Barbara J. Hamby

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Friday, Enroute to Vladivostok

Sunset-Sea of Japan

At 9:15 a.m. we have a pilot on board, guiding our ship through the Kanman Kaikyo Channel toward the Korean Strait and eventually, Vladivostok, Russia. I’m looking at other ships passing us going both ways. We just went by a clamshell dredge working on a channel. Al is out on the balcony with binoculars and camera.

Later, same day: We haven’t yet looked at the pictures we’ve taken to date. It’s a quiet day at sea. We have taken books from the library;we alternate reading and napping. Breakfast is the best meal on this ship, so we eat heartily. Of the many cruises we’ve been on, the food on this one is the worst.  Lunch is so-so and dinner isn’t worth writing about. They seem to specialize in ethnic food, but I fear the chefs may be English, as the captain is. None of the ethnic food seems authentic and a lot of it is unpalatable.

Al has discovered penny slots in the tiny casino on board. So far he’s had a good bit of playing time on one dollar. I’ve not ventured out there yet. I fear the penny slots won’t do it for me. I’ll probably have to go to nickels at least.

The mirrors in our cabin have excellent lighting. I’ll be glad to get back home where I can’t see all my wrinkles. Our cabin is small, but the balcony makes it seem more spacious. As I write this, the sun is sparkling on the very smooth water. It’s now Saturday evening at 9:30 p.m. and the sun will be setting shortly. Any chance to recover from jet lag is negated when we move between time zones almost daily. Last night, a weather system (low pressure accompanying a typhoon in the distance) rocked us around a bit, but even on this smaller ship, the stabilizers work well. The roughest seas were in the night and rocked us to sleep.

The sun is beating on me through our sliding glass doors and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. I had a (barbecued) chicken burger a bit ago, which I ate on the deck at the stern. A gull was following the ship and eyeballing my burger. I decided if he dived for it, he could have it, but he got tired of staring me down and flew off.

A lecture by a Michigan lady professor this morning on Culture (of various countries) was enjoyable, but not as enlightening as I expected. Some of what she spoke about, I gleaned from freshman Sociology at the University of Washington years ago.

I’m going to check out a show this evening. An Australian singer will be performing. I’ll report on that later.

Later:  Since the vocalist’s name is Seamus Early, I assumed we would hear a male Irishman. Not so. A Betty Grable type female in a form fitting black velvet gown came on stage and explained that her parents liked the name Seamus, so they gave it to her. She said she has grown accustomed to it and is glad they didn’t choose Bruce. She belted out songs for an hour and invited the audience to join in on old familiar ones such as Waltzing Matilda and Que Sera. The backup band of six pieces led by a female pianist, is the best I’ve heard on a cruise ship. Usually I think the drummers can’t hold a candle to my son Kurt, but I think this guy might. From where I sat, I couldn’t tell his age, but he had lots of hair. Kurt will hate that.

After the show, I went back to the cabin and read until bedtime.