Tuesday, October 5th

At Ocho Rios, we met up with our local tour guide Phil Lafayette of Exquisite Tours

[Gotta get the pics from others before this post will really come to life. Only so much words can do, pictures explain everything]

We went for a tour of the local area, getting a lesson on local flora and fauna, as well as the Jamaican language and seeing the good and bad areas. It was a little saddening to see the state in which they lived. Some areas could only be described as derelict. Yet some of these dilapidated huts housed entire families of 5. Unheard of in prosperous North America. Made sense why so many flock to dream the American Dream.

During the drive we stopped at a local performer who showed us fire tricks, and spun a fire wheel on the heads of each one of us, one at a time. We drove through beautiful Fern Gully, which was like driving in a canyon and looking up to see thousands and thousands of ferns, growing all around you. Gorgeous.

We also saw a lot of local art. Let's just say any pics of the sculptures would not be suitable for a PG-13 audience. It was awkward, to say the least, for 6 chinese kids to see it and go, WOAH, that's a...!! Hmm... ok, walk on, don't make a seen... eww, gross...

Our tour brought us to river tubing down the White River. If you have visions of a gentle flowing stream, you are WRONG!! First the water was FREEZING, we should have caught pics of each one of us as our butts touched water, oh the SCREAM!! The water was pretty fast moving, to the point where sometimes it felt like there were rapids! We had a guide, Rambo, who was very kind, kept us together as a group, and took pics for us. Also saved us from smashing into the sides of the river where tree roots and rocks protruded. The water wasn't white; greyish green is prolly a better description. And it was quite shallow, Rambo was tall enough that he pretty much could walk down the river, if it wasn't for the strong current.

As if we weren't wet enough, our next stop was the famous Dunns Falls. We walked all the way down to the bottom of the falls, when it started thundering. The bottom of the falls is the beach and Caribbean Sea, so from our point of view, we could see all the dark grey clouds start to roll in. Eventually we decided to start the climb, since it was only spitting.

Of course, as soon as we start, it begins to pour. It was pouring so hard, we had a difficult time seeing, cause of all the water running into our eyes! Luckily no one's contacts fell out. We were wet anyway, from the river tubing, playing in the ocean, and starting the climb, so it didn't really matter. The only thing was that it was pretty cold. Human bodies are great, we eventually adapted to the cold, and kept climbing.

This climb is not for the faint of heart. It's a LONG way up, the rocks are slippery, with sharp edges here and there, as well as sudden dips and bumps. All while tons of water are gushing down at you. There were guides all over the place, so we tagged along one of their lines. But it was tough to keep up! We kept getting left behind cause we'd stop to take pics, and cause we were slow =)

GKY noted that climbing Dunns Falls is an excellent team building exercise, because you really do need to support one another to get up the falls. Plus, who woudln't want to go to Jamaica for a CCF committee retreat/TCE team building activity? =D

[pic of us at Dunns Falls - to be approved]

After the draining physical activity, we went for lunch, which concluded our tour. GKY and ILC went back to the boat, while the rest of us wandered the shopping area for a bit, before heading back to the boat. This time we could walk right up to the boat, cause the water was deep enough for it to park right next to the dock.

Back on the boat, we all did various things. SW and I went to the line dancing class, it was SO MUCH FUN!!! =) I'm sure we looked stupid, but at least we all looked stupid together. Of course I had the same prob that I have in aerobics class -- lack of coordination. Oh well!

Dinner had a Caribbean theme, which meant we were supposed to dress in Caribbean clothes as well. My parents had gone shopping in the afternoon... Look what my dad bought!!!!

My creative way of getting a family portrait of us in our loud Caribbean wear:

GKY was getting to know the waiter and assistant waiter well, esp since she kept telling Yaman (assistant waiter from Turkey) to smile more!! Adrian and Yaman were both smiling here =)

Because the next day was a sea day, meaning we can stay up later than normal without a need to rush to get off the boat, there was a midnight buffet on the pool deck. But before the buffet, there was an opportunity to play the steel drums with the band. Of course, I volunteered! I've always wanted to learn to play the steel drums. I get up there (there are 10 of us at a time), and realise that the drums we play have the notes written on them (ie F#, etc). Me and my neighbor also realise that my C and his C don't sound the same! To make it even worse, they get us to play, but they don't tell us what notes to hit! You can imagine how bad it sounded. Luckily the real band that we were playing with had their mics turned on, so I doubt we ruined their song. Regardless, the muscian (and guitar student) in me watched the guitarist in the band to figure out what chords he was playing. I think I got the right notes a third of the time.


The pool party/buffet was a lot of fun, got to watch the waiters dance and do juggling tricks, also got to dance the line dances me and SW were taught in class that afternoon, all to the rhythm of the steel drum calypso band.

We weren't tired, so headed down to The Dungeon again. Normal situation, I'm the purse/drinks/everything watcher, sitting comfortably on a couch with a good view of the dance floor. ILC spots one of the dancers from the cruise's show, and says to me, if I get him to ask you to dance, will you? Playing along with her silly game, I say, sure! But then she goes and ACTUALLY asks him!!! I groan inwardly, and start laughing out loud as I see the cruise dancer walk towards me. Having a huge grin on his face, he plops down beside me, and introduces himself.

Eric asks me why I'm not dancing, I do my normal schpeal, to which he responds by trying to get me onto the dance floor. I engage him in a lengthy conversation about his background, where he's from, how long he's been a professional dancer, does he enjoy working on the boat etc, and I eventually get around to asking his age. 22. Insane, SO YOUNG!!

Anyhow, while Eric and I are conversing, this other guy Ian walks over introduces himself, and the asks the same questions re: why I'm not dancing etc. Ian is a cruise guest, but he met Eric and others from the cast the night before. Apparently Eric is down at The Dungeon every night, which makes sense cause though the boat is big, there aren't that many places for 20-year olds to hang out at night.

Did I mention that Ian had sat down right beside me as well, on the other side? So here I am, stuck between two guys that I don't know, who are both trying to get me onto the dance floor. Where are my friends, you may wonder? Laughing at me from the dance floor, and *still* trying to get me to dance. Finally I give in, and get out there for one dance. I have no idea what it was, and yes, it did feel pretty unnatural. But, it was starting to get a little awkward sitting between two very nice but very unfamiliar guys. After dancing, Eric and I were chatting, and he mentioned that on Wed they would be doing a musical again. So I told him I'd sit at the front to watch him =)

We left soon after that, it was pretty late, and we were pretty exhausted from the day in Ocho Rios.