It's the final Countdo - no net yetttttt.

Week 22

Day 1

Today marks the start of what some people call the home stretch. The last 4 weeks.

But it doesn't mark anything for me because I'll actually be right back here again for another 6 months. I'll call my homestretch at the end of that.

Day 2

So apparently there are rumours going around that someone died on the job yesterday night. Not sure who it was but people are telling me that someone just collapsed and died up in the buffet area. Not a guest, but someone who was working. I wonder if it happened in the middle of a crowd and caused a severe amount of freaking out. That's quite a story.

Day 3

I honestly think I'm allergic to the caribbean. Ever since we've been traveling around the caribbean I've been really sneezy. I don't suppose you can be allergic to the world can you? Or even part of the world. But I am. Wouldn't that be great though? Imagine getting invited to another country and flat out refusing.

'Sir, would you be interested in coming to *insert country*?'

'No.'

'Any particular reason?'

'I'm allergic to your country.'

'What?'

You can't really blame me at that point. Hey, I have an actual physical aversion that I cannot be helped. It's not my fault your country makes me sneeze a lot. 

Also, I think sneezing is a vicious cycle. See when you sneeze you're nose is actually trying to rid itself of irritants. But then you sniffle. And snort it all back in. Which causes you to sneeze more. Which causes you to sniffle more. Which then causes you to sneeze even more. And so on and so on. Perhaps there needs to be a better means to eradicate irritants from the nasal cavity. Maybe like a nostril vacuum or something. Press one button and it sucks all the snot from your nasal cavity in one go! That seriously sounds like an infomercial product. Maybe I'm on to something here.

Day 4

We do a production show today that's got us wearing costumes. Now the problem with this is that this show was usually done on the second formal night, until now. This means I have to wear my tux twice. Which I actually find rather annoying. I'd much rather be in my sneakers and t-shirt for the second formal night.

Day 5

Guest entertainer show today is pure rock and roll. I've not had the chance to really play stuff like this. Singers usually pick rather sentimental songs and what not so having a guitarist rocker and his wife play the house tonight is quite a blast.

Day 6

Today we were forced to get up really early to do some extra training for when coast guard comes. I think this whole coast guard malarky is really annoying. And I think because they're coming I won't get to leave the ship in San Juan bright and early like I normally do. 

Day 7

Walked to the beach today in St Thomas. I have yet to visit the beach in St Thomas so today I decided I would. The thing is that St Thomas is a very hilly island. So the walk there is quite the hike. But boy was it worth it. Gorgeous sands. Clear water. Everything you could hope for in a good beach. Definitely worth the hike. I think I'll do that again sometime.

Thoughts from the week?

I think once you've formed an opinion about someone, whatever they do tends to fall within those parameters. This is perhaps why most people will argue that first impressions are everything.

I agree and disagree. I think first impressions do form prejudices for or against someone's character, but only if you ever meet that character under similar circumstances. If you happen to get to know this person over a period of time, first impressions can be woefully wrong.

But that doesn't change the fact that first impressions cause bias. 

That being said, I wonder what first impressions I give off from a professional standpoint to the people I work with. It's a scary thought don't you think?

I've started making a list of movies that I have to see when I get home. That's actually one part of living on the ship that's tough on me. I do enjoy going to the cinema and catching new movies everytime one comes out. But 6 months of not doing that really takes a toll. And every now and then an ad comes up for an up and coming movie and I go 'crap I really want to watch that' but then after a couple of weeks I actually forget about it. Until the DVD sales advert comes on and reminds me again. As such, I have taken to making a list. A movie shopping list. 

Merry Christmas. Next week begins the Holiday cruises. Next week and the week after. I think the mood hasn't really struck me. Being on a ship during the holidays isn't exactly Christmas spirit. I don't know when it happens but every year there's a specific time where it hits me and I start looking forward to Christmas. Not because of all the gifting hoo hah but generally everything that goes on during the season. The Christmas singing in church, the Christmas activities with buddies, the Christmas drinking - oh no wait you didn't read that one - the open houses, the family dinner. Everything. 

This year though, that hasn't hit me yet. I don't have that excitement in me. Yet. Let's hope the 'yet' stays true.

HOME STRETCH HERE I COME.

Week 21

Day 1

New roomie! It's the piano player from Argentina. He's a cleanliness stickler so there might be some problems. As you all know, I am a slob. A self hygiene conscious slob, but a slob nonetheless.

And I GET BOTTOM BUNK NOW! For 5 weeks! I can actually sit up in bed! WOOOHOOOO!!

You see what ship life does to you. It takes away so many simple basic things that one rejoices for the absolutely absurd. And necessary. Never thought you'd see a grown man celebrate being able to sit up in bed now did you?

Oh and something fantastical and amazing happened a day ago which has severe repercussions affecting today and the days ahead. On the ship there is a sanitation and health risk level or whatever called the OPP level. Normally on level 1, everything is fine and dandy. But recently some crew have contracted some gastro whatchamacallit (whoah this word actually exists in spell check) disease and once that number of infected crew got above 1% of the entire crew they move to OPP 2. 

The horrendous part about this is that all crew food areas and lounge areas are in a total shutdown. The bars are closed, even the library is closed. We are restricted from the guest buffet, I'm guessing no using the guest gym either, and worst of all the staff mess is closed and the crew mess, which has the worser food, is the only thing left open. And there is no self service anymore. Everything gets handed to me by someone - my plate, my utensils, my food, my cup, my drink.

As bad as that sounds, it cannot compare to the fact that there will no longer be anymore coffee available 24/7 because of the whole no touchy feely anything policy in this situation. 

This is going to be a ridiculous week. 

Our previous bandmaster who just left us told us to stock up on dry foods. I think I'm going to take his advice. This is a nightmare.

Day 2

The food in the crew mess has a magical way of making me lose my appetite. I take a nice big plate of food because I'm hungry and half way through I just can't have anymore. Eugh. But that just means I'll be hungry again later.

Today also marked a second pipe failure in a week. There was a huge pipe burst last week and today apparently something else happened and crew cabins are getting their carpets completely drenched. This does not bode well.

I guess it makes sense when you think that this ship in particular is on it's very last legs of life before major overhaul. The dry dock begins january, so if you think about it that way it is the time where everything needs to be fixed. I guess when I get back for my second contract everything should be nice and sparkly. I hope.

Today also marks the first time I've actually run out of towels in my room. Had to ask for it. But you see again what ship life does to you. Simply asking for towels becomes such an annoyance because I'm so used to having them replaced regularly anyway. 

I wonder if eventually I'll lose what it means to be human living on a ship.

Day 3

It seems the emergency health risk nonsense has been lifted. I got my own food at the staff mess today. I hope that this wasn't just a fluke.

Indeed it wasn't a fluke. Thank God that the ordeal is over.

We played some jazz today for the first time in the cafe. It's a very tight setting. Really tight for space but because it isn't just on the way to the dining room the people that were there actually wanted to listen instead of just passing through to their meal. So we got a good response. And I must say the two new members of the orchestra are an absolute joy to play with. Particularly the piano player. He's an older guy from Argentina but man does he know his stuff. Our previous piano player was not a jazz pianist by any means so playing jazz with someone who knows what to do is very refreshing. I think I'm going to enjoy my last 5 weeks on board this ship. Sadly he isn't here to stay for my second contract. Hopefully we'll get someone equally good, or better. As a rhythmist, playing with someone who has great rhythm makes me explore even better rhythm. What a joy it is to play tonight. Some of the best fun I've had in a while.

Day 4

I just discovered a crack in my 20" cymbal today. My heart has completely sunk. That is a rather beautiful cymbal that I paid for. And now it's cracked. And it's not even 6 months! OUCH!

I don't know if it's cracked because of my excessive abuse or because of mishandling by the tech team when they reset the stage every night. I think starting tomorrow I'm going to tear down my own cymbals every night just to be sure. Ugh. This is not a good feeling. I hate it when I crack cymbals. Especially really nice ones.

Day 5

Today was quite a spectacular day.

Mid show during the entertainer I busted a hole clean through my bass drum head. Yeap that's right, I punched a big ass hole right through the toughest head on the kit. This is only the second time this has happened to me, but the very first this has happened during a gig. And the thing is that it wasn't my own gig because if it was I would've just stopped the show mid way and replaced it but it was a guest entertainer show and the songs just keep going. 

So round about half way through I bashed my beater and it lodged itself inside the head. At first I thought it was a simple problem with the pedal - I've had pedals that have gotten stuck before - but then I noticed that it was a much larger problem. Me being the professional that I am found ingenious ways to compensate. Sure it wasn't the same - our sound guy noticed a significant plunge in actual volume from the bass drum - but I made the best of it because as a famous person once said, 'The show must go on'. 

The funny part was that our entertainer noticed the plunge in the bottom end of the rhythm too and he turned around to ask me for more but I couldn't give him any more. I couldn't really tell him what was going on mid song so I just shrugged. 

Like I said, I've never had that happen to me mid show before. It was absolutely spectacular. The broken head is now hanging in my cabin as a symbol of awesomeness.

Day 6

Once again it's that magical sea day. They made us do walkdowns today which is still very demeaning in my point of view. It's like a parade of the monkeys. I'm sure if you're a guest on a cruise ship you've never seen it from that point of view. So let me take this opportunity to enlighten you.

What you see are a bunch of happy smiling crew members who walk around you, some perhaps giving you high fives, waving and clapping and then eventually ending up on stage so that you can say a big thank you to the crew. It's appreciating the crew isn't it?

Well, the crew have to take a bunch of their time from a usually busy day to spend 15 minutes parading themselves in front of you, forcing a smile and forcing a wave like a bunch of show monkeys, getting our picture taken from all angels only to receive a ripple of applause from whoever happened to be sunbathing at the time. Some of us have things to do, and some of us have sleep to catch up on. But we are forced to take a chunk out of the day and waste the time in front of guests who think we're having a blast doing this.

So there you go. If you're ever on a ship leave a comment saying that they should stop crew walkdowns because that's a bigger sign of appreciation from a guest by letting the crew not waste their time instead of a pitiful round of clapping.

This PSA was brought to you by reality.

Day 7

As part of the refurbishing of the ship they are installing new mattresses for all crew cabins. Well, I say 'they' but in reality we had to lug our own damn mattresses from our cabin out to where the stash was, lug the new one back like a clumsy ogre and then proceed to injure ourselves trying to put in a mattress that is clearly too big for the space allotted. I'm very willing to be stuck with my old one rather than do all that unnecessary labour. 

Also, the new mattresses are a lot thicker than the old ones. Now when you're at home with a ceiling that's at least a couple of feet above your head this is all nice and good but when you're in a bunk bed that has almost no headroom (top bunk no sit up remember?) a taller mattress isn't exactly a better one. Thankfully I'm on the bottom bunk now. Even so, if I sit upright my hair will brush against the top bunk. I can only imagine how much less space my roomie has now.

Torture. Disguised as a blessing. I never knew cruises were so evil.

Thoughts from the week?

I haven't been in much deep thought. I've been slightly bitter this week I suppose. Not in a really deep and depressing, but just slightly bitter that some good things have come to an end. 

But don't all good things come to an end? But that's only true because the best things haven't really started yet. Go chew on that thought for a while. 

See you next week.

Burn after reading. No seriously.

Day 1

It looked like rain today so I departed from Starbucks a little early. And then I learned that there was better internet at Subway.

I said this in twitter before and I'll say it again. The grass (internet) is always greener (faster) on the other side (of the mall).

Day 2

Two words. Sea day.

Day 3

Once again I've proven the theory that the internet is always better on the other side of the mall. I just hung out in the terminal in Barbados today. I was lucky enough to find a spot with free power and free internet. Slow, but free and I could sit there all day without being bothered.

See the one thing awesome about doing the ENTIRE caribbean run, meaning when I get back on the ship after my vacation I'll still be here, is that I feel no urgency to explore every island. Unlike the North American run I did before this, that was only 3 times at each spot. I'm going to be on these islands for the next 4 months or more.

No hurry. Everything's going to stay the same. The beaches aren't going away.

Day 4

Finally got to see St Lucia in the middle of a hectic day. It's again one of those fantastic non touristy pretentious places like Bridgetown. It's a town where life just happens.

People at local pubs watching cricket and football, tables outside clacking with the sound of a good game of dominoes (I don't know how the game works but it's not the game you know where you stack em and then push em down. That's just stupid), local vendors selling fruits and junk, small stores selling some local food (which I have to get at some point because I walked through a street with food stalls on both sides and my goodness did it smell amazing) and generally non tourists just bustling about. Life happens. And I like that because it gives me a chance to feel like I'm a part of the culture, not surrounded by stores trying to sell me duty free items.

I wish we had more time here but this is the one port that we play afternoon sets, morning rehearsals and night shows. Sad.

Day 5

The island we're visiting today is Antigua.

Well, the island everybody is visiting. I decided to stay on the ship today. Not because I had no time to get off, nor because I was bored of Antigua.

Sheer laziness.

I decided to sleep in. And then spend the afternoon playing video games on my computer before going to rehearsal.

It was a good day.

Day 6

Today was yet another fantastic day. Rehearsal was late in the afternoon, almost when the ship starts to leave the island. Which meant I got the same amount of time off the ship as a guest. Sure I don't spend it off the ship the entire time but knowing that I just had the time was enough to make it a good day.

Internet, mojitos, delicious shrimp. All in one day. 

Day 7

Tomorrow 3 members of the band are leaving. 

The upshot is I get a roomie. And I get the bottom bunk now. Which means I can sit up in bed. Oh that's right, I haven't yet shown you the space I live in. Don't worry, you'll see it eventually. But man the top bunk is so low I can't even sit up in bed. The problem is with two people in the room there isn't anywhere else to sit up. So I half sit. But now I get the bottom bunk which means sit uppableness is going to happen.

Also today is the first time I've ever ever had a guest buy us drinks. There were some guests who were hanging out with us at the martini bar after the show and they decided to be wonderful people and buy us all drinks. Absolutely fantastic.

I only dreamed it would happen, but it actually did. How cool is that? Anyway, see you in San Juan tomorrow, and I'll meet my new roomie.

There's also a chance I might not have a roomie. But let's not get our hopes up.

Day 8

Just saw the Christmas trees going up as I left the boat this morning. Pictures are in order I believe. Let the yuletide begin.

Thoughts from the week?

 These past 5 weeks have been pretty darn awesome. We had a stand in Bandmaster with us who is both a gentleman and an extremely professional boss. Not to say that our last one was horrible, but he was new to the gig of bandmaster so sometimes he did run around like a headless chicken. But these past 5 weeks have been a breath of fresh air, working with someone who knows the whole deal and knows how to get stuff done properly. I do hope I see that guy again someday and work with him at some point.

It's a short post this week, but I guess it's been rather uneventful. Maybe the new band members will shake things up a little.

Deck the halls with... stuff.

Week 19

Day 1

What an absolutely fantastic way to start the week. It's San Juan as you all know and I decided to make it a routine to get up at 7:45 today and try and get off the boat early. I chose to go to bed early instead of hang out with people and I got up early when I could've laid in bed longer only to find that I was slapped with Port Manning and couldn't get off the boat period.

Port manning. In San Juan. The one place where I can sit at starbucks and have proper internet connection and they decided to keep me on the damn ship.

Worse of all is I wasn't even informed about this. If I knew I was port manning I would've stayed up late. Maybe had a few drinks. Maybe even practiced till 4am because if I wasn't getting off the boat, I only had to start work at 5pm and THAT MEANS I COULD'VE SLEPT IN.

I felt no guilt whatsoever giving my supervisor a call in the early morning and straightening this matter out. I'll stay on the boat if I have port manning, but you sir have the responsibility to tell me. Have that free wake up call on me. You're welcome.

I'm already in a bad mood. This week is going to suck.

Day 2

There is a certain feeling of joy that cannot be explained and cannot be compared to anything else in the world - it's when you're in a situation that commonly leaves you unsatisfied and slightly pissed off when you retrieve your clothes from the laundry machine and they are not actually done in any way but then you get that one magical day where no one interrupted you and you had the whole machine to yourself to allow your clothes as much time as they need to dry completely and come out smelling fresh and crisp.

Today is one of those days. It's nice to be able to do my laundry and have a perfectly clean and dry set of clothes at the end of 2 hours. It doesn't happen often on this ship. But when it does, the joy is incomparable. 

But then again there's something to be said about ship life if joy comes from being able to do your laundry.

Day 3

Today we got to play some music inside the expensive bar called Michael's Club. It's the place where they sell the top notch whiskey and scotch and what not.

It felt right away like my kind of gig. Playing jazz in a small setting, with a minimalistic kit - bass, snare,hats and my precious ride. It's some of the most fun I've had in a long while. I hope we get to do this again.

Also I shuffled through the menu and realised that they serve grappa on this ship but at 30 dollars a glass. Ouch. Not sure I'm willing to spend that much money. But then again, the taste of grappa is something to behold. I've only ever had a smidgen of it once in LA and the deliciousness of it has left me wanting. Maybe on a special occasion. 

Day 4

I still am yet to visit the island of Dominica. Today seems to be the day where it's close to impossible to get off the ship. With an early rehearsal, an afternoon set and then two shows at night. 

The thing is that I'm in no urgency to visit said island. It's probably the same. Full of lush vegetation, lots of tourist shopping, and long lovely beaches. I could get that anywhere. Haha.

Day 5

Today the island we're visiting is Grenada. 

Today we play a show with another vocal impressionist. His show is a breeze. I love it when shows demand little of me but aren't totally boring to play. And he's going to be here next two cruises as well so I guess easy work for me.

Day 6

It's a sea day today and thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends. I'm thinking fondly of you today, especially my wonderful family in the Hollywood Church. You guys have impacted my life in ways you cannot imagine and I am forever changed. You guys keep striving for Jesus and loving the community with the love of Christ! 

I'm also thinking of dear friends and family back home. 

What exactly am I thankful for? Seriously? Every darn thing that God has given me. All the people He's put in my path and all the opportunities He's given me to be the best that I can be.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!

Day 7

The Christmas decorations are in. Expect the ship to look pretty in the coming few days!

We played the farewell show tonight. And the guest entertainer was completely drunk. I didn't believe it when the keyboard player told us that but then he came up to me and talked to me and man, you could get drunk just breathing his breath. It was horrible. 

I've never played a show where a headliner was that drunk before. A beer or two maybe but man this dude was reeking of alcohol. And he ended up messing up lines and lyrics and stuff it was hilarious. I was half expecting him to fall over on stage or something.

Interesting.

Day 8

So I normally update from St Thomas but I decided to get off early again in San Juan. 

This time I got up a little earlier than usual. The air conditioning went bust at like 3am or something so I got startled by my body physically melting at 4:30am. This will not be a good day.

See you next week.

Thoughts from the week?

It's 6 more cruises before I'm home and I'm already counting down the weeks in terms of different numbers. I've got to do the blasted boat drill another six more times, play 12 more guest entertainer shows, play 18 more of each production show and so on and so on. It's a very positive way of looking at things. 

But then I remember I've got another 6 months right after that. Oh well. It'll be interesting. I'll be like a veteran on the Summit. People almost never do double contracts on the same ship. But heck, people don't work as hard as me and earn as much as I do so ptah to them. Bwahahaha.

I'm beginning to see the light...

Week 18

Day 1

So I've learned that there's an small window of opportunity to get off the ship ridiculously early in San Juan. It's a price worth paying because it either costs me a cab ride to get into Old San Juan or an hour walk. By the time people normally get off the boat which around noon, that only gives me, minus the two hours walk there and back, two and a bit hours in Old San Juan. And that doesn't make it worth it at all.

So I decided to take my chances, sacrifice some sleep and get off the boat really early today. And it certainly paid off. I got into OSJ before some shops were even open at 9am. I headed straight with purpose and no distraction to that magical place called Starbucks where in the internet lives. 

And I spent a record setting five and half hours in there with one cup of coffee. Very well worth it I believe. I think that's going to be my weekly thing every time we dock. Get off the boat early, head to Starbucks. Hey, everyone has their routines right?

Day 2

Today the island we're visiting is nothing. It's a sea day.

Something intriguing happened during tonight's show. It seems we have a group of deaf people on board the cruise. Which raises several questions, one of which I just thought about while writing this.

See, the deaf people were at the show last night and all throughout the show there was a lady signing the show to them. I mean, it's a musical dance show so sure there are a lot of theatrical things to see and costumes to admire, but you're getting the words from a signer? And if you're deaf, and please pardon my ignorance, does music even mean anything? Do they regard it as poetry? What about some really bad lyrics? We had 'Staying Alive' in there by the Bee Gees and the lyrics go 'ah ah ah ah staying alive, staying alive'. How the heck do you sign that?

I guess it's kind of like subtitles, but don't you lose a large amount of the entertainment value when you can't hear music? This is weird.

Also the second issue is, if these people are totally deaf, how do they hear what goes on during the cruise via the announcements? Do they have to have their signer with them at all times just in case an emergency happens? What if they are in the bathroom or something? 

Now I'm curious about the comedian tomorrow night. Is there going to be a signer making the jokes? I'm going to go watch this and research.

Day 3

The island we're visiting today is Barbados.

Barbados is actually one of the bigger islands that we visit. And it is loaded with lots and lots of beach. I think I'm going to take the opportunity next time we're here to see how far I can get walking along the beach. St Croix had some fantastic beach to walk on in the sense that it was a pretty long stretch. 

But all I did today was attempt to get some internet. There was free internet at the port, but sadly it was as slow and pitiful as ever. How disappointing.

Day 4

Today the island we're visiting is St Lucia.

Sadly today is the same day that we have a full schedule once again. But even so there was a small window of time during lunch for me to get off and explore the island but that was destroyed by an unnecessarily long boat drill. We had a 'ship to shore' drill today where all crew in muster stations had to get off the ship. I'm not entirely sure what for but from my perspective it seemed like an equipment check and to be sure that everyone assigned to those stations knew their job and what they needed to be holding in their hands. Not sure why we had to do this off the ship which is why I still don't quite understand why we did it.

With a longer drill came a late rehearsal which then caused a late lunch which ate up my small window of time to get off the boat. So I guess I won't be seeing St Lucia after all. Curses.

Day 5

Today the island we're visiting is Antigua.

After my last time in Antigua and the fiasco with second rate pianist and his drawn out and absurdly long and pointless rehearsals, my resolve to see the island this week was finally rewarded.

The town we docked in, St John, not to be confused with the island of St John, and the many other St places in this part of the world, was actually closer to that of Bridgetown than any other towns. It's a town, not a tourist shopping center, which I love. There are local people around doing local people things. Who knows, I might just be able to score some local street food the next time I'm here.

My walk eventually took me to the beach. Once again the beach was stunning. And I made two observations today.

Firstly, I've become quite a beach connoisseur after my expedition to several of the best beaches in the world. And I've decided, for myself, what defines a good beach.  Firstly a good beach is a flat beach. Some beaches have really steep sands and so the stretch of walkable space is very narrow. But the long flat ones are the nicest because you have ample space to sit/lie/roll around in the sand without being attacked by water too soon. Also it actually makes the beach look that much more amazing when there are long sandy stretches before the water. Secondly a good beach must not be riddled with small outcroppings of corals and weeds. And there must not be too many leafy trees close by. This is so that there is very little debris along the beach. Sometimes we walk along the beach and see all those blackened twigs and seaweed washed up and while it is all natural, it looks like dirt and is very unappealing. Also it's not very nice to step on. Thirdly, a good beach must have fine sand. The finer the sand the better the beach. The rougher the sand the less comfy it is to walk on. A smooth sand beach is more appealing than a rough one regardless of the water condition. It's like a first impression. The first impression of a beach is the feeling of the sand beneath your feet. 

I'll come up with more eventually. 

My second observation is a scientific one. If you remember my post about the mysterious blue waters in St Maarten. Well I've realised what makes it so blue. It's because of the sand. If a beach has really really fine sand, it turns the shade of the water closest to the beach a slightly murkier shade of blue. The water is still crystal clear when you look into it but the colour is different because of the small sand particles swirling in it. But as I noticed the sand in St Maarten was really coarse, this meant that very little sand particles end up in the mix and so the water looks a lot bluer than others. This is just a hypothesis and an observation. If you're a scientist and have a proper explanation, do kindly keep it to yourself. Cheers.

Also today marks the day that I begin my exploration of the waters. So far, my visits to the caribbean have been solely dry expeditions - expeditions for sights and food. Now that I've settled in a little more, the time has come to start relaxing and simply enjoying the beach. And today I finally got my first taste of caribbean waters. It was very pleasant. It's been a very very long while since I've been swimming so it was very nice to finally get in the water again. I look forward to more beach excursions in the future.

Day 6

Today we're back in St Maarten. Apparently it's known as 'the friendly island'. I haven't yet decided if I'm going to attempt the bike trails at some point. My relentless idiocy will obviously say just do it but this time I'm having second thoughts because it's not a recreational day. I have to work that very night as I did tonight and I wonder if total exhaustion is a good state to be in for two hour long shows. Probably not.

At least there's a decent internet connection here. 

I attempted to record the show tonight. I figure I should also show you guys what my job requires me to play. Good ol mac book doing recordings for me again. This faithful thing is about to self destruct. The battery is starting to deform and I don't think it'll live much longer. Also, software is starting to outrun me. I need an upgrade soon. 

Day 7

Back in St Thomas today. Had to do some shopping for cleaning materials.

I like it when there are days where I basically have the entire day off the boat like a guest. Some days I have to be on the ship a fair amount of time before it actually sets sail because I have a rehearsal scheduled earlier or something. But today is one of those days that I only have a rehearsal at about the same time the boat begins to leave. It's cool. This means I can get off early during the day and spend the full amount of time off the boat in port.

And plant my butt down in some restaurant and hog the internet for 6 hours.

Yes life is good.

I will visit the beaches in St Thomas at some point. And there's a skyride here that takes me to the top of the hill and it has a great view of the island. I'll do that next time.

Cheers.

Thoughts from the week? 

I think my roomie has no real clue what to do with himself whenever we have time on the ship. Strangely he rarely takes the time to get off the ship but I find that he really doesn't know what to do on the ship either. Which could explain his constant television watching. Sadly the shows that we get on the boat are either boring or constantly repeated. Yet he does find them constantly entertaining. And I think I don't help very much as his buddy because I've gotten so used to filling my time with stuff I do on my own I don't think I inspire him at all. So what ends up happening is me on my computer entertaining myself with stuff on my computer that I can do like writing, lego building, music, etc, while I observe him in the room being rather aimless. It's an interesting observation.

I think I made a wise and fantastic decision to join a cruise ship immediately after getting out of college and college living. It's actually a great transition because it's a step up from college living but a step down from comfortable living at home.

Let me explain.

You see, college life is probably the roughest period in life ever. I'm on my own, away from family and friends, with almost no money, having to do all my chores myself or pay directly and severely with the consequences, cook my own food, pay my own bills, little time for luxury, living with roommates which is always tough regardless of how nice they are, and so on and so on.

Living at home on the other hand is on the other end of the scale. Mooching off my parents for food and lodging, access to delicious local food, familiarity, easy commutes to endless locations for leisure, endless opportunity for said leisure, lots of luxury time, home cooked meals, no roomies to annoy or be annoyed by, and the company of loving people etc.

Being on the ship certainly lacks many of the luxuries of home but compared to college living it is a huge step up. I don't have to cook or clean, nor do any chores. Sure I live in what must be the smallest legal space one can provide that isn't a prison cell and the food isn't the best in the world (especially in the staff mess) but you see what I mean by it being a good and wise transitional choice?

Looking back now I'm glad I wasn't spoiled too much by my luxurious time back home before coming out here because if I did, I think I'd be a much unhappier and more bitter person on the ship. You can't complain about bad conditions as long as their better than the ones you were previously in. You can quote me on that.

Caribbean. Mon. I mean, lah.

I decided to update the blog from St Thomas a day early than my usual update from home port. After the business of getting off in San Juan late, I've decided to not wait to update my blog and post it from more reliable internet here in St Thomas. Cheers. Expect the weekly update to come from here on Friday's now.

BADABAM BADABOOM.

Week 17

Day 1

I just learned today that we're actually sailing to different islands this time. So it swaps around every other week. That's kinda cool.

After the whole hoohah with the late gangway and not getting off the boat I get the feeling that it's going to be a regular affair. It's actually worse than when we were in Bayonne. We actually set sail later too. We only sail at 8:30pm  But because of a certain law that states that the boat drill at the start of every cruise has to be before the first dinner seating, it means all aboard at 4:30pm. So technically we get less time off the boat than when we were in Jersey. And then once I get on the boat it's a whole bunch of waiting on board without anything to do. And since we only sail late there's only one opening show as opposed to the ordinary 2. 

I guess that's the least enjoyable part of docking in San Juan. Oh well.

Day 2

So now we end up in the island of St Croix. I got off pretty early and discovered what must be one of those unspectacularly fantastic places. 

Let me explain.

It's like the island that came in fourth in the island olympics. It's not a podium finish and it gets overlooked because of that. But coming in fourth is still pretty darn spectacular. Sure the top three are even better but fourth is still quite fantastic. But this is a good thing because the place is not flooded with people. It also means that the place is not loaded with ridiculously expensive things and shopping. Majority of the people are only there for a day - the cruise tourists haha.

There was a stretch of beach right next to where we docked. Not the most spectacular beach I've been to (and I now have quite a high level of comparison) but again, it's still very beautiful. I started walking along the beach and man does the beach stretch on forever. It's the longest stretch of beach I've ever been on. There was a short stretch that was private property but I simply walked around it and continued my journey. I must've walked for several miles, slippers off and feet covered in the cool water. Quite a fantastic place to be. 

I like it.

And my neck is now a severely different colour from my body.

Tomorrow it's another island. Yay.

Day 3

Today the island we're visiting is called St Kitts. 

What can I say? More beach. More island weather. More mountains and wildlife. Pretty much every island is similar. Oh, and more slow internet.

Cheers caribbean.

But it was ridiculously hot today so we went to the nearby casino and got internet. I wonder how many crew get their gambling fix in the caribbean since they can't gamble on the ship. Every caribbean island seems to have a casino. And I've seen some crew members getting their game on in some of them. I wonder if it's a common thing for crew to lose their wages in these parts. Interesting.

Sadly for them, I was only there for the free internet. Better luck next time you money sucking casinos. 

Day 4

Today the island we're visiting is called Dominica.

No time to get off today. Had a weird training thing to go to in the morning. Apparently in a months time the coast guard is coming on the ship to inspect the safety aspects of the ship and what not. So to make sure that we've got our safety information together we had to get up early in the morning, head to the lifeboat and get questioned randomly by the safety officers. Think of it as a trial exam if you will.

I found it highly unnecessary. 

When the coast guard does come on, however, I will simply hide in my cabin to avoid being spontaneously questioned. And I am not the first person who has had this brilliant idea. Our production manager recommends the same thing. 

And we had to play an afternoon set today. That meant no seeing Dominica. Oh well. I guess there's always next time. And next time. And next time. I'll be here till April because when I come back for my second contract, we'll still be in the caribbean.

Whoop dee doo. Tomorrow it's Hi to second rate pianist again. The second of three weeks. I'll be glad when his stint is over.

Day 5

Crew BBQ! 

Today the island we're visiting is Grenada. I love it when there's free internet at the port. I guess I'll explore Grenada next time around.

Day 6

Sea day today. And without enough sleep. You'll find out why.

Day 7

The island we're visiting today is the familiar face of St Thomas. It's the one island that doesn't change during this two week alternate caribbean cruising. It's good to know that there's at least one place that keeps me interneted (see I've transformed it into a verb and all variations of it) when I need it.

I haven't checked out the beach in St Thomas though. Nor majority of the island. We'll see in weeks to come.

Thoughts from the week?

The caribbean islands are spectacular. But I've talked to some of the people who've done caribbean runs before and they tell me that after a while (or not even a while) you lose the need and urge to get off and explore every port because all the islands are pretty much the same thing - it's all beach and shopping and not much else. Well this is only my second week of caribbean runs and I'm sort of feeling that already. Granted the beach is gorgeous but in the back of mind, if I miss a particular island, it's not that big a deal because there's plenty more where that came from.

Here's a random yet profound thought. Intelligence and immaturity make for a dangerous combination. I should know. I believe I had the same combination some time ago. Let us hope the immaturity bit has toned down. Immaturity squanders intelligence. The intelligence seeks to justify the immaturity. It's a scary combination. I say this because there are people on this boat who have this dangerous combination. And they make tough company.

I'm guessing my roomie has never had a roomie before. I don't think he understands the concept of sharing a space with someone else. There is an obvious need to be discreet. I've lost sleep because of ridiculous noise several times. I've never been able to take a nap because of my previous mention of the documentary channel. He doesn't quite know how to take a hint that I'm a sleep. I guess the closed curtains and absolute silence aren't enough. One morning he decided to shave while I was obviously asleep. The obnoxious loud smacking of the shaver on sink drove me to write this thought. Sometimes I'm not sure if he's just plain oblivious to the situation or he has no understanding of the word quiet. 

It almost feels like I'm back in the realm of Breakfast Man (see KJ's American Adventure for breakfast man reference).

Anyway, I think I should get back into bike riding. I should make it a habit to rent the bike from crew welfare and ride around the caribbean. It seems like a more reasonable way to explore the islands rather than pay for taxis. 

Drummer of the Caribbean, the curse of the Soca music.

SORRY FOR LATE UPDATE. DID NOT GET INTERNETZ in SAN JUAN.

Week 16

Welcome to the caribbean!

Day 1

I continue from last week's post in San Juan. There were some things that I didn't mention.

I was complaining in Quebec that everything was in French. Now I have a similar problem. In San Juan, everything is in Spanish. I knew I should've picked up some spanish while I was in Los Angeles. Guess it's too late now.

Also, something fantastic happened today. I was standing outside, minding my own business when suddenly a bird shat on my hat. 

That's the end of that story. 

Day 2

It's the one and only sea day on this 7 day cruise run. We're in port every other day but today is a sea day.

Today also I received a terrifying reminder that second rate pianist is back. And he's back for 3 whole weeks. Which means playing his show a grand total of 9 times. 1 rehearsal, 2 shows every single week. This is going to be quite discomforting.

Talked at length with the Band master today (who's actually filling in for the previous guy who is now on vacation) about his experiences on ships. Gotta say, there's quite a lot of bullshit that goes on in a corporate business like this. But then again, there's bullshit going on in every corporate business. Makes me wonder if I'll do this for very long.

Day 3

Today it's the wonderful magical island of Barbados. Bridgetown isn't far from where we docked so I decided to walk around and catch the magic of the caribbean.

Gotta say, I love the vibe of Bridgetown. It's one of those places that don't patronize tourists as much as other places. When I was in Quebec, I mentioned that the whole port town is a tourist town. It's clean, nobody actually lives there, all the food is overpriced and every shop sells souvenirs. 

Bridgetown on the other hand is just a town. It's a place where people live. Barbados happens in Bridgetown. There's markets selling fresh produce, there's hawkers selling pirated DVDs, there's bustling families going about their daily business, there's kids going to school, there's insane traffic - all of which point toward a town that's really just a town, not a pretentious tourist destination. 

And I like that.

Barbados has also a huge Christian influence. There's a large number of Christian book stores around, you can hear Christian music playing from some stores, and there are a great big number of churches around.

Oh and the Soca. Gotta love the soca. Everywhere you go there's Soca versions of music. Soca and calypso. I've just heard a medley of ridiculous Soca hymns and while it makes me happy, I do get the feeling that I will soon die from Soca poisoning. Those of you who have no idea what Soca is or how it sounds like, do yourselves a favour and go listen to some. And enter my world which is now the Caribbean Islands.

There are some gorgeous beaches here as well. Not as stunning as some I've seen in Bermuda, but stunning nonetheless. Any beach that isn't riddled with specks of material in any colour but 'sand' captures the eye immediately. It's just a white canvas that meets the blue canvas. It's delightful. Walked along the beach today and finished up with a local Rum drink which was delicious. The Bartender would not tell me what he put in it. The cheeky bugger.

And today is Halloween. Unfortunately for my American and European friends, I have already decided to not partake in the festivities. I want to get up bright and early tomorrow to explore my next caribbean island. And quite frankly after my Los Angeles experience of Halloween, I'm not sure I want to be associated with this incomprehensible holiday.

Day 4

Ok so I lied. I didn't join the ridiculous party but I was up pretty late.

Never have a large dose of coffee right before a show and/or rehearsal. I think it's the most accurate way to measure the affects of caffeine on the body. I had a metronome going in my ear and after that decidedly big cup of coffee everything in my ear felt slow to me. My system wanted to play everything faster than usual. 

Perhaps a metronome is the best way to tell how much caffeine you've ingested and how much of it is actually affecting you. Sometimes the effects are so small that you don't realise it until you measure it with a metronome.

It's nice to know that on the day you choose to not go off the ship it rains heavily outside. It's nice to know that I didn't force myself off the boat especially being really exhausted after last night only to plant myself smack in the middle of a rain storm. St Lucia will have to wait till next week.

Tomorrow is going to be a bad day. We're in Antigua but I think there's not going to be time to explore it because second rate pianist needs his rehearsal at 1pm. And then we're doing a set in after that. So that takes away the entire afternoon. Not sure I'm willing to get up that early to explore Antigua. I guess she'll have to wait till next week too.

Day 5

ANTIGUA! 

I know nothing about the place. 

I set my alarm early enough to explore the place but I decided against it because it was going to be a long day and I wasn't going to show up exhausted from walking around the entire day.

So it wasn't as bad a day as I thought. Second rate pianist was his usual weird and anal self and rehearsal stretched out, expectedly. The strange thing is that once I know to expect this from him, it doesn't seem so bad anymore. I actually found myself laughing at his little quirks and complaints all throughout rehearsal. This is going to be a mood I will adopt in future because SRP is going to be here for the next two cruises as well.

His show is actually really stupid and easy. It's just the rehearsals that are annoying. Oh well, what can you do. I guess this serves only to build my professionalism.

Antigua next week. I hope.

Day 6

Today we get to the gorgeous St Maarten. It's yet another caribbean island. So that means more beach. 

Before I get to that, I shall chronicle my journey. 

We docked in the island right next to another ship - a ship from the mother company, Royal Caribbean, called the Allure of the Seas. 

OH MY BEANS IS IT MASSIVE.

I thought the ship I was on was pretty darn big already, but this thing is HUMONGOUS. It's REDONKULOUSly big. It's almost twice the width of the Summit. I got off and was immediately stunned by the monstrosity parked beside us. 

And solely because of that, I've made a mental note that if I ever decide to take up another contract after my first two, I will request for nothing short of a monstrous ship like that one. My goodness it is humongous. HUMONGOUS. HOMONGUDICULOUS!

Ok moving on.

I walked into the town of Phillipsburg (not 100% sure of the spelling here) today. I pretty much explored the entire town. FIrstly the beach right at the town, called Great Bay, isn't very great. It's actually quite bad in comparison with the other ones I've been to so far. Well, Bermuda and Barbados I guess. Those two were such beautiful beaches with long extensive beaches that stretched out into the sea and sand so fine it blew up as dust in the wind. The beach here was horrible. The sand was rough and coarse, the beach was short and steep and some of it wasn't even very clean. It reminded me of some of the poorly maintained beaches back home. Fortunately I do have many other options to choose from, being in the caribbean and all. The only redeeming factor of the beach here is that the water is gorgeous. It's got this really light blue in colour that I cannot explain. The waters in Bermuda were three different shades of blue depending on the depth and the coral reefs, but this place is probably shallow and totally coral free for miles and miles because the light blue stretches on as far as the eye can see. It's so light that it matches the colour of the sky. 

Secondly, THIS TOWN IS SHOPPING MADNESS.

Yes. Shopping. Jewelry, cameras, clothes, shoes, watches, liquor, cigars, phones, electronics...everything you could dream of. It's a shoppers paradise. I have seen nothing in comparison even in shopaholic countries. Well, I haven't been to the mecca of shopaholics but man this place is insane. The entire town of Phillipsburg is devoted to one thing and one thing alone - getting money from tourists.

But it's also a regular ol' caribbean town like Bridgetown because right smack in the middle of the tourist flytrap are schools and churches and residential homes. It's kind of weird.

I had a local type of rum here called the Guavaberry Rum. I didn't care too much for it. It's a little bit too fruity and sweet for my tastes. I'll stick to the ordinary Bacardi thanks.

I did discover one fantastic thing to do while I'm here. There are some really gorgeous mountain biking trails to do. The problem is that they are pretty far from where we dock and there are quite some hills to traverse. I guess I'll be hitting the gym on the bike machines every day now until we return to this place so that I can get the full experience of the mountain biking trail. It looks amazing and I think it's going to be an absolutely fantastic way to experience St Maarten. I hope the next time I'm here, my schedule frees me enough to do these trails. And I hope I'm fit enough to do them. But people who know me and my relentless idiocy (like climbing Yosemite, biking from Hollywood to Santa Monica pier) will know that my lack of fitness is not going to stop me. The only thing that will is my lack of time due to my lack of fitness. We shall see.

Day 7 

Back in St Thomas. 

One of my missions around the caribbean is to eat local food. And I got my chance today.

The adventurous foodie in me decided to try the taste of conch today. Yes it's that wonderful shell that everyone loves, but I decided to eat the beast that resides within. It is unlike any seafood I've ever eaten. It's very robust and meaty in texture, tougher than scallops or lobster. But the taste is closer to that of clams. But not as strong as some of the smaller clams or cockles. It's incredible. Now I can say that I've had true local caribbean food. You ain't getting conch anywhere else in the world. Also served together with it was a local fungi mashed into my potatoes. Didn't care for it too much. Not that big of a taste. 

The restaurant was called Gladys' and they made their own hot sauce. It is supposedly the number 1 hot sauce in the world. And I agree. That stuff is amazing.

Next up is shark. I wonder where I can find some.

Day 8

Docked in San Juan today but I didn't get off the ship. With all the delays it was past noon before anyone got off. And with the journey I have to town it wasn't worth it going out there. I guess this means that my usual weekly update is delayed this week. See you in some other caribbean island. This whole business of getting in late at the home port is quite irritating. Apparently there's a window where you can get off at 7:45am. I think I'll have to do that next time.

Thoughts from the week?

I am already disliking the hot weather. I love walking around as a means to exploring new places, but walking around in this weather simply means lots and lots of sweaty clothes. Which means bigger and more regular laundry loads. The repercussions are extraordinary.

It reminds me of home. And I for one have never enjoyed the weather at home.

Some time during the week, I forget when, one of the Acapella singers on board joined me for coffee in the mess and produced a pile of Christmas music. And from what I've heard, Christmas on a boat begins as soon as the retail season. Which is soon. Christmas on a cruise is starting to sound both interesting and terrifying. Perhaps interesting and fun at first - I love the Christmas season and all as some of you might now from my previous endeavours in Hollywood - but then terrifying when I think about how long I will be playing the same Christmas music. It's almost two months of Christmas carols, and some Christmas shows I presume from guest entertainers. 

Missing friends and family for Christmas for a third year in a row. When I get home perhaps we will have a delayed celebration just for me. Hey if the drinks and food are on me, who's to decline my invitation?