birthday musings

i've never had that feeling of dread about getting older. not when i turned 30 two years ago, not last year, and definitely not this year, when i've finally fallen off the calendar. this is the age most people start counting backwards.

i have to admit, though, that this birthday came and went with a sense of melancholy because, although i've celebrated my birthday out of the country 5 times in the past 6 years (or is it 4 times in the past 5 years? oh well, you guys get the idea), this is the first time i celebrated it with people who are practically strangers.

yes, i've spent every day of the past 7 months with them and i've developed a strong bond with a number of them. but they're still not family. they're not friends that i've known for years. they're not people who know all about me and my past.

so all the greetings from old friends and family was extra special that day. it made being away and (essentially) alone more bearable.

besides, a lot of good things happened that day that balanced out the bad:

the bad:
i'd gotten locked out of my cabin early in the morning because my key had gotten demagnetized. i ended up arriving 10 minutes late for work.

the good:
the pinnacle grill waiter assigned to the neptune lounge that morning opened the lounge for me. he turned on the lights and the tv, opened the blinds and greeted the guests who came in for breakfast and coffee.

the bad:
the food my colleagues requested for the party they were throwing for me was not approved by the hotel manager.

the good:
benjie and mike, the sous chef and apprentice cook, surprised us with a whole tray of goodies - quesadillas, hot beef wraps and steak - for which they had to work overtime to prepare. i never realized na malakas pala ako sa kitchen staff. even now, benjie tells me to just holler if i get hungry and there's no more food in the crew mess.

the bad:
i had two guests almost get into a scuffle in front of me at the neptune lounge. i literally jumped up from my seat and told them that their behavior was unacceptable in the neptune lounge and i would have to ask them to leave if they insisted on fighting.

the good:
one of my other guests put in a good word for me to my manager without me knowing it. apparently she saw me get up and scold the two grown men who were acting like boys.

the other good:
peter, the cabin inspector assigned to the navigation deck, brought me flowers. technically, that's not allowed because the flowers onboard are part of the inventory. the florist could actually get into trouble for making the arrangement. so, although i'm not really a flower kind of girl, i truly appreciated the gesture.

a week has passed since my very eventful birthday and there are a number of things i'm looking forward to in the next couple of weeks:

tomorrow, the veendam is going to pass through the panama canal. i am definitely going up to the lido deck and try to get pictures.

on april 23, we will be in huatulco, mexico. peter is going to take me jet-skiing. i hope my schedule will allow me to go ashore that day.

we'll be doing the alaskan itinerary in a couple of weeks. home ports will be vancouver one way and seward for the other.

after this panama canal cruise, which ends on may 2, i have 10 7-day cruises left before going home. i can't wait for the countdown to begin!