Monthly Archive for February, 2007

St. Thomas is one of the U.S. Virgin Islands.   So when we were arriving at St. Thomas from the Bahamas, we entered the U.S. soil again.   Everybody on the ship was required to go through the U.S. immigration check shit before we can land in St. Thomas.   We were requested to get ready for the check last night.   The speaker started to announce the information again quite early this morning.   So we didn’t sleep in as we usually would do.   We went to deck 2 for the check,  the line for U.S. passport holders was quite long while for us, non-U.S., the line was shorter.   The check was routine and very quick. 

Benefited from the early waking,   we showed up on a busy street in St. Thomas around 10 o’clock.  Ron learned from the daily paper that there was a free shuttle bus which would go to downtown,  the bus stop was shown very close to the dock, so we didn’t take the cabs which were waiting right beside the dock.   We went around the place which was supposed to be the shuttle bus stop on the map twice.  No sign of bus.   We had to go back to the dock and took the cab. 

The cab can fit 20 persons or so.  It was like a pick up truck, but with rails and seats in the back.  We waited for a while until the cab was full.  Then we headed to downtown.   The roads were narrow, traffic was a bit crazy (If I am allowed to say that, I guess compared to Shanghai, this traffic was just nothing).   Soon, the cab arrived at a very crowded tiny plaza, with lots of simple sheds on the road side.  People were selling T-shirts, cultural clothes, bags and other miscellaneous things in those sheds.  I didn’t believe that was downtown, thought this might be one of the stops.  But after I saw all of the passengers had taken off, I guess that was it.  The driver pointed that we should turn right and go one more block.  Alright, followed his instruction, we saw a long street with lots of small stores right beside each other on both sides.  Some of them were decorated very nicely.  We went into the first one on the corner.  Very bright store, not sure the brightness was from the store lights or from all the shining exhibitions there.  Jewelry, stones and watches…  We saw the huge globes which Ron always wanted to put in our library.  They have different sizes there.  We admired them a bit but didn’t really think we were ready to convey a huge expensive commodity to Canada from this trip.  We went to the next store.  On the road, a ragged guy gave us some name card and pointed us to some store which would have 80% discount on the diamonds.  We took the card and said thank you to him,  but didn’t bother to look at the name of the store.  There was only jewelry in the second store.   In fact, most of the stores were just selling jewelry.  Normally I would enjoy jewelry window shopping,  but there is a term called visual fatigue.   I guess I got infected by that, strange.  But really nothing has ever caught my attention since I received my engagement ring.  :P  We had an excursion booked at 12:00.   At 11:30, we found a cab on the street and headed back to the ship.   On the cab, I saw most people that went through and out of the stores were tourists.   St. Thomas is very famous for shopping for luxuries since it is a tax-free place.    

Our excursion in St. Thomas was called sail boat racing.   Ron picked all our excursions in this cruise before the departure when we were still in Waterloo.   He booked those excursions with limited seatings which also sound interesting in case we won’t be able to get in later.   Anyway there were about 10 people for this race.  We were divided into two groups.  Ron and I were in the blue team.  Besides us, there were an old couple and an Asian looking middle-aged guy (I think he speaks perfect English) in the blue team.   There were three sailors on the boat.  It was the first sailing boat I was on but I would say it was a very nice one if only there was a nice kitchen and bedroom in the cabin.    Ron told me that this boat was designed for racing, so efficiency and speed were most important.  Oh, well, sailing…. that is just something far more beyond the imagination of a girl like me.   Ron was so into it.  He told the captain that he actually took a boat course to learn how to drive a boat.  I was worried that I couldn’t follow the instructions very well and would make our team lag behind so I told the captain that I wouldn’t be a part of the racing and I would just watch….

They started to practice, basically the work was tugging the rope and releasing the rope at a very quick speed to move the sails based on the wind direction.  It was a very strenuous job.   As the youngest work force in the group, I felt bad that I just sat and didn’t help.  It was said that telling the wind direction was the most difficult part.  Only very experienced sailor can do this job well.  And I had the impression that they can actually tell the wind direction by the color of the waves, amazing, but I am not sure whether I heard this right or not.  Anyway, the captain took charge of discerning how to move the sails, and instructed group members whether to tug or release the rope on either side.   During the whole sailing, most of the time, the boat was tilted badly either to one side or the other side.  At the first time that the boat was tilted nearly 60 degree,  I was so scared and felt the gravity was going to pull me down to the water.  I was looking for something I could grab on the boat.  One sailor noticed my anxiety and showed me that I should put my feet against the raised edge in the middle of the floor.  Alright, that helped a lot!  I found everybody else has done that already… I missed something once again!  During the race, the Asian looking guy got sea-sick and started to vomit.  Then the old guy got sick and left his position.  So only one old lady and Ron were still useful in our team.  Ron indeed worked very hard.  At the end of the race, one of the sailors shook his hand and called him brother.  Do sailors call each other brothers?  What do they call female sailors? I guess it would be sisters.  That sounds like a family.

After the race,  we were guided to a little shop near the dock where we saw our pictures which were taken on the race boat.  We bought one of the pictures in which Ron was steering the wheel and I was leaning against him. :D  But that was not a  cheap picture at all.

We were tired and hot.  We went back to the stateroom, cleaned up and had a rest.  The ship wouldn’t leave St. Thomas until 11:00PM.   Ron was interested in seeing some camera store nearby and he also said he wanted to buy me some jewelry in the trip as a souvenir.  I told him that I didn’t want any jewelry in short term.  But both of us know that is a little white lie.   So after a bit of rest, we disembarked the ship and amazingly found all the shops near the dock were all closed.  It was just around 7:00PM.  Well, as a tourism city, considering most ships would stay late, that clearly was a very bad move.

We didn’t want to go farther away from the dock, so we just headed back to our room.  I spent some time on the balcony alone.  In the dusk, from the view of our balcony, St. Thomas was quiet.  There were no skyscrapers, hardly any tall buildings.  Only sparkling lights in the trees,  from there I heard the very familiar sound made by the cicadas.  As one fell, another rose.  The exact same wonderful music accompanied me in the summers of my childhood.  At that moment, it brought back memories.   I wish I could just make time reverse, but I know even if I could, I wouldn’t feel the same anymore.  Mommy’s little girl has grown up,  that is just the way it is.   When we were in Kingston, Ron showed me around his neighbourhood where he grew up.  He pointed out to me several houses he lived in before.  I always envy him since I know I will never find the nice little neighbourhood I lived in before in Shanghai.  They are long gone.

Until this day, I never realized how stupid I was to bear hunger on the first night in this floating food warehouse.

When I was enjoying the doze after I woke up in the morning, Ron told me that he would get up and go to a cooking lesson on the ship.  I was wondering whether I should go with him.  But, but, just let me be with my pillow for a little while… The next thing I know was he was gone and clock said 11:30AM.  OK, even though today we were not going to any port,  I probably should not spend the whole day sleeping.  Not everyday can I get the chance to see this floating hotel.  Let’s spend time wisely.

Quickly I washed up, ready for food!  I figured that  Ron would come back soon from his cooking lesson.  While I was waiting for him, I picked up the daily schedule which came to our mailbox everyday.   It was the first time that I read it in detail.  Ron always read them so he was able to provide some useful information.  I found out that the Lido restaurant was always open for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner till very late at night.  Even after midnight, there would be snacks provided.  WTH?  Why did I bear the hunger and thirst on the first night? “As God is my witness, I will never be hungry again! …At least on this cruise ship!”  Ron came back to the room and I asked him whether he knew the wonderful food schedule.  The answer was no.  What the hell he was reading? :@ Anyway he was very excited about the cooking class and he told me he would try the turkey breast recipe he learned from our executive chef after we got back home.  Oh… back home?  Will that really happen?  Let’s not think about it right now.

We had brunch at the Lido restaurant.  Again, happy happy meal.

At brunch,  we decided that we would go to a diamond tutorial presented by our cruise shopping ambassador in the Queen’s Lounge at 2:30. 

It wasn’t a very interesting diamond lesson.  Ron had learned a lot about diamonds from our engagement ring shopping experience.   So it was not that useful at all.   In the middle, Ron left and went to the bartending class.  Of course he is more interested in alcohol than expensive shining stones.  I stayed and hoped to win the diamond necklace from the draw.  In the end a lady sitting in the first row won.  Sigh… I just never ever win anything from lucky draws in my life.  Something must be wrong with me.

After the diamond thing, I wandered on the ship for a while.  I didn’t feel that comfortable to be one of the very few asian faces among the westerners except Phillipino servers.  Why not sleep?  I went straight back to the room and immediately rested myself in the bed with my novel. Shortly Ron came back with a very strong alcohol smell.  Jesus, what kind of class? Was he learning or drinking?  Afternoon was ended after we woke up from our nap.

Our dinner setting was at 8:30PM.  So we decided to go to swim in the swimming pool before dinner.  There were two swimming pools on the ship. Both were on deck 9.  The one in the middle of the deck was for kids(with a sliding celing, very cool).  The one in the back of the deck was for adults(outdoor, and with two hot tubs, also very cool).  Sunset was around 6PM, by the time we were there, it was getting dark, hardly anyone on the deck.  Only three teenaged girls were there playing in the water. They were very good swimmers.  They jumped into the water time to time.  I will never try that way to go into a pool.  When I was a very little girl,  I had  swimming lessons for a while. The teacher thought I was a promising star and recommended me to attend a junior swimming match.  At the game, I jumped into the pool to get myself ready.  The pool was for adults and we were at the deepest side.  Nobody told me that and until I found out I was on the pool floor very far from the water surface.  It took me a while to realize that and went back to the surface.  Lifeguards were going to drag me out of the water if my little head hadn’t showed up.  After the game, my teacher told me that I swam into my neighbour’s lane and I was the second last.  Well that ended my swimming career and since then I don’t really like water.

Ron was in the water already, and those young girls swam like fishes.  I looked at them jealously.  I want to be a good swimmer but it is just so hard now.   It was very windy and wavy.  The water in the simming pool waved from one side of the pool to the other side with the movements of the ship.  Again, COLDNESS.   Sometimes being fubsy would be beneficial.  I hesitated for a while.  “Not everyday can I swim in a pool floating in the Carribean sea…” thinking of that, I stepped into the water bravely.  This time Ron pushed me into the water immediately.  Oh, it was warmer than the sea water.  But it was deep!  With my height, I can only stand on the shallow end with my nose barely out of the water.  At the time Ron was waving to me at the other end of the pool,  I insisted that I would just practice my awkward frog style at the shallow end.   It is a vacation,  safety is most important!  😛

It was 7 o’clock.   Nobody was using the hot tub.   We went into the tub.   Sitting in the tub, with the wavy sound of the pool, we enjoyed the view of some stars, sky and the sea.   It was wonderful.

After that, we went back to the room and got ready for the dinner.    It was the first time that I had dinner in the Vista dining room, Deck 2.   The Vista dining room was a two floor fine, grand dining hall.  Ron had his dinner here  on the first night.  So he knew some of our tablemates who showed up on the first night.   We were the first to arrive at the table.  Shortly two American couples arrived at the table as well.   Ron introduced me as his imaginary wife.    Both wives in those two couples were very talkative, while their husbands were relatively quiet.   Nichole was a black woman with a strong southern accent.   I could catch most of what she said,  apparently she was a very enthusiastic lady.  She said all she needs in life is fine food, traveling and a baby.  I can understand the first two parts but am suspicious about the baby part.  :P  Anyway, I couldn’t contribute to the conversation very well and at most time I was just trying very hard to listen.  After the food came, I focused on the eating.  RELAX, no more English listening tests!

After the dinner,  we went to the Vista theatre lounge for a new year performance.   A singing and dancing live show was very well performed.  I felt amazed about how sophisticated the stage layout was, all the fancy lights and stereo…on a ship.

Tomorrow we would arrive in St. Thomas,  a jewelry shopping land, they say.  I started to look forward to it,  just a little bit…