Tasmania to Tokyo – Singapore – Day 39 can be found here.
Today’s Chronicles can be found here.
40 days! We are officially at the halfway mark on our trip. I try not to unduly track the time spent and remaining, but this is a worthy milestone.
I’ve said before that 6 weeks is our preferred length for any given journey, and – though we are excited for the rest of our adventure – that preference stands. We have reached the point where I would pause the trip for a week (or five) to be back at home, plowing through e-mails, cooking my own food and sleeping in my own bed.
But a sea day is a worthy alternative.
The morning passes as mornings do – breakfast at La Terrazza, and reading / writing / homework as we prepare to disembark the ship for four nights in a row.
I’m still wrapping my head around this concept. Why leave the ship when we’re paying so much to be here? But then I consider the alternative – visiting Southeast Asia without stopping at Angkor Wat, and returning to the ship on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City so we can face lengthy bus rides to get back into the city – particularly when Cat Tien National Park beckons?
We divide forces for lunch – my wife and son at La Terrazza, while our daughter and I head to Kaiseki. The ramen is slightly different this time out – no sprouts. Meanwhile, my wife notices heightened hand-washing protocols at the buffet. Hopefully that’s just a keener health and safety officer as opposed to something ominous.
We then head to the SALT Lab for today’s session on Chicken Curry Kapitan – an iconic Peranakan curry that blends inspiration from India, Malaysia, and the Dutch.
I bring the macro lens today, because why not? Today’s ingredients:
We chop the cilantro, putting half into the dish and setting half aside for the garnish.
Garlic and chilli also get cut up and set aside. Chanelle is a firm believer in adding these elements later on.
We add sunflower oil to the wok, followed by the rempah spice paste. Then we add the chicken, coconut milk and fish sauce. The lime leaves are squeezed and then added while the dish simmers – then pulled out at the end.
Sushi rice is provided as an accompaniment, though it’s often served with coconut rice.
Garlic is added after the heat is turned off, and chillis are sprinkled overtop at the very end.
This dish is an absolute hit – we’ll have to add it to the rotation back at home.
The recipe:
Our daughter then heads to art class, while our son does a bit more homework in the Observation Library before defeating me at chess. Very quiet in Observation today – only a handful of other guests.
Off to bingo, where my son wins a bonus round of single-row that seems to stretch out for an eternity.
Then time for trivia. We correctly identify the region of origin for spinach (Persia) and the number of seeds in a pumpkin (500), and learn that the alternate name for a Chinese gooseberry is Kiwi fruit. Our 24 out of 25 score is sufficient for second place, though Zaid generously hands out double prize points today.
Also – a very warm welcome to @57Varieties who joined our trivia team earlier this leg! It’s always so lovely meeting people from Cruise Critic when aboard the ship.
Back to the room for the world’s fastest Singapore sling on the verandah, followed by a lightning shower, changing into a tuxedo and heading back up to the Observation Library for our Angkor Wat cocktail party.
We’ve spoken with Excursions extensively over the past few days, so there isn’t a ton of new information here – though Jasna does flag the need to confirm baggage allowances for our flights. (Right now it just says 20 kilograms without specifying whether wheeled carry-ons are allowed or if there are limits as to their weight.)
There are also several guests who are keen to photograph the sunrise over Angkor Wat. I admit to being tempted by the concept, though not the 4 am wake-up time. I think we’ll pass – but it does sound like Silversea is facilitating this request, which is kind given that it’s not on the original itinerary.
After saying a few quick hellos to our fellow guests, we depart for dinner at Atlantide.
Tonight’s menu:
I get the seafood chowder to start:
It’s good, despite the surprise carrots.
Followed by the surf and turf prime rib – with a sriracha shrimp skewer:
This is truly fabulous – the hasselback potato, the sauce, the roast, the shrimp, all of it.
My son asks for a creme brulee for dessert. It’s not on the Atlantide menu, but it is available via room service – they kindly accommodate him:
Atlantide is slammed at this point, but service is still solid. We see Faith – the server from Spaccanapoli, and surmise that they’ve redeployed staff from other restaurants to help out.
My wife and I then stop by SALT Bar for a drink. I have a Hanoi Fizz:
And my wife has some lovely smoking concoction whose name I forget:
We unfortunately fail to capture a photo of the moment in which the smoke-filled bubble bursts, sending the fog cascading down over the table. We’ll just have to order another one!
So I suppose that calls for another sea day – only one more left until we reach Thailand.