I love going on cruises.  You visit exotic places, you get to eat like a pig, and occasionally, you run into one of your heroes.

I was on a holiday cruise in December 2013.  On day 10 of the 15 days cruise, I saw Stan Lee in the dining room just a few feet away from me.  My reaction was, “OMFG!  It’s Stan Lee!”  (OMFG stands for “Oh My God”, for those who are wondering).  I was holding boiling hot tea with one hand and a plate of chocolate-filled dessert of some kind with the other hand (see “eat like a pig” above), plus I didn’t have my camera, plus Stan seemed occupied, so I didn’t approach him.  And he left.

Subsequently, I told my wife to keep a lookout for Stan Lee.  Not being a huge fan of comic book superheros herself, she asked how she would recognize him.  I said, “Easy, just look for a 91-year-old man who looks like he created Spider-Man.”  No, that description didn’t work, I don’t know why.

Near the final day of the cruise, on a day we were all dressed up for “formal dinner”, by sheer coincidence, I was walking down a flight of stairs and Stan was walking up.  And me met.  That was then I asked for a photo (by then, I made sure to always have a camera handy just in case something like this happened).  And that is why this picture was taken at the stairs.

Thank you, Stan!  And happy birthday!

(Also see: the rest of Meng’s Wall, mengswall.com)