We’re crossing the East China Sea today on our way back to Japan. Mother Nature apparently decided we’d had enough pleasant cruising and cranked the ocean up to: washing machine. Gale-force winds, steadily building seas, and absolutely zero chance anyone was reading by the pool under a cozy blanket today. The ship’s library, on the other hand, was standing-room only. Everyone seems to have discovered they love biographies.

I Am the Captain Now

Knock on wood, we’re both holding it together on the sea sickness front. Today has been, by far, the most we’ve felt the boat move. Less gentle sway, and more the ocean reminding us . . .

I am the captain now.

Walking down the hallway feels like a field sobriety test. But I’m still refusing to put on my scopolamine patch unless absolutely necessary. They work brilliantly, but they also make my mouth and throat feel like the Mojave Desert.

Cargo Ships

I have also decided that cargo ships are mildly terrifying. There is something deeply unsettling about watching an object roughly the size of Cleveland silently slide past your balcony. They don’t seem to move so much as . . . materialize. One minute there’s open ocean. The next minute you’re wondering if someone parked a floating Costco next to the ship.

Bourbon Tasting

This afternoon, the ship’s head bartender, Irina, hosted a tasting of Woodford Reserve bourbons, and it was excellent. We’ve toured the Woodford Reserve Distillery in Kentucky before, so it was fun revisiting the lineup. Irina did a fantastic job explaining the differences between each expression without making anyone feel like they needed a bourbon dictionary.

Bourbon tastings are always entertaining.

There’s always one person whose experience with alcohol begins and ends with Chardonnay. They confidently take a giant wine-sized sip of barrel-proof bourbon, and immediately try to look cool while the alcohol strips the paint off their esophagus. You can actually watch their face cycle through all five stages of grief.

At the end of the tasting, Irina made everyone a Boulevardier – think Negroni (equal parts gin + sweet vermouth + Campari), but with bourbon instead of gin. I’m going to be on a Boulevardier binge for the rest of the cruise.

The Sorbet Situation

I’ve never been much of an ice cream person – which I realize is the sort of statement that gets you removed from American citizenship rolls – but whoever is running the sorbet program on this ship deserves a raise. Today’s flavors were cantaloupe and, later, pear with star anise.

Both were outstanding. I need to figure out how to make sorbet at home. Because I don’t like any of the store-made sorbets. Too creamy.

Team Trivia

Team trivia this evening. A packed house. Who was the host of The Tonight Show before Johnny Carson? Seriously?? Wrong decade for us. Ask us, Who shot J.R.? What was the name of the talking car on Knight Rider? Who played Ferris Bueller’s economics teacher? We would crush at 80s trivia.

All in all, a solid day at sea. The ocean is still the captain. But I have sorbet and a Boulevardier, so I’m managing.

Tomorrow: Kagoshima, Japan 🇯🇵