10K Saturday with Suzy Andrews!
Lulu: Hi everyone, and welcome to 10K Saturday. This is Lulu, and I am actually onboard the Norwegian Jewel with Suzy Andrews -- say hi.
Suzy: Hi!
Lulu: And if you are active on our Facebook page, then you have seen Suzy post, because she's one of our 10K Dollar Baes, and I'm so excited that we actually get to get her on the ... (groans and resets) And if you've been on the Facebook page, you have seen Suzy post there, cause she's one of our baes, and I'm so excited that we get to talk.
There's a little bit of a fan, because I need to tell you that we are in a karaoke room on the ship, that we stole, that we're probably not supposed to be in. But it's okay. It's private, we shut the door. And I think people are supposed to be in here and sing karaoke.
Suzy: Yeah.
Lulu: Why have we never done that?
Suzy: Cause we don't like karaoke.
Lulu: Well, that's true. We hate karaoke. So, we've been traveling for work and where have we been on this trip?
Suzy: Well, I've seen a lot of -- (bell and announcement interrupts)
Lulu: Oh, Dan.
Cruise Director: Well once again, a very good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We are now calling guests with lime and green colored luggage tags.
Lulu: That's early. Anyway, on this trip for work, we have been to a few ports. We haven't gotten to get off everywhere.
Sorry Alison, I know you're editing this and you heard my zippers of my purse jangling. Sorry!
We have been to...
Suzy: Three different places in Vietnam. A small little local town in Cambodia. Somewhere supposedly near Bangkok. And then Ko Samui, Thailand.
Lulu: We didn't get off the ship for that.
Suzy: No.
Lulu: But what was the best, most memorable thing that you and I did in a port on this trip?
Suzy: I mean, we only got off the ship twice.
Lulu: I know, but make it sound like we traveled and did lots of things.
Suzy: We did. We got a bus to a local market, which it seems that most of the passengers on board hated because it had real people in it.
Lulu: We were in Cambodia.
Suzy: But for us, it was exactly what we wanted. Real people, markets, stalls, fresh, random fruit that you could barter for... amazing street food. And just two hours of normal life.
Lulu: Describe the yummy fried thing.
Suzy: It was like a fried pasty -- or an "empanada" appears to be the go-to phrase.
Lulu: I'm American. But for British listeners, it was like a pasty --
Suzy: -- stuffed with rice noodles and veggies, coriander, probably lemongrass and garlic and just an amazing Asian profile of flavors all in a deep fried --
Lulu: -- hot pocket --
Suzy: -- little pouch eaten on the street where it was a million degrees.
Lulu: (laughing) It was really hot.
Suzy: Delicious.
Lulu: Oh, it was so good. It was really great. And then a passenger on this ship assumed I was from Cambodia.
Suzy: Rude.
Lulu: Well, yeah, I didn't like that at all. We'll probably cut that out, but I was just mad about it and needed to say it.
So Suzy, you've listened to the podcast and been active on the social meeds, which we love. And so I'm going to ask you, if you had $10,000, where would you go?
Suzy: Ooh, it's tricky. There's so many, so many places that I would go, places that I've been before and would like to go again or places that I have never been to. Um, probably right now ... my husband has literally just spent four days on a little island off the coast of Malaysia that we went to in 2012 which is a tiny dive resort / turtle conservation project. So I would struggle to spend $10,000 on the accommodation and the trip there, but $10,000 could do a lot for that project.
Lulu: So it's almost like the charity that I would ask you about.
Suzy: Absolutely.
Lulu: So you've done this?
Suzy: Yes. 2012 London Olympics, we decided we didn't want to be in London for, so we went to Malaysia for a month instead.
Lulu: That's so cool.
Suzy: Yeah.
Lulu: And what is your day when you're working at the conserva... conservancy? Is that right?
Suzy: Conservation.
Lulu: I almost said conservatory. And that's where you learn music. That's not right. When you're working there, what is your day like?
Suzy: We would get up, eat noodles for breakfast, which is great. Um, tend to the egg nursery just to check that the fences are good so that monitor lizards can't eat the baby turtle eggs… watch to see if there was any activity in the nest that if any were ready to hatch.
Lulu: You're looking at the egg.
Suzy: Looking at a pile of sand that the eggs are... below the sand. So you're not really looking at anything. But then mostly the project would be at night when you were waiting for Mrs. Turtle to come up on the beach and lay her eggs so you could watch to make sure poachers didn't come to steal her eggs. And then we would collect the eggs, move them to the nursery so that they were safe from predators and poachers. And also if there had been some hatchlings born that day, we would take them to the beach to release at night so there were less predators to get them and give them the best chance of getting back into the sea.
Lulu: In my head, you're carrying little baby turtles, but you probably had a container.
Suzy: A bucket.
Lulu: But in my head, you're holding a little baby turtle --
Suzy: A bucket of mini turtles, and you set quite far up on the beach because they need to walk down the beach to sort of imprint the beach on them -- because this will be the beach they come back to lay their eggs on, so you can't put them straight in the sea because it will confuse them, evidently. So you put them at the top of the beach. Sometimes if you thought they weren't so focused, you'd run a couple of bamboo lines down the side so that it kept them funneled towards the beach and then you just watch them walk into the sea.
Lulu: You just escort them into the sea. That's so cute. How big are they? The little babies.
Suzy: Um... like...
Lulu: We're both just holding our hands apart, so this isn't going to be very informative to anyone...
Suzy: Four inches long, two inches wide?
Lulu: Are their shells hard when they're babies?
Suzy: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Lulu: They are literally a turtle this small?
Suzy: Mini, mini turtle. I'll post a picture on the social media.
Lulu: I'm so excited. Um, that's incredible. Were there lots of people that are doing that with you?
Suzy: Um, there were probably five people at that point that were there with us. We would split in shifts so you didn't have to do the whole night. But I think across the last, gosh, seven years the project has gotten much more... and they'd probably have more people, but they probably limit it to a certain number because you don't want too many people. And I use the term "resort" very loosely -- they do have a dive resort, but it is very much focused on conservation and not just a bougie resort, drinking cocktails --
Lulu: -- which would also be fun.
Suzy: Absolutely.
Lulu: Okay. So, if you were on the beach and you saw a poacher, what were you expected to do?
Suzy: I mean, I think the hope was that they would see you on the beach, and they would not come on the beach because you were there -- was always my hope. Because I did sit there one night with a large turtle laying eggs on my own while someone went to get a bucket, with the moon, me, beach, turtle thinking, oh my God, if it turns out if a poacher came now, I honestly don't know. Are you supposed to Ninja karate chop?
Lulu: Go away, poacher!
Suzy: But no, thankfully it didn't happen.
Lulu: Does it happen a lot? I mean enough, I guess it happens.
Suzy: I think it happens less now that it is renowned that it is well patrolled beach, but it used to be. Turtles' biggest problem is poachers.
Lulu: That's so sad. What's the name of the place?
Suzy: Bubbles.
Lulu: Nuh-uh. It's called Bubbles? It's just like a more flirty name than I thought it was gonna be. I thought it was going to be like, The Blah Blah Blah Blah Sea Turtle Conservancy. We'll find a link to Bubbles and put it on our blog. Okay. Obsession and wishlist.
Suzy: Oh goodness. Hmm. I think probably an obsession right now -- though it should have been something I do, flying for a long time -- is compression socks. Ridiculous.
Lulu: I don't have it.
Suzy: Oh you need some, but don't buy the boring flight ones. You can buy really nice ones. I usually forget to pack them. But knowing that I was doing multiple long haul flights in a really short space of time, I thought maybe my body might appreciate it. So I've got some ones with brightly colored jigsaw patterns on them. And my legs and feet did feel better for wearing them after 15 hours on the plane. And I could put my shoe straight back on, which was novel.
Lulu: Yeah. Sometimes you're totally fine. And then once in a while you take a flight and you look down and you're like, I have sausages. When did this happen?
Suzy: Why do I not have enough skin on my toes?
Lulu: What is the science behind compression socks?
Suzy: Oh my goodness, I don't know, it's supposed to help the blood circulate around your legs?
Lulu: Okay, this is what I don't understand. That's what it says. But they squeeze your legs. So how does that help the blood circulate?
Suzy: Helps it not pool in your feet? I don't know, they put them on me when I was in hospital.
Lulu: No, I know they exist. I know that they exist and you're supposed to use them when you travel. And I even understand that they work. But when you describe them, when you say you put a tight sock on in order for your feet to, to not feel stressed out, that doesn't make sense to me.
Suzy: We might need to Google this.
Lulu: I think it's better that we just guess. Should I pick some up at the airport today?
Suzy: Or you could wait `til you're home and buy nice ones. You'd only get boring ones if you buy them at the airport.
Lulu: I hear what you're saying. But I have an eight hour flight from Singapore to Doha and then a 15 hour flight from Doha to JFK.
Suzy: Yes, buy some today.
Lulu: Okay. That's what I figured. Cool. They're going to cost me $1,000.
Suzy: You might find some in Singapore and you might find nice ones.
Lulu: Okay. I'll do that in Singapore. That's fun. One thing that I love about traveling with Suzy -- `cause we've gotten to travel a few times for work -- is that we like the same combination of fancy things and not fancy things. So when we go to a different country, we love a grocery store. A 7-11.
Suzy: Amazing.
Lulu: A foreign 7-11 is like the best thing ever, because they've got really crazy snacks in interesting flavors and you can try them, and they are usually -- when you're at work and actually getting paid to travel rather than traveling on your own -- you can afford to buy a few that you're not sure about. Take a couple bites and go. No, no.
What's something that you've tried? Like a snack, so not like a street food, that you were like, THAT flavor does not work for a western palate.
Suzy: Oh. One of the other ladies I've been working with bought us some yogurt chewy candy. Disgusting.
Lulu: Really?
Suzy: Yeah, it tasted a bit like soap, with a very strange texture. We've given them away.
Lulu: Mine were watermelon Oreos.
Suzy: Oh no.
Lulu: Well, I had to try them because they looked weird, and I got them in China, and they were... the inside was .. if you had taken the top of the Oreo off, it would've looked like a red and green, like one half green, one half red cream. So they looked interesting. They tasted terrible as did -- I think I tried peach Oreos in China too. Um, not good.
Suzy: So the moral of this story is fruit flavored Oreos don't work.
Lulu: But I'm so curious. I kind of have to try them and then know that they're terrible. They're not dangerous. They're not going to make me... they're not going to mess up my stomach. They just taste gross and odd. But they sell, I guess.
Um, do you have a packing tip since you travel so much?
Suzy: I like a packing cube. So I bought multiple sets so that I have extras in all sizes. So that then, particularly on the ships and sometimes as you know, they will suddenly move your cabin with very little notice.
Lulu: When we're working. If you go on a ship as a passenger or they're not going to do that, but when we're working, yes.
Suzy: Um, so then I can just drop them back in my case.
Lulu: Right, because you just take the packing cube and lay it in the drawer.
Suzy: Absolutely. I mean I'll get hanging clothes out, but that sort of underwear and tee shirts -- everything will just stay folded.
Lulu: That's so good. And everyone, I don't know if you remember, but a few, maybe a couple of months ago, my wishlist was that someone would take this dress that I love and like, recreate it in many patterns. And when I saw Suzy last month, maybe? She came in and brought me presents. She brought me Percy Pigs. She brought me Turkish delight, which I had never had before, but she heard the Istanbul episode and I have now determined that -- it's really sweet.
Suzy: But it's made of pure sugar.
Lulu: I know. Ah, I guess maybe I thought there was a higher pectin rate or flavor profile. It's very sweet. I mean you are taking nibbles, teeny little nibbles of it. Still grateful. Um, some chocolate, some gin cocktails in a can, which are awesome. And the dress that Suzy and I bought the same dress of -- oh, that grammar -- we bought the same dress in Astoria, Oregon. Two years ago. That's like this drapey --
Suzy: -- rectangle.
Lulu: Okay. To me it's very complicated and drapey and because Suzy creates costumes, she's like, it's a rectangle. But it's drapey and it's fun, and it's in all black. And she brought me one in black and white stripes, and she has the same one, and we almost wore on the exact same day to dinner. But we didn't, we didn't. So thank you.
Suzy: No worries.
Lulu: It even has a label in it that says "Suzy Sews," and you can get those for $10,000 on our website. Guys, if you pay Suzy $10,000, she will make you a rectangle dress. Is that fair?
Suzy: Yeah.
Lulu: I just put that out there. But I figured you could have 9,000 of those dollars and then a thousand of those dollars could go to turtles. Or whatever percentage you want. Yeah, that's a special, you can only get that here. Just mention 10k Dollar Day. (laughter) We've had a great time working together. I don't know when we'll get to hang out again together...
Suzy: Well, If you come to London in the summer.
Lulu: Oh, right, yes. Okay. If I come to London in the summer for more auditions, then I could see -- why didn't I see you when I was in London?
Suzy: Because I was in Tampa.
Lulu: Two ships passing in the night. But then here we are --
Suzy: -- indeed --
Lulu: -- in Singapore. And actually in a karaoke room.
Suzy: Absolutely. And they have called us to debark, so...
Lulu: Yeah, we gotta go. Hey everyone, thanks so much for listening to 10k Saturday with Suzy Andrews. Say bye, Suzy.
Suzy: Bye!
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