Day 10-1 Still at Sea

As we have shared we are in the middle of nowhere and that being said we have lost most all satellite service. Since we last blogged a few things have occurred.  Two days ago we met up with one of our new AZ acquaintances.  She is a single older lady from Sun City.  We decided to go to afternoon tea I the dining room and she joined us.  They serve you with a large selection of tea choices along with your own cute tea pot!! Then they come around with a variety of small but delicious looking snacks some sweet and some of the meat and cheese type.  I passed on all but not Dan 😊. He has a very difficult time resisting anything sweet.  Anyway another couple from CA joined us and we had a nice chat.  On the way going down to our rooms she took a very bad spill on the steps missing the bottom two. She immediately went down and I could tell it was not good.  I asked her if I should go for help and she moaned “Yes!”    I bolted up the stairs to the dining room while Dan stayed with her.  It took several tries to get someone to understand my dilemma but finally one of the head waiters heard the request and hurried to join me on the step landing.  He brought a pillow to put under her head.  It looked as though she had twisted her ankle and she was in pain.  This gentleman called the medical staff; they came quickly with two nurses and an EMT.  He was dressed in a raincoat type uniform with a big back pack on.  He asked her a few questions and inquired whether or not she hit her head in the fall.  She had not thank goodness.  She had told me previously that her hip had been hurting and that she thought maybe she had dislocated it a bit; I thought this might have been the reason for the fall with her hip giving out.  They did bring a wheel chair but because she was on a landing they needed Dan to help support her along with the EMT to get her down to the chair.  By this time her ankle was already swelling!  I collected her purse and her shoe taken off to examine her ankle. They asked her if she would go with them to the doctor for an x ray and she immediately said Yes!  She told us she would be ok and I gave her one of the little business cards I had made up with all our contact information and room number.  She promised to call us once she got back to her room which is just a few doors down from us. So we headed to our room wary of all the stairs and holding on to the railing at each step with the movement of the boat still noticeable.   After about an hour she called us; she said the Doc was great; from South Africa; he x rayed both ankles and both were sprained.  He ordered a wheel chair for her use, wrapped both ankles and told her to ice them and take Ibuprofen for the pain.  They managed to get her back to her room and on the bed.  We hurried down with ice we gathered from the steward.  She had some small baggies so we bagged up some ice for each ankle and placed them gently over her wraps.  She has a single friend on the boat from Dallas and this friend was securing a wheel chair for her by signing some documents at the main desk.  We told her we would stay until her friend came so she didn’t have to get up to answer the door.  Well, after two days and seeing the doc again she is MUCH better.  She is walking but gingerly and the ankles are more lightly wrapped.  She said she slept well and wasn’t in much pain.  She stayed off them for about two days with getting some of the free movies on board and room service.  

Yesterday was a day for bird watching, whale watching, dolphin watching and reading.  They have an organized book club and yesterday I got my free copy along with about 30 other readers!  The books are brand new; the selection is “The Paradise Guest House” by Ellen Sussman.  It is a story about Bali and the bombings that took place there in 2002; it is fictional but based on that occurrence. So far it is an easy interesting read.  

Dan has spotted an Layson Albatross, a Black Legged Kittiwake ( a new bird), last night a juvenile Peregrine Falcon (permanent residents of the the Aluetian Chain, and the Northern Fulmar (another new bird).  The Albatross can sleep in flight using only half of it’s brain to navigate!  It’s been radio tracked via satellite soaring over the ocean for 6 days without ever flapping it’s wings, just gliding.  Yesterday we spotted several pods of dolphins and a few whales spouting.  I don’t think many folks see what Dan sees and when they see him with their binoculars they are always asking him questions.  One fellow was so impressed with his knowledge that he went to the events coordinator yesterday and asked if Dan could have a small area to share with other passengers about birding.  He asked this man if he would come to dinner with 6 of us to meet Dan and have a discussion.  He said he would but so far we haven’t heard anything official.

Yesterday we went to the movie, “Keeping Up With the Jones’s “ and it was packed to full capacity.  We finally got a little news today.  The Captain of the ship gave a presentation today that really was fascinating! Dan was out on  deck three walking and looking for animals while I was at the well attended talk.  He said it was constant fog and the fog horn has been going off continuosly about every two minutes.  I guess it is so foggy because the air temperature and the water temperature are about the same.  We saw a little blue sky around three but then back to fog.

It probably was the best Captain 

‘S talk I have ever been to.  He had a wonderful active PowerPoint presentation with a lot of interesting facts about the ship, all it’s systems, all the safety features and some of the distinctive features.  He allowed a Q and A session too and there were way more questions than he had time to answer.  He said our whole trip will cost over $1,000,000 in fuel!  He also said we can go for 23 days at 17 knots without refueling!  That was good to know.  Our next refuel port is Yokohama.  The ship has 17 water tight compartments that can each be sealed off.  We can stay afloat if two of them are completely filled with water.  I don’t really want to think about that!  There are over 17,000 sprinkler heads on the ship too with hundreds if not thousands of smoke, heat and CO2 detectors.  Everything is done electronically and automatically on the ship which means less time trying to get someone to an area although you can override the system.  But if a fire breaks out in the engine room the automatic systems take over and give you time to get there while still putting out the fires and sealing things off.  Anyway, he was just a great presenter and speaker and I learned a lot even after all the cruises I have been on about stabilizers, fuel, the bulbous bow and navigation!  Our ship was one of the first ships to have Azipods which are the motorized propellor systems under the boat that can each turn independently of each other 360 degrees. It takes about 2 minutes for one to turn completely.  

After lunch which was a salad for me and something very small for Dan we attended the EXC talk from the expert onboard for all our ports about Japan.  He too is very interesting, funny and enjoyable.  His presentations are usually packed so you come at least a half hour early just to get a seat!  He is practical, has excellent photos and provides up to date information.  Today we learned about Japanese sports, history, manners, hot baths and hot springs and toilets!!   I’ll include a few photos at the end for your enjoyment!  Here are some of the notes I took so I wouldn’t forget!

Sumo wrestling is a big deal.  It has existed for

Many thousands of years. Young boys start at 6 or 7.  These wrestlers have

their own hair dressers for the top knot. And hair must be perfect

Martial arts also is a big deal as we know in Japan.  

Judo is the most far reaching in the world for Japanese sports.  

Here the small guy can sometimes win!!

Baseball is more popular in Japan than anything else!!! Shirts and hats are very expensive.  The high schools in Japan have big championships in August and are exciting. 1872 was when the first baseball was introduced.

There have been 64 Japanese players in major leagues so far. 

Mariners has famous player at age of 42 who was with the Marlins last year but I couldn’t get his name quick enough.  You will have to google that one!

Mt Fuji is one of the most recognizable sites both artistically and geographically. 

Japan is fascinated with ghosts!! Which are shown often in their prints and woodblocks and impressionistic painters. 

Manners and etiquette in Japan say use Chopsticks. There are cheater versions. Don’t play with them.  This is frowned on.  A queue is a line or lining up.  They teach you how to queue properly in school.  

Streets are very clean!!  Littering is terrible.  No street cleaners.  Everyone takes garbage home or uses the litter bins.  

Toilets are unique!! Seats are warm they play music and seats open on their own.  Made with user in mind.  A clean toilet is the highlight of a good business.  You need to be computer literate to use them because everything is digital .  Keep it nice for next person

You always thank those that prepare your meal and for the animals and plants that have given their life for your meal.  Eat every last bite. 

No eating or drinking on trains and train etiquette needed.  Trains are packed

Bowing is appropriate but never fold your hands, never talk and bow together, never walk and bow nodding is fine.  Use two hands for business card.  Don’t physically hand money.  Put it on a tray

No soy sauce on your rice.  Keep it clean.  You can slurp your soup.  Bring a bowl up to your mouth. Never blow your nose or burp at the table. Don’t waste anything.  Never pour your own drink. No tips.  

Black cabs have exceptional service.  They open door for you.  Inside perfectly clean and neat.  Very proud.  They close the door and are strict.  

Onsen is a Japanese hot springs.  Noted for these.  Dates back 3000 years.  Sometimes wounded animals went in hot spring. Cleanse you on your sins and are healthful too. A bath house is different.  Beppu is known for them.  Water must contain sulphur or other minerals and be at least 77 degrees to be a hot springs officially. 

Bath house is just a communal bath. Doesn’t fit the other description.   Can be Inside or outside.   Usually gender specific.   

Shower first before entering with scrubbing yourself down.  No towels in the tub.  

Tattoos may not be allowed in because of members of organized crime associated with gang members. They may ask you to cover up tattoos with bandages. No electronic devices or peeking into other sites. 

They, the ship, will deliver language phrases for every port to passengers with currency and exchange rate.  

Uber is available in Japan.  We arrive in Kushiro, Japan on the 13th which is Friday the 13th!  Ha ha. The weather is still cold with long pants, socks, shirts and sometimes coats!  We did get a nice long email from Tess today and found out she will soon be traveling to see Aaron in Puerto Rico.  I’m so happy for her to have this experience and to be with her husband.  

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And one last thing... Today we crossed the International Dateline at 6:20 am.    We received an official certificate from the ship with the date.  This means we lost a day and went from Oct 8th to Oct 10th!  THis is the line that separates two consecutive calendar days so that those left of the line in the Eastern hemisphere are always one day ohead of the date in the Western Hemisphere.  This firs happened to Magellan’s crew after the first circumnavigation of the globe.  The dateline can be anywhere on the globe but is most convenient to be 180 degrees away from the defining meridian that goes through Greenwich, England.  Over the years the position of the international dateline have changed several times.  The most recent was in 2011.  This was due to Samoa. THe line now passes between Samoa and American Samoa with American Samoa remaining aligned with the American date.  Samoa made the change because Australia and New Zealand have become its biggest trading partners.   Being 21 hours behind made business difficult because having weekends on backward days meant only four days of the week were shared workdays.  

Here is where we are now; the blue dot....

Japanese Sumo wrestlers here are a big deal..

Here is the digital panel for toilets in Japan!   Notice some of the chooses on the panel for your comfort!

A photo of the actual toilet :) and below a famous woodblock artwork of Mt Fuji which is very popular for tourists to try and see.  They say you have about a 50% chance of actually seeing it.  We have no designated tours to Mt Fuji but hopefully will be close enough on a clear day to actually see it.  
This was a cute depiction of hot baths and them being gender specific in many locations.  

Here is a sampling of traditional Japanese sports...below is a the Mt Fuji art...