Tokyo: Anecdotes and Musings

Ah, Tokyo.

More than two weeks ago, I flew to this city as I was selected by my university to do an exchange program with Bunka Gakuen University and an internship with a Japanese fashion company. Of course, I was excited when they informed me that I was among the 8 people selected for the program!

In true Jana fashion, anecdotal mishaps are always expected. I rarely get a smooth sailing trip. Something funny, stupid or annoying happens, which creates good memories and great stories, I will admit. And sometimes, just when I thought, "Yeah, I think we're okay," something happens the next second, right on cue. Hahaha! Nothing horrifying or traumatic though, thank God! I intend to keep it that way. Universe, do you hear me? Let's keep it that way, okay?

First up in my anecdote: train ride from Narita airport to Shinjuku
So I bought a ticket for the NEX train. I ran to the platform when I noticed I only had a minute to get on it. I dashed inside the first carriage door I spotted. As I rolled my luggage inside and spotted a vacant space to place it, I overheard a lady behind me talking about seat numbers. I didn't know that I should be aware of seat numbers! I looked at my ticket. Yes, there is a date and some extra numbers. I Google Translated it to check which numbers are which. The other one is the seat number. I looked for that seat and sat on it. The other number is the carriage number. Oh, shit. I could be in the wrong carriage. But how will I know which carriage am I? I opened up Google and double-checked how to read the ticket, in case Google Translate is wrong (yeah, right) or I (oh, for sure!) read it wrongly. Eventually, I realised the carriage number is flashed on the TV screen onboard. Good to know that I was actually in the right carriage as per my ticket! Okay, I can relax now. I'm good. When we got to Tokyo station, we had to stop for a few minutes because the train was to separate. I tried to analyse the photo flashed on the screen. I panicked because as I understood it, the carriage I was in will stay behind at the station. Oh, hell no! But no one seems to be moving in the carriage that I was in so I convinced myself that I'm really overthinking this train situation. Then, the carriage moved, alleluia. I put my headphones on and sat peacefully in the train.

Anecdote 2: My battery died
I got off at Shinjuku station. I was supposed to meet one of the professors from Bunka and he will bring me to my accommodation. I texted him via Whatsapp when I got out of the station. I was about to send him a photo of where I was standing BUT MY BATTERY DIED. OH, HELL NO SHIT SHIT SHIT WTF. Okay, hold up. I know what you're thinking. Fact: No, I am not the type of person who carries a powerbank. Don't judge me. I am old school. I carry an actual charger. Which, unfortunately for me, was inside my luggage at that time. No, I did not and will not open my luggage in the middle of Shinjuku station. I would rather cry. Hahaha! I tried to ask around where the nearest payphone is. I saw one at the airport train station so I figured every station has it. However, no one could understand me. One pointed me to a location I did not get at all. I was almost in tears when I realised I have my iPad with me. Lightbulb moment: I could email him instead! And hope that he will see my email straight away. Which he did, about 15 minutes after I sent it. Okay, progress. I waited for 15 more minutes and called my brother via Messenger (who was already asleep because I completely forgot I was in a different timezone. Haha!). Before I could even relay to him what happened and what I needed him to do (which was to contact this professor for me through his Whatsapp), the professor came up to me. It was our first time meeting and I almost hugged him out of sheer relief and joy. I felt so embarrassed putting him through a stressful night that I kept apologising. It was an intense night for both of us.

Anecdote 3: Completely forgot to take off my shoes!
When we got to the dormitory, the professor and the manager showed me where my room is. I pushed my luggage into the room and I completely forgot to take off my shoes. Geez, Louise! I took one step beyond the area where we should leave the shoes and they called me out (in a very nice way since they are Japanese and they are very nice). I'm Asian, I should know that! And I know, it was embarrassing! Then they toured me around the dormitory and showed me where the nearest bus stop is going to uni and at my internship place.

It was pretty late when we bid goodbye to each other. I only had an hour to spare before my curfew (Yes, I had a curfew because it's a dormitory and I am a college kid. Haha!) to grab dinner. Luckily, Lawson is literally beside the dormitory. Yassssss! I have abused the convenience stores during my stay in Tokyo. I think I am more of a Lawson loyalist (Haha!), not just out of convenience because of its proximity, but I find they have better food, too.

Anecdote 4 (and 5, 6, 7... 40! HAHAHA!): Got lost
Need to say more??? Wrong turns on the road or at the station, wrong train, wrong stop, wrong bus. Name it, I did it.

The next day was my orientation day at Bunka and I was late because, you guessed it correctly, I got lost. So much for first impressions! Another embarrassing moment, yes. There's more, wait for it.

Anecdote 41: Japanese Mass
Even when I'm traveling, I always try to attend Mass on Sundays. Even if it means Masses in languages I do not speak or understand. :) The lovely grandma who sat beside me during the Mass wondered why I wasn't touching the songbook and singing my heart out to Jesus. So much so, being the cute grandma that she is, she grabbed the book, opened it and laid it out in front of me, thinking I would get the message. I got the message, grandma. Clearly. Hahaha! But I didn't do anything. Her next step was not subtle. She grabbed the book and tried to hand it to me and made a gesture suggesting that I should sing. I responded politely that I do not know how to speak or read Japanese, which I really hoped she understood. Ah, that grandma was really cute.

Okay, if you're easily grossed out by TMI and, I don't know, medical stuff (?), stop scrolling! Or scroll down to the end. 

Anecdote 42: Fainting and vomiting inside the plane
Scene-stealer in the house! HAHAHA!
Okay, this is the second fainting episode and third vomiting episode (happens consecutively, too. YAAAYYY.) during a flight. It happens during that split second of semi-awake/semi-asleep moment when you just want to change your position (Fortunately for me and my dignity, it happens when the plane lights are already off and almost everyone's already asleep). I'm guessing it could be orthostatic hypotension, plane food, plane temperature and/or cabin pressure. With this recent incident, I'm thinking maybe it was caused by dehydration and starvation? I was hungry when I boarded the plane and maybe I ate too fast when they served the food? Also, I had my period at that very moment, simultaneously. When they gave me oxygen and asked me to lie down on the empty seats in the middle section of the plane, I felt the cramps (HAHA! TMI! SORRY!). Great. Really? Now? Couldn't you wait until I got home? I waited for you last week and you didn't come, btw! So that's another reason, too. Fainting is kind of my thing. My family, some workmates and most especially, my friends (who I am usually with when it happens) have all witnessed my gracious downfall every now and then. Haha! The flight attendant asked me if I have motion sickness. I said, I didn't. I didn't think I have motion sickness because this didn't happen when I was on a cruise nor when I flew to the US and Europe, which were long haul flights. I also don't throw up or pass out on road trips. Anyway, my point is, I need to get myself checked. Maybe there are other reasons why I experience this. Then determine what precautionary steps I should take so that this will never happen again.

And that is it. The end of my funny and embarrassing stories! However, this trip did more than just provide me with funny stories to tell and new experiences. It was a trip I did not even realise I needed. A timeout. For myself. From the monotony. Ironically, I found the quiet and the need to just wander aimlessly in that busy city, in the midst of chaos at Shibuya Crossing, their overwhelming (but efficient!) transportation system and in between meals of amazing ramen, tonkatsu, sushi and more. It did not occur to me that I was burned out until my internship ended and I had to fly out the next day. I cried the moment I closed the door of the studio where I interned. I was crying as I walked to the station and while I was inside the train. I was able to somehow keep it together by not ugly crying in public but the tears just kept falling down. I cried in the middle of dinner with the other girls who were also in the program. When I got back to the dormitory, I just couldn't contain it any longer. I needed to let it all out. I sent a group message to four of my closest friends if I can talk to anyone of them and one of them responded and called me straight away. I picked up the call and just bawled my eyes out and let those feelings out (Shoutout to Lee! Thank you for painstakingly watching me ugly cry and for patiently listening and distracting me with stories in between). I did not want to go home at that time. I especially did not want to go back to work. Among the several trips I had done, it was my first time feeling that dread. Usually, I am just sad to leave but I was also looking forward to going back to my "reality." But that night? Man, I was just very sad. I thought, people were more than lovely and nice in Tokyo and I was doing what I want there so why the hell would I go back, right? On the other hand, I could have been just plainly hormonal, overwhelmed and tired. But that does not mean my feelings at that time were less valid. I will not deny that this trip did something to me, emotionally and mentally. It, as corny as this sounds, rejuvenated me. It enlightened me. It made me realise that I need to check in with myself from time to time and not just rely on my Netflix and my playlists to keep me sane. I need to go back to taking care of myself. I obviously neglected it as I was caught up with work, school, adult things that will never stop for anyone and more random things that life throws in between all of them.

That is the main goal for this new year (and for the rest of the coming years): Me being holistically healthy. My health above everything else.

You did that to me, Tokyo. Thank you.

Travel Journal: First Day in California

Let's look back to 6 months ago, shall we?

My brother and I flew to Sacramento to spend Christmas and New Year with my aunt and cousin last December. We left Sydney on December 8 and arrived on the same date in Sacramento -- longest December 8 of my life. Literally and figuratively. As soon as we got through immigration, we ran to our boarding gate and arrived just in time for boarding. It was chaotic at the airport. I knew it was that time of the year but I didn't think it would be that crazy already.

From Sydney, we stopped over in Manila for about 4 hours. Our parents and brother met us at the airport. We looked forward to eating in Jollibee. Luckily, there is a Jollibee stall at the airport terminal we were at. We left our summer clothes with them as we will still spend a few more days in Manila after our West Coast trip before heading back to Sydney.

From Manila, we stopped over in Los Angeles. That airport is huge and confusing! We arrived in LA at around 7 or 8 pm, LA time. We were travelling for, more or less, 27 hours already, including stopovers. We were so tired. We walked a fair bit to find where the terminal for Delta Airlines was for our connecting flight to Sacramento. We were hungry and my brother was dying to have coffee. Since we had enough time before boarding our next and last (At that time, I fully understood what Land Down Under totally meant!) flight for that day, we sat down in a coffee shop and ate the Dunkin Donut munchkins our family bought us when we were Manila. All we did were sleep, eat, sit and watch movies during the seemingly endless plane rides to the point that doing so became super tiring, too. Hahaha! Fortunately for me, I have no issues with sleeping. Jet lag does not exist in my system. I can sleep anywhere and quickly. I also wore my trusted compression leggings, which really helped because I was mostly asleep and sitting down during the flights. I had cough and colds a few days prior to flying. I was worried that either I would get really sick during the long flight or I would make other people sick. So I loaded myself some Rikodeine, antibiotics (as per my GP's advice, of course) and double dosed on Vitamin C. On the day of our flight, I had no colds and I wasn't coughing, yay.

We finally arrived in Sacramento around 10 or 11 pm, I think. We surely looked like shit but whatever. Hahaha! Even though I changed clothes in between stopovers, I was dying to take my clothes off, hit the shower, scrub all the dirt in my body and sleep lying down. I felt like I haven't taken a shower in 2 days! Yikes. Anyway, I liked the Sacramento airport. I even liked that there weren't a lot of people because it's almost midnight. Since my aunt just had surgery, she said that a family friend and my cousin will be the ones who would pick us up. She tried to surprise us but she wasn't sure if she was going to surprise the right people because she hadn't seen us in flesh for quite a long time. She actually almost missed us if her friend hadn't pointed us to her! It was a lovely mini-reunion. We haven't seen our aunt since she left the Philippines in 2006. It was also our first time to meet our cousin.

We stopped over at McDonald's first before heading to our aunt's house, which was the most final destination of the day. I wasn't hungry but I ordered large fries, just in case. Well, I thought I wasn't hungry until I took a bite of my fries. I was so flat out that the Maccas fries tasted better than usual. Hahaha! They drove us around a bit to show some of the spots in Downtown and some streets that are known for their Christmas lights decors.

When we got home, it was nonstop chika with my aunt while unpacking. My brother and cousin headed straight to the bedroom and played video games. We slept at 4 in the morning and woke up in time for brunch. And what did we have for our first (okay, that wasn't really the first because we had Maccas the night before) proper meal? BACONNNN! Legit American Bacon, yaaaassss!

Since we were still tired, we didn't do much that day. We just went to Walmart and did some grocery shopping. Since it was our first day and first time in the US, my brother and I grabbed every American goodies that we liked. I also bought myself some undergarments and foot socks because I only packed a few (to make room for my winter clothes -- as if naman may weight yung mga undergarments!). Hahaha! We bought so much junk food that we forgot to buy "real" food (we had to go back the next day). The lady at the register asked us jokingly where we live because we bought so much food. Then she asked, "Are you, guys, Filipinos?" We answered her. And she replied, "Yeah, I thought so. You, guys, always have a lot of food." Haha!

We also bought more Christmas decors because my aunt was feeling really extra because of her successful surgery, my grandma's successful surgery and the fact that we flew there for the holidays. :)

Travel Journal: Amedee Island (Noumea, New Caledonia)

Oh, Amedee, Amedee, Amedee, you are so heavenly.

I was in love with this island! Hands down, this was my favourite stop in our itinerary. Save the best for last, hey!

We booked this Amedee Day Trip tour with Royal Caribbean. We decided to book this under the cruise line because it takes an hour of yacht ride to get to the island. We figured it will be safer to do this tour under the cruise line company because, even if it's more expensive, it's a guarantee that the ship will wait for us even if the tour runs late.

We got off the ship, met our feisty French tour guide (She is amazing!) and rode a coach to Port Moselle where a yacht was waiting for us to bring us to Amedee Island. I felt like we were at The Hamptons (though I've never been there. Haha!) - there were yachts lined up along the port, nice houses by the hills/cliffs.

As soon as we docked, oh my goodness, I was mesmerised. It was so gorgeous! The turquoise water. The white sand. The intimacy. Clare and I were already planning to go back and we hadn't set foot on the island yet. We were still walking on the dock.

I didn't realise he was in one of my photos until I reviewed the album. Hee.

We immediately purchased the ticket for the Amedee lighthouse (and some souvenirs). We were among the first few who went up the lighthouse so we were able to take photos and videos in peace and without extra heads in the background.

The view from the lighthouse was spectacular. It's overlooking the tiny island. It's very secluded. We were the only ones there, aside from the staff.



It was so windy and luckily, I had my two-piece bikini underneath my dress so I didn't care if I went all Marilyn Monroe. (Not that I don't wear undergarments.) Haha!

We got so carried away by taking photos at the lighthouse and at the beach that we missed out a few other activities, such as the demonstration of different ways of tying the sarong, which I was interested to see. We also saw the smallest post office in the world as well, which is the post office in Amedee Island.

We were treated to mostly seafood (grilled tuna, prawns, mussels, coconut rice and egg fried rice, baby octopus salad, and more), some vegetables, coconut rice and egg fried rice for lunch and traditional island dance performances.There were ice cream, fruits and pannacotta for dessert. After lunch, we swam and snorkeled the afternoon away. We brought our own snorkel gear with us. It was a good call that we bought and brought our own before our trip so we didn't have to rent. We were only allowed to swim on certain areas, basically where there are no coral reefs.

While we were basking in the sun and water, a lady lost her Go Pro and we helped her look for it. It was quite difficult to find because her Go Pro is black with a clear waterproof case. It easily blended with the seaweeds and rocks. Her brother (EDIT: see photo way above), who, by the way, was really cute (Think James Marsden), happened to paddle-board beside me while looking for the Go Pro. I thought of initiating a conversation with him since he was already there, hello. (Wow, look at me, very daring! Haha!) But I was so shy and I kept asking myself, inside my head, over and over, should I say something to him or not? And I was like, screw this. A one-line sentence wouldn't kill me.

So I did. A lame small talk about that missing gadget. Haha!

Anyway, the missing Go Pro has been found after an hour or so. She was the one who was able to locate it eventually. She found it a bit further than the spot where she think she lost it. Their parents even joked that she should treat all of us for a drink since we helped her look for her it.

We were divided into groups beforehand for the glass-bottom boat ride, which was our last activity for the tour. We belonged to the last group to do that activity. We rode a glass bottom boat to see more corals and fishes in the further part of the ocean, where we weren't allowed to swim at. Oh, it was beautiful! No wonder it was a UNESCO World Heritage Site and they are really trying to keep it that way. There were a lot of colourful reefs and never-before-seen (at least for me) fishes. Our tour guide was enthusiastic in telling us the background of the island, the names of the fishes and all those interesting and fun science facts.

We rode the yacht back to Port Moselle again. The only seats left vacant by the time we got on board were the ones towards the tail of the yacht so, as expected, the ride going back made me feel a bit dizzy. Similar to what happened to us during our first day of cruise when we sat on the wrong part of the dining area as it left Sydney port. We slept it off instead and by the time we woke up and reached Port Moselle, we felt better.

We rode the coach and were driven back to the port where our ship was docked. We were able to see a tiny bit of Noumea. Clare and I wanted to visit this quaint, little city again because we were curious to see what it has to offer. It looked pretty chill and interesting. And probably the closest we can go to for legit patisseries and boulangeries! And guess what, we arrived 5 minutes later than the call time! This was it. This was what we were scared of exactly. Fortunately, we booked that trip under the cruise line so the Royal Caribbean staff had already been informed in advance that we would be arriving late. I think they would know that there were passengers who hadn't boarded yet because they scan our key cards in everytime we get on and off the ship. The head count will not tally to the total number of passengers. Anyway, as soon as the coach parked and we got off, the people who were already inside the ship applauded. Hahaha!

We headed to our room and prepared for our dinner. Then, we watched a piano performance and the Quest Game show. It was a hilarious show, oh my gosh! It's an adults-only scavenger hunt game. The audience was divided into groups, according to where we were seated. That game was full-on -- no holds barred, no inhibitions. There were bras here and there, wedgies, crazy and sexy dance moves and all random and weird but funny shenanigans. I was actually this close to lending my leopard-print bra that I was wearing tonight because an animal-print clothing item was asked for! Hahaha! And "James Marsden" aka the guy from earlier joined the game. He was one of the representatives in their section. He and his sisters were very game on. Towards the end, he was wearing a woman's outfit - skirt, heels, bra, makeup, all that jazz - and was dancing as required by the game. Everyone there couldn't stop laughing. Oh, what a night!

Today was really fun!
And the fun in our little village here will soon be over as we go back to reality! One more night and we will be back in Sydney! Nooooo!

Travel Journal: Lautoka, Fiji

HELLO, LAND! We got out of the ship for the first time since we boarded for the cruise.

The first port in our itinerary is Lautoka, Fiji. We knew we would be arriving at lunchtime so we didn't book any shore activity as we will be pressed for time. We decided to go around on our own. We took a cab then walked around the town and... looked for wifi instead. Our roaming didn't work there. It had been three days since we last sent messages/updates to our families and friends. (One more day of no contact and they might send out a search party! Hahaha!) Also, I needed to do internet banking transactions.

We scoured the mall, the restaurants inside and the two Gloria Jean's they have but to no avail. But we found a Missha store there! What are the odds, right? There is no paid or free wifi in any establishment that would normally have a wifi but there is a Missha store. We were surprised! We went inside and bought a few Korean beauty products.

We checked out souvenir shops as well to look for unique pieces we can buy for our friends and family and add on to my souvenir collection as well. I didn't buy anything though as the items were a bit expensive than I thought they would be. Hopefully, I find something in Suva tomorrow.

Since we couldn't find any wifi, we decided to go back to the ship instead. We noted that there was a shuttle bus that we can hop on to and drive us back to the port. As we were standing in line to ride that bus, I saw a familiar black and white sign -- wifi! Huzzah!

We walked to that restaurant (named Kruepa -- EDIT: So if ever you decide to go for a South Pacific Island cruise and one of your stops is Lautoka, visit this shop if you need wifi.) but, for a second, we hesitated to walk in when we saw that it was an Indian restaurant. (Of course, we are in Fiji. Duh.) I do not know heaps about Indian food and I do not really eat Indian food. (Well, I drink Chai and I'd eaten Chicken Tikka Masala but that's about it.) Their sign said that they also sell sweets so, we thought that would be a safe option to eat while we sit there and use their internet connection (which we also paid for). We went in and looked at the food display. We had no idea what to order so we asked the lady behind the counter what she would recommend. She was smiling at us as if she knew that we were only there for the wifi really. Heh. She recommended the raspberry barfi and the peanut laddu.

The raspberry barfi didn't have any raspberry taste at all. It tasted like pastillas. I liked that. The peanut laddu tasted like the usual peanut delicacies in the Philippines. Like masareal. Or peanut kisses but softer/chewy. Of course, we also ordered Masala Chai tea. We enjoyed our "mini-food escapade" while we used our one-hour internet limit down to the last second before heading back to the ship.

We decided to walk back to the port instead of taking the shuttle bus so we can look around further. I saw an ANZ ATM machine along the way and decided to withdraw some cash. There I was standing, pressing buttons, expecting it would shell out AUD because it's ANZ bank, I got Fijian dollars instead. As it should do. Of course. My gosh. Haha!

We reached the ship earlier than scheduled and in time for the sunset, which we indulged in.

We freshened up and prepared for dinner and tonight's scheduled show, Motown Hits (Again, another homage performance to some old school hits which we again enjoyed. Thanks to our parents for exposing us to their music. We might have not appreciated it before but we do now.) and Giovanni (I think he's an American performer. Think Ne-yo.)

Tomorrow, we stop at Suva, the second port in our itinerary. We will be there the whole day so we have an adventure-like activity booked. I'm excited!

Travel Journal: More notes from the sea

30 October 2017, 11:17 PM

Here I am sitting on the couch, writing again. We just got back from our dinner and we are so full. We used our available credits for the cruise to pre-book three fine dining dinners. The dinner we scheduled for tonight was at Chops Grille. I ordered truffle mushroom soup (which was amazing!) for entree, 12-oz New York strip steak (I wasn't able to finish it because it was so big and I was still full from our late lunch) with grilled asparagus, sauteed mushrooms and creamed spinach (We can actually order as many sides as we wanted) for main and red velvet cake (which I had to take as to go because my stomach can't distend any further. Haha!) for dessert. Unfortunately, I have no #JanaEats shots because I was embarrassed to take photos in a fine dining restaurant. Heh.

After dinner, we headed to a show named Invitation to Dance. It was a song and dance show. A mash-up of different genres of dance - salsa, flamenco, etc. Ballroom dancing, basically. The star dancers were a pair of Russian ballroom dancers. While waiting for the show to start, we shared a nice, casual conversation with a lovely lady from New Zealand who sat next to us.

Anyway, what else did we do today?

We slept in, woke up around 8:30 AM because we were so tired from yesterday. We woke up early for our boxing training with my brother. We went grocery shopping afterward so my brother has something to eat while we were away and the fridge is stocked once we come back. Then, we did our final packing before heading to Circular Quay as well.

We headed for our first breakfast buffet for this trip. I was super excited to have a proper, decent breakfast meal on a Monday morning! Woohoo! It is a rare occasion for me nowadays. I was so happy with the breakfast buffet menu - eggs cooked in a variety of ways, sausages, bacon, French toasts, waffles, pancakes, hash browns, fruits, yoghurts, assorted jams, bagels, English muffins and more! Aaaaahhhh!

We decided to go to the gym after because, as I've said, if we were going to eat buffet meals for two weeks and at the rate that we are going with eating, we might as well work the calories out. Haha! When we got there, a seminar about detoxification (look at that, very fitting for our eat and burn plan. Haha!) was about to be held so we decided to sit down and listen before working out. The speaker, Jack Chamberlain, was really good. He is a fitness instructor/personal trainer and I believe he also studied nutrition or something related. He explained scientific things in a simple way, which made the talk really interesting and not too overwhelming. The things I learned (and which I remember) from the talk are:
(1) Green tea has caffeine content.
(2) Only 8 feet of the colon are tested during colonoscopy.
(3) We need more alkaline food.
(4) Diet coke has aspartame, a neurotoxin.
(5) Coke has phosphoric acid, which is next in line to the battery when it comes to acid level and is used as a cleaning agent. (I will never look at Coke the same way again!)

We availed the private consultation and body analysis after the talk (#committed!). There was actually a promo that if you attend it with someone, it will be cheaper so we were like, "Yeah, why the hell not?" While waiting for our appointment, we hit the gym  (I told you we were serious. Haha!). The gym was beautifully located on top of the ship with glass windows overlooking the ocean. While you run or walk on the treadmill or do ellipticals, you're facing the ocean. You will also feel the waves while you're on it, which I found really fun and luckily, it didn't make me seasick.

During the private consultation, I found out that I am still underweight and my basal metabolic rate is low. I need more muscle in order to lose more fat. I need to gain weight as well. It was surprising and interesting to note because I thought I am on the normal BMI range now and that my body is okay. Sure, I am not toned and I have a bit of fat in my midsection area but I didn't think I still need to gain more. I also need to increase my resistance or weight training. Hence, we purchased a detoxification program (from a British brand named Elemis) to help us cleanse, repair and revitalise our body. We still have to go back and see him for the nutritional plan.

Then, we headed to our favourite spot (Where else? The Windjammer!) for late lunch and afternoon tea. I had a grilled steak, a spoonful of pasta and risotto, some corn and carrots and grilled zucchini. For afternoon tea, we had dulce de leche cheesecake, chocolate mousse and strawberry shortcake and, our favourite, chocolate chip cookie, and peppermint tea (Drank peppermint tea because of what Jack said re: green tea and I have already been avoiding coffee if I can). We are really owning this buffet madness like a boss! Hahaha!

And that's how our day went. We decided to have an early night tonight (aka #Tita) because we planned to hit the gym early tomorrow morning. Eat and burn - that's our mantra for this trip! :)

01 November 2017, 12:23 AM

Hey, hey, hey! Day 3 of our cruise today.

So, we had a pretty chill day today. Headed straight to our breakfast buffet upstairs upon waking up (Of course.).

We went to the gym after. I have a feeling that half of my travel stories will be all about food and working out. Haha! We did some light exercises first since we just had breakfast. We tried out the hydrotherapy pool. I could stay in that spot for hours. The water pressure felt really good on the muscles after a workout. We tried the sauna and steam room as well. Luckily, we were the only ones there. We only lasted 30 seconds in the sauna room, though, because it was too hot and we couldn't be bothered to pour water on the charcoal almost every 15 seconds. We enjoyed the steam room instead that we even did some stretching and bodyweight exercises while we were in there. Haha! I know, crazy. My head ached because of too much heat, I suppose, and I felt slightly light-headed as well because it was wavier than usual and I was lying in there and doing some planks. So, we headed back to the room to freshen up.

On our way back, we passed by a crowd who were gathered by the pool area watching the World's Sexiest Man Competition. Ain't no sexy man there, for sure, but it was hilarious. We stayed and watched for a bit. After I had our shower, my headache was still there so I decided to sleep it off and asked my friend to wake me up in time for Rock of Edges Show. Thankfully, when I woke up, my headache's gone so I was able to enjoy the show.

And it was a really great ice skating performance and they danced to some old-school rock hit songs from Aerosmith, Queen, and the likes. We loved it. We grew up listening to those songs and bands, thanks to our parents. They were, I believe, professional ice skaters so they were really good. We noticed that there was one Filipino/Filipino-American performer on the show as well.

After the show, we headed to one of the decks. We sat, enjoyed the view and observed the people while waiting for dinner time. So yeah, food again!

Every night is a movie night by the pool area. So while waiting for the movie to start, we watched a magician named Adam Mada perform his tricks. Obviously, this caters more to the youngsters but we had nothing else planned so why not. We went back to the dining area (Haha!) to have some tea while killing more time. The movie that was shown that night was The Ghostbusters movie. Oh my gosh, it was very windy and cold up there! I don't know how some people and kids can watch the show while in the pool! Maybe the water in the pool is warm though?

We headed back to our room after the movie, freshened up, got ready for bed and that's about it. Nothing much to share for this day.

01 November 2017, 11:42 PM

We had another pretty chill day today.



This morning, we hit the gym first before heading to breakfast. We had our session again with Jack for our nutritional plan. He discussed with us the zoning diet and how much we should eat to reach our fitness goals. This will be difficult for me because ever since I've been eating what I want to eat and I've been eating as much as I want to eat. I'm lucky that my weight has always been more or less the same no matter how much I eat so I am not very conscious and strict about my caloric intake. Recently, I've started avoiding (at least trying to) or at least minimising my dairy intake when I can. But that's about it. Anyway, we'll see how we go.

After the gym, I relaxed my muscles through the hydrotherapy pool. I am really enjoying that pool. And not a lot of people are hanging out in this pool (or in the gym), unlike the main pool on the upper deck, which was also a plus.

We met a Filipino lady who works for the cruise in the changing room. We had a casual conversation and we asked her for some travel tips for Lautoka. We didn't have anything planned in Lautoka as we will only be there half a day, anyway. She said she didn't like Lautoka because there's not much to do and to see but she suggested that if we can, we should try to eat seafood there.

After lunch, we prepared for our another dinner reservation at Giovanni's Table, which is an Italian restaurant. We also met another Filipino who works there. He was the waiter assigned to our table. We ordered Caprese salad and another dish (which I totally forgot what it's called) for our appetiser. We each ordered a soup named cioppino-something (Why am I forgetting this?! I just had them a few hours ago!). We ordered the same entree which was veal tenderloin with mushrooms and cheese filling, asparagus, truffle sauce and veal jus (I remembered that!). They have a dessert trolley with at least 4 options. I picked the pannacotta and cannoli for dessert. We thought we ordered just enough for us but no, it was a lot. We were so full. Food baby right here. Luckily, I wore a dress! A black loose dress.



The theatre was near the restaurant so we decided to go and watch Monique Montez, an Australian singer, perform.

We're back here in our room for another early night because tomorrow we will be docking in Lautoka! Yay! Now, I have stories to tell other than eating! Haha!

***

I did not write anything on other days so I'll just share a few of the random snaps I took during the rest of the trip.

Another ice skating productions, Spirits of the Seasons, from the same performers. I loved the winter part. 

Love and Marriage Game. Oh, this was one of our favourites. I believe this is one of the crowd's favourites as well! This was a hilarious game. They pre-selected 2 couples for this game - one couple married for at least 10/20 years and one couple married for 50 years and above. Whoever was recently married or on honeymoon who wanted to volunteer themselves as the third couple for the game were asked to do some kind of dare and the winning couple was decided upon by the audience. The couples were asked random questions about their relationship - from the basics down to the TMI kind of questions. The ladies were asked to go backstage while the host asked the men and vice versa. Men were asked the similar questions while ladies were asked similar questions. They sat together thereafter for the big reveal. After that game, we felt like we knew those couples already - in a more intimate level. Hahaha!

There were a lot of activities on the cruise. You will not get bored, I tell you. There will always be something to do. One of the activities that piqued interest was game tutorials at the casino. I checked it out and tried to learn poker, Russian Roulette and Blackjack. In Blackjack, I got a one-on-one tutorial because I was the only one there. Next thing I knew, there were 3-4 guys behind me trying to teach me as well. And waiting for me to finish as it was already happy hour at the casino.

One of the performers. They performed Beatles songs.

Another show as well. Held at the Promenade this time. It was 70s nights so a lot of 70s music and dancing.

Parade on the night before our last day on the cruise.

One of the artworks in the art gallery.

I tried rock climbing, too! I almost finished! I didn't think I will reach that far but my arms were starting to shake and my fingers couldn't grip tighter anymore. I had a hard time getting down because I was kind of freaking out. I'm afraid of heights so letting go and trusting that rope to safely put me down seemed like a crazy idea to me! So I tried to go down in a similar way that I did going up but the trainer kept on telling me that I should just completely let go. And I told him "No" several times but I let go eventually. Haha!

More towel art. Isn't it cute? They actually have lessons on how to do it. I might attend those next time. Haha!

The chocolate chip cookie that I mentioned in my previous post! Oh, so goooooddddd!

Farewell show from some of the cruise staff.

And here are some of our portraits. Every night, there were photographers on selected areas who can take your photos for souvenirs. We were quite hesitant to have our photos taken because a lot of people were lining up. We only did it three times - the first two was random. We happened to pass by and there was no one around so it was a good opportunity for a quick photo without being awkward and without strangers staring at you. The third time was during our last night and we just didn't care anymore if there were a lot of people lining up or looking at us. Most people lined up that night for photos since it was the last night.

The day we got off the ship. Hello, land. And hello, reality. Ho-hum.