Today, I think I woke up at around 9, had breakfast by myself at the Park Café and then did some exploring of the ship by myself, yes, it’s Day 5 and there is still more exploring to be done!
Afterwards, I think I headed down to the casino because they had double slot points between 9 and 11 am. My intention was to take about $100 camp myself in front of the Video Blackjack machine and play during their promo period to earn points for “free” stuff. Well that didn’t go so well, I ran into my aunt and my Grandma at the casino, hung out with them for the better part of the hour and watched my Grandma play penny slots.
She kept winning the bonus games, which made the game pretty fun! At one point, she ran out of credits, so she inserted another $5 into the machine, however, once you insert more money into the machine, for some reason her previous play settings of $0.01 per line at 40 lines plus the bonus play feature wasn’t remembered, so I was “smart” and told her to hit MAX BET. Whoops! That one little push cost her $4.50. I wish I could have told you that the machine saved my ass by letting her hit the jackpot or at least something, but nope, there was no such luck.
I felt bad, ‘cause under my direction and guidance, I cost her that $5, so I took $5 of my own money and inserted it into the machine for her, yano, to repay her for my mistake. Nothing come of that $5 as well, so we walked away.
As we were walking away, I looked @ my watch and it was only 10:45, so I sat down at the video blackjack machine, played $1 a hand and played until the remaining 15 minutes of the double point promo concluded, and made sure that I cashed out at $5 ahead, to recoup my previous $5 loss.
After this session concluded, I went back up to the higher decks and bumped into Aileen and Quenton, they asked where I was headed, I told them I was headed to the Aqua Theatre to sign up for the Men’s International Belly Flop Competition. As we were going there, I told them of my plan that my intention was not to sign myself up, but to sign Ly up instead. When I got up to register the guy asked me where I was from, what my height was, all easy questions, up until he asked how much I weighed. I was puzzled for a minute, I didn’t know how much Ly weighed, then the guy suggested that I looked about 175, so I said, yeah, that sounds about right!
After this, we all headed up to the Wind Jammer Market place for our buffet lunch, we’ve eaten there for breakfast quite a few times, but never once for lunch yet. The lunch options and food, wasn’t that great. I only had a plate, then left with Alfred and Quenton over to the Wipeout Café where they served, burgers, hot dogs, and tacos! We wanted to try their tacos! It wasn’t too bad. nothing spectacular.
After lunch it was time for the Men’s International Belly Flop Competition, the plan about Ly being signed up was unveiled during lunch. However, when it came time to head on up to the stage, even though they made several announcements over the PA system looking for him, he never went up.
Once the competition had concluded, Ly and I headed down to the Casino for their Blackjack Tournament. I had entered a blackjack tournament on my previous cruise and felt that it was pretty fun, although short lived. There was no exception this time, $20 to enter, you get 500 chips, after 7 hands, the 7 people with the highest scores gets to make it to the final table where they play for the cash prizes.
I can’t seem to win any hands in a blackjack tournament so I can never make the board. After losing out on my first attempt, I decided to try it again, but this time with a more aggressive strategy, since there were people already on the board, and I knew I needed a certain amount in order to make the cut, but to no avail, I did not make the board.
Ly however, made the board on his first attempt with a chip count of 800. They were still accepting entries for people trying to qualify for the next half hour, so needless to say it was still a nail biting experience. In the end, his score wasn’t bumped and he was able to make it to the final table, where he busted out within a few short hands.
After my casino adventure for the day had concluded, I needed to get out and get some sun, since I probably spent about a good 4 hours in the casino that day. I went back up to my room to change to go ride on the flow rider, but when I got there, the line was packed, so I decided against it. So I wanted to go do some rock climbing instead, and to do rock climbing, I needed the proper foot wear, so back to my room to change, which was all the way across the ship!
By the time I got to the rock climbing wall, a good 45 minutes had elapsed since I last left Ly in the casino, and much to my surprise, he was there at the rock climbing wall as well, with Sharon.
After rock climbing, I was headed back to my room to shower and change for dinner, since tonight was formal night number two, and you know what that means! More professional photos!
As I was riding the elevator back to my room, the elevator stopped at the 6th floor, which is where the gym was, I had only previously taken a quick tour of the gym, however, it seemed like I was experiencing a calling, since the elevator just stopped at the 6th floor and no one got on or off, so I quickly hopped off, and spent a quick 10-15minutes in the gym.
After that, I finally went back to my room to shower and change, the time was probably only about quarter after 4 right now, and dinner, as usual, was not until 6PM. However, the parentals wanted professional photos to be done so we were all told to be ready and meet them at 4:45 to begin our photo session.
Holy! We spent the entire hour and 15 minutes taking photos, then finally made it to the Main Dining Room for our dinner, tonight was Lobster night, so pretty much all you can eat lobster, some people had two lobsters and a select few even went up as far as three lobsters!
Okay, dinner’s done, now what? Free time? Nope! You guessed wrong, more pictures! Dubai had booked another photo shoot session for 8:45, so we couldn’t go off on our merry ways. So we probably ended up spending about a good three hours just standing around and taking photos that day, before and after dinner, which made it seem like a 5 hour dinner session. You know you’ve spent enough time taking pictures that day when both Yuanna and Yuju are tired of taking photos!
Once photos were finally done, some of us went back to our rooms to change, i.e. Me. While others kept their attire. Next up on the agenda was to go watch the Ice Games! Ice Show. In this show, they take the classic board game of Monopoly and bring it to “life” on stage. Of course they create their own version of it, so instead of the typical Monopoly properties, they have you “land” on restaurants/shops that are part of the ship.
After the ice show, it’s time for Mosaic, they’re a five man vocal collaboration group where they “sing” but they don’t use any instruments except for their vocal cords. However, this show is not for Alfred and I, since we have setup a rendezvous with the Doctor/Lawyer set up in the game room.
So we head there only to discover that the Doctor showed up and the Lawyer is too tired to hang out. But whatever, we still hang out and try to talk about our day and what we have planned for tomorrow in Mexico. There’s the fear of running into Andrew, both in Alfred and my head, so Alfred comes up with the great idea of trying to move the conversation over to a bar area, hoping that Andrew won’t look there.
So we leave the game room and come across a fancy Champagne & Martini Bar. Shortly after we sit down, I see Derrek and his friend Anna walk by, so I tell my group that I have to go to the bathroom to be excused. Reason being is that I wanted to find Anna’s sister, Lan and Linh, ‘cause we were sitting in a pretty exposed area of the bar and I knew that Andrew would find us sooner or later. So I needed a backup plan.
They tell me that they haven’t seen them around yet, so they don’t know, damn, so I proceed to walk to the Sorrento’s Pizza place, ‘cause that’s where usually the group of people gather, hoping to run into them there. I run across some people, but not the people whom I’m looking for. Oh well, back to the Martini bar I go.
I get back there, try to rejoin the conversation, this is when I learn that the Doctor is from Shanghai and the Lawyer is from WuHan, a province in China? Shortly after I join them, I’m joined by my shadow, Andrew. Dammit! I knew he would find me. So I try to engage him into a light conversation, still hoping that the Doctor doesn’t notice how awkward he is, dammit, this isn’t working. Hey Andrew, let’s go for a walk to find others. I head back over to Sorrento’s Pizza place where I had seen others and stand there with them for a bit. That’s when Allan notices the scheming look that I have on my face and he knows I’m up to something, so I tell him what’s going on and what my plan is. Luckily he fully understands the situation. Phew! So he starts talking to Andrew, and tells him that Mosaic is playing and they do really good beat boxing, since Andrew is from New Jersey and likes that kind of stuff as well, so somehow Andrew goes there by himself to check out the show, and I thank Allan for his help and head on back over to the Martini bar.
So once again, I try to rejoin the conversation and boy is it a depressing conversation, Alfred is talking about all of his past failed relationships and how the next one he’s going into is going to be “the one” and he has learned that the Doctor’s current boyfriend is “the one”. So this is a pretty boring conversation, and shortly after I’m rejoined by Andrew once again! What is up with this guy?
I thought you were suppose to be at the Mosaic show? He says yeah, he was there for a bit, but it wasn’t anything special. So I take him out of the Martini bar, and I say, hey, let’s go check out the Card room and see if anyone is in there. So we go, nope, no one we know is there, just Derrek and Anna hanging out once again. So we head on back out over to Sorrento’s to see who is there now. My sole objective of the night was to pawn Andrew off to Linh and Lan. Why those two? Because they usually have a big posse hanging around them, and I knew that if I were able to find them, he would latch onto them instead.
So we’re back @ Sorrento’s and Allan gives me a big WTF look, like why are you back here, but he fully understands, still no Lan and Linh, so I say to Andrew, let’s go check out Mosaic, I wanted to see it too, might as well try to catch the last bit of it. And the last bit of it, I did catch. We walked in and they were singing their very last verse and after that it was applause and we just left.
Alright, back to Sorrento’s we go, might as well just stand there with a group of people that I can stand and relate to, but oh, wait, what do we have here? Lan and Linh, no kidding, I walk right up to them, right past their posse, without acknowledging any of them, and I give Lan a hug. I have never been so happy to see her before.
They both were like WTF are you doing? Why did you bring him here? Of course I had to play dumb and say that I had no idea that they would be here and that he would stick on to them like fly on shit. I don’t know exactly what happened, but all I know is that my plan worked out nicely, as I was talking to them, Andrew was nowhere to be found, he was walking around with the remainder of her posse.
So when they were distracted mid sentence in a conversation of their own, I just ducked out and went back to the Martini bar. I was probably able to join the last 10-15 minutes of the conversation, before the Doctor informed us that she was getting pretty tired, no kidding, you think you’re tired? I’ve been walking back and forth this entire ship for the past hour, baby sitting Andrew and you’re tired? Okay, so we say our goodbyes and set up another meet time tomorrow night.
By this time, the others had finished watching the Mosaic show and I was just briefing them on my nightly events.
So we're all standing by Sorrento's Pizza Place, if you haven't figured it out yet, this is the place to be, kinda like the main hallway in your high school where everyone hangs out. Well hey, look who it is? It's the Doctor. Turns out, after we left the bar, she went for a glass of water and was just heading back to her room, but since we were all standing there, she stood there with us and chatted for a bit longer.
The others knew what to do, they faded into the background, found seats and just watched. So it's Alfred and I, standing there with the Doctor and we're conversing. We're standing, we're exposed, want to guess what happens next? Yup! You guessed it! Andrew shows up out of no where. Great! More baby sitting!
So I ask him, hey where are the others? (Others referring to Linh/Lan and their posse) He tells me that he doesn't know, they went off to do something. At this point, Quenton can't take any more of this, so he gets up from his seat, approached Andrew from behind, puts both hands on his shoulders and says 'Come with me, we need to talk', very assertively, might I add. Kinda like a bouncer tossing a guy.
So they go off and have their chat, five minutes later Quenton comes back, safe, and without Andrew. Alright! Way to go Quenton. Ten minutes more pass by and I feel someone standing next to me. I'm too scared to look, I don't even have to look and I already know who it is, it's Andrew. He turns to me and says, Quenton said you were busy, you don't look very busy. Facepalm!
I was at a loss for words at that moment. So I just continued to make some sort of small talk with him, while Alfred was talking to the Doctor. Next thing I know, Sharon and YuJu come up to Andrew and myself and introduce themselves to Andrew. That was a bitter sweet moment for me. I thought it was cute how they came up to try and help out, looks like everyone was trying to do their fair share. It was also hard to accept at the time because it felt like the group was pimping off Sharon and Yuju.
So I know how this works, they distract him, by bringing him over to the table where everyone else is sitting. Really guys? I mean, I know you're trying to help out, but introducing him to the group as a whole, is that really the best idea? I mean now he'll never leave!
I don't really know what happens next or what they talk about, but all I remember is that once we're done talking with the Doctor, which was probably about another ten minutes later, I turned around and Andrew was no where to be found....
So we're all standing by Sorrento's Pizza Place, if you haven't figured it out yet, this is the place to be, kinda like the main hallway in your high school where everyone hangs out. Well hey, look who it is? It's the Doctor. Turns out, after we left the bar, she went for a glass of water and was just heading back to her room, but since we were all standing there, she stood there with us and chatted for a bit longer.
The others knew what to do, they faded into the background, found seats and just watched. So it's Alfred and I, standing there with the Doctor and we're conversing. We're standing, we're exposed, want to guess what happens next? Yup! You guessed it! Andrew shows up out of no where. Great! More baby sitting!
So I ask him, hey where are the others? (Others referring to Linh/Lan and their posse) He tells me that he doesn't know, they went off to do something. At this point, Quenton can't take any more of this, so he gets up from his seat, approached Andrew from behind, puts both hands on his shoulders and says 'Come with me, we need to talk', very assertively, might I add. Kinda like a bouncer tossing a guy.
So they go off and have their chat, five minutes later Quenton comes back, safe, and without Andrew. Alright! Way to go Quenton. Ten minutes more pass by and I feel someone standing next to me. I'm too scared to look, I don't even have to look and I already know who it is, it's Andrew. He turns to me and says, Quenton said you were busy, you don't look very busy. Facepalm!
I was at a loss for words at that moment. So I just continued to make some sort of small talk with him, while Alfred was talking to the Doctor. Next thing I know, Sharon and YuJu come up to Andrew and myself and introduce themselves to Andrew. That was a bitter sweet moment for me. I thought it was cute how they came up to try and help out, looks like everyone was trying to do their fair share. It was also hard to accept at the time because it felt like the group was pimping off Sharon and Yuju.
So I know how this works, they distract him, by bringing him over to the table where everyone else is sitting. Really guys? I mean, I know you're trying to help out, but introducing him to the group as a whole, is that really the best idea? I mean now he'll never leave!
I don't really know what happens next or what they talk about, but all I remember is that once we're done talking with the Doctor, which was probably about another ten minutes later, I turned around and Andrew was no where to be found....
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