The waters overnight were relatively calm as we plied our way north along the west coast of the Philippine Islands. But that would change about 2:15pm in the afternoon. But I'm getting ahead of my story.
Sleeping in a regular window stateroom wth the curtains not drawn at night has the important effect of causing an early wake up due to the sunlight streaming in the large window. Given that it was a sea day, it was a nice lazy sort of day. After breakfast, Jeremy gave another excellent and fact filled summary of the next two ports of call: Keelung (Taipei) & Manila. He's a wealth of information and if you ever have him on a cruise you are on, DON'T miss his presentations. Dr. Kam followed with his first lecture on Chinese history. He elected to skip his dynasty presentation and went immediately to the era from 1921 to almost current times. It was excellent also.
After lunch, Phil gave a brief introduction to Mandarin with a few typical phrases like Hello, Goodbye, and the like. He's another presenter to not miss for his cultural insights and helpfulness. The Ask the Captain session followed and it was during his presentation tha the seas became rougher with a bit more chop. When I looked at my map, I could see that we left the protection of the Philippine Islands, and we were now in the open seas. The ship had a bit of a pitch to it (pitch is the sensation of the bow moving up and down) and pitch cannot be controlled by the stabilizers. They are only effective for dampening rolling action (side to side motion).
Phil then gave another presentation. This one was on Chopsticks: History, types, and how to use them. He even had enough chopsticks for his audience along with various shaped objects for people to practice on. It was a good presentation.
At 5pm, once again I led the Interdenominational Service with over 30 in attendance. Since several of the participants had 5:30pm dinner plans, I held the length of the service to 1/2 hour. Easter is only 2 weeks away and I don't know if HAL is putting a pastor on board for that segment. If not, I'll be prepared to lead it.
We enjoyed a light dinner in the LIDO. Roast turkey and cranberry sauce along with carrots and brussel sprouts made for a nice dinner. Erik and Mary Anne joined us after dinner and we sat and chatted about a number of things and made plans to have dinner together before the cruise ends. They're going all the way to Vancouver. We'll also be on another cruise with them next year.
The evening entertainment was Annie Frances, a VERY talented Australian singer we've enjoyed on a number of previous cruises. She covered number 1 hits from the 1970's. She was so good that I saw both of her shows while my wife only saw the later show as she watched the movie, Walk With Me which was about Buddhist monks.
Tomorrow will be our first visit to Taiwan and we're looking forward to it. Stay tuned for what we discover in this new port.
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