Today we met our new instructor. He is from northern California and has earned his living teaching Tai Chi for over 30 years, age about 53? In only 45 minutes this morning I can see that the class will be well attended the rest of the voyage. Richard, that is his name, has mastered the art of teaching, even to a class of over 75 middle aged old fogeys. No doubt the class will dwindle down somewhat and there are some who will not attend because Robert and Bronwyn are not on board.
The end result is that I/we are looking forward to some graceful and healthful Tai Chi for the next 55 days.
* Regarding the shirt situation: Fellette was ironing one of my new shirts today when a lady complimented her on it. [Colour obviously.] Her husband had a new suit made in HK, she said it is a lovely suit and her husband said 'you can bury me in it!'
While we are talking about tailors let me give a few thoughts on the subject if I may.... Tailor-made clothes cost more than off-the- rack clothes. Period. Except when you are in Asia and have them made in places like Shanghai, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong. There, they are more economical than medium grade clothes bought off the rack at home.
Some people do not need nor want the 'hassle' of tailor-made. Some people only look half decent in tailor-made clothes. Some just feel better in tailor-made clothes. Some just want tailor-made clothes for bragging rights. I am not sure where I fit in except that I have only had a few good fitting shirts in my life off the rack. They are now almost all worn out or stained. It just feels good to be in clothes that feel good, and hopefully fit right. This feeling I expect will soon pass and I will be soon in my ill-fitting good old clothes that are out of style, do not fit well but sure feel good. So there you go, all you need to know about tailor-made clothes.
* We met a couple on board about two months ago, [gadzooks that sounds awful.] Luvis and Fred. In Manila they left the ship and went on a private tour to Peking. Obviously they were a bit apprehensive about the trip, as it was not a ship's tour and they were basically on their own. I saw Fred at breakfast this morning and he had a grin from ear to ear. I invited him & Luvis and his Mac to our room for a drink before dinner. [They do not drink, so it was a talk.] If you rate things, they had a 10. What a wonderful time they had, the pictures are exceptional and the sky was Adobe blue! The tour was slick as a whistle and pictures and stories to die for. We all have pre-conceived images of things and places in our minds. Get rid of them and open your mind to the real world out there. China has never been on the top of my hit parade of places to see, but then again, never was Africa!
China is getting ready for the Olympics and all stops are pulled out to present a good face to the world. By Fred and Luvis' account the world will not be disappointed. Mind you there is Peking and then there is China. There are 18,000,000 million people in Peking, but another 1,282,000,000 that we do not see too much of, so, how can we form an opinion on China? They were told that Peking has 1/3 of the building cranes in the world at the present time. New cars are coming onto the road at the rate of over 3000 a DAY. That is over a million a year IN PEKING alone!
Too much information and no doubt some of it a bit biased. Make no mistakes however, China is to be dealt with sooner or later.
* We are close to Viet Nam now and as I write this and we are passing close by fishing boats and small coastal freighters. The boat in the picture had crew with coolie hats on, they had shouted what I think were greetings to us as we sailed past them. All around us at the present time are large floats that are really channel markers. What a job to navigate this thing through the channel to the coast of Viet Nam. God bless the people on the ship's bridge tonight. The view from the cabin at dark is one of very bright lights on ships that I believe are to attract fish to their net system that lurks below. Fellette said a few minutes ago "it is a wonder there are any fish left in the sea" Who is to judge? Not us.
* We visited a shop in Hong Kong yesterday, a very high class shop, the door was opened for us by a uniformed security man. [Yes, we do that sort of thing!] In there they have Chinese art and carvings etc, all very pricey and of exceptional quality. The carvings got my attention. The Chinese mastered the art of caring ivory probably thousands of years ago. The work and detail is really beyond belief, and some pieces sell for over C$100,000. These pieces are still being carved today by craftsmen in areas in the country that have done this for centuries. interestingly enough the name of the artist DOES NO GO ON THE PIECE. One wonders if the ancient system of China is still at work today. Can you imagine a world class artist not signing his work???? There are many layers or levels of middlemen in Asian dealings. That $100,000 piece of the pie will be divided amongst many well to do Chinese 'businessmen'.
* Regarding my use of adjectives, descriptive words and superlatives... A trip like this is an exceptional experience, whether it be for the first or the 10th time around. I cannot find enough words to adequately express the wonderment that unfolds before us, every single day of the trip. People, sights, sounds, experiences, emotions or whatever. I may use too many of the same words, over and over. Excuse me please. Possibly if I had of spent a few years at a university majoring in English I could better express myself.
Also, I will use words like Peking or Bombay. I may not use the 'new' and politically correct spelling of places like Beijing or Mumbai. I live in Vancouver, not Wancouver!
No comments:
Post a Comment