Nikki bitch

The last day of 2010. Had lunch reservation at Nikki Beach with Barbie and Ken. Turned out the place was closed due to "technical problems". And, being just about THE cooooooolest restaurant on earth, they did not care to call and inform their guests. Jerks. I was quite disappointed as I have had the whole "Nikki Beach Experience" on my "to do" list for quite a while! But since I tend to be quite unforgiving when it comes to things like this, it is now off the list. At least for a while. Instead, we ended up in a much nicer place, most probably far less pretentious. Tom Beach. Delicious lunch, and some scary-looking magnum bottles of rosé.


After lunch, we spent some time "plane-spotting", as the beach in St. Jean happens to be the end of the runway of the local airport. I think arriving by ship has worked out pretty well for us so far. So I guess we will keep it like that also in the future, as this really did not look all that tempting.


Vrooooooom.

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Location:St. Jean, St. Barthelemy, French West Indies

The Larry-bag

I was a bit bummed out today about the Hermes bag being sold out. However, I guess I should tell you, the REAL "it-bag" these days is not designed by Hermes. Not at all. You may not have heard about the "Larry-bag" before, but this is a VERY special / secret emergency kit bag that will help you out of almost ANY challenging situation you might encounter. A totally versatile bag. It is also EXTREMELY exclusive, and is given only to a very limited group of key people working for Oracle. The real inner circles. Mister Ellison's trusted few.

By coincidence, my new friend, Mr. Wonderful (also referred to as the Ken-doll by his adorable wife "Barbie") happens to be part of this very exclusive club over in sunny Califor-ni-a. Most people I meet outside work just go onto full "geek-alert"-mode, smile politely and then secretly roll their eyes behind my back when I try to explain what I do for a living. Which is not the case with Mr. W. He totally gets it! I am always so touched when people ask me WHICH Hyperion product I work with. Can you imagine the joy I felt? Hm. I guess not. Perhaps we should form a support group for the endangered species known as "Geeks at sea".

Well. I can not begin to tell you how happy am to inform you that I am now the very proud owner of my very own copy of this very exclusive bag. Isn't that just fabulous? After having bag envy for days now, I have already started personalizing it to give the content a somewhat more feminine touch, as tampons and lip balm are not part of the default configuration.



It really is a pity Larry is not here right now, as these bags would EASILY get us access to his yacht. I bet.


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Location:Gustavia, Saint Barthelemy, French West Indies

Here comes the rain again

Same bad weather as yesterday. So what it a girl supposed to do? When everything else fails, go shopping. As a bonus you get some of the best people watching available, with this island being the Caribbean playground of the rich and famous. And their "possé".

However, spotting a REAL celebrity is, quite challenging. As the place is packed with wannabees. Like us. Who all seem to behave EVEN MORE than stars than the REAL ones. So beware. We spotted a guy today that was totally channeling Jack Nicholson. It turned out he was - in fact - a local taxi driver.

This week there is a new yacht in the harbor. We refer to we it as "Frankenstein". Owned by yet another rich Russian. I was in fact, quite disappointed when I googled it and found out that it was designed by Philippe Starck. Whose designs I normally admire. Then again. He has actually designed the toilet bowl in our apartment. Makes perfectly sense to me when I see this ugly son-of-a-bitch yacht.


Actually, Mr. Chelsea was pretty friendly when we saw him in port last week. He actually nodded back to Mr. I when he experienced one of those incidents where you greet someone you see a lot on TV because you think it is somebody you really know. Well. He might not really be so friendly anymore. Roman's team lost to Arsenal the other day, so my dear husband keeps shouting these things over to his yacht (after dark, of course):

"Arsenal, Arsenal, Arsenal"
"Three one, three one, three one"
"Are you Tottenham in disguise?"
"Hey, you LOSER!"

Hm. I guess we are NOT invited over to the Eclipse for lunch anytime soon. I kindly asked Mr. I to keep it down as we thought we saw some possible missiles attached to the upper deck over there. I guess that means that fireworks on Friday might be quite spectacular.

Another quite particular thing that strikes you in Gustavia, are all the loving father-daughter relationships. I was trying on some extraordinary YSL sandals at Human Steps, when I got to see up close how very grateful the daughters were when their daddy bought them new shoes. If I did not know better, I would think they were - in fact - not family after all. Silly me.

This town is also one of the few places where you can overhear things in the boutiques like: "Oh, Jimmy Choo? Wasn't the owner of that brand at our party last night?" That surely does not happen when you go shopping at my local mall, for sure. Not that they carry Jimmy Choo anyway.

Talking of shoes. I hate to admit this, but even though I tried REALLY hard, I did not manage to find ANY shoes worth buying today. Even though I spent four hours browsing the shops. I really wanted to get this particular orange / summery handbag at Hermes, but it was SOLD OUT. Bummer. Financial crisis my a**. Well, I managed to do SOME damage. Have to support the local economy, you know.


Since I was really on a roll when I had to go back to the ship to get myself ready for dinner, I swiped my card again with the club director back on the ship. And booked TWo new itineraries. I am just totally out of control, I know. So, we will be spending a week onboard in the Med this summer. And then, if we are really lucky and manage to get some extra time off from work, we will go on the amazing yachting adventure down the Amazon in March 2012. For a month. A real once-in-a-lifetime expedition. We will see. Keeping my fingers crossed that it will really happen.

Dinner with the master of the vessel this evening. He is such a great guy, so we had a good time. As always. Dropped by the casino on our way to bed. Where we happened to DOUBLE our money. Yay! Made me feel somewhat better about today's spending spree, although I realize that 200 dollars will not really get me far on this month's credit card bill.


By the way. Where is the idiot that said that you can not have luck in BOTH love and gambling? Just look at that beautiful black-jack hat-trick.

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Location:Gustavia, St. Barthelemy, French West Indies

Saint Barfs

Finally. Now I have used all the shoes I brought. So. This is my THIRD pair of the Tory Burch Miller Thongs. And - last. In brown fake crocodile. Much more comfortable than the previous two in the same design. I think that might be not because these have been broken in, but perhaps because my FEET now has been broken in. Painful, but true.

This has not been a good morning. I have been seasick. Which is terrible. It just makes you want to die. Very temporarily though. The itinerary today was Saba in the morning, and St. Barths in the afternoon. We sailed past Saba. But the tender could not get in with the swell, so instead we had to go straight to shopping paradise. I immediately felt somewhat better.

Hopefully, the person that threw up all over the top deck last night also feels better by now. Classy. At least she was good-looking. Pre-puke, that is. Image surely is everything.

Now we are anchored outside of Gustavia. Apparently, this is THE place to be this week. If it would only stop raining. Please. It will be really expensive staying here for three days when there is nothing else to do than shop. Scary thought. Yet quite enthralling, too, I must admit.

The rumor this morning was that the big white yacht next to us - the Eclipse - belongs to Larry Ellison. The President of Oracle. Which to me would be like having a close encounter with God himself. Quite disappointingly, it was not. Oh no. It belongs to the guy I mentioned to you last week. Roman. The Chelsea-dude.

This guys apparently has the same relationship with his yachts as I do with my shoes. He collects them. So, today he is not on the Luna. I guess maybe the Eclipse goes better with the Villebrequins he is wearing today. Funny.


I think I should try to crawl out of our stateroom now. Get some fresh air. And some raindrops in my hair. A pity with this weather, as I should really have been working on my tan now. Well. I think things could be worse. Like the saying on this t-shirt I picked up for Mr. Incredible in St Johns.


Hm. I wonder if Roman ever gets seasick. I bet he has people that do that for him.

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Location:Gustavia, Saint Barthelemy, French West Indies

The small print

My navy blue Reva ballet flats. With silver logo. I guess I should not really mention the brand again, as it might seem I am running an advertisement campaign for Tory Burch these days. Haha. I wish. These were purchased to be used with jeans, but they work pretty well with my navy blue Monsoon shift dress as well. I am just about starting to realize that:

A) This vacation is way to short for the number of dresses I have brought.
B) I might have overpacked. Once again. What a surprise.

I still have two dresses in the wardrobe that have not been used. And quite a few I was hoping to use again. And now there are only four more nights to go! Disaster.

Anchored off Sandy Ground today. Charming little beach with the mandatory beach shack type of bar at the pier. VERY Caribbean indeed.


With assistance from Santa Claus a.k.a. Quintessentially, we managed to get into one of the best beach resorts on the island for the day, the CuisinArt. Even though it was fully booked. Priceless.

Before leaving the ship I wanted to print out our confirmation. To be on the safe side. So I logged on to my e-mail in the library on the ship, as I cannot print from my iPad/cabin. There was an interesting print queue on the network. With a long line of print jobs left over from last week. Among the topics were:

* Restaurants in St. Barths (ok, I guess)
* Weather forecasts (who actually prints those?)
* Ten-page article on ACID REFLUX (what?!)
* Black-jack for dummies (makes sense, I guess I should print that as well)
* Information about a certain type of psoriasis (holiday reading material?)

So. This is apparently the essence of what my fellow passengers have on their minds. When they are on vacation. I must say that I am slightly concerned. I really am.

Anyway. We got to the resort, and it had an amazing beach. Unfortunately, the hotel itself was not quite as amazing as you would have thought, with it being a member of the "Small Leading Hotels of the World". But - I am so easy to please, you know. At least when the sun is shining, and I can rest assured that there will be champagne as soon as I get back on the yacht.


Back on the ship we went for a swim off the back, to wash off some of the island dirt. Most of it acquired browsing through cupboard in local shop to get my mum her much appreciated local refrigerator magnet. She has quite a collection, I can assure you.

The refreshing dip-in-the-ocean was followed by champagne with our lovely Californian friends.

Ended the day with a quite romantic dinner with Mr. Incredible under the stars. Before hitting the casino. Very bad idea. In retrospect, I should rather have "wasted" my money shopping in St. Barths tomorrow afternoon, you know. A good thing we are not serious gamblers, though. Compared to what some others bet, we are playing with spare change. But on the other hand - my middle name is not "Chanel". As is the case with some of the REAL "glamazons" on this ship.


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Location:Sandy Ground, Anguilla, British West Indies

Blackjack!

This is starting to become a bit embarrassing. My second pair of Tory Burch Miller Thong sandals. And fifth pair of TBs used on this vacation. So far. I can't help it. I just adore this brand. And when I was finally able to get my hands on them after searching for them for a year, I just could not limit myself to one pair. Or two, for that sake. They look great, and they are comfortable. The leather in this particular design is a bit stiff to start with, but great after you have broken them in.

Back in St. John today. No way I am renting a car again today after our adventure last week. It was raining this morning. So we slept in. It is weird how you get more and more tired after a while on vacation. It seems the body suddenly closes down on you when it realizes that it is finally time to relax. And then suddenly all you want to do is sleep. So, I took a nap after breakfast. Then I slept on one of the Balinese dream beds on the top deck for a couple of hours before lunch. Then another nap back in the cabin after lunch. Being on vacation really is exhausting. I haven't even started reading any of the books I brought. Good thing we have another week to go.



Some of you might be wondering how many pairs of shoes I have brought with me on this particular trip. Any guesses? Well, you can see below what it looks like under our vanity table. Fifteen pairs of shoes. Carefully selected before our departure. Sixteen, if I include my new water shoes. Still - I managed to leave my favorite pair of Jimmy Choos back home. Truly annoying. But, hey, sixteen is not that great a number! If I was the dealer in black jack I would still have to draw on sixteen. So, maybe by the time this cruise is over, I will have a black jack. In shoes. Twenty-one pairs. It might happen, as I keep hearing great things about some amazing suede loafers in St. Barths. And you gotta love all the bling-bling sandals available in that same port. We'll see.



Talking of blackjack. I think I have been playing cards at the casino a bit too often lately. When I turn down a drink these days, I tend to follow up with the same hand gesture as in the casino when I do not want to be dealt more cards. Fortunately I haven't started scratching the table with my index finger, shouting "Hit me!" when I would like another drink. Yet.


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Location:Cruz Bay, St. John, US Virgin Islands

Hooters

Boxing Day. Disembarkation in St. Thomas. The cruise is over. Sad? Not really. As we are staying on for another week. Ha. Love doing back-to-back cruises, as it really takes a few days to totally unwind and settle properly on the ship.

My first time in St. Thomas. This used to be a Danish colony. So I was expecting open sandwiches and schnapps on every street corner. Nope. Although there are still signs of the Danish rule on the island, with the capital called Charlotte Amalie, the rest is very Caribbean. Except one thing. They have a ski lift on the island! A gondola that goes from the main cruise port to a place called Paradise Peak.

Of course. I just knew it. I actually FELT it this morning. There had to be a ski lift around. Being a Norwegian, I have a thing for ski lifts. If there is one, I have to be on it. So, off we went. In a super-taxi. There are so many taxis on this island, they need to do something to differentiate themselves, I guess. I did not really get what was so suuuper about it, though. Apart from the driver's collection of wunderbaum, perhaps.

Anyway. We got on the gondola. And enjoyed the magnificent view from the top. We could see our tiny little ship docked next to a monster ship in the distance. Cool.


At the top there was a bar specializing in frozen drinks. They had them all ready on tap! And - I got acquainted with a new drink. The Bushwacker. A frozen drink with Baileys. Caused some serious "brain freeze". Or, maybe just "freeze". After all, I am a blonde. And we are not really famous for our brain capacity.


After our sky ride, we went to the nearby shopping mall. Which had a huge shoe outlet. Oh, the terror! It was closed! So, to make at least one person in the family happy, I took husband for his first ever visit to Hooters. It is so tacky I just find it hilarious. The visit had very much the expected effect, and he soon had a huge grin on his face. And i guess that was not just because of the local beer. Yep. Then, when an exquisite selection from the Virgin Islands Fire Brigade suddenly arrived to have a late lunch, I was smiling too. I do not know what the thing is with some men in uniforms. But it totally works.


Before we left, I got my dear husband some really classy t-shirts from the Hooters shop:

"St. Thomas - Hooters of the Caribbean" (pirate style logo)
"Hooters Drinking Team, St. Thomas"

He has promised not to wear them on the yacht. But I will not be very surprised if he does.

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Location:Crown Bay, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands