The South China Sea
Monday 11th September
Today was a sea day, I guess you sub-consciously plan this into your system when drinking the night before. It was a heavy night meaning we waited until 8.00 a.m. to do Breakfast. We tried the internet to catch up on the previous few days, but there was a notice on the door saying we were out of range of the ship’s communication satellite. I suspect this may be weather related, as rain and thunder broke in to the day on and off.
At 10.30 a.m. (3.30 a.m. BST) we had a briefing meeting for the people who were going off on the Vietnam/Cambodia trip, this gave us a briefing on what we were able to pack, what weather to expect, whether to change money or not (not both countries welcome dollars). It also meant we knew what we were able to take in hand luggage – razors for example that we would not get on US or European flights. According to Mr Anh, the tour operator, this is because no one is trying to bomb Vietnam or Cambodia, so the security is less significant. He wasn’t joking, we only once had our bags put through a screening device, and I forgot to put my clock into my bag from my pocket and still got a all-clear from the scanning machine!! Still it was useful and avoided us having to take a heavy case just for three days change of clothes.
We don’t normally do lunch but Drew fancied a Hot Dog, so we went up to the Barbeque station at 1.00 p.m. (6.00 a.m. BST) and each had a Hot Dog with some soda water.
Much of the afternoon was spent lounging, sleeping and reading, Drew occasionally laid out on the Balcony. That was to hot for me so I stayed in the air-con and when the rains came Drew also came in.
At 5.00 p.m. when the laundry came back we packed for the trip tomorrow. Then at 6.30 we went down for cocktails. All of the gang had decided to visit Sabatini’s I’d assumed they were going while we were off the ship, so we had gone earlier, but they had planned tonight, so we agreed to join them. We enjoyed it so much last time we certainly were happy to go again.
Bed by 11.30 p.m. tonight as we head for Vietnam we get an extra hour in bed as Vietnam, though East of Malaysia and Singapore is an hour earlier than them. This new time will not be the time for the rest of the trip until we return home.
Food and Drink
Breakfast – The usual juices, fruit, tea and coffee followed by eggs and bacon for Drew and Huevos Rancheros for me. The huevos was essentially an Omelette with Monterey Jack inside, with a side of refried beans and tomato salsa, nice but needing some Tabasco to make it realty spicy.
Martinis – We met with Peter, Jean, Gareth, Hazel, Frank and Audrey for pre-dinner drinks. Following Lucas’ (the Martini bar man who was covering the other bar last night) advice that there was an even better cocktail – this one called the Beverly Hills Ice Tea, essentially the same alcohol as the other Ice Tea, but this time the drinks were all the classy versions, the ancho tequila, the best gin (Bombay Sapphire), the best Vodka (Grey Goose) etc, and finished off with a splash of champagne rather than a splash of coke. Very nice indeed. We then had a Cosmopolitan each before going up to dinner.
Dinner – I won’t repeat all the lovely food that Sabatini’s offers, you will find the details on the earlier Sea days. This time I opted for the Fish soup instead of the Minestrone, it was more fish than soup, very tasty. Both of us had a mix of langoustine, crab and lobster for our main course. Yet again a lot of food but this time we paced ourselves better, so were not as overawed by the quantity of food. Though the others had been warned at least two of them (you know who you are!!) were not actually able to eat their main course. Only one of us could manage a Dessert (well done Jean, hope you run it off before you do the New York Marathon). We shared 3 bottles of Gavi De Gavi and 6 Chiantis around the table. A lovely, lovely meal, with excellent service.
Today was a sea day, I guess you sub-consciously plan this into your system when drinking the night before. It was a heavy night meaning we waited until 8.00 a.m. to do Breakfast. We tried the internet to catch up on the previous few days, but there was a notice on the door saying we were out of range of the ship’s communication satellite. I suspect this may be weather related, as rain and thunder broke in to the day on and off.
At 10.30 a.m. (3.30 a.m. BST) we had a briefing meeting for the people who were going off on the Vietnam/Cambodia trip, this gave us a briefing on what we were able to pack, what weather to expect, whether to change money or not (not both countries welcome dollars). It also meant we knew what we were able to take in hand luggage – razors for example that we would not get on US or European flights. According to Mr Anh, the tour operator, this is because no one is trying to bomb Vietnam or Cambodia, so the security is less significant. He wasn’t joking, we only once had our bags put through a screening device, and I forgot to put my clock into my bag from my pocket and still got a all-clear from the scanning machine!! Still it was useful and avoided us having to take a heavy case just for three days change of clothes.
We don’t normally do lunch but Drew fancied a Hot Dog, so we went up to the Barbeque station at 1.00 p.m. (6.00 a.m. BST) and each had a Hot Dog with some soda water.
Much of the afternoon was spent lounging, sleeping and reading, Drew occasionally laid out on the Balcony. That was to hot for me so I stayed in the air-con and when the rains came Drew also came in.
At 5.00 p.m. when the laundry came back we packed for the trip tomorrow. Then at 6.30 we went down for cocktails. All of the gang had decided to visit Sabatini’s I’d assumed they were going while we were off the ship, so we had gone earlier, but they had planned tonight, so we agreed to join them. We enjoyed it so much last time we certainly were happy to go again.
Bed by 11.30 p.m. tonight as we head for Vietnam we get an extra hour in bed as Vietnam, though East of Malaysia and Singapore is an hour earlier than them. This new time will not be the time for the rest of the trip until we return home.
Food and Drink
Breakfast – The usual juices, fruit, tea and coffee followed by eggs and bacon for Drew and Huevos Rancheros for me. The huevos was essentially an Omelette with Monterey Jack inside, with a side of refried beans and tomato salsa, nice but needing some Tabasco to make it realty spicy.
Martinis – We met with Peter, Jean, Gareth, Hazel, Frank and Audrey for pre-dinner drinks. Following Lucas’ (the Martini bar man who was covering the other bar last night) advice that there was an even better cocktail – this one called the Beverly Hills Ice Tea, essentially the same alcohol as the other Ice Tea, but this time the drinks were all the classy versions, the ancho tequila, the best gin (Bombay Sapphire), the best Vodka (Grey Goose) etc, and finished off with a splash of champagne rather than a splash of coke. Very nice indeed. We then had a Cosmopolitan each before going up to dinner.
Dinner – I won’t repeat all the lovely food that Sabatini’s offers, you will find the details on the earlier Sea days. This time I opted for the Fish soup instead of the Minestrone, it was more fish than soup, very tasty. Both of us had a mix of langoustine, crab and lobster for our main course. Yet again a lot of food but this time we paced ourselves better, so were not as overawed by the quantity of food. Though the others had been warned at least two of them (you know who you are!!) were not actually able to eat their main course. Only one of us could manage a Dessert (well done Jean, hope you run it off before you do the New York Marathon). We shared 3 bottles of Gavi De Gavi and 6 Chiantis around the table. A lovely, lovely meal, with excellent service.
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