Today began with a surprise. The weather had taken a turn for the colder. Not only cold, but gale force winds, temperatures in the 50's, and rough seas. We swear the sea swells were 14 feet or better. The spray from the waves came as high as our deck six at times. By the time we decided to take our morning walk, most of the outside doors on the promenade deck were closed off. We could see why. The starboard side was drenched from the sea spray, making it slippery when walking. Of course the tender boats overhead were dripping down on us as well. We thought our heavy sweatshirts would be sufficient, but they were like wearing next to nothing. Time to pull out the heavy jackets.
Back in our room, we bundled up and the walk was fine. It sure wasn't crowded since most of the lounges had no cushions or towels. The busier place had to be on deck nine poolside, where the Shop were selling $10 items. Some of those items were heavy sweater-like ponchos and they were selling quickly. Not everyone thought to bring something warm to wear on this cruise. And the smart folks in the Shops know that.
Finally, Kimberly gave her talk on Tokyo at 1pm. Since that was our lunch time, we didn't attend in person, but caught it later on the TV. And once again, the reception on the TV was spotty. Several times during the day, we lost the connection. Only the inhouse channels worked. By 4pm, the Tokyo lecture was on TV, and we watched it taking notes. When we were here over 20 years ago, we must have docked in Yokohama, but tomorrow we will be in the new International Cruise Terminal, the first time for the Zuiderdam and we heard, the first of HAL's ships to dock here.
There was a nice sunset tonight for a change. Although the day began cloudy, it cleared up and we had sun for most of the day. Not a lot of heat in it but sitting out by the Seaview Pool before lunch was pleasant. We had looked for the packets of hot chocolate to make us two cups, but they were nowhere to be found. Thinking they had been eliminated, one of the deck waiters asked if we would like something to drink. We asked him about the chocolate and he went in search of some. Lucky for us, he found it, and it sure tasted good. Funny, just a week ago, sitting back here was almost too hot.
There was a theme for the dining room this evening called Kaiseki Dinner. Red Japanese lanterns were hung in each entrance along with red lights on the floor. It was quite festive as was the menu. Appetizers were Asian such as miso soup and sesame chicken bites. Our entrees were grilled teriyaki chicken breasts with jasmine rice and broccoli. Desserts were one lemon sorbet and a croquant chocolate cake with banana and caramel. Not exactly all Japanese, the meal was fine. Tomorrow ends the second segment of this cruise, however, they chose not to repeat the farewell in the dining room like they did prior to arriving to Honolulu. Fine with us and most of the world cruisers we know. We did get another sticker of the stats for the second segment to add to our booklets.
Got to rest up for two busy days in Tokyo, a city of millions.
Bill & Mary Ann
