Once again, we had the pleasure of dining with friends Aart and Ellen in the dining room. Today's subject was Africa, where we shared information about various options for safaris while on the 2018 world cruise. Although it seems like a long way away, if you don't decide on a plan, and make a deposit, you may be out of luck.
Two hours later, we were out on the promenade deck, getting in on the last 10 minutes of the On Deck For a Cause 5K walk. It is a non-competitive walk that raises money for six international cancer organizations. Following the walk, whether you do 5K or 5 laps, you can participate in a lemonade party in the atrium, as well as get a t-shirt for your efforts.
Today's lecture given by Barbara H was on Kagoshima, Japan. We are still searching for her televised talk on Osaka, which we will stop at first. We find it maddening that every time we turn on the correct channel, we seem to miss the informative talk, because the tour talks or DVD sales are on instead. Sure would be a good idea to dedicate one channel to each of these talks, or else, you can be stuck in your room for hours waiting to see one specific program.
Japanese Yen is for sale now at the front desk. We remember that from our last visit here that only Yen was accepted, no US dollars. Of course, credit cards are widely accepted there we are certain.
Lunch time in the dining room had some good choices, so we deliberately had kept breakfast light. Of course, we are with Barb, who had just come back from playing trivia. They have consistently come in 2nd and 3rd with the most correct answers. She has some fun with us by trying to stump us with a few choice questions of the day. Sometimes we surprise her when we know the right answer.
We could have gone to the Seaview Pool, but at 2pm, we figured it was a good time to catch a movie in our room. Also a good time to start notes on upcoming ports in Japan and Korea. Today turned out to be a day full of movie options. In the Wajang, you could see "Hands of Stone" at 5pm, 7:30pm, and 10pm. Instead of a live show, they had the movie "The Magnificent Seven" in the Queens Lounge, shown twice at showtime. We assume it is the newer re-make of the old version, which was a classic with famous actors.
We ducked outside around 6:30pm to chat with friends Shirley and Jack, and also wait for the sunset. There were way too many dark rain clouds for a good sunset, but we did see some color briefly. The Captain mentioned during his talk this afternoon that we can expect to encounter some deep swells and not-so-nice weather by tomorrow afternoon. We will be hitting a different current, which will produce winter-like weather with seas to match.
Dinner found Martha MIA. She was dining with another friend upstairs this evening. It was pretty quiet at our table, as we all had a relaxing day. For our entrees, we both had the mustard-glazed rack of pork with a spicy BBQ sauce. Sure was good with buttermilk mashed potatoes on the side. As if we don't have enough, our head waiter Endrian, always serves us a variety of steamed veggies like green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, and carrots. He is determined to keep us healthy. And it seems to be working……….
We might be digging out our winter clothing from under the bed in the next few days………..
Bill & Mary Ann
A few pictures of the sunset as we sail north in the Philippine Sea……..
