A Bit of Nothings

Sunday we finally took the day off and had the opportunity to explore Singapore.  It wasn’t the ideal day because it rained all morning and didn’t stop until late afternoon.  I was planning on a full day of exploring the nature preserves of Singapore, but the weather enticed me to stay in bed until almost noon.  There is a porthole next to my bunk, making weather delays easy to determine.  The night before also left me quite exhausted; I was handed numerous drinks ordered by the other sailors, most of which they wouldn’t tell me what was in them.  Tom is a big Norwegian guy, who by the time we got to the bar was sitting at the table with his eyes closed, and he kept checking to see how drunk I was followed by a round of shots.  His favorite is a concoction which is served on fire and you drink it through a straw.  Mikey, the Philippino boat boy, was celebrating his birthday which meant there was a big party.  Michele used to be a French Chef, so he made a Lamb stew, one of the wives made a delicious cake, reminded me of Tiramisu.  At one point in the night I was handed a baby, named Oliver, and he just sat there in my arm while I enjoyed a few cocktails.  Very chill baby, obviously with a name like Oliver.  We were planning on a night sail with a crate of wine, but the rain picked up just as we were paying our tabs.  So instead, Tom ordered 13 shots of tequila and invited us to his boat for a drinks and dancing.  Beautiful Yacht, amazing stereo system, and good American music!  At one point, when my drink was empty and I looked around the room and it was mostly men, I made the genius decision to find my phone and drunk dial a few people.  After numerous catching up conversations while sitting on the bow of Tom’s boat, I finally made it to bed at 5:30.  Hence the slow morning.

In the morning I jumped down from the bunk and fell across the room into a steel fan, cutting my shoulder and breaking a light.  The night before I stuck my thumb in the fan and busted my nail along with slicing my finger.  That fan and I have not been getting along. 

I ended up at a bus station and boarded a bus for the cultural museum.  After 45 minutes of driving by nature preserves and the botanical gardens, I finally got out on Orchard Road.  The gardens looked beautiful and were very tempting but the rain seemed to get worse each time we stopped, plus I wanted to save them for a nicer day when I had my camera.  Orchard Road is a shopping area, kind of like Rodeo Drive.  There are tons of upscale fashion districts, sooo many people, and hundreds of eateries (the main reason I got off was because I was still and little drunk and starving).  I found film for my underwater camera, enjoyed some gyoza and pizza in an English pub (not very cultural but sounded necessary at the time), and wandered through the broad walkways and crowds of people.  I bought a couple of Thai cook books and passed up a few massages.  It was overall an interesting experience, and kept me out of the rain. 

Gaie and Laser returned on Sunday late afternoon, so I decided to take a train back to the boat.  I ended up in the very Northern part of Singapore, a 40 min cab drive back to the marina.  Very pretty and tropical area, reminded me of the mountains in HI where it was very wet.  I finally met Gaie and Laser when I arrived back and joined them for a bottle of wine while we got acquainted on the fore deck.  We partook in a traditional Sunday Night Dinner; the lights are turned off, candles burn in the center of the circle, no one speaks, unless making a toast (or words of wisdom) which everyone then repeats and cheers.  After the meal, we took turns standing and speaking about where we were in life, or just what is on our minds.  Again, all of this is orchestrated without speaking; you simply feel when the time is right.

This morning we had a meeting before breakfast to go over everything that has to be done before Feb 12., which is a mandatory launch date; I was appointed Ship’s Weatherman.  I continued working in the Foxhole, it WILL be completed tomorrow, so tonight I am sleeping in the navigation room on an 18 inch wide bench…how luxurious!!  Throughout the day I had visits from Gaie and Laser, learning more and more about them and their personalities.  Laser is German, a handyman, and a movie buff.  Gaie spent the day working on necessary paper work and sharing her vision for the foxhole.  They both are old Indian Hippies and love Natural Born Killers (great movie)!  Tomorrow morning we have LAB, which is the meditation, and laser taught me some exercises to focus on the realignment of my body.  I also learned more about Saturday mornings, which they call ‘acting class’, the yoga style exercises.

All of the pieces of our voyage are coming together; tasks are being finished, supplies gathered, and the crew arriving aboard Mir.

Naz Zdarovia