Malaysia tomorrow

Friday April 9 2010


I heard Ed puttering around and had some hope that I could get back to sleep. He left for the gym and eventually I got up and got ready. I went to the library to do my computer stuff, pick up the daily quiz and Sudoku for Ed. When I got back to the room, Ed was under the covers watching TV. So then it was off to the first talk of the day.
Kota Kinabalu
The Land Below the Wind (because it’s just beyond the typhoon area. We will be visiting the capital city of Sabah on the island of Borneo. I wonder if we’ll see any orangutans. And in order to go there, we have to give BACK and hour. Ugh! This looks like it’s going to be a very interesting experience. I don’t yet know what tour Mr. Feldman has chosen for us.
Trivia
Natalie had tried this quiz out on the band director, that teeny tiny little woman I’ve spoken about before. She scored 18. Our team WON with 17! We didn’t know the tiny country who’s athletes won long jump and something else in Sydney (pronounced Seeydney by the locals) in 2000. The answer was Cuba. Also (and here it did not good to protest), what is “economy class syndrome?” Well of course it’s DVT or deep vein thrombosis but I thought it would be too technical so I put down “blood clot in leg” and it was marked wrong! Oh well. The other question we “missed’ was about who sang “Love something… “. We hadn’t even heard of him but it was John Paul somebody. So we feel somewhat vindicated and the other teams seemed astonished that we could come up with that many correct answers. You just never know.
And this afternoon, we WON AGAIN! We had our usual 4 and the couple from Tasmania who made two substantial contributions to the answers we selected. The closest score to ours, 19, was 3 points lower so we were fighting the temptation to feel too smug despite all the hazzahs we were getting from other teams.
Lunch
We shared the table with the two professors from the University of Miami whom we’ve come to enjoy very much. They are such an delightful couple and great conversational company.
Computer review: I was going to audit “Photoshop Beyond Basics” since I had taken it before and you can sit in as long as there is space available. No one showed up so I joined Ed for…
Malaysia: Multi-ethnic success story
This speaker used to be Ambassador to Malaysia and he talks a very interesting story and presents his material in a very logical and approachable manner. I find myself just amazed at this country and I never thought much about it before all this.
Choir recital: This was so professionally done. It led off with a video the ship’s videographer had done where various members of the choir and the director were interviewed. And then there was a very professional segueue into the actual choir recital. Everyone wore white tops and black bottoms. We have all come to believe that we come to these events with such low expectations and we are absolutely blown away. So they will be doing a choir on the next segment as well. Frankie was telling Ed and I that HQ found out how successful these choirs had been under the direction of David Crathorne and had decreed that all pianists would be doing a choir. The reality is, as Ed said, it involves an entirely different skill set. So apparently HQ did back off but this activity is a very popular one.
Captain’s circle: this was the cocktail party to thank us for our patronage and there are 595 members on board. Each level was asked to stand and be recognized by those present. And then the Elite members were asked to stand and stay standing so everyone could admire their (our) clean and nicely pressed clothing.
Dinner: all present. We ended by discussing the Race for the Cure scheduled for the 11th and a discussion of the Revlon Walk Run for the Cure in LA. Another person at the table has had cancer so there was some discussion about fund raising for research. Faye and other ex-pats in Sydney raise funds for a MD who does microsurgery. Ed and I gave examples where small unencumbered funds have made the difference in a breakthrough, e.g. Herceptin and to remind her that no matter how modest, every cent counts.
One of the gentlemen at the table told me that the exhibitionist had yellow “knickers” on while dancing this evening. I suppose she doesn’t mind since she color coordinates them with her “frock” and kicks her legs high, always towards the audience, so folks can check it out.
Ship’s photo: I believe I told about the ship’s photo which was done in the Hong Kong Harbor on the top deck with a fish eye lens. When we got back to our cabin tonite, each of us had a copy in a nice folio. Beautifully done.
And we stored Ed’s winter clothing in one of the large suitcases under the bed so we have a little more room. He has taken out his “summer” clothing and has it in the closet to choose from. I have simply been layering when it’s cold though truthfully, I would have been grateful for a heavy coat in the north though I would never have bothered with the weight and space they would take up for 3-4 days of cold and wind. I did break down and buy a knit hat in Tiananmen Square to go under the shawl I had draped over my head.
Piano Showman from Shanghai
Tian Jiang is an amazing pianist and composer. I was spellbound the whole time. The guy is amazing. He has been to the Hollywood Bowl and to Disney Concert Hall so you must be alert for his name because you will not be disappointed. He played one of his compositions for us, Shanghai Dream, which has a definite Oriental underscore to it but it is equal to any classical composition you’ve heard anywhere. He is a Julliard graduate by the way.
An interesting observation:
I’ve seen this on other cruises and find it to be a very interesting phenomenon. Clearly some spouses are in the stages of some kind of senile dementia and the healthier spouse nonetheless continues to ensure that the affected spouse has a good time. On this cruise, there are women who seem to be tugging the fellows along. The fellows in question never smile and have a halting gait such as one sees in such circumstances. On one cruise the couple obviously used to do a lot of dancing and the wife dutifully continued to take him out on the dance floor and do a good job of making it all look “normal.” I so admire and respect these situations as I can only imagine how difficult it all must be. One on this ship seems to tug him along much as one would do for a toddler who didn’t want to come along when you are in a hurry. Still I can hardly imagine how difficult it all must be. God bless them all.