20231005 AAAA Trip - Sea of Japan and Otaru Port for Sapporo - Well, that was the plan...

2023 Alaska, Asia, Australia, Arabian Peninsula Trip 
Day 19/105 - Otaru Port for Sapporo, Japan - Sapporo is no-more-o

We passed through the channel at about 5 a.m. this morning and made the right-hand turn in the Sea of Japan to head north toward Otaru, the port that serves Sapporo, Japan.

We should make port well ahead of the incoming weather.  Otaru is sheltered so we should just have some waviness and wind but nothing severe.

Arlona continued working on her next hat - this time a pink crocheted one - during class this morning and then attended a cooking demonstration poached Norwegian salmon & cucumber salad and sweet potato soup.  I participated in Baggo (cornhole).  This time, it was officers versus guests.  It was an absolute landslide as the officers humiliated the guests nearly doubling our score.  It was all good fun and it is always nice to see the officers get a chance to relax and have a little fun with the guests.

Today marked the final day of progressive trivia, and the Titanic Swim Team is already out of the running.  Even a perfect score couldn't help us today.  No matter as we were far from perfect today with 8/16.  Hey - we made 50% every day.  We finished in the top half of the teams - still a fairly respectable showing.  Here are today's misses.

• What Asian country has 7,641 islands?
• We guessed Indonesia (more than 17,000), but it is Trivia Master Harry's home in the Philippines
• Rolls & Royce of the carmaker fame - what are their names?
• We took a wild guess of Charles and Alistair respectively, and wow - it was Charles Rolls and Henry Royce, so we eeked out one point as this was a two-pointer
• What African country starting with "M" has the capital, Antananarivo?
• We guessed Mozambique - it is Madagascar
• What was the Chinese zodiac symbol for 1962 (Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon)?
• We guessed dragon - it was the tiger
• Who was Mohammed Ali's opponent in the Rumble in the Jungle?
• We knew it was George Foreman or Joe Frazier but couldn't remember which was in this fight versus the Thriller in Manila - we picked Frazier, and of course, it is Foreman
• What is the ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and cooked in a specially molded pan and is typically filled with minced or diced octopus, tempura scraps, pickled ginger, and green onion?
• We had no idea - it is called Takoyaki
• What genre of music was the precursor to reggae and rocksteady that combines Jamaican, Caribbean, and punk rock?
• We didn't know - it is ska
• From what Latin American country does the dance, Bachata, originate?
• We guessed Costa Rica - it is the Dominican Republic

It was all great fun and we played with some terrific folks.

Team, Titanic Swim Team - Karen, Trivia Master, Harry in front, Garry, Arlona Betsy, James

We opted for the pool grill at lunch - a burger for me and a cheesesteak for Arlona.  We have noted that the World Café is a zoo at lunch.  We've never experienced this before. In fact, today, there was a line at the pool grill, a few empty seats at the buffet, a line to get into The Restaraunt, and we heard that even Mamsen's was lined up.  It seems like all 700 passengers eat lunch at exactly the same time.  This doesn't bode well when we sail from Tokyo with 900 passengers.

As the afternoon wore on, the seas got a little more choppy as the weather started making its way in.  What to do?  I know, gin tasting!  There was a gin-tasting event in Torshaven, and since I've been drinking gin lately, it seemed like a natural for me to attend.

Each pair of chairs was set up with four samples plus a glass of water to clear the palate between tastes

Our four samples:

From left to right:

• Hendrick's London Dry Gin
• English, harsh, burned, not very flavorful
• Monkey 47 Schwarzwald Dry Gin
• German, very smooth and aromatic, highly botanical named Monkey "47" for the secret combination of 47 botanicals used in the distillation process
• G'Vine Gin de France
• French, distilled from grapes rather than grains, highly botanical, very smooth, and aromatic, with hints of licorice
• Gin Mare Mediterranean Gin
• Spanish, infused with olives, extremely smooth, lots of complex flavors

At 4:30 p.m., we had an appointment with Travel Consultant, Hâmed, to explore some possible travel options, all of a sudden, *bong-bong-bong*, Captain Richard came on the ship's speakers.

While we were making great time to Otaru port and staying ahead of the weather, the port authority in Otaru changed berths on us.  Our new berth would expose the Orion to severe weather and the Captain determined that it would not be safe for the passengers and crew.  He made the difficult decision to cancel our visit to Sapporo.  We turned around and started heading back south.  Unfortunately, that put us into the winds and waves, making for a bumpy ride tonight.  Our current schedule puts us in Tokyo in three days, meaning our continuous sea day run may extend to ten days.  Viking is talking to Japan to see if there is another viable port en route to Tokyo, or perhaps have us get into Tokyo early.  We expect an update tomorrow.  For now, Viking is scrambling to schedule regular onboard activities for a couple of unplanned sea days.  This is the nature of travel, especially by cruise ship.  Mother Nature does what she wants and we have to react.  So, we can get mad, or we can roll with it, tonight, actually quite literally.  We choose to roll.

After our usual Explorers' Bar pre-dinner libation and a nice, albeit wind-howlingly loud meal in the World Café, we returned to the Explorers’ Bar for a Name That Tune contest.  We joined with three other passengers, including Kathy and Pierre from our world cruise.  The theme was movie soundtracks.  Trivia Master and Assistant Cruise Director, Harry, played a snippet of a song.  We had to identify the movie it was used in.  We netted 13/15 and came away with the win.  Woo!

Next up was the second performance from Magician, Shawn McMaster.  Arlona was brought up on stage to assist with a sponge ball routine.

It was another fun performance.  After the performance, we decided that it was time to call it a night.  As we left the theater, we watched as everyone in the hallway took a simultaneous step to the right followed by a large step to the left as the ship was listing.  Everyone got a good chuckle out of it.

We’re in for a rocky night and hope to be lulled to sleep by the ocean motion.