April 7

Wednesday April 7, 2010


We both woke around 7 and the ocean is visible. Periodically, one will see a white ball on the surface, probably a fish net boundary marker. They can go for miles and miles in this China Sea.
I got ready and went to upload and check email. Ed isn’t feeling well today so he just moped around the cabin until midmorning. I think we’re sharing conditions; he gave me his sore throat.
South East Asia Forests and Natural History
This was a quick run through the health and ecology of rain forests and then some anecdotes about various animals: macaques, cobras, mongoose among others.
Trivia
Only Evelyn and I were there on our team and she came around question 4. The only thing we had to discuss was the most recorded song and the answer was Yesterday. She was right but neither of us could figure out how that answer was correct. We got 11—just the two of us. The team whose paper I graded, and they were a full complement of their usual six, only got 13. I think 15 won. There was no trivia in the afternoon so everyone would attend the passenger’s talent show. Even Bridge was cancelled for the same reason.
Lunch
Well all of us at the table had been at trivia; we think it’s because we all arrive at the same time. After we finished rehashing the questions, we moved on to other discussions unique to the areas where we live: Arizona, Florida and California.
International Relations: Keeping Asian Leaders Alive
This was a conversation (monologue) by a fellow, William Overholt, who worked for a large bank and was responsible for risk assessment for countries such as Korea and the Phillipines. He discussed experiences with Kim Dae Jung and Corie Aquino. I believe he now lives in Hong Kong.
Vietnam: yesterday’s bitter enemy, today’s good friend
The speaker gave a (truly) brief history of Vietnam which explained a lot of the inconsistencies I had wondered about on the few occasions when I was curious about the Vietnam War. Vietnam is a Communist country but it has an annual growth rate of 8% and over 40% of the population is under 25 (per our visit two years ago). North Vietnam is our destination tomorrow and I think I have more curiosity about this area since it was forbidden territory for so long.
Stars in their eyes: Passenger Talent Show
We went more out of a sense of obligation than anticipation of enjoying ourselves. Our expectations were awfully low and perhaps that’s why we enjoyed all the performances. Well the laughing yoga could have been skipped (we don’t especially like this couple so take that into account). We had singers, dancers, a fellow who played a “travel trumpet”, something new to us. Ballroom dancing by our favorite couple; each has to be well over 80 but they are so gorgeous and gallant with each other. So we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
One very funny incident: Frankie was the MC and he was asking everyone where they were from, e.g. St. Petersburg, Florida. One fellow answered without batting an eye: “Deck eight.” I’m not sure is he was simply nervous or a very literal thinker but it was a funny event.
Weather
Getting much warmer, uncomfortably so, and the humidity is stifling. I don’t look forward to tomorrow’s tour which involves a long, several hours, ride from the port to Hanoi and back. But I’m assuming the bus is air conditioned.
Another hour! Yippee! We get to turn our clocks back one hour tonite.
Useless information: During periods of fog, it is a requirement of the International Marine Law that a vessel making way is required to sound one prolonged blast every two minutes. If the vessel is stopped in the water, it is two prolonged blasts every two minutes. This ship also has a bell on the focstle and a gong on the aft mooring deck for fog signals when at anchor.