And we're off!

Hello from Asia!!

For those of you who are not aware, I am currently in Asia working on the Azamara Journey, a cruise ship that I will be working on as a pianist/vocalist for the next 9 weeks. 

Enjoying my last Tim Horton's ice capp for awhile!

I hope all of you at home are enjoying the New Year and getting back into the swing of things!  I guess it’s the end of January already, so maybe that’s already happened.  Time tends to get a little muddled in my mind when I’m on board a ship.  That has DEFINITELY been the case this time, especially since I am 15 hours ahead of everyone in Calgary so my clock always seems to be a little off.  That in addition to crossing the International Date Line on my way over to Singapore made for a very interesting sleep schedule the first few days in Asia.  I am now on the high seas, heading back to Singapore after a two week voyage exploring various ports in Indonesia.  But I don’t want to get ahead of myself, so let’s start back on Jan. 11^th when I left beautiful Calgary, AB to start on this adventure!

My flight itinerary was less than ideal. I left at 8:30 PM and landed in Vancouver at 9:40 PM.  I then had a 5 hour layer and left for Hong Kong at 2:40 AM.  I was able to sleep for about 6 hours on the 14 hour flight to Hong Kong and for that, I was very thankful.  I was also thankful that the person beside me switched seats so I could stretch my legs a bit more than I predicted.  My layover in Hong Kong was very quick, but I made it on time and arrived in Singapore 4 hours later.  This is how I felt after I landed:

Quite the welcome to Singapore...

My home for the next 9 weeks!

At this point, I was a day ahead than everyone in Canada and my body was very tired.  After travelling for that long, all I wanted to do was sleep.  So I did.  I went to bed at 6:00 PM (I tried to keep myself up later but it was NOT going to happen) and I slept until about 5:00 AM the next morning.  I thought that was pretty good!  I didn’t see much of Singapore this time around because I was so tired and didn’t have any money on me that was the correct currency.  Thankfully, Singapore is the ship’s home port so I will be going back a few more times and will hopefully get to see much more of it at a later date.  The next morning at 8, I got in the van that took me to the ship and after all the sign on documents were signed, medical forms approved, tour of the ship was conducted etc. I started to unpack.

Thankfully, I packed WAY less than I did on my last ship.  This is a very good thing because my room is much smaller than it was on my previous ship.  My closet is LITERALLY a locker.  And everything fits into it so I was very happy!  My bed is only a twin bed (it was a double on my last ship) but I don’t mind it all.  I always say I don’t care how small the room is, as long as it is MY room, MY space.  It’s not even that messy yet!

Within the first few days, I made some friends.  Katrina (from Australia) plays saxophone in the orchestra, and her roommate Elissa (from Miami) who also plays the saxophone have become good friends.  Julian (from Toronto) plays the trumpet and has also been a good friend.  Mary Amanda is the harpist on board and she was on my last ship for a few weeks so it was nice to see a familiar face!  She has kind of taken me under her wing and shown me the ropes so that has been great!  There are many more people to tell you about, but I am sure I will have time for that in the upcoming blog posts.  I had some awesome days in Indonesia that I would love to tell you all about!

Our first stop was Semarang.  I took a shuttle into town with Elissa and Julian.  The ride into town was full of unexpected things.  For one thing, the bus LITERALLY drove through a river for a few wheels.  I was convinced we would get stuck or something, but apparently this was normal for the driver.  On the sides of the road, families were fishing in rivers filled with trash, or just hanging out with each other.  There were even kids cycling through the river (the water covered most of the tires, it was crazy!).  Eventually, we made it to the town centre.  We walked around for a bit and then went into the shopping mall to buy some necessary items that I had either forgotten at home or had planned on buying once I got to Asia.  The mall was also crazy.  There was really loud music blasting throughout the entire building and everything was SO CHEAP.  I couldn’t believe it!  There were brand new shoes for $2.50 that were quite nice!  Of course, NOTHING fit me.  Nightmare.  All of this cute, cheap clothing was completely out of the question for anyone 5’9’ with size 8 feet.  We didn’t stay long, however, as Julian was hungry and wanted to try some traditional Indonesian food.  We shared some food together, but I simply WATCHED Julian eat the chicken feet he ordered as I wasn’t feeling that ambitious when it came to national delicacies. 

First day off the ship and ready to see Indonesia!

I used the internet at Dunkin’ Donuts which was also an experience in itself...mostly because they asked me if I wanted whipped cream on my drink (obviously the answer was yes) but what I DIDN’T realize was that the “whipped cream” was LITERALLY whipped BUTTER.  It was so weird.  But the donut was great!

Chillin' out in Dunkin' Donuts.

Elissa and Julian enjoying their first taste of Indonesian food!

The next stop was Komodo where I was able to see the famous Komodo dragons!  Komodo is actually a national park with its emphasis on wildlife conservation, specifically the conservation of the komodo dragons.  I signed up for a tour of the park with some of the rangers and we got to see 6 komodo dragons up close!  It was awesome!  The Komodo Dragons are very dangerous and if they bite you, you will die because the poison they inject from one bite into your body is fatal.  They are attracted to blood so you were not able to go on the tour if you had a cut/open wound of any sort.   In fact, women who are menstruating are not even allowed on the island!! I was very happy to be there and get some great shots without feeling threatened for my life.

View from the ship of Komodo Island

Komodo National Park

Lots of deer on Komodo Island

Komodo Dragon!! HOLLA.


Komodo Dragon!!

Our fearless leader, Yanto

At the watering hole

After the tour, Samantha (environmental officer), Katrina, Mary Amanda and I enjoyed some time on the beach.  I didn’t go swimming because the locals said it was full of sting rays and jellyfish.  Apparently I was the only one that took them seriously because everyone else went swimming...It worked out okay though because some of the locals came to hang out with me in the shade.  They couldn’t really speak much English but they LOVED my hair and I enjoyed talking to them.  They laughed at me a lot whenever I would say something or ask them a question.  They were probably making fun of me, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.  Mary Amanda was able to capture a legitimate candid moment with them.  Side note: I realize that my real laugh looks way different than my fake laugh.  I should work on that.

The beautiful beach!

The boys of Komodo

New friend, Samantha

So that was Komodo.  Our next stop was Bali where we had an overnight, so two full days in the port.  The first day, I went to the town of Kuta which was known for the beach and good shopping.  I went on an “on your own” tour which basically means that I go on the shuttle with guests, have three hours on my own, and then catch the shuttle back.  In my eyes, a free cab ride.  The guide that was on the bus was hilarious.  Mostly because none of us could understand anything he was saying but he kept laughing at EVERYTHING he was saying.  I just started laughing whenever he would laugh and then eventually everyone was laughing because we all had no idea what was going on.

Crazy tour guide that I loved

For Mom

Kuta Beach

Kuta was not exactly what I expected.  The beach was full of trash and very busy, but I still laid out for awhile (I couldn’t go swimming because of the trash) and enjoyed the sun.  I did a little bit of shopping but didn’t buy anything except for shampoo and conditioner from a little grocery store (very exciting, I know).  I went into one store to look at some clothes but I can’t stand the women looking over my shoulder every single second and telling me “good price, lady, good price” all the time.  I don’t really do well with the whole “bartering” system.  It’s too much hassle and even if I end up buying something, they want me to buy something else.  One woman (her name was Lisa) literally started whining to me when I wouldn’t come to her store.  I had already been to two of her stores already and bought $30 worth of stuff!  So, I’m not sure if I will be doing much more shopping if the next towns we go to all require decent bartering skills.

The next day was the best day I’ve had so far!  Katrina, Sam, and I went to a small town called Senour.  There was  a small, very private beach where the water was clean and beautiful and SO WARM!  We swam for awhile, then got massages ON the beach (for $15/hr) and then did some shopping.  We finished off the day with a “lassie” (similar to a smoothie) and went back to the port with our cab driver (who waited three hours for us!) so all in all, it was a wonderful day!

Beach diva. NBD.

Beach day!

Feeling relaxed and rested after my massage!

View from my window in Lombok, Indonesia...not bad!

I wasn’t able to get off in the last port because I was on port manning (port manning is assigned to different people every once in awhile to stay on the ship because a certain percentage of the crew has to be on board at all times).  Now we have two sea days until we arrive in Singapore and do a 9 day cruise through Vietnam and China.  I am very excited!  Things on board are great.   I really love the cruise director/ band master I am working with and am very excited about the next cruise when I will get to do my own show with the orchestra!  More updates to come soon, so stay tuned!

Hope you all are well and not too cold in Canada!  Sending love to you from the cruising diva!

Love,

A