Today’s our full day at sea until we arrive in Kyushu at 9pm. I’m going to take the day off from blogging and just have Chat GPT do it for me..
Greetings from the deck of a ship bound for Shinmoji in Kyushu! Today has been a mix of tranquil ocean views, personal relaxation, and a bit of physical exertion. Here’s a look at my day as we sail from the bustling harbor of Yokosuka to the serene beauty of the southern coast of Japan.
Never mind, I feel gross putting myself out of my hobby by having AI do it. I think one of the reasons I still love doing this blog so much is because it reminds me of the pre social media days. I was talking with one of the newer grad hires at work about the “old” internet days of xanga, angelfire, and geocities. You had to learn HTML so you could blast people with pop punk music when they visited your MySpace page and had sparkles come out of their mouse pointer. Where there was no algorithm to push content at you and you had to seek things out yourself. People created content for the sake of creating it rather than hoping it’ll land them a sponsorship deal or make them famous. I like using this as a creative outlet for writing, sharing ideas, and motivating me to be a better photographer too.
I finally got my first full night of sleep last night. I did wake up around 2 and 6am but the slight rocking of the boat just put me back to sleep which is nice. I love being able to do overnight stays on modes of transportation like lay flat busses and trains, it makes traveling more of an experience to me rather than just a means to get to a destination. Joanna woke up not feeling great as we expected even though she took a dose of Dramamine before we departed last night. She rated it a 8.5/10 on the nausea scale. She basically spent the entire day in bed besides getting up for meals at the restaurant so I had the opportunity to make the day my own. Did a few loads of laundry and got a 30 min cardio session in. The view was fantastic and the boat blew its horn a few times. I was wondering what the purpose was and then saw its sister ship crossing paths on her way back to Tokyo which was cool to see. After starting my workout, I was confused as to why there was a banana on the screen of the stationary bike and where the distance marker was. I realized that this bike just tells you food that you’ve burned off the longer you cycled on it. What a great motivator!
While Joanna slept, I explored the ferry. There was this full scale model of the boat that I saw before we boarded. This is where our room is but on the port (left) side. I checked out the other room options as well. There was a capsule style bunk, a tiny single room with just a twin bed and desk (not pictured), and the other room type I was debating on which only has a window that cannot open. I think I made the right choice by going with the balcony room.
Joanna managed to get up to have breakfast with me and do a bit of exploring of the boat too. There was a big atrium area in the center where people hung out in poking on their phones. There was a movie theater that played the latest Super Mario movie in Japanese (no English subtitles unfortunately). The front of the ship had a comfortable lounge area where you can just look out the window. All of these were nice amenities but the crown jewel of the ship for me was that there was an indoor and outdoor public bath. After my workout I took a bath and have to say that I didn’t know that I needed to be in a hot bath outside overlooking the ocean until this moment. For those that are unfamiliar, Japan has a very strong bathing culture. You are required to bathe yourself first and then get into the shared bath with strangers who are also fully naked. No swimsuits are allowed as they could risk contaminating the water. The first time you do this, it’s a bit nerve wracking that you’re naked with strangers but I think most people get over it as travelers since you’ll never see those people again. No one was in the bath at the time so I was able to grab a few photos otherwise phones are strictly prohibited for obvious reasons.
I think my default expectation being from the US is that if you’re a captured audience that has no option to eat anywhere else, you’d assume that the only food options on the boat would be sub-par and expensive right? I’m happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the food options. Everything was very reasonably priced and the portions were generous. Across the 3 meals we paid about $11-$15 per person per meal and they were all delicious. Especially this $2 almond tofu dessert Joanna got for breakfast and then lunch and then again at dinner.
The boat docked at 8:45 pm and we disembarked exactly at 9pm as scheduled. They lead us to a free shuttle bus which took us to Kitakyushu city which is 25 min east of Fukuoka city by bullet train. I booked us a hotel within 3 min walking distance of the train station to make tomorrow’s journey a bit easier for us. The room was about $80 and big enough to fit a queen sized bed and a desk and nothing much else which was totally fine with us as we only needed it for the night. We were hungry at this point of the night so we went to a 24/7 Ichiran Ramen and wandered the town for a bit before bed. There’s apparently a nice castle not too far away from our hotel.
I’m really looking forward to the next week as it’s the start of our “road less traveled” portion of our trip. I always have trouble closing out my blog posts so I’ll let ChatGPT have this one:
As I sit here and reflect on the day, there’s something so captivating about traveling by sea, the slow movement of time, and the constant rhythm of the waves. Kyushu awaits, with its lush landscapes and rich history. But for now, I’m content to embrace the present moment – a quiet day at sea with time to rest, explore, and enjoy the simple pleasures that come with life aboard a ship.
And who knows? Maybe tomorrow will bring new adventures, and Joanna will be more alert and ready to take on the sights of Kyushu. But for today, we’ll both just let the ocean carry us to our next destination.
Ugh barf…
Superb view, bath or no bath.
I suspect Chatgpt is going to dumb down writing because people will stop using proper words for fear of coming across as inauthentic.
“Such a clever use of ChatGPT! I love how you let the AI do the heavy lifting while still keeping your unique voice throughout. Also, the banana-burning bike ride? Genius – I’m definitely adding that to my to-do list. Keep these posts coming, they’re a perfect mix of humor and creativity!”
I’m like 99% certain you used chat gpt to write this…