And now, Toothache in Ho Chi Minh!

So, it turns out the migrane thing was probably the end result of me ignoring a growing pain in my tooth for the past few days. See, while flossing I took a big chunk out of one tooth, which since then has been causing me hassle and made eating a no-no. The old toothache diet is a pain (pardon the pun) but it works.

So I finally gave in yesterday and went to the doctor onboard, who said he could get me to a dentist in Ho Chi Minh. Yes, that's right. Now, many people can say they went to Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, but how many do you know who were Rockstar enough to get dental work done there? Look, here's my request form from the Doc to prove it!

I struggled through my 2 hour library shift, conjuring up all sorts of grisly dentist-surgery scenarios in my head, and then went for the port-agent pick-up at 2pm. I'd been relieved to find out a guest would also be accompanying me, with a tootache herself. Eric, too, came for moral support.

The FV Hospital, which stands for Franco-Vietnamese (not, as always comes into my head first, Female Vocalist, it's a harmony-line thing they write in our music scores) was a very pleasant surprize, with stealable pens, internet cafes, English forms and airy, clean waiting rooms.

When I eventually saw the young lady dentist, she was very competent and told me that yes, there was a big hole in my tooth, but that the tooth was not bad, and I was to return tomorrow once she'd taken several impressions of my teeth, and drilled and filed the area temporarily. She took an XRay even to confirm her thoughts.

Eric spoke to her in French for a while, while I had play-dough in my mouth, and I was irked when she asked him if I spoke French and he said "Non....peut etre un peu". When I registered my annoyance even with several implements in my mouth, that I DO understand more than he gives me credit for, I think she got the picture.

So, I have a white packed area in one tooth, which already feels better, and tomorrow there'll be a personalised filling all ready for me at noon.

The other lady needed a root-canal, which there isn't time for, so she left with 4 different types of painkiller and no, I'm not exaggerating.

The price? Well, 3 million, 5 hundred and 90 thousand Vietnamese Dongs.

Any idea? OK, there's 16,000 to 1USD, so that's $223.80 which (although once again I'm annoyed at my delicate constitution requiring this maintenance procedure, see last post!) I can't really grumble at I guess. You can just see the figures here. I LOVE this stamp on the letter, too.

Back to the ship (I did a sneaky in-port manning dodge through being let out for medical reasons!) we headed out on the 5pm shuttle bus from the port into Downtown. From the dropoff at the Rex Hotel, we walked towards the electrical market but before we got there, we bought perfumed paper from one of the many stationary stores. I also managed to get what I wanted, a new memory card for my camera. Now, I know nothing about memory cards really, but onboard the ship I could buy one with 512MB for $89. At this store, I bought one with 1G for $20. Nice! And, as you can see, it works! This is the lady I bought it from, shame it's not in focus, her starting price was still low at $25, but you have to play the game.

We bought iced drinks from Highlands Coffee, they have these ingenious carrier bags for take-out with divides so the drink stays upright. I had an Avocado surprize, it was basically big chunks of avocado with ice (which you're not really supposed to consume here, but what the heck) and condensed milk. Mmmmm.

We were now at the Ben Thanh market, which evidently carries on until night-time, although there was an indoor section which closed up at 7pm. Eric tried on a bunch of hats in this store, I think he looks like Pete Doherty in this hat (a good thing or not? You decide!) and my trial-choices were too terrible to photograph, let alone publish. I'm not a hats gal, I suppose. The market proper was outside, with many food stalls and many shoes, very few of which were available in sizes big enough for either myself, or Eric (tee hee! Sorry)

We passed this great sign (what more could you possibly want?!) and Eric bought me a gorgeous kitschy wooden sign from this carving shop, that reads "My Room" with a small yapper-type dog above it. Kitschy Kitschy COOL!

After a quick try on of dresses in a store called Orchids (I am a girl, after all) we headed back for the ship in the shuttle bus, because Eric had to play bass at 9.30pm. There were guys offering scooter rides back to the port for $1, but my tooth is still delicately throbbing too much in my skull for that kind of motion!

Oh, and I have another food item that will join the collection of foodstuffs bought on a curious or misinformed whim (see "I Just Can't Eat It!" Turtle Jam post). I thought it was a huge mango, but once I'd paid my dollar to buy it (I thought it was rude to handle the merch) I felt it was kinda too hard to be a mango. Then, as we drove back, I'm pretty sure I saw a street-vendor cooking them, sliced up in a wok.... Anyone got any ideas?

What you do when a migrane strikes in Vietnam

Well, first off, you give your IPM card to your boyfriend, who would otherwise be stuck onboard himself. Now, I'm not a stranger to having a drink or two, and last night I only drank one glass of champagne followed by ONE GLASS of white wine, at Karaoke in the nightclub onbard called "Luxe" after the shows. Granted, I may have been dehydrated, but this is hardly a recipe for a huge hangover, correct? Incorrect for Yours Truly, who woke feeling as if they'd drunk a bottle and a half of cheap wine (and were probably soaked in the remaining half!) My head was pounding so bad I nearly chickened out of boat-drill. George the lead vocalist kept me as entertained as he could, but it was back to bed for me as soon as the drill ended. I would dearly have loved to go exploring the wonders of China Beach and Marble Moutains in Chan May, I was so annoyed at my delicate constitution. I will post some pictures from friends soon (apparently most people ended up at resorts where the shuttle dropped off guests/crew, it was too hot to sunbathe on the beach!) but until then, here's what I got up to when I finally surfaced at about 4pm. PHOTOSHOP! I LOVE IT! This particular effect is called Liquify, you can give yourself the most amazing Beehive ever! See? And you can make your boyfriend look like some kind of hobbit/Peter Pan/Spock relative. Incidentally, his Hobbit name is Fredegar Millstone of Bywater, go to the link in my blog on the right side where there's a list, find out your Hobbit name, everyone has one!

Buying Backpacks in Hong Kong Night Markets

Yes, it's true, I bought a backpack. Here I am, proudly displaying my merch, with my man at the Avenue of the Stars in Kowloon.

So, we arrived into Hong Kong at 9pm, and after a quick 2nd farewell show, we grabbed a taxi in Kowloon to temple Street Night Market, for more time to bargain.
It was a warm, beautiful night. These durian fruit are possibly the most scary fruit I know. When I worked in Malaysia, the hotel complex strictly forbade guests to bring these things in, because they stink, and I mean stink, when the flesh is exposed. They are, however a delicacy, often used to flavour icecream. It's an acquired taste.
Eric tried on many hats, all in vain, and I tried on many backpacks, eventually plumping for the one above for a cool $140 Hong Kong, $20 and well worth it as it holds your laptop and is so full of seperate pockets it's like a fabricated chest of drawers.

We wandered around til midnight, and then stopped in an outdoor place on the market for food. We had scallops with vermicelli, deep-fried squid in rock-salt (SO good!) Singapore-style noodles and some bok-choi with garlic. It was an awesome meal.


We walked down Nathan and Peking road, via this informative sign (good to know) on a mission for live music in Ned Kelly's Last Stand. We were disappointed to find it closed, at 1.45am. Hardly a "last stand" really, is it?


We weren't tired, and wanting to walk off a bit more food, took a subway stroll to the Avenue of the Stars. At 2.15 am, this cricket game in the courtyard of an office block was a nice surprize, as was the dude singing an Indian ballad accompaniment to the Chinese/Indian equivalent of the Barmy Army who were gathered around watching. After taking in the view, as well as the clock tower (a historic landmark of Hong Kong) and stopping for some soft drinks (they have Ribena in Hong Kong! It's a great English blackcurrant juice, try it if you ever get the chance!) it was back to the room for a sleep.

We overslept, the next day, and an 8.30 optimistic start turned into 11.45, and only then because Paul woke us up to ask what we were up to. We took a taxi to Kowloon central station, where we boarded a train to Tung Chung MTR station, (where Paul took this cute pic...ah!) and Lantau Island, where the Ngong Ping skyrail would take us to the Ngong Ping village, Po Lin Monastery and Tian Tan Buddha Statue, known to most as the Big Buddha.





The skyrail was pretty spectacular, and about 25 minutes in duration. There was a hiking trail below us which I think Eric would rather have been on, but the view was beautiful.





Once on the ground again, the Village Square, Bodhi Path and Country Market are not what you'd call authentic, 7 Eleven, Starbucks, etc, but the air is definitely clearer.




There actually are monks wandering around, too. I caught some on my camera, which alas is playing up right now, most of these photos come from the camera's of either Paul or Eric. For some reason, they don't fit properly, so there's some weird writing to follow. Sorry about this, I don't know how to alter it!

The monastery contained the usual oranges, joss-sticks, lions, gold buddhas and this bell (but no big log to hit it with in sight, hmm) and was peaceful, if tourist-infused. Paul bought this parasol from one of the many souvenir stalls, and we played while Eric scooted up the squillions of steps up to the Buddha. I must confess, my legs are hurting of late, and one more buddha on the top of one more hill, beautiful though it was, I can live without. I enjoyed it very much from the BOTTOM of the steps, thankyou very much!


So, after waiting for the bus a while, we ate our Starbucks sandwiches (Paul's came in a shoe box and looked like this, like swiss roll kinda things) and jumped in a cab, which, $125 and 30 minutes later brought us to Mui Wok.



This little port had a McDonalds (good for restroom stops!) and about a squillion bikes outside it. Eric had a little lie down on the dock, while we waited for our ferry to take us to Hong Kong island, for $4 Hong Kong each. It was a sleepy little town, and a relaxing ride of about 20 minutes (another Paul special, this pic!)

So, at Hong Kong Island, Paul left us to go find H and M, and we carried on, grabbing a taxi to Stanley Market. I have pics, but alas they are stuck in the camera. The market was covered, and a little more expensive and, dare I say it, a tourist trap compared to the night market, but it was good to visit the south of the island, with it's more relaxed feel. This is clearly where the expat community came to live, the harbourside is full of English bars selling ploughman's lunches and fish n chips. We got stuck in traffic coming back (we drove past Happy Valley, an amazing cemetary amongst the high-rises) and didn't have much time to spare getting the star ferry back to Kowloon ready for sailaway. Paul took this great picture of deck 11, this is the neptune pool. The hot-tub is great at night, when most guests are asleep!

I just can't eat it!

It's been just over a week now since the Great Wall trip in Beijing, where I bought this yoghurt/jelly/ready-meal/whatever it is, from the convenience store en route. It just keeps staring at me on my shelf, dark and ominous with the little pot of viscous orange stuff on top of it....I keep thinking: "It has TURTLE SHELL IN IT!" At least, that's the way it looks, right? See the little picture on the label? I'm so curious and yet so freaked out by the idea of how it might taste to me (and my uneducated palate) that I don't know what to do. I mean, what if I actually LIKE it? Then would I eat it all? And would I then feel ill, and a wave of revulsion would rise up inside me at myself? And why, when, let's face it, I'm a carnivourous lady, is the idea of turtle so wrong to me? Oh, what possessed me to buy it anyway?! I feel like I have some kind of duty now to consume it as an adventurous and open-minded traveller.

The perils of dancing

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

A serious "Lost in Translation" dining experience in Osaka

We got into Osaka at 7pm, there was a full marching band playing on the dock for our arrival, and we decided, for now, to bypass the Tempozan Shopping Village, the huge ferris wheel right next to the terminal, and the adjoining aquarium (one of the biggest in the world, so they say) and grab the shuttle bus into town.

40 minutes later and we reached a long pedestrian shopping/dining street in Shinshi-Bashi, where we found this sign. Now, I’m sorry, I know I said I’d try to refrain from laughing at the attempts at translation because I for sure could do no better, but this has to be seen to be believed. Look to the third line.

From Shinshi-Bashi shopping street, we wanted to go a little further afield to find a decent, intrepid place to eat, something local. We walked this street, Doton-Bori, and then took a little side street, and just as we were about to succumb to the “well, fancy sushi-train then?” vibe, we saw a great place. It was called “The Don” and as soon as I walked in, I got the “Lost in Translation” feeling. Ever since that movie, I’ve wanted to eat at one of these places (what the actual name for this type of restaurant is, I don’t know), the deal being that you have a bowl of boiling water in front of you, and you throw your food in it to be cooked.

Exactly like in the movie, there was no English in the menu, and the sound of bubbling cauldrons dominated the room. We were given a cool flannel and a small glass of plum wine, which, as soon as we worked out how, we ordered more of. The lady serving us, although she spoke no English, was very helpful in calmly gesturing what to put into what as well as agreeing to take this picture of us. There was an older lady with a watchful eye too, lest we commit a faux pas or breach of etiquette (we needn’t have worried, there was much slurping and cross-contamination of chopsticks on seats all around us.)

We ordered one plate of this raw beef, and one of pork. We each got a tray of veggies and two bowls of different sauce, one sesame, one a dark vinegary mix, which you dumped the cooked food into with the slotted spoon provided, to eat. It was wicked fun, and extremely tasty.
They provided pots of chile powder and fresh garlic paste, which Eric abused happily.
Just when we were trying to work out if we should order more food, the lady brought more flannels and then udon noodles, which she put into our cauldrons and skimmed the top off the liquid in them. So, the cooking of the meat and veggies had actually made a stock for us to eat our noodles in. You spooned it all into the bowls and ate.

The meal even ended with a small scoop of refreshing ice-cream with a cheesecake-like flavour.
We got the last 10.40pm bus back to the terminal area, and went for a walk to digest our substantial meal. We found a 99yen store, which is less than a dollar, the conversion being 120 to $1 US. It was great, we bought noodle bowls, miso mix, stationary, tiny pots of jelly, ice-coffee and exotic biscuits. It was like a playground to me.

The next day, after rehearsal, I let Eric go to the Dali museum (yes, I know, I should’ve gone with culture, but I went with retail therapy!) while I shopped in the Tempozan Shopping Village.
I bought some Hello Kitty stationary (it’s disgusting how much I, a woman 27 years of age, still cannot get over my Hello Kitty addiction. I LOVE writing little letters to my friends, sticking the envelopes down with the stickers they give you etc.) a pen, this Kewpie doll keyring (can you see who they’re dressed as? My favourite characters in that show) and this gorgeous skincare stuff in geisha packaging. The pink pot is cherry-blossom face cream, then there’s rice-paper to blot your skin (no Geisha can EVER have a shiny nose!) and little pots of solid perfume.

I met Eric for lunch, and now we’re into the whole “cook it all yourself” thing, we went to a tempura place in the same mall. This time, you paid on entry, and then went to the food bar to grab all the raw food on kebab-sticks. You helped yourself to bowls of batter and breadcrumbs, and then went back to your table where the deep fat fryer was bubbling and ready for you to begin. A lot less healthy than last night’s fare, but just as fun. We mused on how expensive a it must be to have a fryer on each table, but then reasoned, they save money on not actually needing a kitchen to cook food in!

They even had shaved ice and syrups to make Mr. Frosty sno-cones for afters! Ah well, I SHOULD be able to work off all this eating in tonight's shows.

Nagasaki's War Museum WILL make you cry

After an extremely quiet stint in the library and a sneaky IPM (in-port-manning) switch with Birthday-boy Paul, Eric and I hopped off the ship in Nagasaki.

First stop in this surprisingly leafy, quaint town –nothing like the neon, high-rise, tons-of-electricity-cable cities we’ve been flung into recently- was a walk up this hill, sampling rich sponge/cheese cake on the way, to Glover Park. I love these HUGE Koi Carp outside one of the many Dockhouses in the park, 20-pounders easily.

This settlement on the hill of Minami-Yamate began in 1863, when Thomas Blake Glover travelled over from Scotland to live there. Other residents of note include William Alt (whose old oven Eric is simulating a good fry-up on) and Frederick Ringer. There is also a statue of Puccini, whose opera Madame Butterfly is said to be set in one of the mansions in Nagasaki. Eric’s impression is not as good as my recreation of the peace statue later on (forgive us!) but he scrubs up okay I guess…

There was a wedding going on outside one of the colonial, Victorian-England style houses, and guess what? A Japanese Bagpipe player! Yeah! Don’t see those every day…Also, check out the Geisha ladies

On to other things, and we got two different trams (which were pretty old, see?) to the Peace Park. There are various statues here, this one being the largest and most impressive. Check out the statue copying the chick in the foreground. Others are donated from other countries as a gesture of hope for a peaceful future, and holding babies aloft seemed to be a recurring theme.

Next was the Atomic Bomb Museum, a very sobering place. At 11.02am on August 11th 1945, UK and America after various meetings and planning, dropped the 2nd atomic bomb in Nagasaki, the secondary spot, the first choice being deemed impossible due to lack of vision/cloud cover. Oh how I wish those clouds had never parted.
I felt ashamed to be British walking around the exhibits, learning about the impact of the flash itself, the 73,000 lives lost and 74,000 more injured, scarred, blinded etc. The results were fatal as far as 3km from where the bomb landed. They used plutonium, which scorched buildings and people alive.

I cried when we reached the testimonies of children who’d seen their parents die, and in one case only a few years later, seen the spot where they died bulldozed and schools erected there. The girl said she used to put a stick to the charcoal in the playground and thought she could see her mother’s face there.

We bumped into Alex, the male ballroom dancer onboard, and as he’d also been to the museum, we went for lunch together after a taxi back to the port area. Alex speaks pretty passable Japanese (what can’t he do?!) so we were pretty adventurous in our choices, and my glutenous but juicy noodles, seafood and veggies were great. The convenience food of choice in Nagasaki is a white rolled-over dough containing pork ribs, squishy and boneless with sticky sauce, and the “roll” itself is of marshmallow consistency. Acquired taste, then! What I didn't try was this burger, although now I wish I had, I mean, "the taste of volumeful" (typo, what, 25? Maybe I should stop taking the mick, I mean, I couldn't do any better in Japanese.....)