Day 28 of 111. Somewhere in the Northern Pacific nearing Micronesia

My watercolor class is moving along. The current project is a Macaw.

We will be in Majuro, Marshall Islands, tomorrow. There are no special excursions, but we will walk into the town from the dock. The people are supposed to be friendly and the walk will be nice. If I can find wifi I will update my blog (Obviously, I found some).

The dishes were from a cooking class about the foods of the Marshall Islands. There were two dishes using barramundi fish. On one of the dishes, the chef demonstrated how to make a foam (molecular gastronomy) using soy lecithin added to any flavorful liquid, chicken stock in this case.

Day 27 Of 111. Northern Pacific between Hawaii and the Marshall Islands

One of the ladies we met on the ship makes quilts and honored us by giving us this beautiful quilt! The fabrics are Asian and the colors are wonderful. She made this one before the cruise, but is working on another one that is going to be totally hand stitched. Amazing!

Day 26 of 111. The Northern Pacific

Tonight was another Gala Night, but was followed by the Black and Silver Ball. There were special decorations in the dining room and the theater was rearranged to provide a dance floor for the ball. The bottom photo shows the Captain dancing the first dance with his wife. We stopped in to take pictures and then changed clothes and went to bed. This cruise is sort of step back in time to the days of big cruises and fancy dresses. It is all very nice.

More about the Black and Silver Ball… two pictures show more of the decorations in the dining room and the people dancing in the ballroom/theater. To make more room, the couples could dance on the stage as well. We were given a list of special events so we could have packed special outfits, but we were fine in our suits.

Day 26 of 111. The Northern Pacific Ocean

There was a fun cooking demonstration today called The Sommelier in the Kitchen. Chef Joseph and the Chief of the Cellar teamed up to make two dishes and discussed why you would make certain wine choices with the dishes. This picture is Sambuco Shrimp. It was a lively presentation, partially because everyone was sipping wine.

Tomorrow night, Ron and I are invited to the Captain’s Dinner in the fancy Pinnacle Grill. The original invitation was for January 30, but because we cross the international date line tonight, we jump from 1/29 to 1/31! Interesting! The hibiscus flower is my watercolor project and the dish is the smoked tuna dish made at the Sommelier in the Kitchen demonstration. We are in the North Pacific on our way to Majuro, Marshall Islands.

Day 25 of 111. Sea Day

Happy Chinese New Year. We had special decorations and food on the Lido Deck complete with a dragon. Ron attended a class on Chinese cooking earlier in the day.

In a separate event, we attended a fun cooking class after lunch. The cooking class was Cooking With SPAM! The demo was spam and eggs on an English muffin, but we also received the recipe for spam mushubi. Ron also attended two lectures and walked several miles around the deck. It was another full day at sea.

Day 24 of 111. Oahu, Hawaii

The last stop on our tour was the Dole Plantation. It is almost like a Disneyland with a train ride, a huge maze, and best of all soft serve pineapple ice cream (just like at the Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland). Coming into the parking lot, our guide pointed out the interesting bark of the tree. He called it Rainbow ______ (I forget). We saw a beautiful Hawaiian quilt as well. I made the mistake of sampling the coconut/mango hand sanitizer… I still smell like a fruit salad. It was a terrific day. We are onboard now and leaving Hawaii. I can see Diamondhead out my stateroom window. Aloha!

Day 24 of 111. Oahu, Hawaii

The next few stops sort of blended together for me. Justin, our guide, was very knowledgeable about the nature we were seeing as well as the history and culture of the island. Some of the highlights for this section was driving by the Kualoa Ranch which has been the background for many motion pictures including Jurassic Park, Godzilla, 50 First Dates, and many others. We passed a beach where Tatoo used to say “Ze Plane, Ze Plane”. We saw big red leaves which come from the tropical almond tree and lots of chickens because they are one of the pre-contact (pre-Capt. Cook) species which are protected by Hawaiian law.

We also stopped at Sunset Beach where a surfing competition just finished and another beach where we saw a green sea turtle. We are not allowed to touch or disturb the turtles for the turtle’s sake, but also because you can get nasty diseases from them (chlamidia, herpes, and salmonella). This turtle had a herpes growth on its neck. More interesting from a distance. We also passed an interesting-looking McDonalds restaurant because the region required all businesses to fit into the old town look.

We stopped for lunch at Fumi’s Shrimp Farm and Drive In. I actually had Chicken Katsu (because I really like chicken katsu) but what caught my eye was the graffiti or messages left by pst visitors on the leaves of the large tree over the picnic tables. For dessert, I got to try Rainbow Hawaiian shaved ice. The white ball of ice was pulled out of a freezer and onto it was squirted blue (vanilla), yellow (pineapple), and red (strawberry) syrups. I was impressed at the great color mixing going on as the syrups dispersed through the ice. Lovely and tasty.

Day 24 of 111. Oahu, Hawaii

We are on an excursion today called the sights and tastes of North Shore. We wanted to get a chance to see some of the sights outside of the city. Our ship is docked near Chinatown next to the Aloha Tower, but this bus trip today will visit some beaches and the Dole Plantation. Our first stop (and probably my favorite) was the Byodo-In Buddhist Temple. It is located above a cemetery and there are several different buildings from various religions located here. The temple itself is beautiful and you can sense the serenity and peacefulness when you enter the grounds. As you make your way around a large circular walk, you first come across a huge bell… probably 12 feet high. There is a log on ropes you can use to ring the bell. It’s deep resonanting sound is soothing rather than jarring.

A short walk farther along the circle brings you to a Koi pond just below a meditation gazebo. Again, I enjoyed the quiet time watching the fish swim and hearing the bell in the background. The main temple was next. Out of respect, we were asked to remove our shoes. Inside there was a large statue of Buddah looking down on the visitors. Some of the other visitors burned incense so the temple had a pleasant smell as well as a quiet and peaceful ambiance. After the temple, I felt a need to rush since we promised to be back on the bus at a certain time. A quick stop in the bathroom and an even quicker look inside the gift shop was followed by a brisk walk back to our little bus. I did stop to take a picture of a yellow hibiscus flower with a red center… the Hawaiian state flower.

Day 23 of 111. Honolulu, Hawaii

Being in Hawaii, we HAD to attend a luau (Hawaiian for Party). A free drink was included with the meal and one of the choices was a Blue Hawaiian which I never had before. It was pretty and pretty tasty (but not very strong, luckily). The food was great. We tried a little of everything, including the poi which tastes pretty good when used as a dip for the pork. The dancers were fun to watch and the end of the show included a fire dancer who was excellent. It was a very fun party.

Day 23 of 111. Honolulu, Hawaii

This morning, we took a tour of the Arizona Memorial and the Battleship, Missouri. In Pearl Harbor, there are several memorials associated with the bombing on December 7, 1941. The battleships that were harbored there were named after states of the union. The Arizona was hit with a bomb from the surprise attack by the Japanese that ignited the ammunition on the ship and killed over 900 men. The ship is the grave for these men and a white memorial was erected above the ship. It is a very somber trip to visit the site and most people mill around and you can see that they are pondering the events that led to that memorial.

We next went to the Battleship, Missouri (Big MO) that was the site of the surrender of the Japanese to the Allied Forces. The document of surrender was signed on the ship and we were able to see the spot where it happened. These two sites represent the beginning and the end of World War II. There was a place to eat next to the Missouri, so we split a Loco Moko which is a couple of scoops of rice with brown gravy, a hamburger patty and a fried egg. We split one serving because it is pretty heavy, but tasty.