Parents today, gone tomorrow!

1 month late, but an update about my time with my parents in Asia...!

Greetings all!

Well, I’m about to start my last cruise with Azamara from Hong Kong and I must say, I am getting a bit sad because I am not quite ready to leave the community that I have found here!  I spent the last two weeks with my parents on board which was a real treat, but also made the days go by even faster.  I can’t believe I only have two weeks until I head home!  CRAY CRAY.  I would love to tell you about my time with my parents and although we were busy, I will try to make this short and concise.  I think my parents are a bit exhausted after the past two weeks, but they can’t be too tired because they still have over a month left of travelling in Asia to do before they go home!  All of the tours they went on in combination with meeting my friends, seeing my sets, and enjoying the ports we visited with me, they were very busy!  I was not with them the whole time so I can’t tell you about everything they did, but I will be able to share some of the highlights of their trip (because obviously their favourite times were when they were with me, right?)

OK so we last left off in Singapore when Mom and I bought 15 headbands.  The usual.  No big deal.  They got on the ship the next day and I was so excited to have them on board!  Unlike my last ship, because the crew is so small here, everyone knows me and I told everyone that my parents would be coming on board, so of course they got a bit of attention from the crew (you know how much my Dad would’ve loved that...).  They came to my sets that night and we figured out a way that I could have dinner with them in the Discoveries Restaurant almost every night so that was great.  As much as I love the staff mess, it was a nice change of pace.  We had a day at sea first off and Mom and Dad enjoyed their time doing what they normally do on ships: reading and laying out in the sun (well that last one is just Mom obviously).  I taught a songwriting class (that nobody came to except for Dad, bless him) and had my sets as usual that night.  Mom and I were able to have tea in the afternoon which was quite a treat!

My friend, Mary Amanda (harpist) serenading us at tea time!

Mother Daughter Time is the best!

  

Then, we were in Bangkok!  Unfortunately, I was on port manning for the first day, so I was not able to go on tour with my parents.  They went to see the grand palace and apparently, it was amazing.  My Dad kept talking about it for 5 days afterwards (and what a shame it was that I missed it) so it must have been quite a sight.  The next day we went to the summer palace, a few temples, and on a riverboat cruise.  This was a long day, but a fun one.  I bought some Thai pants that I had been wanting to get for a long time (yes, I was shopping while everyone else was looking at temples.  NBD.) and Dad really enjoyed all the historical information that we learned from our guide.  At the summer palace, we travelled around in golf carts.  It was Mom, myself, Dad, and our friend Arthur.  Arthur has been on the ship for a  month already and is one of my good friends.  He is a guest that comes back to Azamara over and over again and always makes a point of getting to know the crew.  We have had lunch a few times and I have learned a lot about him and he is just wonderful.  He is staying onboard for one more cruise so I hope we can hang out more before he leaves (and of course share some dances because Arthur LOVES to dance).  Anyway, he wanted to drive and for a solid 30 seconds we were half on the grass and half on the road (which was a difference of about 10 inches so I seriously thought I was going to fall off), but we were all laughing and Arthur was enjoying himself so that was good.

Mom and I on the back of the golf cart

Giving Arthur the wheel...boy were we in for quite a ride!

New Thai pants!!

Taking a break while Dad does all the touring and Mom and I relax

The palace was very cool to see (of course Dad kept telling me that it was nothing compared to the grand palace) and the gardens were beautiful.  Then, we went to see some temples.  I’m not going to lie, after one temple I kind of get bored and lose all interest.  This was the same for Mom.  Not for Dad.  While Dad was pestering the guide asking questions, Mom and I were taking photos.  Well, Mom was taking photos of me.  So that was fun. 

Then, it was off to the river cruise!  I enjoyed this part of the tour because I could sit up on the deck and see the sights without a guide telling me what everything was.  The sun was shining and I was relaxing.  The only thing was I had a horrible toothache that made it very painful to talk to people, so I felt bad when I would be less talkative than normal because I was talking out of the side of my mouth and squinting because it hurt so much.  Luckily, I saw the doctor when I got home and that was taken care of rather quickly.

That night, my schedule was different than usual as I was performing with the orchestra on the pool deck for “A Night Under The Stars”.  For any cruisers reading, basically I was the party band for one night.  It was such a blast singing songs that I either can’t play on the piano or just sound silly without any other instrumentation.  I had such a good time and was grooving my butt off.  Proof of this is that my clip on earrings fell off 4 times on stage.  Embarrassing, I know.  Embrace it.  Anyway, it was a super great night.  I don`t have any photos/video of it because Mom was in charge of video taping me...and that isn't her strong point.  The one picture she got of the night was of Slava:

Thank you, Mother.

My final day in Bangkok was spent shopping with Carly while Mom and Dad went to the floating market.  They really enjoyed themselves and trust me, I really enjoyed myself as well.  The shopping I did in Bangkok was some of the best I have ever done!  I found a great market that had the best stuff and spent all of my Thai currency (which was my reasoning for doing so much shopping, of course...) and made use of the 4 hours we had there that day.

Dress shopping 

Our next port was Ho Chi Minh City.  We had a day and a half here, so for the first day, Dad went on his own and saw all of the things he wanted to see AKA the war museum, some palace, a few gardens (I think?).  I’m not exactly sure what he saw but I know it involved a lot of walking and a lot of historical information.  So...Mom and I people watched instead and went to the market.  I was hoping we would find some hair accessories for Mom (Lord knows she needs some more headbands/flowers for her hair) but instead we ended up finding a ton of dresses for ME.  Funny how that works...We were in a market that had the cheapest dresses I’d ever seen but of course no place to try anything on!  I happened to be wearing a dress already, so I would just try all the dresses on over top of the dress I was already wearing.  Keep in mind this is a very busy market where people are rushing past me, knocking things over, and I am balancing my purse in between my legs while Mom holds my dress down so I don’t flash anyone while trying on the NEW dress.  It was an experience.  BUT for about $100, I got 9 dresses and a blazer.  So I was ecstatic!  Then, we went for a coffee and walked around a bit.  That’s when I found the silk store and ended up buying two silk gowns.  What?  I know, it was obnoxious but they were so beautiful and of course, my Mom encourages any spending of money that isn’t hers, so I caved and bought two of them.  Don’t worry you will get to see them later on in this blog post.  I know you’re excited.

That night it was my show with the orchestra.  We went out for drinks and dinner first and then my parents finally got see the show that I’ve been working on for so long.  They really enjoyed it (so they say) and I was happy because my voice was in good condition and in my opinion, it had gone very smoothly.  Oh yeah, and then we went out for drinks afterwards.  Necessary, I know.

Our second day in Ho Chi Minh was great as we did a tour of the Mekong Delta.  This was another long, but informative and interesting day.  It started off on a boat that took us to a small island village.  We had some tea and then a shot of rice wine which almost made me throw up (see picture for proof).  Oh yeah, and then I held a python.  THAT’S RIGHT PEOPLE.  It was crazy.  And I was terrified.  Dad held it too and thankfully we had our fearless photographer, Debra, there to capture the moment.  We got to see how some of the local Vietnamese people lived on this island.  We specifically got to see how they make and package a coconut candy (which I love) which was very interesting.

Cutest Parents Ever!

Rice wine that made me want to throw up

Delicious Vietnamese tea made with pollen

Totally chill holding a python.  NBD.

This is how I was REALLY feeling...

Me and Mr. Frog drinking coconut juice

Then, we took a “horse drawn carriage ride” AKA a trailer with a donkey on the front around a different island, enjoyed some local fresh fruit, and enjoyed some local music.  Then, we went on a canal boat ride which I loved.  Finally, we enjoyed some coconut juice on the way home and had lunch at a restaurant.  It was a traditional Vietnamese meal that we kind of a had a hard time figuring out (specifically how to eat the fish that was served) but overall it was very good.  We got to talking to the people around us (my mother and I together are unstoppable when it comes to small talk) and met three couples from Abbotsford, BC.  We discovered that the kids of these couples we were talking to had my Dad’s sister as a kindergarten teacher.  I’m not sure if that made any sense but I don’t know how else to say it.  It was crazy!  They also had friends that were on Canadian Idol with me in 2007 so that was weird.  

Excited to eat the fish...

Then, we were in Hoi An which was not only my day off, but it was also my Mom’s birthday!  BEST DAY EVER!  Dad and I went on an excursion together where we went biking in a small village near Hoi An (another village) and had some great experiences.  The first thing that I found entertaining was seeing Dad on a bike that wasn’t even tall enough for me, let alone him.  It was also funny riding with 35 other people because Dad and I are used to having the road to ourselves.  So that was weird.  And also hilarious because it is crazy how so many people think they can ride a bike but they really can’t.  Anyway, our first stop was at a Vietnamese kindergarten.  It was really just a place to rest, but they let us go in if we wanted and Dad and I were thrilled!  Only one other person went in, but we didn’t care.  These kids were amazing!  So full of life and energy and so excited to see us!  As per usual, they loved the blonde hair and they loved how tall Dad was.  They just kept jumping on him and if he lifted them up, the kid just looked like he was the highest he’d ever been in his life!  They were screaming, laughing, playing tag and basically just providing my heart with so much joy I could barely stand it.  Good way to start the morning, that’s for sure.

We also stopped at a local person’s traditional house with a dirt floor, old fashioned cooking utensils and a thatched roof.  We learned some very interesting things and then I got lost with a German cyclist group.  So that was unfortunate.  Especially because half of the group followed me (I guess it IS my fault that I wore a shirt that made me look like a highlighter).  But anyway, we were lost and it took awhile, but eventually our guide found us.  The biking was great and we saw a lot, but the adventure still wasn’t over!

Getting ready to go cycling again!

Cutest kids EVER!

The kids were in love with my hair!  And I was in love with them...

Famous Vietnamese Rice Fields

Entrance to the village of Hoi An

Cutest stray dog I ever did see!

Then, we went to Hoi An and did a walking tour.  Again, people seem to get lost somehow and I don’t understand.  Why can’t you walk at a normal pace?  Even if I announce “OK, group 8 with Azamara, we are leaving” it’s like people pretend they can’t hear me.  How is this helpful for you?  You’re not even DOING anything you are just blatantly not following me.  This is why I don’t feel bad when people get lost.  Anyway, we saw some more temples and I found the cutest stray dog that I wanted to take home with me.  We stopped at a merchants’ house (World Heritage Site), a silk worm factory and then had a lovely traditional Vietnamese lunch.

Dad and I finished off the day with an hour of intense, hard core shopping.  YES THAT’S RIGHT, PEOPLE!!! Dad and I went shopping for silk gowns (because they are so cheap here) and he actually got really into it!  We had a really good time and I came out with three gowns.  One that he doesn’t like that much, but two that he takes complete credit for (you’d think he was the one that designed it when he talks about it).  Anyway, it was awesome. 

The designer and I!

All our shopping bags!

Then, we celebrated Mom’s birthday by going out for drinks, then dinner at the speciality restaurant and then finished the night off with the production show.  It was a lovely day off for me, and I think Mom also enjoyed herself!

Drinks before dinner with the beautiful birthday girl!

Cutie!!

The waiters singing "Happy Birthday"

Great Night with my parents!

Finally, our last port was Halong Bay.  I couldn’t go on the excursions with them because of scheduling conflicts, but they enjoyed a “Halong By Boat” tour while I went to the market for a few hours, and then they did a 12 hour tour the next day when they went to the village of Hanoi, a three hour drive away.  I stayed on the ship so I don’t really have anything to report there but honestly, this blog is already getting pretty long so I think it’s ok.  Basically, they enjoyed their time very much.  Then, we just had one more sea day and now here we are in Hong Kong!

They have left for the next leg of their journey, and I am getting ready for the last cruise of my contract!  It was SO great to have my parents here and share a bit of my life here with them.  There is so much that we did that I’m missing, I know, but I just wanted to give you all a “brief” update. Things are going splendidly here.  I am excited for the China/Japan/Korea leg of my journey now (hope I packed warm enough clothes!!) and I am trying to enjoy it all because I know I will be home before I even realize it!

Sending love to you all at home and safe travels to my Mom and Dad as they explore inland China and the rest of Asia!

Byeee for now!
A