Day 62 Mar 6 (sea day)

Slept late today. Up late, lost an hour. Missed breakfast so I could do Tai Chi. We're up to 8 moves now. So far so good. Quick trip to the Lido deck for a cranberry muffin and coffee which I took to the Vantage lecture. It was a continuation of the history of India and the British. They are not doing well. A combination of bad decisions and misguided thinking seems to be a theme for the Brits at this time. We got up to some guy named Ghandi. Trouble coming from him but we ran out of time before we could get to it.

The highlight of my day was the Tea Lady. She shall remain nameless. She is the new lecturer. I guess since we're headed to India after Singapore that the powers that be thought we could use some enlightenment. I figured I could use some enlightenment but was not sure I needed it in this area. What the heck. I gave it a try. She had a well organized presentation which laid out the four lecture topics she will provide. Then she launched into the details. I tried to stay with her. I was patting myself on the back for being a liberated male and sitting there while some people started to leave (just a few). I made it through how the napkin should be folded (always rectangular) and where and how the fold should be positioned in your lap, and that you never put your napkin on the table until you are leaving (if you go to the happy room you must put your nappie on your chair while you're gone). I lost it when she told me where to put my purse. I mean, she didn't say, "ladies, you put your purse..." she just said, "You must always put your purse between your legs (or was it feet... I wasn't hearing well at that point). I became absolutely certain she wasn't considering me a part of her target audience. Perhaps if I had bought a purse the day before from the vendors - one lady got 3 for $5.... I walked quietly out. I will forever be deficient in knowledge of tea etiquette. Sorry gentle people. I was not up to the task. I hope you will understand.

We got stomped at Trivia. I think my mind was still on tea. We got 12 right but the winners got 18.

After lunch I met Anita at the computer center to help her like we tried a couple of days before. Unfortunately the reason the terminals were open was that the system is down. I asked the tech, Philippe, and he said he had contacted on shore techs and they were working on the problem. We're all hoping they succeed. In any event, tomorrow we're in Singapore so I'll finally send you this update and see if anyone has had anything urgent to tell me. It has been a long time since I was able to check. I'm going into cyberwithdrawal I think. (I know spell check, you don't know the word "cyberwithdrawal" yet. Get over it!)

Only three of our nine at dinner tonight. Claire and Daphne are in Cambodia, Darryl and Carol were too full from a Mongolian stir fry lunch on the Lido (I passed), and Bryan is having medical problems which will have him transported (ambulance) to a hospital for tests and hopefully a cure tomorrow. So Bryan and Pat were eating in their cabin. Just Anita, Jack and I for dinner. Our table for 9 seemed H U G E ! ! !

Good show tonight. A variety including the last performance of our ship's dancers and singers (they exit in Singapore to be replaced by new ones), Jack Mayberry (comedian), and the two singers, Penny Matiason and Joseph Pokorski (Tenor). Penny was the soprano we heard the other night. The two singers sang solos and a duet. All did well.

Then I came back to the cabin to finish this and get ready to see Singapore and hopefully an internet cafe. Hopefully the ship's system will be back up and running soon but just in case I'm sure I will be able to find one in Chennai (Madras), India on March 12th. (We have two days in Singapore and then three sea days before we hit Chennai.) If you don't hear from me I am either being caned in Singapore - I think I know the rules...- or the lack of internet service won't let me communicate. Try not to worry.
Cheers!!

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