Leaving South Africa!

I know I haven't posted for Days 5 and 6 of South Africa yet, but I
wanted to post this one first. I'll adjust the dates of all the posts
when I get the chance so it'll be in chronological order!
It's a bittersweet moment! It seemed like everyone loved South Africa
with all the safaris, sky diving, bungee jumping, shark cage diving, and
hiking! I think everyone was a bit sad to leave as well as kind of
scared how the waters are gonna be once we got out to the open ocean
everyone has been talking about to be the worst spot for rough waters
out of the entire semester! I was getting pretty sared from all the
staff and faculty telling me to take my seasickness pills early, get the
patch, and watch out for when you walk around on the ship! Watching us
leave Cape Town was beautiful with the whole city lit up and with Table
Mountain and Lion's head right behind it! I could see the Ferris wheel
that was at V&A Waterfront (a MAJOR tourist spot of Cape Town. Similar
to Waikiki) and also the World Cup Football Stadium to the right of the
city. It was FREEZING, but the distancing view of the city was well
worth it. The stars were even pretty bright =] About an hour after we
left the docks, the water started to really rock the boat, I was working
on my blogs when it got pretty bad and I started to get sick =[ I took
my sea sickness pill a couple hours before and was starting to feel
drowsy from it as well. I stopped typing and went straight to bed so I
wouldn't get even more sick. Hopefully it won't still be like this when
I have my two exams in a couple of days!!
Miho =]

Day 6 - Last day in Cape Town =[ (Triangle Project and shopping at Greenpoint Market)

Day 6 - I got to sleep in a little and in the morning I had to go on a FDP to an organization called Triangle Project. This FDP was for my Gender and Society class so the topic was surrounded around the LGBTI community in Cape Town. Triangle Project is a organization the strives to shift the attitudes of the LGBTI community as well as what people think about this community. They also want to inform society about the high rate of HIV and AIDs in South Africa. South Africa is one of the worst countries for HIV/AIDs and rape. LGBTI rights are more advanced in South Africa compared to the US. Same-sex marriage is allowed with the same full rights as heterosexual marriages (taxes, parental rights, right to adopt). Discrimination for being in this community is illegal and punishable by law. Although their policies are very advanced, the attitudes of society still looks down upon the LGBTI community. There are many myths in the townships (shantytowns) about lesbians and HIV/AIDs. Such as if a women is lesbian, a man will rape her in following the myth that if you have sex with a lesbian you'll "correct" her or make her straight. Also if someone has HIV/AIDs, another myth is that if you have sex with a virgin you'll be ridden of HIV/AIDs, so a lot of children are raped because of this. It was all really shocking to hear the things people believe. South Africa's current president even had said that he had sex with a HIV/AIDs person and he just made sure that he "took a shower afterwards" to wash off the HIV/AIDs so he wouldn't be infected. Why was he elected??? This was translated into the rest of society and plays into the myths floating around South Africa. Every 26 seconds a child or women gets raped or murdered in South Africa and this is in part because of the myths that people believe. A lot of the rapes don't get reported because people believe the myths and think its normal or they think reporting it won't do anything. Triangle Project also does Education and Outreach in which they go into the schools and communities and teach people about their rights, safer sex and HIV/AIDs. Handing out condoms to children under the age of 18 is illegal in South Africa, but girls as young as 12 can get abortions....Whhhatt?!? That seemed pretty ridiculous...It was really interesting to learn about  South Africa through our speaker, Marlow and his insight on what Cape Town is really like.

We got back to the ship at noon and I met up with Ashley and we went to downtown Cape Town where the Greenpoint Market is. This market is the cheaper version of V&A Waterfront and is more of the markets we saw in Manaus and Accra. These markets you can bargain and can get things for half the price compared to V&A Waterfront. From 1100 Rand (about $141) I got soooo many things!! I'm not going to say what I bought because some of the things are for you guys! =] Ashley and I kept on seeing this "Kauai" cafe place that served subs, wraps, sandwiches, and smoothies. It was so weird because it said "Aloha!" and had information about Hawaii and even had a huge map of Hawaii on their wall. I've never seem this chain in my life and I saw it in 4 different places in Cape Town. I also noticed that every burger place had a "Hawaiian burger" which was pretty much a regular burger with a pineapple slice in it. I'm in Cape Town and I'm getting "Hawaiian" food! lol It just amazed me how much I saw it around and I'm halfway across the world! Ashley and I ate there after shopping and both got wraps then we headed back to Dodge diner at V&A Waterfront and got milkshakes. We got back to the ship at about 5pm right before everyone was getting back on. My last day in Cape Town was informational, eye-opening, and successful! That night we watched as we left Cape Town. You could see the ferris wheel at V&A Waterfront getting farther and farther. David said it looked like San Francisco, but about 3 times smaller =P All of us a little sad we were leaving and nervous about the crazy swells we'll experience in the next few days.


Miho =]

Day 5 - Last day of the Safari! Morning game drive, reptile park, and cheetah conservation center!

Day 5 - Our last day in Safari paradise! We got to sleep in a little more than the previous days and was up and drinking coffee and eating rusks at 7am. Left on an EVENTFUL morning game drive! At first we didn't see much, other than the buffalo, impala, and wildebeest we saw the day before, but then we got chased by a lion and chased a cheetah! We got LEGIT chased by a lion. You'll have to ask me to tell you this story in person because it's a bit hard to explain in this blog, but I'll try my best to explain it here.

We got into the fenced part of the reserve that is specifically for the lions (I guess so they won't attack the other wildlife) and we couldn't see either the female or the male lion. We drove on the road and passed a bush about 20 feet away and the female lion was on the other side! She was laying down in the grass so that's why we couldn't see her at first. She sat up and was staring at us for a little bit because by then we were passing by the cow carcass which was her food from the day before. She laid back down and when we tried to go back down the road to go out of the fenced area (we had to go that way) she would perk up and see if we were close. So our guide, Ronald, said that he was going to turn off the engine (which they're not supposed to do in the lion area for safety) and roll down the road and pass her quietly. Welllll that didn't work as well as we thought! We rolled down the hill and when we got to the closest point of her and the road, she stood up and started chasing the truck! Ronald turned the truck on and started speeding away, we had to make a turn in the road and we kind of whipped it around and that was when the female lion stopped chasing and walked back to her bush. We all were freaking out and yelling and she got pretty close to the truck (about 5 feet!) Michelle, the girl in the back row with me was the closest to the lion and we all agreed she could've been eaten! Our guide said that she was probably pretending to sleep so that we would be closer for her to chase us. He said it was more of a half-hearted run too! It was more of a run to just make sure we got the message to stay away from her food >_< Now he tells us....None of us got any video or pictures of her chasing us because we were all freaking out and it happened in a matter of seconds! We all didn't think she was gonna get up and chase us!

After all the commotion died down a little we went to go look for the cheetah we saw yesterday and we tracked her by using a radar that picks up her collar that she has on. She passed us while waiting for a gate to open up and she was jogging away and our guide said she was hunting some impala that were running the other direction. I think the adrenaline from the lion was still going because we turned around really fast and started speeding down the road to catch up with her. We came around a blind corner and she was standing in the road! We had to break kind of fast or else we would've hit her O_o We followed her down the road a bit but I think we may have scared the impala into really tall bushes because the cheetah looked like she gave up and just laid down in the grass. We decided to call it quits and go back to the lodge and eating breakfast. We ate breakfast pretty quickly (another amazing meal full with lots of different choices), got our stuff together and loaded it on the bus. At 10:30 we went to the reserve's reptile park they had up the road and got to see their crocodiles and snakes. I held two snakes while we were there! I don't think I've ever held one and they were small ones so it wasn't anything too intimidating. After that we headed to their cheetah conservation center where they hold cheetahs and rotate them in and out of the open reserve. They were quite small areas, but they said they only have a couple out in the reserve at a time because cheetah like to be solitary. They had about 4 in this compound and are fed meet 6 days a week (they don't feed them everyday because they don't normally eat everyday in the wild). They have this cheetah conservation center because cheetah hunting is very big in South Africa and cheetah numbers are diminishing fast.

We got back on the bus and headed back to Cape Town which was about a 5 hr bus ride with one stop a rest stop to pick up a light lunch. I noticed at the rest stop that their flavors of chips was quite different from the US. The Lays brand had flavors like "Caribbean Onion and Balsamic Vinegar," "Sweet and Spicy Chutney" and "Thai Sweet Chili." It was just interesting to see how companies accommodate different tastes in different countries. Their packaging for a lot of the foods we had were different as well. Cheetos chips were called Nik Naks but looked and tasted exactly like Cheetos. The Magnum ice cream was REALLY popular in South Africa as well. Usually in the US you can see only one type of Magnum ice cream but there were about 6 different kinds. They also had things like flavored sterilised milk....don't ask me. It was like strawberry and other flavors and was called "Steri Stumpie."

When we got back to Cape Town at about 4:30pm, I went with Ashley, Tamie, Ashley, and Kevin to V&A Waterfront to check out their Blue Shed Craft Market that closed at 6. Ashley and I walked around then met up with Tamie guys to go and get dinner at Dodge Diner. I can't believe how cheap the food is compared to the US. Dodge diner had a special of buy one burger get one for free and my burger was like 36 Rands which is about $4 and you get another one for that price and they weren't small or anything. Our total bill came out to 370 Rand which is about $47 for 6 people and we even had a couple burgers leftover which we gave away to homeless people or a friend. We headed back to the ship and decided to go out to Camp's Bay where a lot of SAS students were going to a bar/club called Caprice. It wasn't the greatest time because it was a bunch of SAS students. Ashley, Robert, and I left after about an hour. A long and eventful day! One more day left in Cape Town....

Miho =]

Day 4 - Zip-lining and Garden Route Game Lodge

Day 4 - We we're up and about by 6:15 and packing our bags. We ate yet another wonderful breakfast with bacon, eggs, and fresh toast. We headed to the zipline canopy tours 5 minutes down the road and got briefed about the company, safety, and was sure to sign our lives away with the liability form. We geared up and with us remaining 5 girls in the last group, our tour guide and driver, Lorence, joined us for the adventure. We drove in those open air vehicles once again and rove through this deserted forest where the trees were all chopped down and on the edge where the forest just started was where we went on our first zipline. It was sad to see all the trees chopped down but they were commercial pine trees that South Africa exports to make wood furniture and whatnot. They have a pretty big timber industry and they so happened to destroy the indigenous forest up until the canopy tours land. We went on a total of 10 ziplines and the highest being 30 meters (about 90 feet) above ground. It was pretty cool, but not as exciting as I thought it was gonna be, it was my least favorite activity of the trip. We got back to the reception for the canopy tours, ate a small lunch. (Interesting notes: Ham, tomato, and grilled cheese sandwiches are common. Fries are called chips.) There was an Elvis and Marilyn Monroe themed diner next to it that was entirely pink had old style cars and the whole checkered floor look to it. I bought a piece of cake for the heck of it and to say I got something from there (I didn't have enough time to buy a milkshake, but I wanted one). We left on another 3 hour drive over to the nicest of lodges we were staying at. It wasn't a backpackers lodge. Google Garden Route Game Lodge and I stayed in one of their rooms (not chalets) which was very nice and had a pool! =] When we got there we all jumped into our bathing suits and got into the pool! It was so nice after a long drive and a lot of us tanned out by the pool till we had to go on our evening game drive! At 5 we left on our game drive and 5 minutes in we saw antelope, buffalo, zebra, and wildebeest. We drove around and saw a giraffe and lions too! The lions are in a fenced off part of the reserve just to keep them from eating everything else =P We had to really look for them and saw the female lion going out towards the carcass of the cow that the reserve leaves out. These lions can't hunt on their own and they were saved from illegal owners. The male lion was in the brush and hid himself right on the outskirts of the treeline. We only got a glimpse of him, but that was pretty good for me! We drove around some more and came upon three rhinos! Rhinos are endangered because of the popular poaching in South Africa. Rhinos are a prized game because of their ivory horns. You can cut the corn so that it what is left, grows back to a full horn, but these hunters are pretty greedy and carve out the entire horn! It was pretty sad, but it was good to see that this mom had 2 baby rhinos in a short time of 3 years (there is usually at least a 4 year gap between baby rhinos). Lastly, before heading back for dinner, we tracked a cheetah! There were impala who had noticed something in the bushes and were running away and our guide, Ronald, said that there was probably a cheetah headed in their direction. Sure enough, we found the cheetah! It didn't mind us at all and ran right past us in the truck! Their cheetahs didn't even take notice and was just doing their own thing. Ronald said that that female was probably hunting for hare or other small game similar to hares. Upon getting back to the lodge, we had an AMAZING dinner! Buffet style with so many entrees to choose from and some Springbok shanks that we just saw live on the reserve were being served to us at dinner. I didn't try any because they looked a bit scary! I had really good ribs, steak, and chicken though! =] For dessert I had cheesecake and these were definitely NOT the kind of cheesecake from the US. It had the texture of something like mousse and you know I don't really like mousse. Disappointing, but I ate the whole thing none the less. After dinner, I just hopped on the internet, talked to Zoey, worked on my taxes thanks to the free internet and headed off to bed! Sleeping in my REAL, queen size bed compared to the firm beds of the ship and the half mattresses from the backpackers lodges.

Miho =]

Day 3 - Elephant rides and off to Tsitsikamma!

Day 3 - Up and awake at 5:20am! Coffee and rusks were being served at 5:30 so we all wanted to wake up a little and have a snack before riding elephants. Rusks are a kind of biscotti that many people here eat with their coffee by dipping it in like a cookie. They were really good with the South African coffee they served. You have to dip the rusks into the coffee because they're really hard. We headed off to a inn at about 6:15am and on the way it was a dirt road with a lot of dips. It was the kind of road you think only trucks would go on, but our big coach bus headed off onto the road and to the inn. We had to stop at the inn and couldn't go all the way to the elephant rides because it had rained the night before and the roads are all soil and rock. At the inn, we jumped into the 4X4 open vehicles and headed to Addo Elephant-back Safaris. It was a really long hour drive up, down, and between the mountains and hills. It was still early morning too so it was cold in parts where the sun had yet to hit. We got to the safari place and found out that 12 people would go first, taking turns on 2 elephants while the other 8 went to go eat a full breakfast at their restaurant down the road. I went in the second group thinking it would be better in a smaller group. The 8 of us headed to the restaurant and had a huge meal with cereal, yogurt and granola, muffins, eggs, Canadian bacon, fresh toast, and baked beans. When we got there they had the cereal, yogurt, granola, and muffins laid out and we thought was an awesome breakfast already. About halfway eating all of that, we found out that they were serving us the eggs with everything else! We all were really surprised and happy we were getting so much food and at the same time thinking it was too much already. After eating, the other group still had not come back and so we sat around, talked story and found out that there was wifi so I took the time to call Zoey and talk to him for a little bit. I made a mistake on the time diffrence and thought it was 7 at night for him, but it was actually 11 and he was asleep already....Oops! We finally got told that it was our turn so we headed back up to the safari place and waited for the elephants to have a break from taking everyone else. They were cooling themselves off and drinking water at their watering hole. Then it was time! Molly and I rode together with our guide, Reason (Yeah that's his name! Not lying!) on an elephant named Taba. Taba is 25 years old has been with the group of workers since he was a baby elephant. Reason, Molly and I rode Taba bareback and I was on last so Taba's spine didn't feel very good on my butt >_< Getting on him was a little hard because he was so wide and his skin felt like really hard dirt<<<---it felt like dirt too! His skin was just really rough and probably had layers of dirt on him. We walked around the property for about 20 minutes at a slow pace so we were sure not to fall off. The guide directed Taba by using his feet and a prodder with a tiny dull hook. (Sorry I don't have any pictures of me riding the elephants. I have to get it from other girls.) With how think the skin was I think Taba could hardly feel it and it didn't hurt him. We walked along the property, got off and let the other 4 girls ride the two elephants around the property. When they got back we took pictures with them while they were busily eating their favorite snack, pellets. Went on a walk with them down the road and let them graze in the bushes. We went back up behind the building and fed them pellets by hand into their trunk! Taba and the other elephant were super hungry and would clamp with their trunks on your hand because they knew you had food in them! They would make their trunks super long to try and reach for you as soon as they could. It was fun feeding them and quite slimy too! Their trunks were wet from the water earlier and got all over your hands when they tried to get the pellets from you!

We booked it back to the inn after that because we were running about an hour late, got on the bus and headed towards a town called Tsitsikamma. It was about a 3 hour drive so I passed out the entire way until we almost got to Storms Village. Storms Village is named after a river that is near it that is popular for it's bungee jumping off the bridge, black water tubing and canoeing. There is also a national park at the end of the valley where it meets the ocean called Tsitsikamma National Park. It's a beautiful park where you can do a variety of things such as visit their famous suspension bridge that cuts across the opening of Storms River to the ocean, canoeing/kayaking up the river, snorkeling/scuba diving in the ocean where dolphins often swim, and much more. Sadly we were only there for less than 2 hours, but we had enough time to hike to the suspension bridge and back, and some of us went swimming. We left the National Park and headed to Storms Village where our backpackers lodge was. This backpackers lodge was not as cozy and cute as the other lodge, but was a higher class of backpackers lodge. It had 2 dorm style rooms with 3 bunk beds each (indoor bathrooms), but also had tents outside that were set on large patios and even had beds in the tents so you would sleep comfortably. I got one of the dorm style bedrooms with several other girls and we even had our own bathroom which was nice to have compared to the last lodge. It was just one of those things that it's nice to have and you don't have to go out into the cold just to go to the bathroom. This lodge had a pool and foosball table and unlimited wifi (the other lodge ran out of data usage shortly after we arrived). It was decently fast and most of us were using it to catch up on Facebook and to skype with family and friends. We had a pretty good dinner that was like chicken stew and rice. Everyone just chilled and used the internet, till we got tired and went to our rooms/tents. The next morning wasn't going to be as early, but breakfast was at 7 and we had to leave to go zip-lining at 7:45! Again it was yet another awesome, fun-packed day with an amazing interaction with the elephants, exploring nature, and talking with the friendly staff at the lodge. It seemed like everywhere in South Africa the people are overly nice and willing to help you and talk story with you!

Miho =]

Attached pictures

Day 2 (Off to Port Elizabeth!)

Day 2 - Starting from Day 2, I'm on a 4-day Safari through SAS called Elephant-Back Safari and Treetop Canopy. Yup! ELEPHANT-BACK SAFARI! lol It's a trip where you go and ride elephants, take them on a walk, and feed them. We also go zip-lining in one of Tsitsikamma's indigenous rainforests. At about 9am we headed off to Cape Town International airport to take an hour flight to Port Elizabeth. The view from the plane was amazing and it ranged from rolling mountains to white sand beaches with light blue waters. When we arrived at Port Elizabeth International Airport, we were met by our tour guide, Marianne, for the duration of the trip. She's a really sweet older lady that acts like a mother to all of us. She is originally from the Netherlands, but called South Africa her home many years ago. We had about an hr drive from Port Elizabeth to our backpackers lodge called Orange Elephant Backpackers. It was a nice cozy eco-lodge that is big on saving water and recycling what they can. When we arrived we were greeted by the owner, John, and his volunteers showed us the rooms we'd be staying in and where the bathrooms and showers were. The lodge had a room that was more of a dorm style with 5 bunk beds in a round hut. The hut only had the 5 bunks beds inside and then the showers and bathrooms were outside next to it. The others who were lucky had rooms in the house and the 2 boys got a nice room with their own indoor shower. Most of us were pretty jealous, but it was a good experience to be in the hut jam-packed with girls. So yes, the bathroom and showers were outside as well as a sink in it's own little stall. The bathroom was a normal toilet stall and on the other side of the showers, a makeshift sink counter (made out of a Singer sewing machine stand, a bowl for a basin and handcrafted counter). The shower stalls were quite something. There were two showers that had a wooden pallet on the floor and a long metal pipe going up by the door that connected to the shower head. I've never seen a shower like this before, but you pore something like kerosene or lighter fluid in this removable metal box at the bottom of the pipe, light it with a match, and line the hole of the pipe up to the hole of the metal box. It creates sort of a vacuum for the pipe. You now have your water heater! You feel the pipe about eye level and when it gets warm about 3-5 minutes later then you know the shower is ready! You turn off your water heater by just cover the flame in the metal box with a sheet of metal to suffocate the fire. It was really interesting and of course I had to try and shower in it! Sadly, one of the workers saw me walking towards the shower stall later on that night and he lit it for me. I think he thought I wasn't going to be able to do it myself. =[ Sad, but it's okay. After they showed us our rooms, we had a nice lunch near the reception building that had benches outside, a stone grill, and tables. We had hamburgers that were made by a local butchery. At about 2:30pm we headed over to Addo Elephant National Park and went on a game drive! We had open vehicles and rode around the national park and saw lots and lots of elephants! We saw some very close to us too! We also saw warthogs (Pumba!), antelope, zebra, and ostrich (from far away)! It was a really good first game drive and glad we got to see so many herds of elephants. We headed back to the backpackers lodge, chilled for a little bit, watched rugby and ate a delicious steak dinner! We all hung around, talked story, played cards, and watched rugby. I headed back to the rooms later that night, showered, and passed out at about eleven. It was a really great first day with the relaxing flight, game drive, cozy lodge with really nice staff, and great food! We had an early morning the next day! We had to leave the next day by 6:15am to go and ride elephants!

Miho =]

Attached pictures

I'M IN SOUTH AFRICA!

It's beautiful with Table Mountain and Lion's head always in view! I
just came back from an FDP that was amazing! The FDP is called !Xhosa
Cultural Cooking. The "!" is for a click. We went to a Township that was
about a 15 minute drive away from Cape Town. A township is a more of a
poorer place compared to the rest of South Africa. When we got there we
met Mama Noks who was going to show us how to make some African food.
She said she just bought two chickens yesterday that were "ready to go."
Ready to go as in...ready to be killed, plucked, and cooked. Yeah.
Didn't see that one coming! She actually put them in the tub of her
bathroom till today. Oh! And they had laid eggs since yesterday, so
there were a couple eggs in the tub. We got right to it and followed her
outside to kill it. She held the wings down with her feet, cut the head
off and waited till it stopped trying to flail around. I surprisingly
could watch her do it and yes I took pictures so I won't post it on
here, but if you want to see it sometime after I get back. Lmk.
Afterwards she pored boiling water on it and it was easier to pluck and
surprisingly familiar to plucking eyebrow hairs. haha we all agreed it
was kind of the same. One of Mama Noks friends took all the intestines
out and cut the feet off. Her friend was taking the intestines, feet,
and heads to cook at her house. While taking the intestines out, she
found an egg in one of the chickens! And also the starting of eggs which
looked like yolks. The chicken was cut up and was made into a stew with
potatoes. We also made pap which is a kind of like grits (so I was told)
but it was when you let grits sit out and it became really clumpy. We
made a curry cabbage mixture as well and a butternut squash with sugar
(yum!) It took a couple hours to make it and we all sat down and ate it
with our hands! Yup! No utensils or nothing! It was all super yummy and
the grits had no taste like rice so it was really good with the curry
cabbage. The chicken I didn't like too much, but the potatoes with it
had all the flavor. The butternut squash reminded us all of pumpkin pie
and sweet like that. It was all really cool and we would talk to Mama
Noks about her family and various things about the neighborhood and
schools. Schools have half days on Friday so some kids were walking
around by then. We took a walk to Mama Noks friend who was there earlier
and we were talking with her. We learned more words in !Xhosa with
various clicks. It was funny watching all of us clicking our tongues and
Mama Noks and her friend would occasionally laugh at us trying to do
different clicks and say different words while concentrating very hard.
We left the house and went back to Mama Noks' house and talked story a
little more and we were on our way! I'm back at the ship now waiting for
Ashley to get back from her FDP so we can go out exploring at the V&A
Waterfront where there is a bunch of shops and whatnot.

Miho =]

BABY FUJII IS HERE!

I know I still haven't written for the other 4 days of Ghana, but I had
to announce that BABY FUJII IS HERE! A whole new generation for the
Fujii family and I know everyone is really excited! Kaylee Ann Ayako
Fujii was just born! 7 lbs. 12.6 oz!! She looks a lot like the dad! So
happy and excited for my cousin, Doug and his girlfriend, Creson! Love
you guys and I can't wait to meet her! I'm jealous that most of the
cousins will be able to meet her before I can!

Miho =]

Bridge Tour - February 20th

The crew of the MV Explorer offers tours of the bridge (controls the
ship) and Jessey and I went on Monday for a 30 minute bridge tour! We
went at about 4:30 and we they told us what controls they would use for
what. Our bridge guide was Peter who is a deck cadet and is from the UK!
He had such a such accent and was pretty cool about all of it. When he
was talking he definitely said "bonkers" and "cup of tea." We had asked
him how's the food on the ship and what do you eat? and he was saying he
pretty much eats ketchup and rice on the ship and when he goes home he
eats all the British food he can get and has his cup of tea. lol I was
so excited he said bonkers and cup of tea. It was really cool =] Also
to, they always have someone standing watch at the window and they have
a "dead man's alarm" that goes off every 12 minutes and whoever is off
has to press it to make sure they're awake. It's about 5 feet away from
them so they actually have to move and press it. If they don't press it
after it starts blinking, it starts to beep in the bridge and if no one
answers that it goes off in every single crew member's cabin. So pretty
much if you fall asleep and let it get to that point, you're screwed! It
was all really cool to learn and glad I did it, maybe I'll even do it
again to hear what I missed during some parts. but anyway, enjoy
pictures of the bridge!
Miho =]