On Day 11 we set foot on land for the first time since we left Seattle. The port was Otaru. We got off the ship, after a lengthy process of officially entering Japan (including fingerprinting). We then walked into what I believed was the center of the city. Only it was more of a main drag than a city center. Not very interesting. We did go into a 7-Eleven (there are many here) and a couple of video arcades, both of which were interesting. In Japan you can buy hard liquor (mostly Japanese whiskey) in a 7-Eleven. The arcades were huge and had slot-type machines unlike any I have ever seen before – some that looked like combinations of video and pinball games and others had traditional reels but with a button for each reel to let the player stop each reel independently.
We found a large shopping center and spent a couple of hours browsing but bought very little. I did figure out the exchange rate – about 145 yen per dollar. Having a bunch of crisp 1000-yen bills in my wallet made me feel rich, but the 10 notes had a combined value of about $70.
The Japanese are very big on self-service, including a wide variety of vending machines which are everywhere.
Otaru was not picturesque or very interesting. It does have a music box museum which some of the passengers visited and enjoyed.
After dinner we sat for a show by Azar, a magician and mentalist who performed some baffling feats. He correctly guessed the name of the first love and the name of the pet tortoise of two different passengers. But the most baffling was the trick he performed with our friend Shelly. She had a dollar which she folded and initialed. He never touched the dollar. She took it with her onto the stage. He then randomly picked two passengers (by tossing a beach ball in the audience) and each gave him a 4-digit number. He then had Shelly randomly produce a 6-digit number on his phone’s calculator. When all were added together they produced a number which he had already written on a sheet of paper. But the number also matched the serial number on the dollar that Shelly was holding. I have no idea how it was done. Baffling.
Then we danced. The ship’s 9-piece band is terrific. The lead singers are from Brazil and the Philippines and they both have wonderful voices and a wide-ranging repertoire. Really talented.
