Today everyone is wishing we had a few extra sea days in order to recover before we hit Nha Trang, Vietnam, and then only one sea day till we hit Singapore. It is difficult to explain and impossible to garner sympathy from those of you at home who are working, doing laundry, grocery shopping, meal preparation etc, about how busy our days at sea are, but I will try. There are so many activities to choose from on a world cruise, and if you are on early dinner seating like we are, you are forced to begin dressing for dinner by 4:30 at the latest. Today was no different for us - by the time I had finished yoga and my personal training session, showered and dressed and tidied our cabin, it was time for lunch. Barry is still sticking to Tai Chi. He didn't tell me though that his instructor Kathy had offered the class the opportunity to do Tai Chi in the park in Hong Kong, along with all the locals that gather. I guess he knew that if I had known I would have encouraged him to do that. (Barry's note: getting up at 5:00 AM to go off the ship to a Hong Kong park did not appeal to me for some reason)
We acquired another 200 guests in Hong Kong, including our friend, Art and Leslie's friend, Brenda. We lost some, but now the ship is full and you can really notice it, although we only have 1300 passengers, which in today's cruising world is not many. It is quite different from last year, though, because there seem to be so many new faces all the time.
I spent the afternoon catching up on the blog, out on our Lower Promenade deck, then I began to prepare for the main event of the day which was our Oriental Formal dinner. By this point on a world cruise, everyone is right into dressing for theme nights and finding their "inner" foreign self. Last year we each bought Oriental outfits - me a beautiful red and black silk jacket, and for Barry a black silk jacket with red embroidery and cuffs. The only thing is that on last year''s Oriental night we were invited to the Captain's dinner in the Pinnacle Grill and Barry didn't want to wear this jacket. This year marked his debut in his jacket, purchased in Vietnam. He looked very handsome and received a lot of compliments. Leslie, Barry and I had a very nice evening together over dinner, sharing stories and laughs. Since we were finished just after 7 pm., and I had not yet seen Art, we made our way up to the Crow's Nest Bar to find him, as we knew that he likes to have a cocktail before his 8 pm. dinner.
We had a wonderful reunion with Art, who is really happy to be onboard, and enjoyed a drink with him, Jack and Gloria. We slid into the darkened theatre just in time for the absolutely glorious piano concert of
Van-Anh Nguyen. I have been telling everyone how excellent the entertainment has been, but this concert pianist was stunning - near perfection in Barry's view. I would say she is on a par with Yo Yo Mah in talent, and I do encourage you to look her up and follow her career. She caressed the keys, then lit into them with vigour, seemingly at one with the instrument. Her parents escaped from Vietnam in a boat - twice- failing the first time, and succeeding the second. After 3 months in a refugee camp in Malaysia, they were chosen because of their skills to go to one of 3 countries: Canada, U.S. or Australia. They chose Australis, where she and her siblings were born. Her mother was a trained opera singer, her father a musician, who gave up their own careers to have a better life for their children. She also plays the cello, as all of the family plays 2 instruments. It doesn't hurt that she is beautiful and she wore a fabulous Vietnamese gown, awash in shimmering beads. We were frozen in our seats for the entire performance, just in awe that we had the privilege of hearing her perform.
Then it was off to bed to prepare for our early arrival in Nha Trang, Vietnam.
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