day 68 – republic of singapore, second day

i know it says second day, but we don’t really get another full day here… sad!  crew must be

on board by noon and guests by 1pm… also, bob has a boat drill at 10:30, so we figured we’d get up and go out for early coffee and a last minute walk around… we stopped at the grocery store for a couple of things, and i love noticing the different stuff… like, they have pringles potato chips, but they have seaweed flavored, or indonesian satay flavored… picked up a couple of fridge magnets with our last change and headed back to the ship. 

i got to hear about all of my guests’ cool adventures, and you get a lot of ideas that way about cool stuff to do when you return!  you could never do everything here even over several weeks… i know i will always look forward to coming back here!

my themed set tonight was “terms of endearment,” (sugar, baby, honey, etc.), and after that we played a pretty good round of the american pie game (stump the pianist by genre challenge).  we go back an hour in time tonight and the next two nights also… i am psyched my friend brianna (from alaska season last year) came on board in singapore!  great to see her, and i can’t wait to catch up!  she is an acupuncturist and has her masters in chinese medicine, and will, in fact, be moving to china this summer...  i hope to see her there in the fall when bob and i come through!

missing you bunches, nino!  i always do, but somedays even extra!  the days in this second half are already going by quickly, so i know it won’t be too long before i see you!  miss you and love you!  take care of gimli (is he being better behaved?) and grandma and grandpa and papa… say hi to everyone and give ‘em big hugs for me and bob!  love you!  xo, mama

port song for singapore

(to the tune of ‘mack the knife’)

we took a nice walk, oo a partly sunny morning

the shops were closed so we went to india town

and comin’ up from the subway platform

the clouds burst open and the rain came pouring down

since we’re from seattle, we don’t use umbrellas

we just got soaked and went to the market there

i stood in front of a big fan blowing

‘til it almost had dried my hair

we bought chicken spices, and tom yum soup mix

and some other spice blend i can’t quite pronounce

we looked for fabric, but couldn’t find much,

so we figured to arab street it was time to bounce

they had pretty fabric, all blends and colors

i settled for two prints that were beautiful don’t y’know

they work real hard though on that upsell,

we had to leave before i spent all our dough

we were kind of hungry, so we went looking for iconic dishes

from the exotic land of singapore

and some cold beer in great big bottles,

when it’s so hot out, who could ask for more

i hear the shark fin soup’s delicious,

so many choices if you stop for a bite

cause there’s a food court round every corner, babe

this city of singapore is out of sight

i heard the fat blue crabs come from the ganges

you know they feed on folks that are dead

i guess i’ll order some chicken rice dear,

so weird stuff won’t go through my head

then we went to the temple of the goddess quan yin

the buddhist goddess of compassion to lay our burdens down

we brought her incense and a lotus flower

and i promised to be nicer to everyone in town

then we petted a buddha on his big round belly

and bought some trinkets at the gift sop just next door

then we took the subway over to chinatown,

because we wanted to see it and maybe eat some more

it was a wonderland with all it’s red lanterns

and the bargains there, they just could not be beat

and tho we’d spent almost all our singapore allowance,

we’d left ourselves enough to go and eat

we had fried noodles and delicious shrimp cakes,

and seafood rice, spicy chicken, and yes, more beer

in the shade we sat there in a slight food coma

and sadly realized evening was drawing near

we still had change left cause stuff’s so cheap here,

so i bought some souvenirs at day’s end

and some more trinkets for my boy, nino,

and the mamas of some of his best friends

then we made it back, babe, no we wouldn’t leave ya! 

without some music for your evening hang

we’ll come again to singapore on the fall grand voyage

and continue our adventures….

farewell, singapore, until we meet again!  (eat again)

day 67 – republic of singapore

i loved singapore… bob loved singapore… we loved singapore today!  (did i mention that i loved singapore?)  what a cool place!  i think my favorite thing about it, besides the fact that things were all at bargain prices, was what a truly international place it is.  so many cultures live here in harmony and tolerance of each other, and it is pretty amazing.  it’s also the law!  the laws here are quite rigid and strict, but the plus side of this is that it is one of the safer, larger ports we get to visit (very little crime here) and also one of the cleanest.  chewing gum, littering, spitting are all serious offenses here… you can be fined or caned or imprisoned depending on the seriousness of the incident, and while some people find the corporal punishment a bit barbaric, it seems to be a quite effective deterrent to petty theft and vandalism.  most drug offenses carry the death penalty… as far as the multicultural thing, you are not allowed to harass anyone based on their religion, and tolerance (allowing altars in shop for example, or prayer breaks, not attempting to convert people, etc.) is required by law.  you see beautiful chapels down the street from gorgeous mosques, hindu temples and buddhist temples, and i have never seen so many shops of every variety which sell religious icons, supplies, incense, candles, prayer rugs, flower garlands, prayer books… a very spiritual country for sure!

the other religion here is clearly food.  i have never seen such a foodie nation!  all of the countries which are represented here also have their own food stalls and restaurants… there is such amazing multicultural street food, numerous food courts with every persuasion and also plenty of sit down restaurants… any global cuisine, particularly pan-asian, is well represented, but what better than a real indian curry in the indian market, or singapore chili crab, or persian fare on arab sreet… i think the food network could have an entire series just on the city of singapore alone.  the smells and sights and sounds are amazing… they like color on the plate, in their clothing, in the architecture, it is a very pretty place… riverboats and cable cars, pastel monorail trains, theme parks and grand hotels… bob and i are going to look into trying to get a hotel gig here someday… a day and a half just isn’t quite enough… that’s the drag of cruiseship travel, is the super short stays just when you are getting into the rhythm of a place… it’s a good recon mission to determine where we want to return some other time when we are on our own time! 

had to drag ourselves away from city sights to go to work, and i was awestruck that i had a full house from 9-10… i wanted to say, “what are you people doing here?!?” when they have an overnight in a safe amazing cultural mecca with such awesome dining and nightclubs, etc., but oh well… at least i wasn’t here in vain!  my theme was called “singapore swing” and was basically a bunch of swing tunes played, well, uh, here, in singapore… glad my bartender got the night off and i cut my other bar guys loose a little early so they could go party with their friends shoreside… bob and i thought about going back out, but we were beat from a long day then a long gig, so we crashed… more tomorrow!  cheers!  -di

day 66 – sea day

as we watch the news it is absolutely horrifying what is happening in japan - just devastating… there’s really not much more to say about that…

on a more cheerful note, i am really close to being able to maybe get my brother dave out here with us for a short stint over our birthday (we have the same birthday) when we are in the mediterranean.  cross your fingers that it all works out!  we did hear from the captain today that we will not be making the ports of call in egypt, and they are replacing them with another port in oman and two ports in israel, which were not previously on our itinerary.  that should be interesting!  we will be signing up for a crew tour together in dubai and have put in our application to escort guest tours in turkey and oman. 

today we had a run through for the continuation of our guest open mic night, cut short the other night by the crew show.  it was an awesome turnout and we had a great show!  some very talented folks, sharing true stories, songs and skits.  i will wait for another few weeks before we do another one, though i wish we could sustain one weekly, as the bar sure does do well on those nights!                      

we are putting our own adventures together tomorrow in singapore, and i will keep you posted.  i am beat and gotta get some sleep if tomorrow is to be as cool as i think it might be… on a quest for some cool stuff for nino and great street food…  cheers, diane

day 65 – phu my, vietnam

pictures coming soon... very slow today...

so i had ipm today, but bob was free to roam about.  we did get up to see the sunrise, and that was really beautiful, and well worth the early wake up call.  we went up the mekong river delta and into a fairly industrial port area, so didn’t see much of scenic beach-y areas on the coast.  bob didn’t have time for a 3-hour tour to go to ho chi minh city and back since we had a compulsory lifeboat drill at 10:30 and he has to work at 4:30, so he was going to opt for a shorter 25 minute ride to vung tau for souvenirs and pictures… turns out the cabbies wanted 80 bucks for the fare, so he was, like, “whatever!” and decided to get some souvenirs on the pier and come back for some hang time together…  good choice – more change for beer and chicken rice in singapore! 

we were ready to take a nap this afternoon right as the earthquake hit in japan and stayed glued to the news.  there was a lot of worry and tension throughout the ship as crew members were worried about the tsunami warnings for philippines  and Indonesia, and we all held our breaths and watched the nightmarish footage from japan.  luckily a the evening wore on, we were grateful that our crew families seemed to dodge the bullet…

i have to say that being in the world with people from all over the world, and more tuned into situations in other parts of the world has made me feel more a citizen of the world.  i think this is a good thing.  i could care less about charlie sheen or lindsay lohan, and the world at large is far more fascinating and there are so many more compelling things happening in real life with real people, and truly important things at stake.  america is great in so many ways, and i feel so lucky to be born there, but we are also pretty damn ridiculous and could take a few lessons in priorities from other cultures.  the world is so much bigger than we are, y’know?

port song for phu my, vietnam

(to the tune of billy joel’s “river of dreams”)

in the middle of the night,

we go walkin on the deck

there’s nobody else around,

and so we figure what the heck

we stroll along holding hands,

and talk about days to come

like tomorrow early morning, on the delta of the mekong

in the middle of the night

even though we both stay up very late

we decide to get up and watch the sun as it rises

and then we’ll go back to bed before the lifeboat drill

and wake up and wipe the sleep from our eyes

in the middle of the night,

as we go walkin on the deck

i know tomorrow’s ipm for me,

but bob is free to inspect

what he can find there shoreside,

maybe a cab or a bus

so he can go on out and find

some cool souvenirs for us

he knows he won’t have the time

to go to ho chi minh city or to do a big tour

but he will try to get a ride to vung tau

and get some cheap souvenirs and any bargains du jour

in the middle of the night,

as we go walking on the deck

with so very little sleep,

i hope we won’t feel a wreck

there’s afternoon time for napping,

so i’m sure we’ll catch up

and so we both hit the sack,

for that early waking up

we both get up at 5 in the morning

and make our sleepy way up to old deck nine

we watch the morning stars and venus fade out

as o’er the mekong delta the rising sun shines

and now the day is so bright,

we go back and go to bed

we do our scheduled boat drill,

and for the shore my baby heads

he comes back in awhile,

you know the cab was too much

so he went outside the gangway,

and he bought some cheap stuff

they wanted 80 damn dollars to take him to town,

he said no thanks i’ll buy some crap on the pier

i figure that’s more money we saved

for singapore so we can have some chili crab and some beers

this port was out of sight

and yes, we caught up on our rest,

we got to see a lovely sunrise

and i think that was the best

watching the fisherman go by

in those funky little boats

and we didn’t overspend

and that’s all she wrote

in the middle of the night

day 64 – at sea

well, i don’t know how the sea days can go by as fast as they do, but they do… i always marvel how the hours go by… in addition to writing the blog and doing set prep, bob and i enjoyed a nice walk after lunch (a lovely, grey day, not too hot, not too cool) and did some research on things to do in singapore… getting excited to go there! 

i have been going to bob’s early 4:30 set before dinner, and meet my friend from writing class and piano bar regular (and my adopted aunt), loretta for a glass of wine there before dinner.  we enjoy the set and chat, and i keep up vicariously with the class this way… it is also fun to watch all the dancers in bob’s lounge!  the instrumentation is piano, bass and drums, and they play a variety of danceable standards… loretta and i were having lots of fun watching the facial expressions of the dancers – some seem like they are having the time of their lives and other look like they are watching a tv show or at a funeral… the outfits are also fun to watch – some of the couples are so coordinated and stylish and others just dress for comfort… people watching doesn’t get much better, and of course, i love to watch bob play!  my fingers just itch to play with him – i am a little jealous of the trio pianist that gets to play every night with him…

well, i tell you, with the population of 50- and 60-something single gals on this cruise, i’m gonna have to get some bear repellent for bob… any new guy that comes on the ship probably looks like a big juicy steak, and bob’s no exception… i sang my “slow boat to china” bob tribute the other night, and after that, 3 of the gals stood up and started to go… i was like, “good night, ladies,” and they all said, “we’re gonna go check out your husband!”  it’s a good thing i know he’s mine, that’s all i can say…

my set tonight was called, “a tribute to canada, eh,” and included songs by canadian singers and songwriters (joni mitchell, diana krall, kd lang, leonard cohen, the guess who, rush, and many more).  a couple from toronto brought me a hat with the word “eh?” and a maple leaf on it, as they had seen my theme in the program, so i wore it.  we had lots of fun, and it was well attended.  with tomorrow’s early port of call, the evening ended a little early (11:30), so bob and i finished at the same time – nice!

with bob here, my vivid imagination can relax – i mean, i usually get creeped out to go outside on the deck at night by myself, because i always imagine some crazy person is going to push me overboard… i think i’ve watched too many movies, but now that bob is here, the best time of day to go for a walk is after the gig at night… no one else is out there, no one stops you to chat, you can hold hands and stop and smooch once in awhile and no one will stare at you… it’s also usually breezy and cooler than in the day… it’ll be a bit of a short night tonight because we are going to get up early for the sail in to vietnam tomorrow at sunrise… i wonder if this is a tricky port of call for some of our veterans on board… i haven’t heard anything from anyone, but i can only imagine… ciao for now! -di

day 63 - at sea

well, everyone had a blast in hong kong; it had the same type of port effect as sydney on everybody - it was grand, there was a lot to do, fun adventures, great sights and sounds, awesome dining and markets… hong kong had it all for everyone, and was the perfect place for a two day stop.  now we have a couple of sea days, and people can catch up on their rest and share their stories.  i always ask people to “share something with the class” about what excursions they did, or bargains they found, and it’s like show and tell time… it also helps people get to know each other a little…

in sydney recently and again in hong kong we disembark some guests who are only doing a portion of the world voyage and welcome a few new guests as well… spotting the new guests walking by in the hall is like whale watching, “look!  there’s two new people!”  even with 1300 guests, after seeing them all go by each day to dinner or the show, even if they aren’t regulars in my bar, i can usually pick out the 60-80 new faces… said goodbye to a couple of characters in hong kong… there was good old walter, 89 years old and the first guy to my bar every night; always had a few smart remarks and was pretty damn funny… and get this, he lives right by the bothell senior center, stone’s throw from me, so we already have made a breakfast date for may at the kozy korner café on main st.  then there’s steve, who always had good suggestions for additions to my themed set lists.. i could tell he thought about it!  he usually came in every night for a beer or two, and was always very pleasant… people don’t think you will remember them, and you won’t necessarily remember everybody you meet, but there’s always several in a long trip like this that you add to your list of pals that you would keep on your mailing list or meet when you are in their town for coffee and catch up and share memories of the cruise… in just two years here, i already have had this type of experience several times now, and it’s a really nice part of this gig!

having bob here is a blast!  loving how our schedules are perfectly dovetailed and how we can have so much time off the gig together… i am dying to play with him, however, and we will try and schedule some sea day music in the near future… cross your fingers the cruise director approves this idea – he is famous for not wanting players to cross lounge lines and play together.. other cd’s allow it, and the guests love it… we’ll have to bide our time and hope it flies. 

tonight’s theme was ‘eight days a week,’ and featured songs with references to days of the week (‘rainy days and mondays,’) or the word ‘day’ (‘my lucky day’, ‘today’), and i stretched the notion and also included some songs from ‘lady day,’ miss billie holiday. when bob visits on his breaks, we play ‘pass the bob’ so people can get acquainted – he stays about a song or two with one table and then goes to the next… kind of like speed dating, hee hee… glad they are all so happy to welcome him!  hope you are all well!  on the home front, the dog is acting out and being a brat to nino now that bob and i are both gone and he is alone in the day, so, mom, if you ever want to make a few calls from my house to check on ‘the furry grandchild,’ his little pink heart-shaped nose is a bit out of joint and he's taking it out on nino (who he treats as a brother in the pack and not as an elder... constantly challenging his position unless an adult is there to regulate and remind him that he is, indeed, the dog…) ciao, di

day 62 – hong kong, second day (mardi gras!)

sooooo great having bob here!  he won’t have his ship id card til after his second training class (after hong kong), so he is stuck on board until then… i did not have ipm today, and though i was loathe to leave his side, he and i thought it would be nice to at least get a hong kong souvenir, so i went out… hong kong has graduated from the bargain bin of the past… it is now full of high end stores and hotels and casinos (the bargains will be found now in viet nam, apparently)- it was like rodeo drive, and the malls were huge and labrynthian… i did find a few places that had some things that weren’t too pricey; our travel guide on board who has been here many times was wistful when talking about bargains of the past in hong kong… it’s not as spendy, though, as australia, and there are still a few good prices here and there to be found.

i went to a chinese arts and crafts market, which sounded less expensive… they neglected to put the word ‘fine’ in front of arts… wow!  beautiful jade carvings, amazing and ornate furniture, scrolls and scrolls, gorgeous fabrics, and then i found them:  some really cool chinese paint brushes in a very beautiful silk covered box.. they are the type of brushes for doing chinese lettering or painting, and i also got some paints to go with them for nino.  on the way back, i was going to get a chopsticks set for the family, and the saleslady talked me into the set with the matching table runner (so let’s have chinese food at my house when i get back, mom n pop!).  a tiny buddha statue was the last find… may it give me patience and compassion in the last half of the journey for the small percent of folks who require it… i think i’ll keep it on the piano…

thank god for the largest share of my piano bar peeps… warm and wonderful!  and, wow, did they give bob quite the hearty hero’s welcome!  he is already a celebrity, and everyone is stopping to shake his hand and meet him… when he came into the piano bar on his break tonight, they all burst into applause!  tonight, there was a bit of a scheduling oversight, because they had a chinese cultural show on board at 7pm, one show only, in lieu of 8 and 10pm shows, so naturally my lounge was a ghost town, as was bob’s… both our lounges usually have a big turnout at 7… at 8 when we both break, there was nothing for anyone to do since the chinese show was over, and we were all on break… anyway, i felt bad, so i went back to work at 8:30 instead of 9 so there would be something happening.  my 9 o’clock theme was mardi gras, since it’s mardi gras, and it was packed.  i did a lot of dixie stuff (‘sweet georgia brown,’ ‘way down yonder in new orleans,’), some louis armstrong (‘what a wonderful world,’ and harry connick, ‘do you know what it means to miss new orleans,’) and we passed out mardi gras beads and had fun… 10 o’clock it was almost a ghost town again, because they were having a sailaway party in the crow’s nest (great view; don’t blam ‘em!).  i still had a handful of my core peeps stay, tho, who watched the sailaway from the piano bar… i am so lucky to have such an amazing, ever changing view out of my ‘office.’  one couple gave me and bob a nice bottle of wine to celebrate… i thought that was nice!  sorry no good pics today… i accidentally left my camera when i went out, and the night pics i tried to take didn’t turn out so well… rest assured that when we come back to hong kong this fall on the grand asia voyage, we will go out and have some major hong kong adventures!  coming up presently, we have two sea days and then go to phu my, vietnam, where i have ipm but bob does not (one of two times where we don’t synch up), so bob will be able to go out there… i have done some trading (including 1^st hong kong day) to absolutely ensure that he and i will have both days of singapore off, next week, so we will get plenty of pics and adventures there!  i realized i forgot to put in manila’s port song the other day, so i will post both hong kong and manila port songs here…

cheers! –di

port song for hong kong

(to the tune of “slow boat to china”)  

i’m gonna get him on a slow boat to china all to myself alone

gonna get him and keep him on board ever more

til i get him home again on that far away shore

out on the briny, so glad that he’s miney, no more to be here all alone (on my own)

so maybe i didn’t see much of hong kong in old china

but back in his arms, i feel once again at home

i didn’t see no Buddha, no crazy Stanley market

i may not have gone to macau but, oh honey, wow!

today i did dash out for a bit - got some paintbrushes, a buddha and fancy chopsticks

then i headed right back to my baby who is stuck a few more days on the ship

and we’ll come back to hong kong on the autumn grand voyage

and we’ll sure look forward to seeing it then

but i wouldn’t trade these last two days of not seeing much of china

to have my baby here with me again

yes, i went and got him on a slow boat to china all to myself alone

gonna hold him and kiss him, he’s the one that i adore

bass playing ain’t all he’s good at, i don’t need to say more!

out on the briny, glad to see his cute hiney, no more to be here all alone (on my own)

so maybe i didn’t see much of hong kong in old china

but i’m back in his arms and i am once again at home!

port song for manila, philippines

(to the tune of barry manilow’s “copa cabana”)

my name is diane i’m a piano girl                                                      

don’t like it if you touch my hair or grab me from behind my chair                            

but i’m carefree when they change the schedule

and if they say no to koror, there’s no palau port anymore

i won’t faint on the floor - or stomp out of the door

cause we’re all still here with each other; who could ask for more?

you ain’t lived ‘til ya - been to manila

so give it an extra day will ya - and just chill, yeah - there in manila

be glad for our crew who have families there, too

they’ll be so thrilled, yeah - to see the ones they love

out on the streets, tho, take off those diamonds

it’s prob’ly best if you don’t wear - stuff you don’t want boosted there

or when we’re finished and this port is over

you’d be sadder more by far then drown your sorrows at the bar

and you’d be oh so blue – and then hungover, too

and then if this song got stuck in your head, you might blame you know who

look for thrills yeah, here in manila - but remember to be careful, now, will ya

and when they bill ya, here in manila, it’s pleasantly less than most places i guess

where the shops will drill ya - the prices here, i love

the first day i was - a get up and go girl

i bought some dried mango and fuji apples don’t you know

went out for lunch that was filipino

and coffee shops were everywhere, so i had a triple espresso there

i had a real fine time - next day i didn’t mind

that i had rainy day ipm cause we’d had the extra time

it wasn’t vanilla, in old manila, the traffic was certainly a thriller

and not seeing palau, now, it didn’t kill ya -if i had my way we’d have stayed 1 more day

and had our fill yeah, and given alofi, niue a shove