It was a restful night. It seemed like a luxury after the very hectic busy past days. We woke up to the splash of the waves as we sailed through the Strait of Malacca. Quantum of the Seas is a huge ship and and with the shallow waters, is unable to dock by the Malacca Marina Port. It is a 20 minute tender ride to reach the port and another 25 minute walk to downtown. Bahasa is the national language although English is widely spoken and Ringgit is the local currency. Malacca is famous for its rich cultural heritage, ancient landmarks and colonial structures resulting from the colonial rules of the Dutch, Portuguese and the British. We started the day with a buffet breakfast at the Windjammer. We joined a couple of Canadians in the same table with the wife apparently managing 14 call centers and has visited Manila several times. She was telling us that she likes the Filipinos a lot as they are so “service oriented”. We are sure she meant well and she said it as a compliment but iba ang dating sa akin. Without meaning to, she may look at Filipinos as servile, submissive and subservient. It sounded condescending. Perhaps I would have wanted her to say that Filipinos are smart, fun to work with and at par with the best. And indeed, I have met and heard of world class Filipinos at the top of their professions. and we can be the best with the right opportunities.
The buffet restaurant had so much food and choices that we did not really know what to eat. We ended up with lots of fruits instead and decided to bring a plateful of pastries and fruits and just covered it with a cloth napkin to our room. We strolled around and went to the pool, activity center etc and had coffee with Ed and Baby near the gift shops. Before we knew it, it was lunch time again. Pagod na kaming kumain. We went back to our rooms after lunch and Becky had a short nap. Finally, we are all together, about 22 of us eating early formal dinner. Ang saya with all the jokes and kuwento. After dinner, we rushed to the Royal Theatre to watch Sonic Odyssey and like yesterday, it has been a long day and time to rest our senior tired bodies and looking forward to another fun day tomorrow.
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