Algeciras, Spain...Refuel for 2!

Hello everyone! Still no internet on the ship as of yet, but we are now in Algeciras, Spain for a few hours refuelling so I thought I would recharge and refuel myself by hitting up an internet cafe and supermarket. I was going nuts without contact from the other world... and its only been a few days haha I have to get back into the schedule again. I had some nice emails from people saying they miss me and wish me luck across the might Atlantic...almost as if its ME who is driving the ship lol. All I can say is 'i will try to do my best'.

Its relatively boring here...but the cool thing is this:

one side of the ship has Spain.... behind us is Jabralta .... and to the other side in the distance is Morocco!!! Africa!!!

All these places, amazing as they are however.... Grit I miss ya so much, we gotta come back here haha! and THEN everyone else can come.... heehee

If internet comes up on the ship on the crossing, I will update y'all, but if not...talk to you in one week in New Yawk lol

Oh, Finally saw the movie Crash last night on the Movies under the Stars... god what a good movie...

anyways, see ya soon!

ciao!

M

Update to schedule

One more thing to add before I go drown my newly received cold with tea.....(got it 5 hours ago by the way...cant stop coughing)....

As we are leaving for New York tomorrow, and there still isn't any word of internet on the ship... I am unsure as to when I can talk with anyone next. The good news is that there is wireless internet pumped into each cabin and therefore I will have 100% usage of my own laptop on the internet while I am far and away..... translation: you want photos, you can have photos. you want msn, you can have msn.... Dad: you want Skype? you can Skype the shit outta me (haha).

So, to recap my schedule... tomorrow (27th) we sail for the first time at 4pm, at sea for about 4 days and then we refuel in Spain... still not sure as to whether or not we will be able to get off the ship in spain but nevertheless: I will be in Spain in a few days. After that we sail across the Atlantic and no word of a lie, as we are taking the same voyage as the Titanic did (around this time of year even), we will be passing within a short distance of the flippin' thing as well.

Then we get to New York I think June 8th or 9th, and land in Brooklyn haha no kidding. We are there for 5 days or so doing odd jobs here and there, and then on the 14th we go crazy to the Caribbean for the rest of my contract.... good times.

hope to talk to everyone soon, keep those emails a comin' in the mean time!

arrivederci!

M

Arrivederci l'Italia!

31 hours left until we leave Italy, and its no surprise that nobody wants to go. Its too kozy here. Every night has consisted of not one, but usually two different patios with gelatto's and cappucino's as far as the eye could see.... and every time you walk down the street and you hear folks speaking italian, or smell the bakeries and restaurants and coffee shops, or hear the music playing (usually Live and involving accordians) in local pubs....you are instantly transformed into this person that quite simply doesn't give a shit about anything negative in the world. You cant help but feel .....content. Not just content....but like 'just got out of a 45min soak in a hot bath with candles and bubbles and Jack Johnson playing softly and...oh and all my bills are paid' type of Content.

ya. I'm taking Italy with me.

Go Rocky. Go.

M

Photos from Venice!

Woke up this morning with an itch to explore...

Hey everyone, I can't talk for too long, but I just had to mention this because I am about to explode...

I had a day off today in Trieste, Italy...so I woke up, and decided at the spur of the moment to go siteseeing...so i walked around, decided to hop a train... and two hours later:

I am in Venice Italy.

Right now.

I have 7 hours before my train leaves for the ship, its 1pm, i have TWO cameras on the go, about 3 cappucinos in my system (going on 4 in about 5 minutes), and I can't wait to go exploring.

In fact, I'm outta here! I'll be back in a few hours!

Ciao!

M

Crowned in Italy!

I have arrived! Trieste, Italy.... damn. I never thought I would see the day where I would be Michael Wachniak: World Traveller.

Ok so a quick note to bring everyone up to speed. I flew from Vancouver to Frankfurt, Germany yesterday, then to Milan, Italy. In Milan there was a 9 hour wait, so I hopped on the internet, ate at Burger King (ya.. i know), and slept for a few hours. When I finally took off to Trieste, it was all starting to sink in. I am in Italy...

I arrived in Trieste airport at about 11pm, and by 1115pmI was at the ship. The ship....the CROWN PRINCESS... is .... the biggest fucking thing I have ever seen in my life. The gangway is on 4, so when you stand there, you have this white...WALL standing another 15 stories above you. The Pacific Sky had 11 decks... The Crown has 19. Do the math. You cant help but just stand there with your jaw gaped wide open. Anyways when I got there, there was about 20 people outside drinking beer, smoking, sitting on crates. I walked inside and immediately smelled 'new ship'. The guys gave me my cabin cardkey and then said 'ok talk to you later'... nothing about when i start working, nothing about what i should do, i still dont even know if there are any other photographers on the ship haha. So, I went to my cabin 4209 (deck 4 baby ya!) and its simply amazing. Clean, new, has a TV and a DVD player... oh ya, and no electricity. So, i had to run over again to tell someone.. and today its still Powerless (just like Nelly Furtado).

Today I woke up at 1pm, went to a safety induction, went back to bed, and now Matt and I are walking around Italy and going to find food...

I will keep everyone posted, but I just wanted to tell everyone I am ok.

Miss you tons!

see you all in the next cartoon,

M

Update: www.michaelwachniak.com

I am pleased to announce that I have finally added all my new photos to my site. Australia, New Caledonia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia... its all there. I strongly encourage you to visit it and please let me know what you think. I want everyone to see what I saw, as it was a very big part in my life.

www.michaelwachniak.com

(photo above: sunset on my last day in Langkawi, Malaysia)

 

Bon Voyage, Amber!

I took the bus down to Port of Vancouver today, in hopes I would see a buddy of mine from The Sky. I didnt get a chance to see her but I did see my first sail-away FROM LAND lol

have a good trip Amber! Be nice to the guys, aight!?

Ah, The Island Princess


Oh God I hope he read the sign!


Look at that ASS! (Although I musts admit, the Pacific Sky's was better lol)

 

Ahhh, vacation at last...

Well... it was fun while it lasted, but today (day 6 of my vacation) i got a call from Princess Cruises head office... Turns out I am NOT off for 1 month lol... I knew I wasn't going on the Diamond to Alaska when I got here to Vancouver, and after a few days of fighting to get onto Grit's ship (Star Princess in Germany, Denmark, Sweden, etc.) I knew that was a NO-GO as well....then came the "but you might go to the Grand Princess in the Mediterranean Sea June 21st".... TODAY I found out (in fact 4 hours ago)...."Mike, pack your stuff, you are heading to Italy in 3 days onto the Crown Princess for its maiden voyage!"....

What...The....Fuck....

hey its all good, I am just totally surprised. In a perfect world I would have jumped onto Grit's ship, but hey... I'm not going anywhere anytime soon (well...except for Italy).

So.. Dry-docked in Italy for a week or 2.. then a big swim across the Atlantic to New York, and from there we do 9-day roundtrip cruises from NewYork to the Caribbean and back. (check www.princess.com for proper itinerary)

Go Flames.

M

Reincarnation

Just before I went to bed tonight, I thought I would see if there was any information on the world wide web about The Pacific Sky's new identity: "Sky Wonder". So, onto Google I went.

http://www.pullmanturcruises.com/sky.html

There she is folks. Sky Wonder. A new change of clothes and voila!

If you have a few minutes, click on "ver video" on the bottom left corner. Its dull at times, but you get a few good shots of the interior and what they plan on doing with the exterior. After that there are a few nice pans of the ports she will be visiting. Not too bad, looks like the white lady still has it!

M

Back Home

Well, I am home now, and I finally remember how to breathe.

White Rock looks just like it should. I saw 2 of the 10 puppies today (Avah, and Reuben), and tomorrow I am going to see the rest...10 puppies......wow!

I really miss everyone from The Pacific Sky. It was a real heartbreaker to be walking alongside the ship 6am Tuesday (Singapore time) with all my luggage and looking up to see all the logos painted over, and "Sky Wonder" in big white letters in their place. When I got home I showed my mom the photos and the DVDs....and just to watch The Mighty Sky alive again with all the crew and all the places she's been.....damn I am gonna miss her....we all are.

Grit isn't coming to the Diamond. She is starting on the Star Princess (emailed me 1 hour ago to tell me she is at the airport in London). We're working on a plan, but for now she is LITERALLY on the otherside of the planet. She will do just fine, I know it. We will see each other again, I know that as well.

Feels good to be back....but for today at least....its hard to feel 100% completely at home. Thats normal I suppose, that was a hell of a ride.

I'll be in Calgary in a week or so if anyone is interested. We should hook up for a coffee at the very least. I have so many stories.

Man, what a hell of a ride indeed.

One last thing...

This is what I have to go home to:

I'm gonna miss this place!

Hey all, this is my final internet entry from the Singapore Terminal. I am really gonna miss this place. The Pacific Sky was always sitting out the window next to me, as I would eat my cheesy wedges and blog the day away....and right now the white lady is being repainted. Its kinda depressing, but at the same time, her legacy will continue on forever. I was sitting on Shoppie Street last night with the remaining gang, and we were talking about the amount character that the Pacific Sky has. (Shoppie Street is just the name of the hallway that all the Shop Crew live on...Shoppie Street....). The other ships are so much more extravagent than her, but as you walk around the decks late at night, with no passengers, you get a sense of a living, breathing being. Its almost the feeling of a mother to her child, (i can only imagine). You get this feeling as though you are being nurtured and taken well care of, and then your mind goes "hey, its a ship man....ease off the sauce ok?" but before you agree to that, your mind goes "...but it DOES feel comfortable in here...."

Today Ben, Will and I are going to Sentosa beach for one final day of sand and surf.... then its back to the ship for the final night. I expected huge parties these past few days, but all we had instead were the couples locking themselves in their cabins for one final night of intimacy, and the rest of them sitting around with bags under their eyes, playing scrabble and wandering around the ship in a 'zombie-like' state....looking around with red eyes...I think we are all tired now and its finally catching up to us. There are also quite a few cuddle puddles (i just invented that word by the way)....4 or 5 people lying down in the middle of nowhere in one giant heap of people....either sleeping, or cuddling, or whatever....just being together. You never know when you will see these people again. I saw the diswasher today for example (found out his name is Irwin finally), and he looked at me with his never-sad eyes and his massive ear to ear smile, and he said "thank you Mike. I will miss you. I will pray for your happiness." Perhaps its things like that that give this ship the sense of love and nurturing that we all feel.

The love and friendship of all the people aboard over the last 21 years, echo through the hallways like ghosts.

And tomorrow when the ship sails for Greece to start a new life, the echos of the pacific sky will remain and warm the hearts and minds. And we will walk the halls forever.

-m-

Gone going, gone, everything's gone...

Well well well... the final cruise is done. Its now 2:30am and I am quite hammered in an internet cafe in Singapore with Szymon beside me, and Will outside using my phone card to call some girls he met on the last cruise. I have worked 17+ hours each day for the past two days packing everything up so we could have the next 3 days off...and holy God was it ever hell.... but now, we are off....Szymon, Will and myself just finished a few beers in Little India, and now we might go for one more and then head to the ship for bed.

Grit went home today. Fucking hell. I don't think I have felt so bad in such a long time. There were so many tears and hugs, more than anyone should handle, yet it was all for love, and only happy tears really....we never said Goodbye....we just said 'see you in 30 days' (we are hoping she gets on the Diamond Princess with me June 10th)...I know most would think its too soon to say this but I really would do anything to be with her. Thats the typical LOVE thing to say I know, but I am sticking to my guns on this one...her and I are so good together. The last few hours her and I spent on the ship was lying in her bed talking about what movies and music and other things we like. She really likes Jack Johnson, James Blunt, mellow music, salsa music (and Damn what a dancer!) and her favorite movie (at the moment) was that one a year or two ago with Richard Gere and JLO when he goes to learn salsa. I miss her so much. Her and I were toying with a few 'lets go move somewhere for 6 months and try things out...' .... Australia and New Zealand were the top two seeing as how we both have 'connections' there. I am all up for that but I really hope that its not 'the ship life' talking and she forgets me the second she got on the plane. Nevertheless I spent my entire free time tonight in Singapore (minus the beers with the guys of course but that was after time with her) going to the airport with Grit and spending the last few minutes with her...(for the time being)

Christ I really hope I see her again.....you know? I'm happy with her, we get along, we work well together under stress, we do things for each other without wanting anything in return (which is very rare nowadays)....we just want each other to be happy..... plus when I saw her cry today...I finally knew she felt for me the way I felt for her. Now, I may or may not read this months from now and go "well shit, what was I thinking then?" but I know how I feel right now, and thats what life is all about. I am being open minded and at the same time I am loving "the now".

I miss her. She's been in the air for 3 hours now....she is going back to London until she finds out whats going on....and I am here ......loving life.....but just wishing she was around, ya know?

Will's back...on the mobile with his woman :) I just asked him to think of something to say on my blog....he said 'gimme a minute...i have to think.' the anticipation is killing me. He always has time for a good laughable story.

In the meantime, lets talk about coming home... I am off duty for the next 3 days and the 9th I leave the ship (Oh, I bought a new suitcase today in Singapore for 30 canadian dollars hahahaha) .....I think we have to be back on the ship at 7am tomorrow so we can sail to another terminal (Star Cruises needs our spot again....damn you opposing company!)

Random thought: I miss speaking German with Grit....yes I am still learning German...
Random thought #2: What is that smell? Diesel? Garbage? at least the air con works.

On the 9th I fly at 11:00am from Singapore to Hong Kong and then to Vancouver. I cant wait to see everyone, and I have started to think of things to do while on 'vacation'..mountain climbing, sleeping on the beach, dancing, meditating....hopefully seeing old friends (but i doubt that), and being with loved ones....

ok Will is back...

Mike: 'so do you have anything you want to say to the blog?'
Will: 'hmmmm.....i dont know. I was just outside a food place and I said how much is this? and they said where are you from? and so i said ....hmmm.....Ukraine? and then they gave me one price....and so I asked the other guy and said I was from England and then they gave me another price.....Singapore....I'm ready for bed now."


thats the humor I deal with every single day.....

Grit gave me her internet card so I can add more tomorrow on the ship...so I think its time for one more beer and then back to the ship.

"To Grit and her safe trip back to London. Please make sure we are happy, no matter what that means. Life will always go on for the best, but I know a part of me died when she left, and I know part of me will grow when she returns...mwa ha ha ha"

Thats something I think only my dad would laugh at....so I am leaving it in. All kidding aside I really hope my future has Grit in it. To the fullest.

See her in my next cartoon.

P615: The Final Cruise

These are the voyagers of the Pacific Sky. Its continuing mission: to explore strange Southeast Asian Countries. To seek out new massage parlours and ride Tuk-Tuks....

To Boldly go where no one has gone before..

(insert EXTREMELY gay rendition of star trek theme song here)

Well its finally here.... Embarkation Day of the final Cruise. I am sitting in the Singapore Terminal, on the internet sipping my orange juice waiting for my Cheesy Wedges, while Grit is doing the same on the computer next to me. Speaking of which, we found out the day before yesterday that next saturday the entire spa team (Grit included) goes back to the Steiner office in London, and from there they are told what ships they are going to. In a nutshell that means that next Saturday we say Goodbye and we still arent sure if its forever or not..... that is retarded. I guess it doesnt have to be forever, but I think you know what I mean.

This week I am going to try to get as many photos and videos of the ship (i realized last night that I have tons of photos of where I have BEEN but ZERO photos of where I have lived for the past 3 months lol.....go figure...)

So the final cruise consists of this: today Embarkation photos (jesus, not again...one last time, only one more time), then tomorrow Formal day (two more times only two more times) in Mallacca, then Port Kelang (i hope i can Finally see the Batu Caves), then Langkawi (sea eagle feeding and boat riding around the mangroves...what a rush), then Phuket (no time for elephant trekking, maybe a massage on the beach, goodbye Sweetheart), and then Port Penang (i cant get off because we are tearing down the machines), and then seaday (last time to really enjoy the open sea...at least for a while).

My Flight details are as follows: (at least I think.... I seemed to have misplaced my copy...damn spring cleaning!)

- May 9th around 12pm Singapore to Hong Kong
- May 9th around 5pm Hong Kong to Vancouver
its funny because since I cross the International dateline going the OTHER way this time, I actually arrive in Vancouver 3 hours before I leave Hong Kong haha

Alright, its time to head back onto the ship...passengers are coming and I dont want to be late for setting up the embarkation backdrop (ugh, 9 hours straight of hearing (in an australian accent no doubt) 900 "NO, NO NO photos" ..i love the accent but man oh man...900 no's a day in ANY accent....shoot me lol)

I hope to get online in Mallacca or Phuket...or on the ship if it works lol

see you all in next cartoon!
M

More photos!

Nyamh, Szymon, Will, Grit, and Me (with new gay hat) in Phuket after the Elephant Trek.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from the KL tower. Those are the Petronas Towers (largest twin towers in the world....now)

oh look guys, the guide found a bullet in the forest! lets go now, ok?

Langkawi wild monkey eating a twig....doesn't it look like he is just sitting on the beach, chillaxin' smoking a cigar? Monkeys are as common to see here as gophers in Alberta. Hands up, who wants rabies?!

Grit and Me aboard "Lady", and Nyamh and Will aboard....."Lady". Whoever said Thai people were creative? lol

2 more weeks to go...

I cant believe there is only a few more weeks to go before I hop on a plane and come home... I miss everyone so much, but this life that I have out here....its just hard to have to walk away. Grit still doesnt know if she is transferring onto the Diamond Princess with me or not either. Ugh.

These last few weeks are going to be spent as best as possible: with my new friends and family. I had some guy whom I only talk to once every few days come up to me in Singapore on Saturday while I was doing embarkation photos, and he asked to have a picture taken with me. When I asked him why, he said in broken english "You are nice to me. I want a photo with my friend." Things like this happen every day, and even though I always take it to heart, it still gets taken granted for. You just simply don't know what you have until its gone. Having said that, I know it doesn't make sense and sounds invalid because I AM feeling it, and I am NOT gone yet...but I think deep down my heart is already starting to break the ties from life out here. I am a cancer, its what I do. I live in my little shell, and I am proud. I just hate having to even think of getting emails from all my friends that I see 50-60 times a day just because I may never see them again. We were in Phuket again yesterday for example, and Szymon and I decided to take some more people back to the Elephant Trekking (photos to be added after I finish this post). So, Szymon, Grit, Nyamh (pronounced 'Neev'), Will, Elise, and myself all marched up and down the hills in two's, with our elephants. I was disappointed I didn't get "Sweetheart" again, but I did ask to see her when we finished. It was like going to visit a distant relative - a quick "HELLO, I miss you, I'm sorry I haven't called..." and then we were gone. She's just an elephant, I only met her once, she doesn't know me. Once we got back to the ship I looked at the photos from the day, and already felt nostalgic.

The bottom line is this:

The next time I crawl back in,
the shell that I live in
I'll see my new photos on the wall,
and all my friends are callin'
and they will come running in
The shell that I live in.

Puppies!

Ok, after that silly webcam picture I finally thought of something to do lol.....upload the puppy pictures!!! Adobe looks so tired but she makes me so proud and looks like such an amazing mum. I cant wait to see them all in May, I hope they are still there and not with their new familes..... who wouldnt love playing with 10 puppies?!??!?!?!?

Oh, the rain has stopped! I will chat with all of you later! Ciao!

Big Boredom in Little India...

Hey all, its Saturday so its Singapore time again...it is now 4pm and I have decided to spend my few hours off in Singapore's "Little India". Its....pretty big actually lol. There is a massive rainstorm outside at the moment so I thought I would take cover in an internet cafe. This one has webcams lol but unfortunately there is no one online at the moment to talk to....so here is one for when they ARE online lol:

Hello World!

Elephant Trekking in Phuket..

You want ME to drive?!

This is our elephant, Sweetheart. She was so amazing, she would flap her ears against your legs and if she felt you were falling, she would hold her ears tight to your legs to make sure you would stay on...she really WAS a sweetheart.

A baby male elephant playing with Szymon, tell me that isnt cute.

Sweetheart and I.

I felt a little like Ace Ventura here.... "Come to me Jungle Friends!"

Yet another goofy face from the ride... hey you cant help but feel you are riding into battle when you are sitting bareback on an elephants head lol

No matter what the fun however, when it all boils down to it, this picture still says it all. Sorry to ruin the mood, but it struck a chord with me too.

In Port Penang for a few hours...

I have until 4pm off today so i thought i would run ashore and throw some photos online...its so bloody hot here, i got a slight sunburn in Phuket yesterday (yes i FINALLY set foot in Phuket)... we went elephant trekking yesterday and damn what an experience that was.... some of these photos are just random ones that i thought i would share....getting more of a fanbase on the blog so i thought hey....why not show everyone more of what i am doing? :)

This is KohSan Road in Bangkok...this is a giant backpacking area where everyone around the world meets and has a great time... Ray, you were somewhere within a block from me when I took this.... but we never got to meet... so I slept at a prostitutes house with Szymon....long story...but hey, that should shock and awe a few readers hahahah only I know the real story ;)

My feet on Patong Beach in Phuket... where the tsunami hit the hardest on the island....imagine seeing it come in from this view...it hurts the heart. It really does.

I caught this lucky shot as we were doing morning gangway shots in Phuket. I thought it looked pretty neat.

Me sittin on the curb at a 7-11 drinking ChangBeer (bought from 7-11) on the way to Bangkok. I think this was in Laem Chabang...who knows.

Kids in Koh Samui. I thought it would make for a nice pic to get them to make faces at me. They really love seeing themselves on the screen on the camera lol

I AM A GRANDPA!!!

Just a quick note to everyone to say Adobe had her puppies!!! I know most of you are thinking "Adobe was pregnant?" well ya she was...lol... and get this: 10 puppies!!!! 8 girls, 2 boys, and aparantly she is doing so well and they are healthy.... i want to see the puppies!!!! Hill, send some pics asap so i can upload them!!! I want pics of Peach with the puppies ok?

Now other news quickly... I have to meet Grit at her Salon in 10 min so we can go for food. I cant remember if i mentioned on here yet or not, but my next ship is NOT Italy. May 8th, when the ship is sold, I come back to Vancouver and have one month off, and then I am continuing on with a new contract and hopping onto the Diamond Princess. Its a Grand Class ship (look at www.princess.com and take a look at it...its so amazing!) and its based out of Vancouver (ironic eh?) and making 2 week cruises to and from Alaska... then in September we go down to the Mexican Riviera. Ah, the ship life :) I just hope Grit can make it to the same ship... being a Steiner (thats the name of the company she works for... hard to explain) its difficult to request a ship. So far our hopes aren't too high, but the universe knows what to do and will make the best for both of us. Szymon, Anna, Will, and maybe even Joel might be heading to Alaska as well, so thats nice. May-August is peak season for the Alaska cruises, and something like 12 out of the 20 ships are there so chances of seeing everyone is pretty good. Not to mention the fact that everytime we stop, there is at least one other ship there, so we can probably visit for a few hours each time if anything.... here's hoping!

ok, more talk later...someone say hi if they can ok? I like getting a few emails every now and then even if its just a hello :)

ciao!

Life Moves Funny Sometimes...

I dont even know where to start....um...I am in the Singapore terminal again...eating my cheesy wedges and having a nice cold pint o' Tiger.... I just finished talking to Graham on msn (HEY DUDE!) and after I am done here I am going back onto the ship. Lets see....this morning 8am I was in the Captains Lounge with him, the staff captain, the PSD, and two Singapore officials.... sounds like I murdered someone right? The highest ranks on the ship, two Singapore officials, and ONLY me....I managed to fend them off with my camera... but seriously, all I had to do was photograph them all holding up an envelope saying "We donated $3600 to some place in Singapore".....then Grit, Julia and I grabbed our shite and hitched a taxi to the beach....where the sand looks like bread crumbs and the water tastes like....well....Salt mixed with a tad of Hep A and B....and I swam in it.....so beautiful.......until Grit tossed a handful of sand down the back of my shorts.........and lets just say when I caught her, I learned a few new German words.... After that we came back to the terminal...they had to work and I had to catch a bus to chinatown to meet Szymon...

A word of advice....

in Singapore, Chinatown is just....TOWN...... when a friend says "hey, take the 143 bus to chinatown and i will meet you at the stop between 2:30 and 2:45...." ......get more info.....

So, i walked around, found an american, asked him if he knew where szymon was.... and after laughing by myself, i hit up Burger King (yay), and cabbed it back to the terminal....and this is where I am now...

ok so as far as last week goes.... and the week before (wow i REALLY didnt update this recently lol)... we just did the Mallaca, Port Kelang, Phuket, Port Penang run... in Phuket I was IPM (couldnt get off ship...god dammit).... but we were anchored 1km off shore..and when the big tsunami came a few years ago, we were anchored right in the path it took. Buildings are still blocked off, and even before I knew where we were, I woke up to this certain.....void feeling..... like something was just not right... one side of the ship was land, the other was sea.... and when you look out.....you can just imagine it happening. We were all celebrating Christmas when it happened......and Boxing day over here....and ....you can just see it coming........its just...... its a real mindfuck.... there....first swear on my blog, but there ya go... +100,000 people died that day, and some of them right here....tourists.... like me....10am, ......and the scary thing was, Grit and I were eating out on the back deck when I was explaining (or trying....) this to her....and it was 10:30am....close enough to shake you up.

Do me a favor... if you can, search and find "tsunami sound file" on google.. somewhere out there, there is a recording of the earth splitting open under the sea.....turn all the lights off, turn it up as loud as you can, and just sit there... thats all that went through my mind as Grit and I stood at the railing looking out into the sea in Phuket. Thats all I could think.

......deep breathe.....back to writing updates now: We are doing Laem Chabang this cruise again (BANGGGGGGGGGGGGG-KOK!) and guess what....

my next door neighbor in Calgary...Ray...good buddy from a mutual ...friend...

He and his girl went backpacking to India last November (driven to the airport by yours truly) and this week...they are in Bangkok.....and I am going to meet them.....how crazy is that?! "oh hey guys, have fun on the other side of the planet...oh and by the way....4 months from now, are you free for a cold one in Bangkok? Great! I will pencil you in!"

Life moves funny sometimes....

Like sitting on the beach today and hearing "Sakura, raise the flag.....no no no, the orange one".....signs from past lives....still haunting me...

that last sentence was for me. Dont expect to understand it. Nothing wrong with writing for JUST ME sometimes.

Life moves funny sometimes......

See you all in the next cartoon.

And yet some more photos! LOL

Watching the Elephant show in Pataya.

How Cute is that?!

Ben the Videographer and myself taking a pic with the Elephants... We are so cool! lol

How is that for a one in a million shot?! One of the coolest moments in my life...

I took them home in my camera bag... they live with me now. And I am not giving them back. Simple as that.

More photos!

This guy was just laughing in Singapore for no reason....then when I told him to smile...he stopped. Go Figure.

A Beggar man outside a temple in Port Penang.

A Traditional Thai Show in Pataya, Thailand. Go Elephants Go!!

Grit, Myself, and Julia (Grit's new GERMAN cabinmate). They are just coming back from a day out in Singapore, and I was taking the embark photos. Thank God for Self-Timer :) . Grit is a lot happier with Julia around, she isn't as homesick anymore with a fellow German-speaking female aboard.

My Aussie friends that I mentioned in an earlier post... you guys are amazing!

Singa-Dinga-Dong, my new best friends are gone...

Ok...back in Singapore again...but this time I finally got a chance to get off for the day. I did my morning gallery shift from 7am-10am, and then grabbed Grit and left for downtown in a taxi for a few hours...we got kinda lost...

kinda..

we found a riverside cafe and had some Thai food (aw god yes), and then had to run back to the ship so she could work.... we got back on time (2:45pm) but i still have til 7:30pm tonight off so i am walking around in the terminal (which is actually a giant !$!%^! shopping complex) and i stumbled upon this internet cafe...

I haven't much to write about....all I can think of really are my new friends that just left today. There was a group of 4 passengers from Australia (my age) and they have been on the ship for 2 cruises (14days)...through those 14 days, we grew to be best friends. Everytime i had a camera in my hand they would come and pose for me, everytime i walked by them they would run up to me and give me hugs and high fives....and then island night this last cruise I finally had a chance to go have a few drinks with them and party. We danced in island shirts and leis and hula skirts (and Kat, my favorite chicky of the bunch, even had a REAL coconut bra)....and we danced on the open deck all night....they even gave me a nickname: Mugshot Mike. And then the song came. And we danced.

"Hey Mikey, you're so fine, you take our pictures all the time, hey Mikey! Mugshot Mikey!"

And then last night as I was finishing my shift they all came up to me and handed me a photo. A photo Szymon had taken of the 4 of them with myself. They paid for the photo a few days before, and signed the back of it with emails and song lyrics and 'photograph my wedding, Mugshot!"...I was ....I dont know... I was in shock, i guess that was what I was. I just ...even now i cant think of what i was...my mind goes blank... i dont even know what i feel, although i know it has to be positive...its almost a blissful love feeling...but more shock than i have ever felt...sorta like .... ok, if you are really upset...to the point of hating the world, and then you see one thing, or hear one thing and in one instant....click.....the world just flips over and begs you to rub its belly...and you just sit there....and even though for me i wasnt really in a horrible mood to begin with at all.....that gesture just made it all a whole lot better. It was a "hey mike....you really ARE doing a good job on this planet...." Dont tell anyone but it actually brought a tear to my eye. If i thought of it i would have uploaded the photo of them today...but all in good time.

Kat, Chris, Amelia, Jaiya (sorry dude, i dont know how to spell your name)....in 14 days, you made my entire life. I truly mean that. And I know you will be reading this at some point, probably in the next few weeks...and i couldnt be happier for that.

Guys? *raises glass to the aussies* Cheers.

IMD March 8th

Just a quick note before I head back to work. I just wanted to wish all the women in my life (past, and present) a very Happy International Women's Day. I don't know much about this day, but I found a site http://www.internationalwomensday.com that looks to have all the information anyone would need. If I had the money and arms over 30,000km long I would hand you each a rose but for now only Anna, Alison, and Grit get that privelage. ;)

Mom, Hill, Kaia, Anne, Heather, Kelly, Dana, Amber, Bev, Angel+Adobe (yes, i'm including female dogs too), Mary (mom's cat...what the hell, eh?) and all the others that I am sure I would have mentioned provided I wasnt being tapped on the shoulder every 20 seconds by someone who wants to use the internet....you all mean so much to me and I think about you more than you really ever will know.

Namaste,

M

Some random photos Part 3

A beggar woman in Bangkok. I gave her 2 dollars US to take her photo, and when I left she started crying. When I passed her again, we all gave her 20 total. Bless her.

When we set up Formal Nights, we know it can get a little crazy. This is how we look BEFORE we start...imagine AFTER!! sheesh!

This breaks my heart every time I see this.

This is me in Melaka, Malaysia on a Trishaw...so colorful.

Markets in Bangkok. I got a pair of Billabong shorts for 2US dollars....thank god they are made in Thailand lol.