Finally got around to completing my record of this trip. Firstly I will show you this:
Yes, that's me... and a colossal Moray eel. I will come back to that later in the post, but you're hooked in now right? :p
April 23rd
Getting information around here has
been difficult sometimes. The language barrier has caused me to miss a few
notifications, and then there are just some times when they just forget to tell
me things! For instance, I knew that I had to submit a report to the Seabed Authority once the cruise was over, but nobody told me (until yesterday) that I
had to submit one here (to the chief scientist) as well!!! Luckily I had made a start on the other
report so I wasn't caught with my pants completely down. Also, I just found out in casual conversation
a couple days ago that we actually get moved to a hotel when we get back to
harbour until we leave. Yeah!
Grr... found out that I still have
duty somewhat even though we've completed the prescribed work. I don't have to be physically in the dungeon all morning
anymore, but I'll still have to come down here and record. Also, we still have
to stay on the ship till the 30th, as opposed to moving to the hotel on 29th
when we dock. *sigh*. Not to mention, we're actually getting back a day early, but we
can't dock till the 29th. So we'll be able to see dry land, but won't be able
to get off!
April 25th
In the afternoon we took a lot of group photos up on deck.
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| Scientific Staff and Officer Corps aboard the 4th leg aboard RV Da Yang yi Hao's 2015 cruise |
Later in the afternoon we had fun making hundreds of Chinese dumplings which would later serve as dinner.
The problem
was, I'd noticed that cabbage was one of the things that caused my tummy some
trouble, so I had been avoiding even smelling it. The main filling in the dumplings
was chopped cabbage with garlic, and then shrimp as the meat. As such I decided
to only eat a few so that it wouldn't cause me any problems. Dumplings were the only item on the menu for dinner that night. My friend Cou, one of the senior engineers, took pity on me, and that was how
I ended up at a private party! I had no idea it was even going on. In another
dining room the captain, chief scientist, and most of the other senior people
on the ship were present. They had a whole feast going on with about fifteen
dishes or so. Everyone was interested in having me try various Chinese wines,
and then there was all the toasting- even I gave one. I think I may have had a
wee bit too much to drink. Let's just say I had a very deep sleep that night.
