BY JULIA CARREON-LAGOC
A SIGHT to see! A gang of nine dancing their excess avoirdupois away! The threesome (Rose Penelope, Timothy, James Raphael), another threesome (Randy Raissa, David, Danika), a twosome (Raileen, Nixon), and yours truly (without the beloved departed hubby). Got ‘em all with your indulgence, dear reader — three daughters, three sons-in-law, a granddaughter and a grandson.
The scene: Spinnaker Lounge in the magnificent Star, one huge vessel of the Norwegian Cruise Line. With no dancing prowess, we were farthest from competing with the terpsichoreans of the sit-com Dancing with the Stars. I remember my husband Rudy using the term Maski-Pops (maski papano, dance to your own personal beat) to satisfy our itching feet on the dance floor.
Long intro about folks who just wanted to get away from it all. The getaway was a revitalizing break from the monotony of earning a living. It was a well-earned nine-day rejuvenation, June 15-23, for the family workhorses who really apply themselves hard on the grindstone. Thus in high spirits, the gang went out to sea — in a luxury liner yet.
We were among the 1,500 or so tourists on board, served by a crew of about 800, majority of whom are Filipinos, Indonesians following next in number, with the rest coming from other countries
Travel was superb comfy as it was in the Carnival ships we took in our Caribbean tour in 2002 and 2004, and in the Holland Ameerica Line for our tour of Alaska and Canada in 2007: fresh linens daily, food galore, communication and audio-video facilities, 24-hour room service, etc. (Hey, give me a free ticket with this plug.) Can’t wait to put forward two kababayans who made our stateroom a home-away-from-home: Reynaldo Villazor, Butler, and Jerry Magno, Stateroom Steward. They are our “Vacation Heroes.” Rey and Jerry are Mga Bagong Bayani ng Inang Bayan (The New Heroes of the Motherland). More of them in our next column.
Gourmet dining is to be expected in cruise ships, and the Norwegian Star gets two thumbs up from us whether it was formal seating in Cagney, Le Bistro, Versailles, Ginza or in the buffet tables laden with an array of continental and Asian cuisine, and other exotic specialties.
Entertainment varied daily, the most memorable being my daughter Randy winning in the Trivia game. Sample questions: What country sanctioned women suffrage first?
Answer: New Zealand. What country in Europe was the first to allow women to vote? Answer: Finland. A spate of more interesting questions followed, the answers of which are buried deep in the mind of the forgetful.
The Norwegian Star has a large swimming pool, but the water was just too cold for this swimming buff of a seventy-ager. It has a big library, and I credit it for some excellent selections. If you care, there’s a mini golf course and a huge chess set. There’s a big game room, but a casino session won’t find a page in my book of memories because gambling has never attracted Rudy and me. No game of chance. Kinda waste of time. Oh, well, to each his/her own different strokes.
One of the joys of travel or a tour is meeting fellow Filipinos who enjoy the sights and sounds as much as one does and with whom one can converse in rapid-fire Pilipino.
Participations in the tour’s round-the-clock activities are interspersed by a tete-a-tete with a fellow Pinay or Pinoy. Often a starter is this question: What is your province in the Philippines?
The brief but very educational stopovers in the museums and other monumental places of Copenhagen, Denmark; Berlin, Germany; Estonia; St. Petersburg, Russia; Helsinki, Finland; and Stockholm, Sweden — typify for me (and for my husband across the Great Divide), the Filipino middle class who send sons and daughters through college after long years of kayud (hard work). Respite is wonderful for this retiree — taking in historical sites in simple contentment, unbothered by the size of the purse and unburdened by the weight of having to earn a livelihood. Next week: Ang Mga Bagong Bayani ng Inang Bayan. (juliaclagoc@yahoo.com)/PN
