Photos of Catherine the Great Palace in St. Petersburg Russia. Baltic cruise 2003

A welcoming brass band in front of the palace. 

Entering the palace. My son is in the middle. My cursillo brother Al is on his right wearing burgundy sweater. 

My wife and son's shoes covered to protect the palace floor. 

Palace hall. 

One of the dining rooms. 

Chess set. 

Furnishings. 

Catherine's dress on display. 

Back of the palace. 

Med cruise

We boarded the cruiseship Celebrity Millennium in Barcelona after 16 hours of travel fron San Diego via Detroit and Amsterdam. Our group of nine people came in just minutes after the other two groups from our parish arrived by busses from Lourdes France. There was no time for sightseeing in Barcelona. After checking in at the pier we wasted no time in buying souvenirs at the duty free shops. The ship sailed two hours later.

Millennium was our second cruise and according to our travel agent, a better ship than last year. But we were a little bit disappointed. The engine vibration that I read from the reviews was still present. Last year our cabin was situated much nearer the engine but felt no vibration whatsoever but aboard Millennium it was really noticeable. But after a day or two I was used to it and sleeping was not a problem.

The activities were duller, I guess it was because the average passenger was 60 years old and above. After a very tiresome shore tours, these passengers just slept the night away to prepare for the next day’s tour in another port but for younger people like us we crave for the nightlife of dancing and entertaining. Last year there were group contests of dancing and other entertaining stuffs like dressing in drag, a contest of who’s the fastest group that can provide things that the host asked like a 50 dollar bill, a nail clipper or a bra. One of our older women nonchalantly took off her bra and presented it to the host. We won that contest and the dancing too. Aboard the Millennium, there were no such things. The internet was so slow charging 75 cents per minute. On the upside, Millennium’s broadway shows were excellent. The food, the service, the staff were better. The ports were to die for.

Aside from port of embarkation which was Barcelona, there were nine ports which are gateways to well known cities. Nice and Monte Carlo Monaco were the first cities we visited. Less than four hours was not enough to see Monte Carlo. There was no time to see the inside of Grand Casino because of the long line.It rained cats and dogs in Pisa that day. No time to climb the leaning tower. The women enjoyed shopping Tuscany leather bags though. Florence is very nice. We just drove by Naples on the way to the ruins of Pompei. My wife bought a serving cart with wood in lays in Sorrento for a door to door delivery. The Amalfi coast has breathtaking views. The sceneries of the greek isles of Santorini and Mykonos were spectacular. Dubrovnik Croatia has the walled town. But the top 3 cities to die for were Rome with Vatican, Athens with the Acropolis and Venice with it’s canals and gondolas.

Our last port was Venice arriving there past noon and toured the St. Mark church and square, the Doge palace and attending a glass blower demonstration. My wife bought a 24 carat gold laced wine decanter set to be displayed in the serving cart bought in Sorrento. Our evening serenade in a gondola was cancelled due to the rain.

Overall, our mediterranean cruise was better than last year because of the italian ports. Spending less than eight hours in one city was not enough though. It only made me want to come back for more. Yes, we’re going back but not on a cruise. We need more time to savor the views, to immerse in the culture and to shop.

Happenings

Here’s what happened for the last three weeks that I didn’t post:

Attended a reception of the wedding of a pinay and a chinese held where else? in a chinese restaurant. It was my first time to experience such banquet where they serve the fried rice last and by that time guests were full and requesting “to go” containers because we can’t eat anymore

I had a gout flare up that lasted for four days and was not able to go out that weekend. I ended up going to the clinic and having a cortisone shot on my foot. With less than 3 weeks to go before vacation, I’m on a strictly low protein and low purine food diet to lower my uric acid that caused the gout flare up. But last weekend my dieting suffered a setback. My better half loves to eat buffet style and with all those mouth watering foods in the serving table, I was forced to pig out. My plan now is to eat the minimum for the next two weeks and then enjoy the food aboard the cruiseship. The cruise is port intensive and involves a lot of walking and hopefully my feet will hold up otherwise I’ll be left behind and dining by myself alone aboard the ship.

Myy son is doing great and we’re just waiting for the doctor’s order to stop the blood thinning regiment next week. By that time the artificial ring that was installed in the heart valve is covered with his tissue that blood thinner is not needed anymore. But as of now, the weekly ritual of going to the lab for the blood drawing continues. He is itching to drive his car and getting ready to move his belongings to college apartment and start school in three weeks time. Too bad he won’t be able to go with us during the cruise this time.

Right now, we’re in the process of checking out our “things to bring and do list”. I still have to buy a 1G compact flash memory card for the digital camera in lieu of the laptop computer that we won’t bring this time to upload the photos. I want to avoid the hassle of inspections at the airports and traveling light is very convenient. We’ll be bringing our neck pouches to put our cash and credit cards to avoid being victims of pickpockets especially in Rome.

I’ll try to post aboard the ship and say hi to everybody if time and cost permits. It costs 75 cents a minute to use the ship’s internet and me being a slow typist that will be prohibitive.

ala Titanic

Passengers being served like kings and queens, dancing the night away with the big band’s music in the ballroom and lounging with drinks in their hands watching other people come and go. Scenes from the movie "Titanic"? Nope.

Welcome to the growing popularity of cruising where ordinary people experience things that many years ago only the rich can afford to. In "Titanic", the rich occupies the upper decks while the poor is in the lower decks. Now, anybody can afford to be in the upper decks or with ocean view.

After 9/11 many cruiselines were offering discounted cruises up to 50% off to entice terror stricken americans to travel. If you’re travelling in big groups, the savings are much more. Cruises are offered almost anywhere in the world including Antartica. There is another reason why it’s affordable. Cruiselines are employing international crews mostly from poor countries like the Philippines where labor is cheap.

Last summer my family together with other members of our parish went on a 12 day Baltic sea cruise with visits in Scandinavian ports and Russia. That was our first leisure cruise, my first one where I didn’t have to work. After spending my navy career working from destroyers to aircraft carriers, cruising aboard Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Sea was unforgettable. It was the only ship that I boarded and hated to leave. Of course, navy ships were only my basis of comparison, where living and working conditions were spartan.

On a cruiseship there’s a lot of filipino crews working as waiters, cooks, cabin attendants, maintenance workers and entertainers. I talked with a father and son who were deck workers and found out that they were paid a set amount of wages and allowed a 2 month vacation to the Phil. every year. Their plane fare was free but only one month vacation was paid. Work was hard and they missed their family but they were earning less at home they said.

I found out that cabin attendants and waiters were only paid $50.00 a month plus plane fare and tips. The recommended tips were $3.50 per cabin attendant or waiter per day from one passenger. That means the 3 of us gave one of them $10.50 /day for tips. If 3 workers were serving us everyday then total tips were $31.50 daily and $378 for 12 days.

If you think that they earn a lot of tips you’re wrong. Giving of tips is basically voluntary. Because it is not required, some passengers like europeans are tightwads and giving tips is alien to them. One cabin attendant cried because a british couple gave only $10.00 for the whole cruise. Our party gave them the recommended tips plus extra for the excellent services that they rendered. In tagalog I say it was "sulit na sulit".

Cruising is very relaxing compared to a land tour aboard a bus. Almost everyday you have to unpack and pack your luggage in a land tour while you only do that once on a cruiseship. So if you’re thinking of cruising, do it in a heartbeat and please give tips to any deserving crew. It’s highly appreciated and recommended.

Who's the macho now?

We’re all familiar with the filipino husband as the breadwinner of the family and the wife as a homemaker. The wife takes care of the kids and the needs of the husband when he comes home from work. The husband when he’s at home reads the newspaper, watches the tv or barks orders to the wife, kids or the maid. The wife plays a supporting role in the family’s affair.

I want to share with you a true story about a homemaker in the Phil. who was dependent on her husband for support when kids were growing up and her empowerment later on. Let’s call her Mrs. Abad.

Mrs. Abad came to america when her daughter petitioned for her, found work as a cook in a restaurant. She only finished elementary school but her skill of cooking landed her a job in one of silicone valley’s restaurant. She’s a hardworking lady and took advantage of the job opportunity that eluded her in the province. After working for 15 years she retired in 2000 and divides her time between zambales and california. She now resides in the province but every 6 months she comes to visit her children here in california and to have mammogram test taken. Her family has a history of breast cancer that’s why she and her daughters have this test taken every 6 months. Two of her sisters died of breast cancer and a niece is a cancer survivor.

Her husband retired as a bank manager in the province and received a large lump sum retirement money which he promptly spent in treasure hunting which by the nature of the business was highly speculative. The money was gone and needing for more capital, he obtained money from the bank by mortgaging their house as collateral. The bank was about to reposses the house when Mrs. Abad luckily found it out and paid off the loan. Without her intervention, they would have been homeless.

Aside from her savings, she gets $400 social security pension every month. Also, she has a buy and sell business wherein she buys second hand stuff in the flea market here and then she ships it to the Phil. in balikbayan boxes. She’s generous and helps a lot of her relatives who are poor. Also her husband receives additional $200 per month through her social security. The husband’s share is separate from Mrs. Abad’s.

Life is like a spinning wheel, sometimes you’re up and sometimes you’re down. When the husband was still working, the community look up to him with respect and the wife was viewed as one who was lucky to land a husband with a good paying job. Now, it’s the opposite with the wife making a lot more money than the once respected husband.

With the Phil. sending a lot of it’s workers overseas, this story is not unique. Many wives are working abroad, remitting dollars and becoming the dominant figure in the family.

West Nile virus

A few years ago, birds in new york were dropping dead. Authorities thought that somebody was poisoning these animals. They found out later that birds died due to the west nile virus. It was hypothesized that immigrants from africa brought the virus into the U.S.

Three years ago, the virus was confined to the east coast like new york, florida but last year it showed up in california. At least two people died. Fever, headache, muscle aches and fatigue are the symptoms same as the flu. Most people recover from it but deadly on others. There’s no vaccine yet against it. Three weeks ago dead birds were found three miles from us and was positive for the virus.

Last week a notice was mailed to the residents on what to do to prevent being infected. Birds and mosquitoes are carriers. I checked the yard to eliminate places of standing water where mosquitoes can breed like spent tires, pots of plants and buckets. I’ve been regularly maintaining the pool and spa making sure that chlorine level is just about right. I checked the screens of the windows and the screen door for holes where mosquitoes can get through. In addition they advised us to wear pants and long sleeve shirts when outside the house during dawn and dusk when mosquitoes are active.

Aside from brush fires, earthquakes, traffic jams, high cost of housing and now west nile virus…..san diego is a nice place to live for most of us.

Day of destiny

It was summer and I was home in the province enjoying my vacation when my high school bestfriend came and told me that he had applied at the subic bay naval base as a US navy recruit and tried to sell me the idea of doing the same thing. That time joining the military was far out of my mind. The military didn’t interest me but pressures from my parents and the idea of being financially capable finally did it. They said there’s nothing to lose if I apply.

As the eldest among 5 siblings I personally know how tight the family’s finances were with the younger siblings still about to go to college. There were times that I had to do drastic belt tightening to get by on a daily basis while in school. I had to skip lunch or just a snack was good enough. The main reason why I went to UPLB was because I had an aunt living in Los Banos and board and lodging was free. I liked to be an engineer and Mapua was where I wanted to go but inadequate finances dictated my choice.

I sent my navy application which were photos of myself with my biodata at the back. I received my navy calling card to take the exam just before taking summer courses at Diliman. Armed with a navy reviewer notes, I studied it diligently and simultaneously with 2 college courses. I had an added incentive to pass the navy exam, I was the only sibling to pass the UPCAT and with it the siblings challenge of whether I was good enough to pass the navy exam.

When I was in college, olongapo city was just a bus stopover on the way home. I lived 2 hours by bus north of it. Accompanied by a cousin I found myself at the gate of the massive navy base and was met by a navy representative who ushered me inside and aboard the cattle truck with other eager and nervous applicants. It was my first time to set foot inside the base after many years of taking glimpses of it from the buses that I was riding along the national road.

As I sat in the exam room I told myself that if I failed, I’ll be graduating from college in a year anyway but meantime I was determined to pass it. I had read the review notes so many times that I memorized the order of the questions. There were 100 exam takers in that room and found out later that only one recruit will be taken among us. After one hour, the result came in. Out of 80 questions I got 65 correct answers same as another guy from Holy Angels College in Angeles city. We were the topnotchers. The two of us were told to stay for the interview and the rest left dejectedly and hoarded back to the truck like cattles to return to the base gate.

A navy senior chief was my interviewer and the first thing that I did was to read a paragraph which I did easily. The next question was the meaning of the word nocturnal. I dropped the ball on that one. My answer was one that lives on land and a cow was the example that I gave. I was thinking of the word terrestial. The final question was why do I want to join the navy. I had anticipated that question will be asked and so I had my answer rehearsed a lot of times. Looking into his eyes I said, "I admire america and what it stands for like democracy and when I was growing up, the moment my uncle who’s in the navy told me all the places that he visited all over the world I found myself dreaming to be like him. It is a childhood dream". I guessed I told him the right answer because he was smiling, Of course half of that was bullshit. I told him what he wanted to hear. I didn’t tell him my true motivation which was financial because that will be an outright rejection.

Finally the senior chief said I passed it and gave me the papers for the physical exam in a later date. They were impressed on us that they took two recruits instead of only one. I was jubilant to go home and tell my siblings in their face about it.

And the rest is history.