Note: I finally realized I've been mispelling the name of my hotel: It's "Fairmont," not "Fairmount).
Spent the early part of the day at the National Museum, not far from here. It's okay, but kind of oddly laid out, not easy to negotiate, and dimmer than I like. It's not as mediocre as the Art Museum here, but close.
Took a cab to Mike's about 3:30. He was home and I hung out, enjoyed seeing Vivian interact with two friends she had over, and Violet being her usual spirited self. Paula got home about 7 pm. She had been in Bejuing for 24 hours and regaled us with an account of her presentation to the hotel person (successsful) and the dinner and obligatory "Mai Tai" drinking and big, fat cigar smoking after. (She had some of the former, but not the latter, at least.)
Mike showed me pictures of Nanny Vicky's farm in the Philippines. I was amazed; she has mango, pineapple, and other fruit trees, a herd (?) of ducks, water buffalo, goats, chickens, rice paddies, and a host of other farmy things, as well as a husband. He lives on, and runs the farm. They have a house there, too, which he's building in part or in whole; it's in cement, which makes sense in a tropical country. It's a work in progress, but will be very nice when finished. Vicky commissioned the carving of two wooden doors that are beautiful. One has a peacock on it, the other an eagle, along with Vicky's first and last ("Ibe") name. She has several people working for her and what's more, owns two other farms.
We had a great dinner, thanks to Vicky excellent cooking--fish in onion sauce, salad, rice, greens, and others sides--and had a little farewell party for Nanny Grace, who is moving to Denmark. Mike and I went to the mall to buy a cake and we all enjoyed it.
Speaking of leaving, well, somebody else is leaving somewhere and going to another company and another country--who could that be?