February 28^th

Cruising the Gulf of Thailand

I awoke about 6:30; & went right to work on the Java photos.  I’ve given up hope of editing ALL the photos I’ve taken.  For now, I’ll be happy if I can just edit the ones I intend to use in the blog or upload to Facebook.  Watched the morning show; & answered a movie trivia question.  I’ve mentioned Mama Lee a few times; the woman who has been ‘living’ on the Serenity for the past several years.  I had never seen her until this voyage; so I thought I’d post her photo so you can put a face with the name.  After all, she is quite a legend around here.  She was shown in the video highlights on this morning’s show.

Capt. Glenn’s 9 am report from the bridge informed us that we are sailing equal distance between Cambodia (starboard side) & Thailand (port side) at 13 knots on 2 engines.  It’s a balmy 86* with a slight wind.  His thought for the day….”Most of us know how to say nothing; but most of us don’t know when”.

Celeste & Bill joined me for breakfast.  I had staked out a table next to an electrical outlet (FYI, there’s one in each of the 4 corners); & as soon as the crowd thinned out, she & I moved.  We both got to work on our respective computers while Bill went to a golf lesson.  Betty, Pat & Che all came by; sat down & chatted.  At the stroke of 10, Adrian strolled over with 2 Portuguese tarts & the tent card that labels them.  He pranced back & forth pretending like he was looking for someone; teasing me.  These guys are like elephants….they never forget ANYTHING!

Celeste & I went up to the Asian themed buffet at the Lido about 1 pm.  I had all my usual favorites; BBQ’d pork belly, the spicy marinated stir fried eggplant, & the Vietnamese pork & shrimp noodle salad.  It was another excellent meal; & we chatted for a long time.

I went down to see Melanie about the pricing for the next 2 segments of the world cruise.  The bad news, there are no Cat “C” cabins available; & I will have to pay for a Cat “B”.  If I had been in my right mind a year ago when I started this booking, I should have taken advantage of the numbers they quoted then.  These are higher than I’m comfortable with.  But worth considering.  I asked her to request a visa application from the Clearance Officer. 

Then I went down to the Medical Center to consult Dr. Cornelius about replenishing my prescription meds.  He has some of them; found a few substitutes; & will have to contact a doctor in Hong Kong about getting one more.  My last stop before going ‘home’ was the library to pick up my trivia prize.  Once back in my cabin, it hit me what I was about to do.  I’m determined to stay on now; & damn anyone who throws a roadblock in my way!

I spent the next 3 hours online trying to contact all the appropriate people back home who could help me change travel plans, change appointments on my calendar, & handle my personal business another 6 weeks.  I hate to have to call in favors!  During this, I also watched the rerun of the lecture Ken Walsh gave this afternoon on the Presidency of Mr. Obama.

Pat & Ray were kind enough to invite me to join them at Silk Road tonight for dinner.  I found Ray as delightful & as entertaining as Pat.  They are an adorable couple.  We shared a platter of sushi & tempura shrimp & veggies. Ray also had an interesting looking bowl of mushroom soup that’s served in a Japanese tea kettle.

For my main course I had the Nobu style lobster stir fry with snap peas, garlic, asparagus & Shitake mushrooms with his famous Yuzu sauce.

The chef came out to tell us that he made a special dessert for tonight.  It was a kind of crepe with red bean paste.  We all tried it; but were not really impressed.  So, I had to finish off with lychee sorbet.

I was ‘home’ at 8:45; & began to pack my day bag for another lonnggggg, hot day of touring.  Not even going to turn the computer back on; I’d never get to bed.