帶兩個愛人上郵輪／李明熙
上廣州，原因是要登麗星郵輪做講座。處女星號以香港及廣州南沙為雙母港，會去越南和海南島，夏季更會去日本沖繩。全程八日七夜，但我跟 Kim 只坐一夜，從南沙回香港。我們從未坐過郵輪，雖好奇，但一直覺得只是一個巨型酒店浮在海洋罷了。
我的講座在開船後立即開始，不少觀眾以為有歌舞表演，早就霸定頭位。可幸賭場還未開放，而自問自己的單車冒險故事多少帶點啟發，現場反應十分熱烈，亦有人要求合照。講座後，我們從 5 樓逐層巡查至 13 樓，跟想像的差不多，餐廳、劇場、泳池、賭場等應有盡有。地方大，人流卻不少。
南沙到香港的航程只有 15 小時，大部分夜間航行，沒甚風景。我們不賭，所以除吃以外，沒甚事幹。最後一致裁定，未到 60 歲，不再上郵輪，工作除外。
兩週後，要為麗星做第二輪講座，今次從香港出發，坐三晚，去越南下龍港，結伴的由老婆換成老媽子。事前跟老媽子做心理準備，可能會悶。她說自己上過郵輪，知道怎樣玩：表演講座一定要去，餐廳先試免費的，但收費的一定比較好吃，賭場要見識，但一百起兩百止，不要破壞旅行心情。最後還跟我說：「怕悶你自己返房瞓覺，我不會迷路的。」最後我們食盡船上美食，享受腳底按摩，出席各表演講座，連圖書館也要蒲一蒲才夠爽。
自踏出社會後，第一次跟老媽子旅行，看她在郵輪上每事都試，好吃的讚，難吃的彈，玩得坦率。看來，坐郵輪的確非年輕人的玩意，但跟長者同行，又是另一種樂趣。
The Tomb of the Nanyue King/Kimberlogic
Guangzhou is a very modern city with skyscrapers, restaurants, public transportation, brand name shops, etc. So, when I found out about the tomb of the Nanyue King, I was quite intrigued.
This tomb was not discovered until 1983 in downtown Guangzhou. The emperor, Zhao Mei, was the second King to rule the Nanyue state of the Western Han Dynasty from 137 B.C. to 122 B.C. The fact that there are shops and residential areas all around this tomb make it a unique place, let alone that it is the oldest and largest Han tomb ever discovered.
The silk-woven jade suit that the emperor was buried in is a one of a kind and impressive to see. There were so many different kinds of artifacts that this emperor was buried with in different chambers of the tomb, including slaves and concubines, which have provided so much insight into the history of this area and the people of that time.
The tomb and the artifacts from the tomb were quite interesting, but the museum was very big and the displays were so spread out that we started to get bored walking so far between displays, not to mention the glass looked like it hadn’t been cleaned since the museum opened in 1988. Our boredom hit a boiling point and we decided to rush through the last few displays.
The sun was dropping low in the sky, and so was our energy. Because our hotel was at a far end of the city, we wanted to kill a couple of hours before having dinner and then going back to our room for the night. We began searching for a nice foot massage place, but couldn’t even find a bad one. Then we decided to see if there was a place in the shopping mall. The man at the information counter was very helpful, he told us that there was no place like that in the mall, but he said there was a place around the corner, and he pointed us down a small alley.
Our first look at the alley almost sent us the other way, but we always check things out thoroughly before making a call. We walked down the alley and found it opened up to a small, hip neighbourhood with shops and restaurants; a gem hidden by the high-rise buildings all around. We found an acceptable massage place that gave one of the best massages we had ever had, and also found a phenomenal place to have northern Chinese style food all in the same neighbourhood.
Even though Guangzhou is a well-developed modern city, we were still able to find some quiet neighbourhoods and interesting ways to spend a day other than shopping. Who knows what else lies below this city, or down the small alleys.
