At breakfast this morning the omelette ladies asked me if I was excited about getting to Japan tomorrow.  The proper answer, of course, is yes.  But while interested in Japan, I love the sea days.   One of the reasons we picked this cruise is the large number of sea days as we double cross the largest ocean on the planet.  Some cruisers are like me and savor these days, some, after a few days, grow impatient.

Here is what I did yesterday, Sunday, September 15.

Suzi and I started the day on our computers. I was editing pictures and writing blog posts that went up today.  Then breakfast.  The omelette ladies know we like small omelettes and what we want on them. I love them loaded with veggies; spinach, peppers, onions, olives, and tomato.  Being Sunday we indulged in sticky buns.  They are available every day, but we limit our indulgences on a cruise, we have to.

Then it was two lectures, one on the first two ports we will be visiting in Japan, the second by a military historian, on the American occupation of Japan from1945 to 1952.  We went back to the cabin for some reading and the Captain’s noon briefing on the PA system.  Then lunch, for me a hot dog at the lido.

We skipped the afternoon lectures on and went back for some more reading and then up to the “Crows’ Nest” for a game of Mexican Train Dominos with friends, one from Fairbanks. After that we got engaged in a conversation with a gentleman born in the USA but raised by his grandparents in County Mayo.   We discussed tonight’s “Orange Night” festivities and whether we would wear Orange, both being Green Irish-American.

“Orange night” is a tribute to the Dutch Royal house.  I wore and Orange Aloha shirt risking the wrath of ancestors rising from the grave to whack me with shillelaghs.   The special menu was a mix of Dutch and Indonesian and I had beef brisket hodge podge.

The discussion at dinner was travelers’ tales about time in the middle east, ours and our tablemates’.

After dinner Suzi and I went to the Ocean Bar to listen to some jazz.  Tonight music of Coltrane, Jobim and Ellington, then on to the Orange Party in the Rolling Stone Lounge, dancing to rock and soul music.   The ship’s officers were there, and I had a chance to talk with Captain Mark.  We discussed international aid work.  His contribution was in 2012 officering on a hospital ship off West Africa.   That year there were several West African crisis, including the collapse of the democratic government of Mali and flooding.  A UN report was titled “One Region, Several Crisis.”

From the Orange party it was classical music with a trio of a violin, cello and piano playing an all American program from the 20^th and 21^st centuries.  Some popular classics from Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein and some lesser known by Amy Beach, Florence Price and a particularly interesting one by Mark Summer where the cellist did as much plucking and slapping as bowing. I found the piece challenging and delightful.

Since I am finishing this blog post this morning, I’ll include some of the activities from today to show you how diverse two different sea days can be. It started with breakfast, omelettes again but no sticky buns, it is not Sunday.  Then it was a “cabin crawl” organized by cruise mates on-line, where we got to visit most cabin categories from inside cabin to navigator suite, to handicapped barrier free rooms.  I did not take pics to protect the privacy of the cabin dwellers.

I have just gotten back to the room catching up on my writing while waiting for the Captain’s noontime talk from the bridge.  We think we will skip lunch because we have a wine tasting in the early afternoon, and usually that comes with fruit and cheese.

  

And we did attend the tasting.

After dinner we plan to go to the production show “Swing Thing” by the ship’s song and dance company.  In between I plan to swim some laps and sit out on deck in today’s sunshine and read Our Man in Tokyo, the story of Ambassador Grow, the US envoy to Japan during the lead up to Pearl Harbor.  It was selected by our cruise mates who organized a book club (I missed the meeting but have read several of the recommended books in preparation for this trip.).  But no promises.  I am on vacation. 

PS.  It’s interesting how 61^o sunny weather with a breeze affects different people.  One man was standing at the rail in an overcoat and scarf, and I could see a sweater underneath.  It looked like he was wearing earmuffs but as he walked by the pool where I was, I could see they were earphones.   A woman in the same vicinity looked comfortable in capri pants and a light cotton t shirt.  Most people had sweatshirts but one woman, after sitting a little while, pulled out a quilted vest.  A few minutes later she went to the towel station and pulled out one of those Holand America steamer rugs, a holdover from the transatlantic days and wrapped herself in that.  HAL was well prepared. 

When I went to the pool there were no birds overhead.  In a few minutes there was one, then three and all of a sudden a whole gaggle soaring over and behind Westerdam.