PART#2 CRUISING IN THE SS MARINER FROM TOKYO TO VANCOUVER

[Hambagahle]

3 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

Agree that Regent needs help when it comes to Mexican food. Having grown up in Los Angeles, we know "real" Mexican food and it does not resemble anything that Regent has.  On the other hand, they do wonderful Indian, Indonesian, Italian, and Asian food.   One day they may hire a chef that is familiar is Mexican cuisine.

 

Did you participate in the country fair?  

Slightly disagree Jackie --  While their Indian and Indonesian food is good - more than nice to eat - it is not the top.  I ave cooked Indian food all my life and have had the pleasure of taking courses from the Exec. Chef at the Mandarin Oriental in Geneva who hails from Mumbai.  Indonesian - my step-family are Javanese.  My step-mother is an excellent cook - can't say much more but what Regent offers is good but not, IMO, great.  Nonetheless I am always ready to eat Regent's Mexican, Indian and Indonesia food.  (In fact ready to eat ANY of the various cuisines they put on the table!)

[ronrick1943]

Today like I said dinner was simple, we had it serviced by our butler Bobby who just happens to be the best butler we’ve had on Regent.  We don’t need a lot, but he handles everything with class but not in your face.  We were lucky to have him assigned to our suite during our cruise.

 

He has handled everything including the problems we with our suite at the beginning of the cruise to everyone’s satisfaction. 

 

The only thing he couldn’t change for us was the 6 sea days in a row, can you believe 6 days at sea---how the crew of Regent handled this is without a doubt a great achievement.  I think this is what makes Regent stand out above the other lines, their people always with a smile and how they can make it better if something goes wrong.

 

Anyway dinner was simple, chicken soup, grilled ham and cheese sandwich, wedge salad and ending with a nice dessert.

 

Now a few movies and bed, as we’re all looking forward to seeing land when we wake up in the morning even if it’s raining.  Just maybe the weather person is like home and never right so it will be sunny.

[Travelcat2]

Once again, your meal, simple as it is, looks quite good! In terms of sea days, due to missed ports, we "almost" had 9 sea days in a row (we love sea days but that is a lot).  Fortunately, the Captain found a couple of stops for us so the 9 sea days didn't occur.  

 

Gerry - after reading your post about food, it seems that the foods we know best can be the ones we are most critical of.  You are much more familiar with Indian and Indonesian food than we are so Regent's preparation works for us (except for things that need a tandoor which Regent obviously doesn't have).  However, any relationship that Regent's Mexican food has to "real" Mexican food is coincidental.  For instance, in Mexico, they do not mix bell peppers in their ground meat - it changes the taste completely.  I do agree that we can always find something tasty to eat ...... in the case of Mexican food, I have a tortilla with guacamole, cheese and veggies and leave out the meat.

[UUNetBill]

The trick to eating 'Mexican' food on Regent is to find the spiciest peppers/salsa you can and scorching your taste buds so you don't realize you're not eating real Mexican food.

 

I somewhat enjoyed the last 'Mexican' buffet they had on Regent - I just didn't really equate it with Mexican food.

[ronrick1943]

33 minutes ago, UUNetBill said:

The trick to eating 'Mexican' food on Regent is to find the spiciest peppers/salsa you can and scorching your taste buds so you don't realize you're not eating real Mexican food.

 

I somewhat enjoyed the last 'Mexican' buffet they had on Regent - I just didn't really equate it with Mexican food.

No Salsa believe it or not---but did bring the Sriracha Sauce from home.😈

[ronrick1943]

So it’s Monday May 6^th, 2019 and we just got to port in Dutch Harbor, maybe sea days weren’t so bad after all.  We have US Customs to clear first.  We will go ashore today just to feel what land is like, but we have snow not that far away.  It’s cold but not that cold at least on the deck.  Fact is our suite was colder inside the first few days before they got it fixed, really.

 

Today after we get back the plan will be lunch at La Veranda and Teatime in Horizon with dinner to follow in Chartreuse.  Fill you in later on how the day goes.

 

They started immigration at 7:00AM and its 8:38AM now and they haven’t finish deck 8 yet so it may take some time to get off the ship. Just got done with immigration at 10:17AM and going to town.

 

We did go to town, one hotel, one Safeway, one Church which was closed but not sure why it’s a port of call.  But it was nice to get off the ship anyway.

 

We called Uber and this showed up.

[MalbecWine]

Funny, I am a hot sauce freak and we also keep and take Siracha with us when we travel.  Try if you dare Ghost Pepper hot sauce just a tiny bit bit will blow you away.  I doubt any cruise line carries ghost peppers.  I collect hot sauces and many can be found on Amazon.

[ronrick1943]

We had a visitor this afternoon on our deck, have to say WOW🙂 and he stayed for awhile.

[Travelcat2]

He/she is beautiful!

 

In terms of hot sauce, my favorite is Sambal (an Indonesian hot sauce).  Regent carries it and I suggest that you ask and give it a try.  

Edited May 6, 2019 by Travelcat2

[ronrick1943]

3 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

He/she is beautiful!

 

In terms of hot sauce, my favorite is Sambal (an Indonesian hot sauce).  Regent carries it and I suggest that you ask and give it a try.  

Really we didn't expect this bird to land like that, we used the phone for the pictures noting fancy.

[ronrick1943]

We’ll it turned out to be a really nice day here in Dutch Harbor, so the weather person was wrong.  It was cold and overcast in the morning but turned nice a little later.

 

The eagle was a surprise to have it land a few feet from us, we could have touch it—but we knew better than that.  Besides our Butler said “NO” stowaways period, it wasn’t like we were going to keep it.

 

Lunch was on the ship in La Veranda, nothing special but good and the service the same “very good”.

 

Today we did go to Tea Time and it was pretty good.  Better than “O’s” in my opinion, not a dessert buffet but done in the right format.  Nicely done without being over powered by too much, and again service was good as usual.  The scone and clotted cream nicely served, a lemon tart was really tasty.

 

And looking at the napkins at Tea Time, just may another outlet for Ron’s new business called Ron’s Napkin Folding.  He started up on his book again, but wouldn’t you know it the eagle interrupted his writing so he says.  And once again he’s doing nothing which he calls research time.  However I don’t understand how he does research with his eyes closed, but he assures me he does.

 

It’s now time to leave for dinner, Chartreuse tonight and looking forward to a nice dinner.

[Hambagahle]

13 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

 

Gerry - after reading your post about food, it seems that the foods we know best can be the ones we are most critical of.  You are much more familiar with Indian and Indonesian food than we are so Regent's preparation works for us (except for things that need a tandoor which Regent obviously doesn't have).  However, any relationship that Regent's Mexican food has to "real" Mexican food is coincidental.  For instance, in Mexico, they do not mix bell peppers in their ground meat - it changes the taste completely.  I do agree that we can always find something tasty to eat ...... in the case of Mexican food, I have a tortilla with guacamole, cheese and veggies and leave out the meat.

Jackie - you can create a fake tandoor.   The key to tandoori cooking is that only hot air touches the meat - the skewers transmit and intensify the heat of the oven but the meal is not charred as if it were on a grill.  To do this - get a large roasting pan and metal skewers that rest on each side of the pan.  Put marinated chicken (two marinades - that is important) or lamb on the skewers.  Heat the oven to 250°C - whatever that is in F - and put the whole thing in.  The meat thinks it is in a tandoor and the result is just as good.  What you cannot do is make roti this way - that has to stick on the sides of the tandoor!!

 

I didn't realise that Regent puts bell peppers into its chili - I certainly don't!  Only peppers I use when cooking Mex. food are chilis - jalapenos etc.  Bell peppers wont do it!

[Hambagahle]

Ronrick - what a great shot of the eagle.  That would make an excellent screen saver I think!

[MalbecWine]

13 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

He/she is beautiful!

 

In terms of hot sauce, my favorite is Sambal (an Indonesian hot sauce).  Regent carries it and I suggest that you ask and give it a try.  

Sambal is a great sauce with flavor and spice.  I now buy it at our grocery store and it does not hide the flavor of your food.

[Hambagahle]

4 hours ago, MalbecWine said:

Sambal is a great sauce with flavor and spice.  I now buy it at our grocery store and it does not hide the flavor of your food.

There is no one "sambal".  There are many...  my step mother makes her own.  I buy mine from the local Chinese grocery - yes even in Switzerland we have those...    Sambal can be sweet/hot/sweet and hot/ or just HOT.  I prefer the sweet (a bit) and HOT (a lot) and a bit of sour too...

[ronrick1943]

11 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

Ronrick - what a great shot of the eagle.  That would make an excellent screen saver I think!

Thanks, couldn't believe how long it stayed and just about a foot away.

[ronrick1943]

Hope you're enjoying these post.  If you have a question please ask and we'll try to get an answer for you.  Today we're on are way to Kodiak and the sea swells are pretty high and getting higher-it's another sea day.

[Hambagahle]

Sounds like all you have on this cruise is bad weather, lots of sea days and --- high seas.  I never realised before that the Bering Sea is so enormous.  And I hope you get to Kodiak soon and then start seeing the best of Alaska!

[Travelcat2]

2 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

There is no one "sambal".  There are many...  my step mother makes her own.  I buy mine from the local Chinese grocery - yes even in Switzerland we have those...    Sambal can be sweet/hot/sweet and hot/ or just HOT.  I prefer the sweet (a bit) and HOT (a lot) and a bit of sour too...

 

Interesting that there are different types.  Perhaps they are only at Chinese grocery stores?  In our regular markets, the only Sambal you can buy is "Sambal Oelek" which tastes to me like what they have on Regent.

 

 

[MalbecWine]

That is what we buy.  Amazon has an array of Sambal and other spicy sauces with habaneros and ghost peppers.  Very hot and use sparingly.

[Gilly]

@MalbecWine our neighbour runs https://www.hot-headz.com and tells us that hot sauce has never been so popular.  Apparently people are always looking for something different, something special and "that little extra".  

[ronrick1943]

3 hours ago, Hambagahle said:

Sounds like all you have on this cruise is bad weather, lots of sea days and --- high seas.  I never realised before that the Bering Sea is so enormous.  And I hope you get to Kodiak soon and then start seeing the best of Alaska!

No we are on the Pacific, ending for our second stop in Alaska.  But it is a bit bouncing around today.

[ronrick1943]

Dinner last night was at Chartreuse, we both started with the foie gras which was very rich and full of favor.  Very nice presentation as you’ll see.  Ron had the filet of beef and I had the lamb, both cooked to perfection.  Dessert was an apple tart and a napoleon which ended the meal.  At the table next to us was 1Teacher53, they joined us for coffee as we enjoyed the rest of the evening.

 

That pretty much did it for us, we by passed the theater and went up to our suite for the night.

 

Lunch today will be at La Veranda of course and dinner will be at Compass Rose.  And believe it or not we’re going to the theater as the Production Cast will be doing Broadway in Concert.

 

 

[ronrick1943]

Hambagalhle,  As we left Dutch Harbor - forgot to post.  It really was a pretty shot.

[Hambagahle]

9 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Interesting that there are different types.  Perhaps they are only at Chinese grocery stores?  In our regular markets, the only Sambal you can buy is "Sambal Oelek" which tastes to me like what they have on Regent.

 

 

Sambal Oelek is the most common.  Effectively everyone makes their own Sambal and so you get a lot of variations.  In Indonesia you can buy other sorts.   Base is of course chilis.  Then various spices etc are added.  There are dishes called sambal too - Sambal Ikan bilis for example - little fish in chili sauce.   Good stuff!!