This morning, I woke up before sunrise and stumbled to the bathroom in darkness as the ship continued to roll and rock. Showering was challenging as I was tossed to and fro in the small trapezoidal-shaped chamber while trying to shave. I managed to survive that and get dressed but felt a bit woozy as I emerged from the bathroom. Consequently, I was having a wee lie-down when disaster struck. There was a light tap on the door, Jane opened it, and a room service agent brought our requested coffee into the room. An unexpected phone ring behind him startled the waiter enough to knock the coffee pot off the table. My eyes were closed so I didn’t witness any of this spectacle but heard a loud clang followed by a shriek from my wife. I bolted upright as the waiter was exiting the room promising to bring more coffee. We were left with a miniature Okefenokee Coffee Swamp in the middle of our room’s carpet. When the waiter returned with a new pot of coffee (which tasted terrible), I asked him about cleaning up the mess. He said that was housecleaning’s department. Long story short, housecleaning sent two guys who worked on draining the swamp all morning and left us with a large brown but less swampy spot in the center of the carpet.
We escaped the cleaning commotion to find potable coffee and breakfast while the ship continued its convulsions. Meanwhile, Captain Sasa announced that the Nagoya port was delaying our docking time until 11:00 am. Lacking confidence in our swimming abilities, the Captain also announced a delayed departure time for our land excursion, 11:30 am, i.e., shortly after docking. Meanwhile, I discovered my favorite blogging spot ever, a large room in the bow on Deck 10 surrounded with huge windows and equipped with a machine capable of delivering unlimited cups of tasty coffee provisioned with nearby pastries.
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| My New Office |
After blogging awhile, I returned to our room. The weather had improved and we entered calm waters as we approached Nagoya. We opened the deck door to enjoy the view and warm breeze. Soon flute music wafted into our cabin. A band of three very active drummers and an amplified Japanese flutist were welcoming us with traditional Japanese songs including that well-known one, Amazing Grace. Jane commented that the rope wasn’t big enough as we watched the boat crew toss one to the dock crew. But, it turned out that rope was only for towing in a much larger rope with a diameter the size of a sumo wrestler’s waist. The dock crew wrestled the looped ends of several of these mega ropes over mega hitches to secure the ship.
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| Docking in Nagoya |
Shortly, we were summoned to the Nautica Lounge and awarded with laminated Bus 2 boarding passes. After passing through passport control, we were soon boarding the bus. Our young Japanese guide, Miyu, instantly began her chatty descriptions of our surroundings. As we traveled across the Nobi Plain to our first site, we passed through a town famous for its Shinto shrines to male (power) and female (fertility) genitalia. Initially, Miyu was shy about broaching this topic to a bus load of foreigners but, mingled with school-girl giggles, she delicately got her points across to us. There is a large internationally famous festival (that none of us had heard of) associated with these important shrines.
Our first stop was for lunch at a famous restaurant in a region famous for its chicken. We filed into the famous restaurant, were distributed drinks (Asahi beer for Jane and I), piled our shoes in a hallway, and then took a seat at tables with our meals already laid out for us to immediately devour. Except for the famous chicken, the meal was excellent, especially dessert, Nagoya kochin pudding, made with locally-laid eggs. We’re pescatarians, but I decided to try the famous chicken, which was served as slices with fat on the edge and covered with a secret sauce (no, not Colonel Sanders’). I nibbled on the lean side of several pieces. It tasted like chicken, at least my memory of chicken from my omnivore years. A Japanese guide from another bus was seating beside me and noticed I had devoured my lunch except for the famous chicken. When I explained, she made many apologies with much bowing and shortly Miyu showed up and repeated the apology process. I protested because it really was an excellent meal despite the famous chicken. As I was exiting the restaurant, I was blocked by a flock of excited women frantically snapping pictures. Their subject was a wooden model of the Shinto shrine to power, a penis. Later on the bus, Miyu exclaimed that the restaurant model was small; the actual one is 15 meters long. As the bus erupted with laughter and cheers, I felt poignantly inadequate and powerless.
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| Our Famous Chicken Lunch |
After lunch, we continued our journey to Inuyama where the buses parked in a lot with a nice view of the castle perched on a mountainside. Inuyama Castle is also known as the White Emperor’s Castle, but I prefer the literal translation Dog Mountain (inu=dog, yama=mountain) Castle. The castle was completed in 1537 and has survived relatively intact through the centuries. We walked up the mountain, passing a Shinto shrine, to the base of the beautiful castle surrounded by beautiful flowering cherry trees. The museum in the interior of the castle was closed. But, we were able to climb in our socks to the fourth floor via steep ladder-stairs carrying our shoes in a bag. At the top, we had a wonderful panoramic view of the meandering Kiso River and Nobi plain below.
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| Inuyama Castle |
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| Inuyama Castle through the Cheery Trees |
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| Kiso River from atop the Palace |
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| Shinto Shrine in Inuyama |
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| All Aboard! |
We then rode the bus to Noritake Gardens accompanied by more of Miyu’s giggly narration. This stop featured a craft center, museum, shop, and gallery where we learned about the history and production of Noritake ceramics. Before departing, we also had time for a quick whirl through the neighboring Aeon Mall, where a Krispy Kreme store reminded us of home.
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| Noritake Ceramics |
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| Ceramic Cats Drying before Finishing |
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| More Drying Ceramic Pieces |
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| One of Several Chimneys Remaining from the Original Factory |
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| Kiln Wall constructed from Remnants of the Old Ceramic Factory |
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| Weeping Cherry Tree at Noritake Gardens |
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| Just like Home but without the Hot Light |
Back at the ship, we freshened up and proceeded to the Grand Dining Hall for dinner. However, both of us were more sleepy than hungry and so opted for an appetizer and salad. We then headed back to our cabin to retire early.