I’m so busy being lazy today, it’s hard to write.  We woke up late, of course, and eventually made our way down to breakfast.  I’ve made a friend of the assistant manager in the cafe.  He speaks English fairly well, and formerly worked at the Grand Hyatt in Beijing.  He is from, Kyrgyzstan, a former Russian republic, but now there is a US air force base there.  He talked about trying to qualify for the crowd to see Hillary Clinton when she visited two years ago.  He said he passed the initial interviews, but didn’t make it past round two.  He looks Chinese, but Russian is his native tongue.  That’s why he’s in Sanya.  This area is a big vacation spot for Russians.  Most of the signs are Mandarin or Russian, and occasionally English.  We’ve been handed Russian menus several times.  We’ve seen several Russians in our resort and out on the beach.  There are Russian items on the buffets, and menus.

Can’t have a “tree lighting” without a lighted tree. I forgot to put this one in yesterday.

I spent some time in the Jacuzzi complex (8 of them linked together by small lagoons).  Judy headed out to the beach for some relaxation.  It was overcast when she went out, but the sun came out while she was napping, and now she has mild sunburn on her legs.  The temp today got up to 75°.  It’s a welcome change from Beijing.

Working hard on the beach

Watch out for the Jelly FLSH?

How about a shell?

I think I forgot to mention Judy’s massage yesterday.  She had been craving one for months, but had no time in Beijing.  She enjoyed a 90-minute Chinese massage with all the amenities expected at a Marriott.  85 minutes of it was luxurious, and 5 minutes of it were spent solving what the masseuse thought was a tightness in her shoulders.  She’s going to be sore for several days.  Thankfully we packed plenty of ibuprofen.  Sunburn and massage soreness, are just a few of the hardships we’re faced with, along with eating too much at the buffets.  Man, this vacation thing is hard work! 

Looking back at the hotel from the beach.