All at sea

Another day in another place.

 Konichawa

Yesterday we were all at sea - not once did we see land anywhere after we left Yokohama.

All I saw was sea and sky when I looked out my window yesterday and Mme spent most of her day looking about Our Ship with Miss Pam and Miss Julie.  Then she unpacked some of her shopping and discovered the socks she bought in Yokohama had sparkly bits on the feet.  This made her laugh a lot but I could not see why.  The sparkly bits were stuck on and when she put her shoes on they vanished.

I was very puzzled, I don't understand socks at all.

Mme laughed loudest when she took the socks out of the package.  I think the sparkly bits were a surprise to her.

Then she put the socks on and laughed even more.  She said they were for girls, not old ladies.

Last night Mme left me to keep guard over the room while she was away and when she came back I had a new friend to keep me company. It is a peacock. In Japan, peacocks are a symbol of compassionate watchfulness and kind-heartedness.

Peacocks are usually very colorful.  This one lost all its colour. I searched everywhere in the room for the peacock colour but it had vanished.

Today Our Ship is sailing between the very big island of Honshu and the not so big island of Hokkaido and it is possible to see land on both sides of the ship. It is dark blue and very far away on the Honshu side and on the Hokkaido side it is much closer. We could see the city of Hakodate, shining in the sun. The sun did not shine very often today.  There was more rain and more dark sky than sunshine.

Sometimes the sea was very, very dark.  

 Sometimes I saw a small ship .  This ship is going the opposite way.  This ship had many coloured boxes on its deck.

In the afternoon Mme took me up to the Exploration Lounge.  This is a very big room where people can sit and read their books in very comfortable chairs in front of big windows which look out over the sea.  Not everyone was reading, some people were sleeping.  Miss Pam is not happy about people sitting in these chairs and sleeping. She is most unhappy when she finds there is not a very comfortable chair where she can sit and read, because people are sleeping.  She says these people should sleep somewhere else.

Miss Pam is showing me the very beautiful, pale blue tanzanite ring she bought today from one of the shops in the jewellry arcade.

Later we went up to the Crow's Nest  which is the second highest deck on the ship. It is at the very front of the ship and when you look out the windows you can see ahead of Our Ship and out to the sides.

Mme went up there to read her Book Club Book.  The book is a story about a Japanese girl who married an American soldier and went to live in America at the end of the Second World War.  The War that ended very badly for the people living in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. It was quiet up in the Crow's Nest and we did not have to share a chair.  We had a chair each. They are lovely chairs but not as big or as comfortable as the Reading Room chairs.

If you look over the top of my chair to the right you can see the sea. I sat very quietly while Mme read her book, though I wanted to ask lots of questions.  I wanted to know where the crows built their nest because I couldn't see nests anywhere.

I am very excited about tomorrow!  Tomorrow is our first port day when Our Ship visits the port of Otaru. Mme and I are going on the train to Sapporo.  Mme says tomorrow will be a trip down Memory Lane for her.  This is not a lane you can walk along.  It's another one of those things like a miracle.  You can't see it but it happens.

Miss Julie and Miss Pam will stay in Otaru. Mme and I will be having a special lunch in a very high building, a hotel, in Sapporo.

Another high building!  I am very, very excited.