Report #10 - Sept 28 At Sea - Mongolians?

Pictures:

100  Mongolian Cookout Veggies

102  Mongolian Cookout Meats

103  The Wok Line, Ready to Eat.

 

Sept 28 - At Sea.  Highlight of the day will be the Mongolian BBQ by the Lido pool for lunch.  You get to gather your veggies and meats, take them to the grill and tell the chef which sauces to mix to wok them.  But that’s for later.

 

The weather is still cool but the winds and waves are down.  Almost no whitecap activity is visible and the tops of the small waves are not throwing any spray.  Winds are probably less than 25-30 knots and the sun is shining brightly.  They’ve opened the outside promenade deck so people can go outside to do their laps.

 

The pastor on board is doing a study on various Psalms during this voyage, always a safe and very rich topic for study.  He and his wife are Canadian and he lapses into the sentence ending ‘eh’ at times.  After listening to him I find that I lapse into it myself, just like I lapse into the North Texas drawl when I’m down there.

 

I’m constantly reminded of how much I like the MS Amsterdam.  Same slimmer, faster hull as the Rotterdam but with the more modern Izopod (sp?) drive.  Much less vibration as the diesel generators can be isolated from the hull as they are only connected to the drive units by electrical wires.  On the Rotterdam the diesels are driving the props via shafts and the torque involved requires that they be fastened securely to the hull that transmits much of the engine vibration through the hull to the rest of the ship.

 

The Mongolian cookout was a big success for me.  After gathering my vegetables and noodles I added a little of each of the meats available, pork, chicken, beef, shrimp and squid.  You present your plate to a chef armed with a wok and he asks which sauces and additions you want.  Hoisin sauce, soy sauce, chopped garlic, sesame oil, and sambal (an Indonesian chili sauce, pretty hot) is my mix with enough sambal to get it to true Mongolian heat.  Delicious.

 

I should have mentioned that in addition to Qi Gong massage and acupressure we are learning the One Thousand Hands Buddha form.  It’s an exercise with 14 mudras (hand positions) that is said to have emotional benefits keeping you calmer and more centered.  Actually, it’s fun whether or not it has any other benefits.  In addition to the Tai Chi it seems to have benefits in the area of flexibility and coordination.  I’ve only been practicing a week and I’m noticing differences already but can’t tell if it’s due to the Tai Chi or Qi Gong.  Bottom line is, it really doesn’t matter.

 

Since we get yet another hour back this evening I decided to do a movie and then the show.  The movie was ‘This Means War’.  Supposed to be 1 hour, 38 minutes but seemed much longer.  Guess I wasn’t having a good time.

 

The show featured Ronn Lucas, a ventriloquist.  He was funny and had some fairly original patter.  A very enjoyable show.