Prejudice that came out a few years ago. P. D. James is one of my favorite mystery writers so I’m hoping Jane Austen doesn’t get in the way of the mystery.

Dinner was a little uncomfortable tonight (again). We’ve been having some personality conflicts at our table lately and they are beginning to wear on those of us forced to bear witness. Tomorrow Kay is leaving for her India overland and Jo Ann asked me if I wanted to eat in the Canaletto tomorrow. I said I did so we are going to do that. Then Sunday I am in the Pinnacle for the Surprise Menu night.

After dinner I came back to the cabin and read a couple of chapters in my book. Then I posted yesterday’s blog entry and wrote this one. I’ll be posting it before I go to bed.

Weather Report: HOT! HUMID! I did go outside today and it was hot and humid. Mid-nineties.

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We had a wee bit of excitement today around lunch time. The fire alarm went off (for real – not a drill). I was at lunch with the girls from my Trivia team when it went off. The steward was serving our dessert. He said “That is the fire alarm. Do not be alarmed – enjoy your dessert.” So we did. A few minutes later Gene came on and told everyone that an alarm had gone off and the fire teams were investigating and he also told us there was no reason for us to worry.

I leaned over and told Kay that the lights were still on so the generator wasn’t on fire. She gave me a dirty look and said “Thanks, Pat.” A few minutes later the Captain told us that the fire was under control. So now you the most exciting thing that happened today!

I did not cough at all last night – not one single time. I also didn’t have to take any pain medication until around 6:30 AM when I woke up and my knee hurt and my plantar fasciitis was acting up. When I woke up at 9:00 AM, I had no pain whatsoever.

I got dressed and went up to the Lido to eat breakfast. I did start coughing in the elevator. I ran into Mary and she prescribed cinnamon, honey, and hot water. She even went and got it for me. I had a couple of little cheese Danish and a glass of orange juice for breakfast.

After breakfast I went down to the Photo Lab and picked out some more pictures for my “Locations” album. I upgraded to the 200-shot version. For my additional $80 I get 100 more photos, a digital slideshow, and another leather album. I made my selections all the way up to Phuket and have used up 129 of my 200.

After finishing up in the Photo Lab I went up to Ocean Bar and read the rest of You Came Back. I read a little of a book on some photo editing software I use, but it was putting me to sleep so I started another novel, The Postmistress.

We finished third again in Trivia. No major controversies. We did notice that spelling doesn’t count, unless our team misspells it… It’s just a game though so we shrugged it off. Then we went to lunch in the Dining Room.

For lunch I had Prosciutto & Watermelon, veal tenderloin in a cream sauce with spaetzle, and cheesecake. They were all good. I checked the menu for tonight on the way out and they are having Almond Chicken Fingers! They are delicious. Looking forward to dinner.

After lunch I came back to my cabin and checked Facebook and email. Then I took a short nap. When I woke up I posted yesterday’s blog entry and worked on this one. I’m going to spend the next thirty minutes reading and then it will be time to get ready for dinner.

Not much on the menu for dinner tonight other than the Almond Chicken Fingers. I had those for the appetizer, Caesar Salad, and the NY Strip. For dessert I had my vanilla ice cream & orange sorbet combo.

After dinner I read for a bit. Then I went to bed around 8:30 – that was the time after setting the clock back another hour. I slept very well, only waking up a few times. No coughing and no pain issues. Good times.

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I had the alarm set for 9:30 AM, but was out of bed by 8:00. I took a shower and dressed. Then I checked Facebook and email before heading out to read for a while before my acupuncture appointment at 10:30.

The morning passed uneventfully. I felt better than I did yesterday. My voice was still a little scratchy, but I didn’t feel the need to take any cough syrup all day. We came in third at Trivia.

After Trivia I went to lunch in the Dining Room with Corinne, Sue, and Kay. I had a salad, Korean Grilled Steak, and ice cream. Then I went back to my cabin and finished Little Women and started a new book, You Came Back by Craig Croake. The new book is sort of a ghost story – not a scary ghost story, more about what happens when somebody who doesn’t believe in ghosts is presented with the possibility.

Tonight was a “Classic Formal Night”. No major decorations and the guys didn’t have to dress up in a silly costume. I had a shrimp cocktail, Tomato & Mozzarella Salad, and the Surf & Turf. Then I topped it all off with Cherries Jubilee.

I went back to my cabin and read until about 8:30 PM and went to bed. We set the clocks back 30 minutes tonight. That certainly is interesting. No pillow gift tonight, but we got the good chocolate. Mine was an Eggnog Truffle.

Weather Report: I haven’t the foggiest idea, truly. It was in the low eighties at lunch time.

Why, Ineke and Esri, you know there's no such thing as a "children's book!" Those are really books for all of us that are different from other books for "all of us" in that they can be enjoyed by children as well. A good "children's book" has timeless lessons for readers everywhere! :)

 

Shall I disclose here that the entire Sue Barton series is on a bookshelf in my house at this moment? Old, battered, but all there. (And Maud Hart Lovelace (Betsy-Tacy), Louise Mae Alcott, Janet Lambert (many series), among others!)

Now I'm jealous! I looked everywhere for Sue Barton a few years ago...

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I’d already decided yesterday to skip my tour in Phuket today. I woke up a few minutes before 9:00 AM and got ready for breakfast in the Lido. I had an omelet, bacon, roasted potatoes, three glasses of fresh-squeezed orange juice, and a cup of tea with honey.

After breakfast I went back to the cabin with the intention of going up on Deck 3 and taking some pictures. When I woke up from a brief nap on the couch I just went back to bed. I slept until 10:30 and then went up to take my pictures.

Before leaving the cabin I checked the battery in the camera. It said 91%, which I thought was odd – I thought it was under 20%. I went up to Deck 3 and turned on the camera, focused my first shot and nothing happened. I checked the menu and it still said the battery was at 91%. I sat down on a bench and took the battery out and put it back in. Turned the camera back on – nothing. It wouldn’t show the menu or anything. Turned the camera off again and turned it back on while looking at the panel on the top of the camera – the battery was dead. That was a relief because I was imagining spending the rest of the cruise without my good camera…

So I went back to the cabin to get another battery. I passed Rifjki in the hall and he apologized for not having the cabin made up yet. I told him not to worry about it as I was going to be in the cabin most of the day – I asked him to just get me some ice and take out the trash when he got to it. Of course he got to it right away even though I told him there was no hurry! Every one of the crew is awesome.

I found a battery and was very relieved when it took a picture of my messy vanity. Then I went back up to Deck 3 and took some pictures of Patong Bay, which is where we are anchored for Phuket. I came back to the cabin and checked email and Facebook.

I chatted with my sister for several minutes on Facebook and she told me that my friend Kim (Treasures By Eleni) was going to make her a Celtic headdress in exchange for five days at our “bed & breakfast” (Birdie’s Kitchen). I think that is awesome since I’ve been trying to get Kim to come visit me for years! Now it’s on the Internet, Kim, and you can’t back out! (We met playing games on the Internet and get together with a group of gaming friends once a year at a little gathering we call Orkfest.)

I paid a couple of bills and then spent an hour or so working on blog entries. Then I went up to the Lido and got some lunch. I wasn’t very hungry so I just grabbed some cheese and salami and a slice of bread. The cheese seemed to be all end pieces and about half of each piece was inedible, but that was all right since I wasn’t starving.

Just as I was finishing up though, Dedan came by and fussed over my eating only cheese (and leaving half of it) – he takes it so personally when you don’t eat everything (and loves it if you ask for seconds)! Last night at dinner when Endrian came by, Jo Ann asked him if there was any possibility of moving our party to a window table after Cape Town. He said he’d check to see and then Kay said “But we have to take Dedan with us” and I piped in “Oh, yes, we can’t leave Dedan!” That made Endrian smile, but probably leaves us without a window table. ;)

After lunch I went back to the cabin and worked on photo post-processing until it was time for Trivia at 3:30 PM. This was Express Team Trivia and didn’t count towards our cumulative total. Which was a shame because we had fifteen points and finished in third place.

After Trivia I read until time to get dressed for dinner. There were only four of us for dinner: me, Louise, Mary & John. I had a shrimp cocktail and Caesar salad and all four of us had the “Southwestern Style Fried Chicken”.

The description of this fried chicken said it was breaded “Louisiana style”. Well, firstly Louisiana is not in the Southwest and second I don’t know what they meant by “Louisiana style”, but this wasn’t it. It was very, very good chicken, but it was seasoned only with a little salt and pepper – nothing says Louisiana about that. Nevertheless, it was the best fried chicken I’ve had on this cruise.

For dessert I had Strawberries Romanov and they were delicious too. They’ve got some very good strawberries right now and I plan to take advantage of them every chance I get.

After dinner I went to my cabin and read until I’d finished Little Women. I was surprised to see it was after 10:00 PM when I went to bed. I set my alarm for 9:30 AM since I have an appointment for acupuncture at 10:30. I slept very well – hardly any coughing and not much pain in my knee. I did get up at 6:30 AM and take a couple of ibuprofen for my knee, but this makes the second day I’ve skipped the Voltaren. Progress is being made.

Weather Report: It was hot, humid, and smoky. The high was supposed to be about 95-degrees and I’m sure it made it at least that high.

Note: I'm holding back the posts on Singapore until I can get a few pictures processed to post with them like I did with Hong Kong.

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I feel horrible. There is no other way to say it without being vulgar. I don’t think I’ve slept more than two hours, total, in three nights.

I went to the doctor this morning and he could hear me coughing and see I felt awful, but couldn’t hear any wheezing or fluid in my lungs. He agrees it is bronchitis, which is literally an inflammation of the bronchi, but still thinks it might be viral. He gave me antibiotics of his own accord though, because it is the second time I’ve had bronchitis in a month. No steroids though. He did give me cough syrup with codeine and it is helping the cough. Not getting rid of it entirely, but helping. His best advice, which I’m sure is valid, rest and drink plenty of liquids.

I went to Trivia this morning. We came in third with a score of fourteen. I had eleven of those answers, and one wrong one. Even if I’d not miscounted the number of Confederate states during the Civil War, we’d still have come in third, so I’m not embarrassed by my contributions. No one else had any idea on the number of states in the Confederacy, by the way.

After Trivia I went up to the Dive In burger place at the Lido pool and got a hot dog and some French fries. Then I came back to my cabin and tried to take a nap. I stayed in bed for two hours, hated to drag myself out, but I wasn’t sleeping so I figured working on a blog post and photos while lounging on the couch was still resting.

I worked on photos for a couple of hours and then I read Little Women until dinner time. Louisa May Alcott is a far cry from Diana Gabaldon, but I put Little Women on my cruise reading list for a reason. I’ve read it more times than I can count, but not since the last movie version came out many years ago. My grandmother gave me a copy when I was about ten. I started it three or four times until I was about twelve, but never got past the first or second chapter.

I loved to read, but I liked stories about animals. Big Red, Irish Red, Black Beauty, Lassie, etc… were the darlings of my literary world until I read The Diary of Anne Frank when I was twelve. At that point I realized that people were interesting too. I picked up Little Women again and read it straight through in about a day and a half. Then I went to the school library and picked up Little Men and Jo’s Boys. From there I moved on to Sue Barton: Student Nurse and my mother’s Gothic romance novels (they didn’t have sex in them back in the early 70s). I also discovered Science Fiction. Now I read everything, except romance novels (which is probably why I’d never discovered Outlander before Jo Ann recommended it). So, even though it is too late to make a long story short, I am re-reading Little Women to bring back part of my childhood.

We were only four for dinner tonight: Kay, Jo Ann, Louise, and me. Mary and John had dinner in the Pinnacle with friends and neither Aloha nor Estelle has been at the dinner table for three or four days. Tomorrow it may be just Louise and me because Jo Ann and Kay have an eight-hour tour.

My dinner was “Angry Bass” served with “San Francisco Style Fried Rice”, sautéed spinach, and steamed vegetables. I had a shrimp cocktail and Caesar salad too. I don’t know what made the bass angry, but it was good. The fried rice was very whole grainish and totally bland. I had one bite and pushed it aside. For dessert I had a butterscotch sundae.

After dinner I just went back to my cabin and went straight to bed just after 7:30 PM. I slept restlessly, but I did sleep. Coughing was much better and no problems with my knee. I didn’t have to take another dose of cough syrup or ibuprofen until 6:00 AM – good deal.

Weather Report: It was smoky most of the day (from forest fires in Indonesia) and I did not go outside. It was in the mid-nineties and humid.

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I slept until 10:00 AM this morning following a rough night. I skipped breakfast and headed up to the Front Office after my morning ablutions. I turned in Immigration forms for Thailand, picked up my passport and departure card for Singapore, and converted some currency. Then I went up to the Ocean Bar to read until time for Trivia.

I started reading (for maybe the fifteenth time) Katie Mulholland yesterday. It is my favorite Catherine Cookson novel. I have several of hers from the sixties and seventies on my Kindle, bought especially for this trip. I’m about halfway through it as I write this.

We did better in Trivia today. We tied for third with a score of fourteen. The only big controversy was the speed of light. Gene said 186,000 miles per second which is what most people had (not us, we were way off), but one group said 186,200 miles per second and another said 186,100. Gene stuck to his guns though and I just looked it up and NASA agrees with him.

After Trivia I went back to my cabin and ordered a burger from In Room Dining. I wanted to watch Philomena on TV. I wanted to see it before I left home, but it never showed at the theater in Hinesville. I enjoyed my hamburger and loved the movie. Dame Judy Dench is wonderful and one of my favorite actresses. It is a good story about a woman’s fifty year search for her son who was sold to an American couple by Irish nuns in 1955.

After the movie I wrote up yesterday’s blog entry and started this one. I also sent another postcard via Postcardly.com. I had a message from my teacher friend, Jill, that her class had received another five postcards yesterday including my sloth picture from Costa Rica. She said that was quite timely because they had a sloth visit them from the zoo last week.

I read for about an hour before dinner and then went up to the Dining Room. Tonight I had a shrimp cocktail, a mixed salad, and tortellini with fresh tomatoes and pesto sauce. It was very good. Dessert was a slice of coffee cheesecake with vanilla ice cream. The cheesecake was so-so – rich coffee flavor, little resemblance to cheesecake.

After dinner Mary, who is a masseuse, came to my room and gave me a reflexology massage on my feet to help my cough. I’ve never done reflexology before, but I sure coughed a lot while she was doing the massage. It may have been psychosomatic, but my bronchi seemed less tight after the massage as well.

I read until around 9:00 PM and then I went to bed. Unfortunately it seemed as soon as I lay down that I started coughing. It went on all night. As a result I’m not feeling very well this morning.

Weather Report: Overcast, hot, and humid. High in the mid-eighties.

Read it on Go With Me!

I forgot to mention in yesterday’s post that we received another “pillow gift” last night. We’ve been getting them the night before formal night and not on formal night as happened in years’ past. This was the suitcase. It is carry-on size and hard-sided. I didn’t open it, just stuck it in the closet until I have to, sadly, actually think about packing to go home.

This morning I had the alarm set for 8:00 AM since I had an acupuncture appointment at 10:00. I took a shower and was reading when my breakfast was delivered at 9:00. Bacon and orange juice this morning.

After breakfast I read until it was time to leave for my appointment. The appointment went well. This was the last of my original ten appointments, but I’ve already signed for ten more. My knee is better and I can’t say the acupuncture isn’t the reason.

Following my appointment I went down to the Ocean Bar to read until time for Trivia. It would be an understatement to say we sucked today. I think we had 8 points. Any time Gene starts out by saying he’s picked easy questions we know we are in trouble.

I had lunch from the taco bar near the Lido pool today. I made myself a taco salad with tortilla chips, shredded beef, onions, pico de gallo, cheese, and guacamole. It was very good.

I spent the afternoon with my knee raised on the couch while I worked on blog posts and photo processing. I wrote and published two blog posts including a few pictures from Hong Kong. I also sent several postcards using Postcardly.com. Then I backed up my computer to both of my external hard drives.

Tonight was Red Lantern Night in the Dining Room. It was decorated very nicely and the Stewards and Officers were wearing Chinese jackets and pants. They looked very nice and not as hot as they usually look in their “costumes”.

When Dedan came to take my order he said “Madam Pat, I hope you are ordering something different tonight.” I told him I actually was – I went Chinese all the way with a Spring Roll, Hot & Sour Soup, and Peking Duck. They were all very good. The Spring Roll and soup were very authentic. I’ve never had Peking Duck before, but the duck was very, very good. It tasted less “Chinese” than I’d imagined Peking Duck tasting, but it was excellent anyway. The skin could have been a little crisper for me, but I actually had Dedan bring me a second portion of the duck only. For dessert I had Red Velvet Cake and it was better than the last time they served it – the cream cheese frosting actually tasted like cream cheese frosting!

After dinner I went back to my cabin and read. Then I went to bed around 10:00. Unfortunately I had “stomach troubles” and was up and down most of the night. I think the last time I got up was around 5:00 AM, but then I slept until 10:00.

Weather Report: The high today was in the low eighties. It was warm and humid when I was on the pool deck at lunch time, but not uncomfortably so.

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I felt better today even though my throat is still a little sore and I’m coughing a bit more than I was. No choking fits though and no runny nose or stuffy head today. We’ll see.

I slept late today. I didn’t get out of bed until after 9:30. I ordered breakfast from In Room Dining again – Fruit Loops, tea, and orange juice. After breakfast I straightened up my cabin and then headed up to the Ocean Bar about 10:30. I ran into Jo Ann on the couches near the Deck 2 Forward elevators and stopped to talk to her for a few minutes.

I read while I was waiting for Trivia to start. I’m on the last of the Lord John novellas, The Scottish Prisoner. Then I’ll have to find something else to read as Diana Gabaldon’s next book isn’t due out until June 2014.

We finished one point out of a tie for third place in Trivia today. That would have been fine except that the team next to us changed their score and tied for third. One of the questions asked was which element was most commonly used to make computer chips. The answer was “Silicon” – which we got right.

The team next to us wrote “Silicone”. Normally, spelling doesn’t count, but in this case the change in spelling results in an incorrect answer as there is a substance known as “Silicone”, but it is NOT an element it is a polymer. Several people, myself included, asked Gene to not count “Silicone” as correct. He agreed that since it resulted in an incorrect answer “Silicone” was wrong.

When the team scribe for the team next to us took up her score sheet she told Gene that the “meant silicon” and he told her he’d accept that answer! Well, we started sniping with the team about “cheating” and “changing scores”. One guy on their team told us “it was only a game” and “what’s the big deal?” Well, the big deal is a bunch of teams had “silicone” and who knows if they would have won if they changed their score? Since it is “only a game” why did they feel the need to cheat to win? The final result was that we were really pissed off – it did not affect us because we had the right answer in the first place and we still didn’t win. It is the principle of the thing.

After Trivia I went to lunch in the Dining Room with the women on our Trivia team. I had a pastrami sandwich and what was supposed to be a Blondie and a dark chocolate brownie. Well, the “Blondie” was simply yellow cake, not a brownie at all. The dark chocolate one was pretty good though.

After lunch I went to my room and worked on post processing some photos from Hong Kong to publish with my blog post for the first day there. I also read for a couple of hours. Then I got ready for dinner.

Nothing on the menu appealed to me tonight so I had my usual shrimp cocktail, Caesar Salad, and NY Strip. I had Crème Brulee for dessert. Then I went to my room and read for an hour or so and went to bed.

I had no problems with coughing or pain, but I woke up frequently. I also had a weird type of dream that always leaves me tired – instead of dreaming in pictures and sound I dream I’m thinking. The only thing in the dream is my own voice in my head – I often don’t even know I’m asleep when I wake up and I wonder if I’ve been lying awake the whole time…

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This is our second day in Hong Kong. I had planned to at least explore the mall in the Ocean Terminal, but I awoke this morning with a swollen throat and a stuffy head and runny nose. I felt terrible, but not like I had a cold. Normally I start off feeling sick and tired for a couple of days and then get the sore throat and stuffy head. I was fine yesterday. Bad as I felt this morning I told myself it wasn’t a cold – just a reaction to the smog yesterday.

I took some acetaminophen and a decongestant tablet before breakfast. Then I called in an order for some orange juice and tea. After breakfast I went back to bed. I got up around 1:00 PM and read for a bit and drank about a liter of water. I felt a bit better than I did this morning.

I went up on the wraparound deck on Deck 3 around 3:00 PM and took some pictures of the harbor. It was still very smoggy and chilly, but not as bad as yesterday. I took my camera back to the cabin and then went out again about 3:45 to wait for the emergency drill at 4:00.

The emergency drill was over just after 4:30. I went back to my cabin and took a shower and dressed for dinner. We would be sailing out of Hong Kong during dinner tonight. Since I didn’t feel as horrid as I did this morning I decided that I wasn’t getting another cold.

We were all at dinner tonight, including Louise. Dinner went quickly and we were out of there by 7:15. I’m sorry, but I can’t remember what I ate! After dinner I went back to my cabin and read until a little after 8:00 PM and then I went to bed.

I woke up sometime around 11:00 PM, moaning. My knee was very painful and it took me a few seconds to realize that it was me making the noise I was hearing. I put a Lidoderm patch on my knee and went back to sleep. It felt better the next time I woke up.

Weather Report: It was about 65-degrees Fahrenheit today. It was smoggy and cloudy, but not quite bad as yesterday.

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Hong Kong… The words conjure up visions of everything from dragons to paper lanterns to bankers in three-piece suits. I’ve heard it said that Hong Kong is the world’s most changeable city – if I come back in ten years I might not recognize it. This is my first time in Hong Kong, though, and I am excited to be here.

I woke up before my alarm went off at 8:00 AM. I had breakfast ordered for 9:00, so I took a shower and swapped a few emails with our tour guide for today, Anne Thiessen with ToursByLocals.com. In Room Dining was right on time with my tea, orange juice, and Fruit Loops. I ate and then went forward to meet Mary, who joined me on my tour today.

I had told Mary that we’d leave at 9:30 to allow plenty of time to meet Anne in front of the Ocean Terminal, but Anne said she’d meet us at the Amsterdam’s dock. So Mary and I talked for a while and then left the ship at around 9:50. Anne met us right at the end of the Amsterdam’s corridor into the Ocean Terminal. She was a very nice young woman from Hamburg, Germany. She’s a full-time business consultant with offices in the Financial District and a part-time tour guide. If she’s half as good at consulting as she is at tour guiding I’m sure she’ll be very successful.

We dropped our bags off with Vincent, our driver for the day, and taking our cameras we headed to the Star Ferry. We crossed to Central and met Vincent with the minivan. It was a very comfortable van, especially since there were only two of us. Anne told us to let her know when we wanted to stop and take pictures or get out and walk around. One of the first things Anne pointed out was the ubiquitous 7-Eleven stores on nearly every block. Our first shout out to stop was at a Chinese temple. Anne said we could go inside to take pictures and we did. It was quite fascinating and seemed very ancient.

Our next goal was Victoria Peak and we decided to drive rather than paying extra to take the tram. The weather was very smoggy and visibility was apt to be zero once we got up there, but we took the drive anyway. We were not surprised to find that we could see nothing down below, but we enjoyed the drive up (and back down) anyway. One of the things we saw on the drive back down was this huge cemetery.

After driving back down the mountain we went to the Jumbo Floating Restaurant. We stopped and took pictures there and then headed over to Deep Water Bay to see the beach. From there we went to Recluse Bay to view famous apartment building with a hole in it. There are actually many, many buildings in Hong Kong with holes in them. The ostensible reason for the hole is feng-shui – the holes are to allow the spirits of the Mountain Dragons to reach the sea to drink.

From Recluse Bay we headed back through the tunnel to the Ocean Terminal. Mary and I went up to the Lido and had lunch with her father, John. After lunch I went to my cabin and took a nap! I read for a while before dinner too.

We have a new member at our table this segment. Louise is on from Hong Kong to Cape Town. Hopefully we won’t scare her away. I had my usual shrimp cocktail and Caesar Salad and then short ribs braised in a sweet Asian sauce served with rice. They were very good. For dessert I had vanilla ice cream.

I was very tired after dinner and went to my cabin and went to bed around 7:30 AM. Sometime in the night I started getting a sore throat and a stuffy nose. I hope it isn’t another cold.

Weather Report: It was chilly today. It was supposed to be in the seventies, but I don’t think it got over the low sixties. It was also very, very smoggy.

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Somewhere between today and tomorrow we’ll hit the halfway point for the world cruise. At our dinner table we are in complete agreement that we don’t know how the last two months have gone by so quickly. If the next two go by as quickly I’ll be home with my sister and fur-babies before I know it. I just hope I’m not enjoying myself in spite of illness and injury for the second half of the voyage – I especially don’t want to miss any more ports!

Last night I went to bed at 7:30 and I got up around 9:00 this morning – still tired. I could not rationalize staying in bed any longer though, fourteen hours is long enough for anyone. So I got up and went to breakfast in the Lido. I had an omelet and some toast. My knee was both stiff and painful so I decided regretfully that I wasn’t going to make it to the American Cemetery.

After breakfast I went down to the cabin and worked on photos from Manila – worried only about getting them transferred and then picking a few out to go with my blog post. I did my physical therapy exercises and alternated between sitting up straight with my feet on the floor and sitting with my knee raised on the couch as I worked.

Around twelve I went upstairs in search of a phone signal to call my sister. We had a good conversation and all is well at home. Well, Molly apparently stole Mab’s collar (Molly is a thief) and there is a cat in heat hanging around the house. The latter is amusing because while we have seven beautiful male cats, they are all neutered.

There are two unneutered male cats in the neighborhood and they have also been hanging about (they do so often anyway), but the lady cat wants nothing to do them. She has apparently set her cap on Who Dat, my sister’s black cat. Who Dat follows the lady cat around, but probably has no idea what she wants him to do. Our other male cats, except for Tut (who is fifteen), gather round the female and stare at her, apparently wondering what the heck is wrong with her. Roberta said she’d been hanging around for three days already so she should be gone in a day or two. Spay or neuter your pets, people!

After I’d talked to Roberta I went back to my cabin and worked on my blog post for yesterday. Then I decided to go up to Deck 3 and take some pictures of the Manila skyline and harbor from the outside deck. I brought the camera back to the cabin and then went up to Trivia.

Trivia on port days doesn’t count towards our cumulative scores. There were only three of us there today, but we won with a score of twelve. We got two Dam Dollars each. Tomorrow is the last day for cumulative scoring for this segment, which ends in Hong Kong.

After Trivia I went down to the Shore Excursions office and canceled on shore excursion in Hong Kong. I booked some “easy” shore excursions in Phuket, Sri Lanka, and Mauritius. I think I can handle them and, as I said, I don’t want to miss any more ports.

All day today I saw happy families touring the ship with crew members. I talked to several of them and they all seemed to be having a great time. While I was waiting for the Shore Excursions office to open at 4:30 the children from the Las Damas de Filipinos Orphanage came in and Gene presented them with school supplies donated by passengers as well as over $5000.00 also donated by the passengers. These children had done a musical show in the Queen’s Lounge while we were doing Trivia – they were full of energy and we could hear them singing from the Ocean Bar.

I returned to the cabin and took a shower and dressed for dinner. We had an empty place at our table so we invited a gentleman who was dining alone (Jack), on his anniversary, because his wife was not feeling well, to join us. Turned out he now lives about twenty miles from Jo Anne and was born about 40 miles from where I live. It really is a small world.

I had Beef & Chicken Satay for my appetizer, my Caesar salad, and pasta with Italian sausage in a cream sauce. It was all good, but not exceptional. For dessert we all shared Jack’s anniversary cake. It was a chocolate ice cream cake with whipped cream frosting – very tasty.

After dinner I watched an hour of Gravity on television. I got bored though and turned it off and read. I was tired and didn’t feel like working on my blog. So I went to bed at 9:00 PM, but couldn’t sleep. I ended up getting up at 10:00 and finishing up my blog entry and posting it. I went back to bed at a little after 11:00 and went right to sleep.

Weather Report: It was even smoggier than yesterday. Temperature and humidity seemed about the same for the short time I was outside though – high 80s and very humid.

Read it on Go With Me! (With Photos -- a few, anyway)

What a long day! Or, at least it seemed long. I had a great time on my tour of Manila today. I wish I had been able to get out and take pictures at every stop on the tour, but my motto is now “Listen to your body – especially your knee!” It was a fun time, nevertheless.

I had my clock set for 6:00 AM, but I woke up a few minutes early. I showered and took my pills then read until my breakfast arrived at a little before 7:00. Breakfast was a box of Fruit Loops (no milk), a pot of my Indonesian Spiced Tea, freshly squeezed orange juice, and a cheese Danish. Yummy.

After breakfast I put my traveling bag together and went down to Deck 2 Forward to await permission to disembark. We were supposed to meet our tour guide outside the cruise port terminal at 8:15. Unfortunately, the crew had a difficult time finding a place to put the gangway this morning. This resulted in some walking back and forth from forward to aft and back to forward.

Some folks naturally were complaining, but I figured that the tour guide would wait because NOBODY could leave the ship… Some people just like to gripe though. We made it safely to the shaded holding area outside the terminal. It was bustling with minivans and taxi cabs, but no sign of our tour guide. The Cruise Critic member who arranged the tour (and a couple of other tours today, as well) came by and told us he was here, but went to get the bus.

They did not let him bring the bus to us, so we went to the bus. It was a couple of blocks away – completely outside the port. I had fallen behind the group (but not by much). I could see them boarding the bus across the street as I came to the gate. I asked the guard if I could cross the street, but she pointed to the guide who was waving at me and he escorted me safely to the bus and helped me on. Then he asked if I was “Pat” and I said he was and he pointed to the first seat, which had my name on it. Bless Charlotte for her thoughtfulness, she had arranged reserved seats for the less mobile of us.

I was the last to board the bus, but I wasn’t the only one we waited for. Three people failed to show up and we waited another fifteen minutes to make sure they weren’t coming. Our tour guide introduced himself as Joe, the drive as Pim, and our security escort as Ike. Ike was a really big dude and he told us he would be in charge of helping us on and off the bus and with any other mobility problems.

Then we were off. Our first destination was the church at Las Pinas and the Bamboo Organ. The Bamboo Organ is a national treasure of the Philippines. It was built in 1824, the same year as the church where it is housed, by an Augustine friar. Unfortunately, it was destroyed the same year by fire and was not restored until the 1970s.

When we arrived at Las Pinas we found they were preparing for a ceremony of some kind. It turned out that the church was being established as a National Historical Site. It was a lovely old Spanish church and the Bamboo Organ was interesting. We spent about fifteen minutes at the site.

Next up on the itinerary was a stop at the Sarao Jeepney factory. The Jeepney is a ubiquitous and unique form of public transportation found only in the Philippines. It gets its name from the Jeeps used by the American Army during World War II. After the war most of the Army went home, but they left thousands of Jeeps behind.

An enterprising mechanic named Leonardo Sarao started converting the left-over Jeeps into public transport vehicles. He added metal roofs, extended the back-end, and painted them in vibrant colors and designs. He promoted them not only as inexpensive public transport, but as a proud symbol of Philippine culture and ingenuity. They are still the most widely-used form of public transportation in the Philippines.

Our next stop would be the resort at Lake Taal in Tagaytay, for lunch. We were going to see the “world’s smallest volcano” which is found in the middle of Lake Taal. I think several of us would have voted to skip this stop only because it involved a one-and-a-half hour drive each way. It was very hazy on the lake and our view of the volcano was not that great even though we had the best seats in the house for volcano viewing.

Lunch was a buffet of Philippine dishes, none of which were overwhelming in taste or presentation. We were, however, serenaded by a Filipino country band with rousing renditions of Country Roads and Jambalaya. That reminded me of my tour in Korea in the mid-70s where the entertainment at the NCO Club was often Filipino country bands flown in on six-week contracts.

When we left the restaurant and headed back to Manila we were joined by the owner of the tour company, Arnold Sanchez. He wanted to see how his crew was doing. They were doing very well, in my opinion.

Unfortunately by the time I’d ridden on the bus for three and a half hours (traffic, you know) after a morning spent getting up and down on the bus and walking, I really wasn’t up to much more “touring”. I sat on the bus for the last two stops in Intermuros – Fort Santiago and Saint Augustine Church. That said, between the ride back and waiting in the bus while most of the others toured these historic sites allowed me time to chat with Joe, Pim, and Ike. They were very interested in hearing about life in the United States and told me about their families and life in the Philippines.

When we got back to the cruise terminal most of us were pretty tired. Arnold got off the bus at the gate and went to talk to the gate guard to see if they would let us take the bus closer to the ship. He managed to sweet talk her into letting the bus take us to the interior gate right next to the terminal building. We gave him a huge cheer when he got back on the bus.

Arnold told us just before we left the bus that this was his first large-scale tour. He asked if we would give a good review of the tour to our friends, family, and readers of our blogs (if we had one).

I got back to my cabin at 5:15 PM. I had just enough time to wash my face and cool off a bit before dinner at 5:30. There was nothing on the menu that really appealed to me so I had my stand-by shrimp cocktail, Caesar salad, and NY Strip steak and carrot cake for dessert.

They were showing Gravity on the big screen in the Queen’s Lounge tonight. Kay and Jo Anne were going and asked me to come, but I was exhausted. When I got back to my cabin I sat down to take off my shoes and just said to myself, “Forget it -- I’m going to bed.”

I did too. I went to bed at 7:30 and went to sleep. I woke up every three or four hours because my knee was hurting, but rotated ibuprofen and acetaminophen and went back to sleep. I woke up at almost 9:00 AM and told myself I had to get out of bed – fourteen hours was certainly enough sleep!

Weather Report: It was hot and very, very smoggy. The high was supposed to be around 90-degrees Fahrenheit and I think it made it. The smog was really worse than the heat as far as I’m concerned. It burned both my throat and my eyes and I had a nasty taste in my mouth all day.

Read it on Go With Me!

We put the clocks back another hour last night. I woke up around 7:30 and got up and went and had breakfast in the Dining Room. I had an omelet and some bacon. After breakfast I came back to the cabin and gathered up my Kindle and some money to be converted into Philippine Pesos and Hong Kong Dollars. Then I went up to acupuncture.

This was to be my second-to-last treatment, but I signed up for ten more – about one a week until the end of the cruise. I’m not sure the acupuncture is responsible for the improvement in my knee, but I’m not taking any chances. After my treatment I went down to the Front Office and exchanged my currency. Then it was time for Trivia.

We didn’t do great. We are currently just about 100 points for the cumulative score for the segment. I did much better dollar-wise by myself… I enjoy playing with the team though so I will continue to do so.

I had checked the lunch menu after breakfast this morning and knew they were having Fettuccine a la Frutti de Mare for lunch. I usually don’t eat lunch in the Dining Room two days in a row, but I love good pasta. The fettuccine was awesome. I also had fried mozzarella and a wonderful chocolate Pot de Crème for dessert.

After lunch I came back to the cabin to rest my knee (raised). I’m supposed to take it easy after acupuncture. I wrote my blog post for yesterday, posted it, and paid a couple of bills. I tried to send postcards, but the Internet was very slow today so I gave up.

Tomorrow we will be in Manila. We will be passing Corregidor around 5:00 AM which will unfortunately be too dark to take pictures. I am going on a tour arranged by another member of Cruise Critic. It is an all day tour – roughly 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. It will be the longest and probably most active tour I’ve attempted since my knee started bothering me after Lima. Cross your fingers for me!

My schedule for the evening tonight was the same as always – dinner then back to the cabin to read. I had Wiener schnitzel for dinner tonight with my usual appetizer and salad. I had vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Weather Report: The seas were calm today. It was in the mid-80s and sunshine.

Hi

I really enjoy reading you travel experences. You said you brought the photo package of a hundred photo's were they expensive? Since I think HAl photo's are expensivei for just one.

 

Mary

I don't think so -- $119 for 100 with the leather bound album. That's no more than a post card in most places.

See it on Go With Me! (Photos)

I've posted my photos from Sydney, Australia. You can see them at the link above.

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I did nothing exciting today. It was a very relaxing day. We put the clocks back an hour last night and I woke up around 7:30, but was not inclined to do much of anything. I downloaded the Lord John books and a couple of Outlander novellas from Amazon and read until about 10:30. I went up and had a box of Froot Loops and a pot of tea in the Lido. I ran into Jo Anne and we talked until after 11:00 then I headed down to Trivia.

We tied for third place with a score of sixteen and got a Dam Dollar each. Other than growling about people needing almost every question read over again at the end nothing stood out about the session. After Trivia I went to lunch in the Dining Room with Kay, Colleen, and Sue from my team.

Lunch was good. I had a Prosciutto and Fresh Mozzarella Panini – excellent as always. I had vanilla ice cream for dessert. After lunch I spent the afternoon reading, working on my blog, and processing photos from Sydney.

Around 4:30 PM I took a shower and dressed for “Classic Formal Night”. This must be code for dress up but no decorations in the Dining Room. The menu was less than stellar as well. I had my usual appetizer and salad and the Surf & Turf. The steak and lobster were very good, but the rice was forgettable and the vegetables almost non-existent. Which was okay because I was pretty full after the steak & lobster. For dessert I had chocolate chip ice cream.

I had to go up and get my temperature taken for Philippine Immigration after dinner. They simply scanned our key cards and then we walked past this little machine. No muss, no fuss.

I spent the evening reading. I finished both the novellas I downloaded this morning and started on the Lord John novels. I set my clocks back and then went to bed around 8:30 PM. I slept very well.

Weather Report: The seas were calmer than yesterday. They were still a bit choppy this morning, but smoothed out by mid-afternoon. Temperatures in the high 80s with matching humidity.

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Today was an uneventful day at sea. I spent the night coughing – back to the choking fits I was having before I saw the doctor. I’ve been out of the cough syrup with codeine for two days. Apparently my bronchitis did not get any better while I was suppressing the symptoms. I don’t feel sick, but the cough is already wearing me down.

The first thing I did after my shower this morning was head to the Medical Center. I got some cough syrup (not the good kind in the locked cabinet) and some decongestants in case my sinus headache comes back. The cough syrup helps, but does not stop the coughing fits altogether. I still have one or two every few hours.

After dropping by the Medical Center I dropped off my immigration health questionnaire for the Philippines at the Front Office. I truthfully said I have had a cough during the last two weeks. I wonder if they’ll stop me from going ashore?

HAL was having a “Souvenir Sale” in the Atrium on Deck 5 – right outside the Ocean Bar. Apparently it wasn’t much of a “sale” as everything was still price the same as it had been in the shops the day before. I didn’t look at anything except the on location photos taken by the ship’s photographers. I purchased a package of 100 5x7 photos – they’ll come with a nice leather photo album. I can pick my photos at any time during the voyage. I’ll probably go to the Photo Gallery and have a look through their offerings sometime before Manila and then again close to the end of the voyage.

Trivia was again unremarkable. We scored high enough to make sure we’d drop the nine we’d gotten earlier in the segment from our cumulative score, but not high enough to win anything. There were no noteworthy questions or controversies.

Following Trivia I simply went back to my cabin and took a nap. I was very tired. I woke up around 3:30 PM and processed a couple of photos from Yap Island to include with my blog entry. Then I published the blog entry and read until dinner time.

I went back to basics with dinner tonight. I had my shrimp cocktail and Caesar salad and macaroni and cheese for my entrée. The mac and cheese was good, but not as good as mine or my sister’s… I had a butterscotch sundae for dessert.

I spent the evening reading. I finished the Outlander series. I was reading a chronology that Diana Gabaldon, the author, had included at the end of the series and was struck by a comment she made about the first book in the series, Outlander. She advised that if you were unsure about reading a series of huge and unwieldy books that defy classification, you should pick any spot in the book and read three pages. If you can put it down after three pages, don’t bother reading any further. She posed it as a dare and I’ll pass that on. Go ahead, I dare you.

Weather Report: We’ve been having some choppy seas today. I’ve personally seen two people fall – neither were hurt, but unfortunately there were others who were. In addition to high winds and rough seas it has rained off and on all day.