No Time Like the Present

Monday, May 6, 2024

Monday, May 6, 2024

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

Time Zones

As we have been sailing eastward across the pacific, we have passed through about one time zone per day. Thus, every day at noon, we have had to set our clocks forward one hour. On most cruises we have taken, these time changes are typically made at midnight or 2:00 am and you just gain or lose an hour of sleep, depending on which direction you are traveling in.

It is a nuisance to change your clocks every day. I have a clock in my phone, my iPad, my Fitbit, and my Kindle. Ken has a camera with a clock in it, his phone, his watch, his Kindle, and an alarm clock. (Yes, we do know that "phones" come with an alarm clock app, but we like "real" clocks on the nightstand.)

It was very difficult to get used to changing every day at noon. You have to be very careful, because all of a sudden it will be 2:00 pm and your body will feel like it is 1:00 pm and you will just be starting to think about lunch. It is very easy to find yourself finishing lunch after 3:00 pm, and dinner is still at 6 or 7.

There was a lot of discussion among passengers  about why the change was made at noon every day, rather than midnight. Obviously, it is much better for the majority of the crew. They don't get very much time to sleep as it is, and it would be unreasonable to expect them to give up an hour of sleep every night for a week or longer.

But losing an hour daily, at noon, is not without cost. You tend to stay up a little later because your body clock doesn't recognize the new time. Your body never has a chance to adjust, because you are losing an hour every day. After a few days of that, you may start to feel pretty tired during the day. I know I did.

International Date Line

It is very weird to cross the International Date Line on a ship. Eastbound, you have the same day twice. The same exact day. In this case, it was Monday, May 6. 

I heard there were people calling down to the Medical Center because they were confused about when to take their meds. Apparently, that's not as dumb as it sounds, because not all meds are taken daily. Some are taken once every two days or twice a week, or on some other pattern. I believe there were also some people who did not bring enough for the extra day, though most folks bring a few extra pills just in case.

You have to be very careful adjusting your clocks, of course. It was a problem to get an accurate step count on my Fitbit for two separate May 6 dates, but I don't really care that much. If you add an appointment to your Calendar app, it may be automatically adjusted to an incorrect time/date when you return home. Make sure you enter the appropriate time zone when you add the calendar item.

Cold!

It has continued to be quite chilly - 30's in the morning, 40's later in the day. Remind me what month this is . . .

We had snow on our balcony one morning as we sailed through a snow shower.

The snow started to stick to our deck chairs

Close-up

We Are Not Alone

We had not seen another vessel since shortly after we left Muroran. All of a sudden, a large ship showed up and crossed our path. Then it was gone. Then, more nothingness.

We are not sure what kind of ship this was. A ghost ship?

 

Today's fabric is Time Travel Luggage, by Urban Essence Designs for Blank Quilting.

Golden Week at Sea

Friday, May 3, 2024

Constitution Day

Constitution Day, or Constitution Memorial Day, is one of the Golden Week holidays. It celebrates the adoption of Japan's Constitution in 1947, and it is a time to reminisce about the events of Japan's history. We were originally scheduled to be in Kushiro on this day.

Saturday, May 4, 2024 

Greenery Day

Greenery Day is celebrated by taking nature walks. Hard to do on a cold, windy ship. Greenery Day was established in 1989 to celebrate the April 29 birthday of Emperor Shōwa. In 2007, the date was changed to May 4 and April 29 became Shōwa Day.

Sunday, May 5, 2024

Children's Day

Children's Day has been set aside as a day to respect children's personalities and celebrate their happiness. Children's Day is an ancient holiday. It started out as a day of rest for women, but sometime between 1185 and 1333 it was changed to Boys' Day, as the Samurai class rose to power. In 1948, the day became Children's Day. It is marked by displaying carp streamers.

Woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige, 1797-1858

The Crossing

May 3 was the first of NINE consecutive days at sea. We LOVE days at sea. They are so relaxing and fun.

We usually go to the cafe for breakfast and sit and drink cappuccinos. We sit and watch our shipmates go by, and sometimes we see interesting outfits or interesting behaviors. I do not mean interesting in a good sense. 

We made up a code phrase when we need to draw the other's attention to something interesting. It is "Where's my book?" This phrase really means "OMG, you need to look at that!"

On this cruise we enjoyed our breakfasts at Sabbatini's, where we were absolutely pampered and cappuccinoed by the staff. 

On sea days I go to Knitters and Natters after breakfast and hang out for an hour or two, schmoozing with the other ladies who enjoy knitting, crocheting, embroidery, and other crafts. (Sometimes there will be a man knitting or whatever, but it is usually all women.) I have been working on sashiko, which is a Japanese style of embroidery that is very easy and very portable.

Photo by Cindy Quon

Since we had such a nice stateroom this time, we spent a lot of time in our room. It has been quiet and the sea has been fairly calm.

However, it has been COLD. It's been in the 30's in the mornings, and 40's during the day. Too cold to go outside.  And it has been grey and rainy a fair bit. Really unpleasant weather for the whole crossing. Our room was not very warm at night. The ship was really not built for cold weather like this. We have two big sliding glass doors that are just a wee bit drafty.

The visibility was poor, but at least the water was not rough! (There really wasn't anything to see but water, anyway.)

Votes on a Boat 

We were able to vote by email in the mayoral runoff. It was very easy. We applied for email ballots before we left home. When the runoff ballots were ready, we received emails from the municipal clerk's office. We printed out the ballots, the instructions, and our Voter Declarations at the ship's computer center. We filled out our ballots and declarations, photographed them, and emailed the photographs back to the clerk's office. Easy peasy.

Super Tuscan Dinner 

Sabbatini's held a special dinner one night. It was called "Super Tuscan" and it consisted of "Super Tuscan" wines paired with specially selected menu items. A Super Tuscan is generally a red wine from Tuscany that is not limited to indigenous Italian varieties, but may be blended with international grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot to create complex premium wines. 

The executive chef, Roberto, and maitre d', Silvio

Prosciutto and Parmigiano Reggiano

Traditional Apulia Seafood Salad

I don't drink wine very often, so all of this is gibberish to me. I had never heard of "Super Tuscan" before, even after spending three weeks in Tuscany in 2022. I was interested in learning more about the wines, and I was very interested in the idea of pairing the wines with specific foods and why the wines can make the foods taste different. (Or is it that the foods make the wines taste different? I am really not much of a connoisseur.)

Tuscan Bean Soup

Penne alla Puttanesca

Slow-roasted Beeff Striploin with Arugula and aged Parmigiano Reggiano

The maître d', the chef, and several sommeliers collaborated to create the dinner and introduce the wines to the diners before each course. It was a super fun evening and the meal was delicious. Parts of famous Italian operas were played between the commentary provided by the staff. This special experience was only offered once during the crossing, and it sold out quickly. It will not be offered during the shorter segments of the ship's Alaska season.

Diplomatica di Milano

Restart

One day there was a ship-wide announcement that blasted into the staterooms and all of the public rooms. Captain Spinardi has a very thick Italian accent, so I'm not sure I understood everything he said, but I think the gist of it was that one of the engines had stopped, and to get it started again, they would need to shut down the other engine for a couple of minutes -- so we would effectively be dead in the water. Fortunately, the restart worked, and we did not hear anything further about this issue.

Midnight Fire!

One night, a loud announcement was broadcast into all of the cabins, and woke us up - as it was intended to do. There was a fire in one of the galleys. A short while later, a "stand down" announcement was made. 

I was later told that the protocol was to wake everyone with an announcement at the beginning of a potential emergency so that we would be awake and somewhat alert if any further action was called for, such as going to our muster stations. I also learned from one of the ship's engineers that it had been a small electrical fire in one of the ranges that had triggered a smoke detector.

I'm glad to know that things worked as they were designed to and the fire was detected and extinguished immediately. I would not have wanted to have to go to the muster station in my pajamas. Nor would I have wanted to have to see other passengers in their pajamas. ;-)

The MTP Luncheon

We posed for a photo with the Staff Captain. I did not get the memo about crossing my hands in front of my body.

It is always exciting and fun to make the cut for an invite to the MTP Luncheon. You get to eat an exceptional meal with several of the officers and the top 40 "most-traveled" passengers. In this case, "most-traveled" means the the greatest number of days traveling with Princess. Princess keeps a running total of all the times you have sailed with them and uses that number to determine which passengers to invite to the lunch. In this case, a majority of the passengers joined the ship in Sydney and were still on board. They tend to people who love long ocean voyages and have a lot of cruises under their belts. We didn't know if we would make the top 40 -- but, of course we did.
Chef's Antipasto: Premium Beef Tartare - Bloody Mary Crudité - Lobster, Avocado & Mango Napoleon (It was hard to figure out how to eat these)

Grilled Aussie Barramundi, with Roasted Potato, Pumpkin, Beetroot, Spiced Peas Purée, Beurre Blanc

Japanese Symbiosis: Matcha Mousse with white Chocolate, Sake Jelly, Wasabi Sauce

<<<>>>

Who ever thought sea days were boring? And, there were so many other activities that I haven't even mentioned.

 

Visible Mending

Today's fabric is mended denim. The pair of old jeans in the photo was mended using sashiko. Starting in 17th-century Japan, sashiko was used to mend garments. Only the samurai class was permitted to wear good quality fabric. The working class had to make do with mending whenever possible. Small stitches were used to reinforce points of wear and to patch torn or worn areas. The word sashiko means "little stabs."

Sashiko evolved into decorative stitches and eventually achieved the status of an art form.

Photo from Waste Free Planet blog

Also-Ran

Thursday, May 2, 2024

"Also-ran" means,  a contestant in a race who fails to win or to place among the first three finishers, or an athlete or team whose performance in competition is rarely, if ever, a winning or near-winning one. (Thanks, dictionary.com) That sounds a lot like Muroran.

Muroran (pop. 76,00) is a port on the south coast of Hokkaido. According to TripAdvisor, the number one thing to "do" in Muroran is the Hakucho Bridge. It's a big bridge. Okay, and . . .?

 

On a previous visit to Muroran we took an excursion to the Valley of Hell + a Ninja Show. The Valley of Hell was an active geothermal site, similar to places we have seen in Iceland and New Zealand. I have not seen any other Ninja shows to compare the one we saw in Muroran with, but it seemed a little amateurish. So we didn't want to go on that tour again, and there weren't any other tours that urgently required our presence, so we decided we would just walk around the center of town.

Yet another group of cute pre-schoolers appeared on the dock to wave at our ship

All day long people from Muroran showed up at the dock to see our ship. We had a great view of all the action from our balcony - people from our ship as well as people from town, with a few food trucks thrown in. 

We were docked some distance away so we had to take a shuttle into town. 

 

We got off at the JR Station with no idea where we were in relation to the town center or what we would see there - very unlike our usual style of travel.

Our lack of research was not such a smart move. We got off at a JR station, but it was not the main Muroran station. I think it was one for the east side of Muroran. How would we have known? That's where the shuttle stopped, though it did have another stop.

At the station there was a large map showing different walking routes to points of interest. We picked one and started walking, hoping there would be some level of wayfinding to guide us along. There wasn't. 

After two or three blocks we came to a major intersection. There was no indication as to which way we should go. Not only that, it was impossible to cross the street in any direction without climbing up and over a monstrous structure that dominated the intersection. At ground level, the curbs were all completely fenced off. You were forced to go up.

The photos really don't do this thing justice. It was huge. It covered a huge amount of real estate with all of its ramps and staircases and supports. It went completely around the intersection. Once you got up there, you could see that all four corners were connected by these raised walkways.

We climbed up grudgingly, and kept going in the direction we had been going in, toward a large store on the far corner. The one thing that the store had to recommend it was access directly from the elevated walkway. Well, boy howdy, we should go in right up here, we said.

The store was roughly similar to a Walmart, but without the greeters. They sold a little bit of this and a little of that. There were groceries and a large drug store on the street level,  and furniture on level 2, where we entered. Level 3 had crafts and clothes, housewares and knick-knacks.

Ken bought 3 mini-windsocks on a stick and I bought some washi tape. We also bought a lot of snacks (for the crossing) at the grocery store. (Did I mention that our final port, Kushiro, had been canceled, so this was to be our last stop before Whittier?)

I bought some shampoo and conditioner at the drug store because I didn't like the kind supplied by Princess. The drug store offered an overwhelming variety of hair products (with the exception of products for curly hair). It was interesting to see that most of the toiletries were sold in more sustainable packaging. Considering that Muroran has got to be at the tail end of the supply chain, this makes a lot of sense. I didn't really notice what they were selling in Tokyo, though.

This is roughly 12 ounces of hair conditioner 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the way, it says "Filled with firmness - even wavy hair is tidied up."  I love shopping in Japan.

After looking at everything in the store, we realized that by the time we got back to the JR Station, there could be a long line for the shuttle bus, and it might already be full with folks who boarded at the other stop. We had lost interest in continuing our walking tour, especially if there could be more of those gruesome intersections, so we headed back to the JR Station to wait for our shuttle. The transit company had posted a couple of people at the bus stop to make sure everybody got on the right shuttle and we all made it back to the ship without incident.

Today’s fabric is Beige Traditional Japanese Fabric, 100% cotton, sold on Etsy by AsianFabrics.

Fort Squid

Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Its mascot is a squid and its nickname is Squid City. It is the third biggest city on the island of Hokkaido and was once the most important port in northern Japan. It’s Hakodate!

Hakodate is strategically located to serve as the gateway to Hokkaido and can be reached by shinkansen via the Seikan Undersea Tunnel. Of course, it can also be reached by air, by ferry from Honshu, and by cruise ship.

Hakodate was opened to foreign trade in 1854, and there are many points of interest from that period, including warehouses, consulates, churches, and neighborhoods built in the western style to house foreigners.

There is so much to see and do in and around Hakodate, that one could easily spend four days/three nights here.

Fish Market

We started out at the Fish Market. It is a jumble of buildings and stalls and hole-in-the-wall restaurants. You can buy fresh fish, vacuum-packed fish, dried fish, and all kinds of fish roe. Of course, there was a lot f squid on display. It is even possible to catch your own squid in a big tank.

This guy tried to climb out of his tank

Salmon

Some kind of dried fish

Various kinds of roe

Plastic models of menu items in the window of a restaurant 

Ready-to-eat corn-on-the-cob

Dried squid

A boy reels in a squid from the fish tank.
We did not have permission to take this picture, so I blacked out the boy’s face.

Goryōkaku

Goryōkaku started out as a fort, built by the Tokugawa shogunate and completed in 1866. Its distinctive star-shaped design was based on the work of a French architect. The five-pointed star allowed for more gun emplacements and fewer blind spots for cannon. But Goryōkaku has become a beloved park and is now a Special Place of Scenic Beauty and a Special Historical Site.

Because spring arrived in Japan a little bit on the late side this year, we were fortunate to catch the end of Hakodate’s cherry blossom season. We were treated to a spectacular show under a bright blue sky at Goryōkaku. 

Frrom the top of Goryōkaku Tower you can see the star shape of the fort below.
Carp streamers fly from the side of the tower to mark Golden Week.

Cherry blossom petals cover the ground

Folkloric Show

Back on the ship we were able to enjoy a folkloric show by a group called Yosakoi Soran. The show was excellent, especially the amazing solos by the man who played the samisen.

Today’s fabric is Large Ghostly Squid Damask by pattysloniger for Spoonflower. Damask is a woven, reversible, patterned fabric. I am not sure what makes this fabric a damask, as the design is printed on quilting cotton which does not usually have a pattern woven in. The fabric is part of a “Damask Collection,” which may have been given that name because the designs resemble the style of designs that were used in traditional damask weaving. The designer has skillfully brought out the beauty of a quite hideous creature.