Food, Islands and more food

The remainder of the cruise was characterized by a lot of food and visits to the 5 islands. Oh, and we mustn’t forget that I was staying in the penthouse suite – I know no one on the cruise let me forget! I think I had become something of a minor celebrity due to my windfall. So here’s my run down of the islands I visited.
St. Maarten is apparently the smallest territory shared by two countries – it is half French, half Dutch. It has lots of shops and some nice beaches. St. Lucia – I decided to take a shore excursion and went on a kayaking trip. I met a bunch of nice people on this excursion, who decided to become my ambassadors by publicizing my new ship address to others on the cruise. Afterwards, I headed into town. I probably should have passed that up, as it was rather seedy.
Barbados had my favourite beach of all, the sand and the water were divine. The beach I went to was called Malibu beach, because it housed the Malibu Rum factory. The next island was St. Kitts which is a port that is new to cruise visitors. It didn’t have much to offer and after a short trip off the boat, I decided to enjoy my stay on the ship that day. Last, and actually my favorite port was St. Thomas. I guess being part of the US. Virgin Islands, it is much more developed and had a lot of really nice shops and cafes. In St. Thomas I spent most of the day on the other side of the island at a beach that is called one of the 10 best beaches in the world. Pretty nice, but a little too high praise, if you ask me.
One of the things about the Caribbean Islands I never realized was that there was such a jewellery market in them, most specifically diamonds. They even had a jewellery specialist on board, advising passengers on the 5 “C”s – Carat, Clarity, Colour, Cut and a new one – Confidence. Now, the only reason I know this is that I woke up in the middle of the night one night and turned on the TV to hear this woman’s lecture. And I am sure you have all had that experience where you switch on the TV to find an infomercial in the wee hours of the morning and get sucked in (or almost anyway). Well, when I awoke in the morning in St. Lucia, I decided to check out what the all the fuss was about. And what do you know – I made a purchase. Just a small Star of David necklace – I’m actually really happy with it.
But I must comment on the racket they have going with the diamonds. There is a company, Diamonds International, that must spend a lot on advertising, because what I learned in this “infomercial”, is that when you buy a diamond with them, and, let’s say you come back on a cruise next year, you can upgrade the diamond you have to a larger size, just paying the difference in price. Pretty clever, huh? And it’s clever for the cruise lines, because they are conditioning people to come back on a cruise to upgrade their diamonds.
Someone commented to me that the ship was ironically filled predominantly with Germans and Jews, an observation I concurred with. And at the ship’s chanukkah services, part of this suspicion was confirmed. But the combination of Germans and Jews is a rather odd pairing, to say the least.
Now let me talk about the food. Cruises are apparently all about the food and I must say there is strong evidence to that effect. But when you add on the fact that I was in the penthouse suite, it takes things to an all new level. They delivered extra food to my suite on a regular basis, as a matter of course. There was the fruit plate, the cheese plate, the afternoon snack and the pre-dinner canapés. No wonder I packed on the pounds. In fact, no less than 5 pounds to be exact. I have some serious working out to do now.
On my second last night of the cruise, the formal night, I arranged for pre-dinner drinks to be held in my suite, see the attached photo.

On the High Seas

The first leg of my trip is a cruise in the Caribbean. Why a cruise you ask? And why on earth would I consider doing it alone? (I am sure you are thinking). I admit, I would have preferred to have a companion on this leg of the trip (especially as the single supplement is almost as much as the cost for a second person). But I was quite keen to explore a significant part of the Caribbean, given that pretty soon I will be living a considerable distance from it. And as there are so many islands, and flights between them are not cheap, I thought this would be a great way to see a bunch of islands; this cruise stops in 5 of them. And, I have always been quite intrigued with the concept of cruising, so I booked it.
So, a little background on my ship. It’s one of the Celebrity line of cruise ships, and is the newest in its fleet, named Equinox. The ship is not even a year old, and it shows. The fit out on this ship is really superb - modern and luxurious. It houses 2500 guests and the cruise is fully booked. It’s a 10 day cruise, and I’m stopping in 5 ports on 5 separate days: St.Maarten, St.Kitts, Barbados, St.Lucia and St.Thomas.
Ok, let’s address one of the concerns that I had and everyone has about cruises. That it is full of the geriatric set. Going in to this I knew there would be a large contingent of them, so I did my research and looked for a Cruise line that is more supposedly more geared to a younger crowd. And when I booked, I was told that I would have set seating at dinner, at a table of 10 people aged 25-45. I thought I had it covered. It would give me a way to meet others around my age, and then I would have some people to hang with for 10 days.
But when I boarded the ship, I found it rather difficult to identify even a handful of people under the age of 45, quite a switch from my time in NY, where it is difficult to come across someone over the age of 55. I was holding out until dinner when I was to meet fellow passengers closer to my age.
The importance of having the right tablemates was emphasised to me as I entered the ship and was talking to some experienced cruisers and getting their advice. They said that how much they enjoyed prior cruises had little to do with the ship and everything to do with your dining partners. So, I was truly banking on having a good set of tablemates.
So here’s what happened. When I arrived at the dining room, I was shown to a table of 4, where 2 people were already sitting. 2 - not 10! And let’s just say that their age was at least double that of my own, and their weight individually was at least 3 times that of mine. Not ideal. I quickly told the Maitre D’ that it would not do and I was promised a table of 10 people 25-45 people! He said he didn’t have people in that age group! OMG!! I was freaking out – was I destined to have an awful cruise? I explained that I was travelling alone and that my table assignment would make or break my cruise! So, he temporarily assigned me to a table of 6 where there were a couple people born within 2 decades of me. That’s as close as I could get. He promised to reassign me tomorrow.
So I was shown to my temporary table, it was a table of 6, and I was the last to be seated. Let me just segue here and tell you that the dining room was absolutely gorgeous! OK, back to my tablemates. There were two guys dressed in suits, whom I was to learn were from Washington D.C. The remaining 3 people were a couple in their 60s and their 30 something son, all from Stuttgart in Germany.
I had an instant connection with the suited guy on my right, who was from D.C. A political reporter in his late 30s who has previously lived in NY, we had much to talk about. He and his friend were on the cruise together, his friend a few years older, was in public relations. Now, having lived in Chelsea for the last 2 and a half years I was used to seeing a different type of gay man, which was why I was surprised when the conversation revealed that they were a couple (not just a couple of guys).
My other tablemates, English not being their first language, had difficulties in keeping up with our conversation, so whilst we had a few interactions, their side of the table was considerable much quieter than ours.
After dinner, the guy on my right, Doug, and I went to see the show of the evening. We didn’t last long there. The entertainment was distinctly geared towards the silver set, with show tunes like “Singing in the Rain” and a singing quartet.
Doug and I then went in search of the Maitre D’ to see if the three of us could be moved to a different table. He was rather gruff with us but accepted our request nonetheless.
The next morning (after breakfast) I went to find a lounge chair by the pool. I found one next to two Israeli brothers around my age, who were on the cruise with their parents. We became friends and I suddenly had a couple more people who were very keen to move off their assigned dinner seating. Off to the Maitre D’ once again. By now he knew me very well. “I have 3 requests from you now, one by yourself, one with two other guests and now one with 4 other guests, which one do you want?” Well I would have thought that it would be obvious – the most recent one of course, but knowing that my fate was still somewhat in his hands, I politely told him “the latest one”.
So that night, we had a very nice dinner, the 5 of us, plus a couple from the UK. Mission accomplished.
The next day, another full day at sea, was rather a lazy day, with one noticeable event. OK, a little more than noticeable – HUGE! I don’t quite know why I bothered to enter the competition for the penthouse suite on the ship, after all I was actually very happy with the amenities of my inside cabin. It wasn’t much smaller than my Manhattan apartment, so I was quite used to living in quarters that were not altogether spacious. And as the ship is brand new, everything was modern and very comfortable.
Nevertheless, I felt compelled to join the bingo, having an eerie feeling that I was destined to do so and dare I say it, destined to win. This was, however, coupled with the nonchalance of my practical side, telling me that I shouldn’t get any hopes up, as there were literally hundreds of people who were also going to be playing bingo. There were four rounds of competition; the first 3 rounds were for cash prizes of $400, $500 and $600 respectively. Nothing to balk at. The final round was for the penthouse suite on the ship, the real prize that had drawn the hundreds of people to this bingo game. I struck out on the first three games, but in the final game, I was getting very close to completing my bingo card, my heart started to beat very fast. And just as I said “Bingo!” so did someone else! As only one person could win this prize, we went to a playoff. I was given four bingo cards to choose from. I chose one of them, and then we proceeded. And…what do you know – I won!
I felt that rush of adrenalin and endorphins in my brain as you might imagine occurs when you win a huge prize and you feel like you are in a surreal dream. Being one of the only solo travelers on this cruise, there were many people that expressed congratulations, but it was also coupled with shock that I was travelling alone and I dare say a bit of bitterness that someone like me, and that I was only one person, would be enjoying the suite that they all coveted so badly.
I arrived to my suite where champagne and fruit and a number of canapés was awaiting me, as well as my butler! Ahh… the good life!

Happy New Year!

I have been very remiss in posting to my blog as of late. So this post will be a catch-up of everything that has gone on up until now.

In September/October I took a trip to Paris and Israel. I spent 3 days in Paris and stayed with my Aussie cousin Toby and his wife Leesa. Leesa is working there with the Australian consulate and they have a gorgeous 4 bedroom apartment in the consulate complex overlooking the Eiffel Tower. It was really nice to catch up and spend some quality time with them. Our other cousin, Steven is also living there and we actually all got together with a bunch of other Aussies for a "pre" Rosh Hashannah dinner, which was really nice, because even though Toby, Steven and I all grew up in Melbourne, this was the first time we were able to celebrate a Jewish holiday together. Coincidentally, Steven's father, Marcel was also visiting, and it was nice to catch up with another person from home.

I have been to Paris before, so I wasn't really up for doing the usual touristy stuff, just to exeprience the city like a local. Having arrived in Paris from New York, it was really apparent to me just how much more refined and beautiful Paris is by comparison. Paris really does hold its own as the style capital of the world.
Another thing I was impressed with was the bicycle system. Paris has a system where there are bicycle stations every few blocks and you can pick up and then drop off your bicycle at any of these stations - very cool! I must admit it was quite scary driving down these small streets with a car driving right next to you but I managed to survive!

My next stop was Israel. I had arranged to do an apartment swap with an Israeli couple. They were staying in my apartment in NY while I stayed in their apartment in Tel Aviv. It worked out really well! I felt a little like I was living the movie "The Holiday" as I ended up spending a lot of time with the guy that let me into the apartment! I had a really nice time in Israel, visiting with family and friends and enjoying the Tel Aviv nightlife. And I fell in love with Israeli breakfasts!

A funny thing happened whil I was in Israel. I was speaking to my mother on the phone and she mentioned that her cousin John and his family would be visiting Israel. But she had no details on when, where and how long, but said "I'm sure you will run into them" and I said, "Israel is not that small!" So one day I am sitting on the beach in Tel Aviv (each day I went to sit at a different beach) and I hear this Australian accent (living away from Australia my ears are finely tunes to the Aussie accent) and I look a few metres away, and there is my cousin John and his two kids!! It was nice to catch up with them.

So that was my Paris/Israel trip. At the end of November I returned to Australia to visit with my family and to meet my 2 new identical nephews. Very cute! Not much has changed in Australia and while I had a nice time, I found myself looking forward to going "home" to New York. I returned to New York to "enjoy" the onset of winter. It is now snowing and we just survived a number of days with highs around -9 degrees celsius! I think it is actually the coldest weather I have ever been in! This winter is definitely more severe than last winter.

Until next time....

Call Me Lazy

Last weekend I went to Hartford for a netball tournament. My travelling partner, Marissa wrote all about it on her blog, so I thought I would point you in the direction of her blog!

http://anysecond.blogspot.com/2008/09/its-not-how-you-play-game-its-if-you.html

Summer in NYC

Before I moved here, I was advised that Summer was the worst time to be in New York City due to the intense heat and humidity. Well, I have to disagree - I think Summer is the best time to be in NYC. It is true that at times the heat can be oppressive, especially when you are in the subways that have next to no ventilation. But Summer in the city has its definite advantages. There are loads of events in the city, like free concerts in the park and street festivals and parades. Also, a lot of locals leave on the weekends to head out to places like the Hamptons and the Jersey Shore. That leaves the city relatively quieter and it is actually fantastic to walk through the city on a Sunday morning - it is so quiet that it has a totally different vibe than the rest of the week. Actually on the fourth of July (Independence Day), the city took on a new level of stillness. It reminded me of an overcast Christmas Day in Surfers Paradise.

Speaking of the fourth of July, do you recall the phrase "It was like fourth of July". It's often referred to on American shows when a woman is describing a magical kiss, as if there were amazingly huge fireworks. In the lead up to Independence Day, in true American form, I was told of how big the fireworks were on the fourth of July. As with many things, it appears that many things in this country are overstated!

That's not to say I didn't have a great Independence Day! I managed to hear about a party held by someone I don't know on his personal penthouse roofdeck in Midtown East, with a perfect view of the (just like any other) fireworks. They had limitless alcohol, a bbq, and a band. Afterward we went to a new bar at the builing formerly known as the Plaza hotel. Very plush.

So, other things I have been doing this Summer; I went white water rafting. It was sooo much fun! I went on a day trip to the LeHigh River in Pennsylvania, a 2 hour trip from the city. I play in a Summer softball league in various places around the city from Central Park all the way up to Harlem (is a little scary up there).

The city also opens up a slew of rooftop bars in the Summer and I have been making the most of the al fresco socializing. And next weekend some girls and I are renting a room at the Empire Hotel just so we can use the pool!

Until next time....

Fire Island

A few weeks ago it was Memorial Day weekend which is the official beginning to the Summer Season (although ironically Summer doesn't officially start until June 21st or something, somewhere close to the solstice). Anyway, a friend of mine organised a share house in Fire Island, which is a long narrow island off Long Island on the way to the Hamptons. You have to catch a ferry to cross the water and once there there are no cars and roads, just footpaths and red wagons (seriously!). It's very quaint and there are lots of families that come here and the kids ride around on their bikes without fear of being run over by cars. There is also a rather large partying contingent consisting mainly of 20-somethings. However, I would describe Fire Island as the antithesis of the Hamptons - very low key, relaxed and stress-free. But being a full fledged New Yorker by now, I could only last 2 days there before I was itching for my New York life again - so I headed back home a day early.

Work Turnaround!

I thoroughly enjoyed my 4 weeks of unemployment and was somewhat disappointed to learn that I had managed to land another job. I would have been perfectly happy to have been a bum for the duration of the Summer but alas it was not to be. That's not to say that I didn't think the job I had accepted wasn't a good opportunity, because on the surface it seemed like the chance for me to make a lot of impact and bring the company and it's website into this millenium.
So when I started and was subjected to an orientation session with others (who were to work in the call centre) I was considerably stunned by all the rules and regulations. Now, I have worked with government departments in Australia, but this government agency was like no other workplace I had encountered. I was not allowed to eat at my desk, nor wear headphones and I had to use a timeclock to check in and out everyday (haven't done that since I was a sales assistant at Myer) ! And that was just the start of the restrictions - imagine all their restrictions on web and phone access! There were other issues as well but I don't feel I can discuss them on a public website. So, after my first week there, I was not looking forward to my second Monday.
That morning as I was sitting at my desk, surrounded by people from non-English speaking countries (you can probably guess their origin - I am in IT) I felt the need to put my headphones on to drown out the foreign languages being spoken around me (actually that was another rule that was broken that I actually agree with), only to be chastised for wearing the headphones! That was the beginning of what I thought was the end of my time there. I informed my agency that I could not see out the contract and they asked me to hold out for a few days until they notified their client. When they finally were informed (that was a long 4 days!) the HR lady asked to speak with me to understand my reasons. I was to learn that I was not the first person to leave for the restrictiveness of the organisation.
A few hours later the CIO summoned me to his office. He asked me not to leave and promised to make changes to address all of my concerns including lifting all those restrictions and changing my reporting structure (I now report directly to the CIO) and even promised to make things more financially rewarding.
So, it's a week later and a lot has changed at the place where I work and I'm actually starting to enjoy it! Wonders will never cease!