We had an uncharacteristically early (for me, anyway) start to our day today, with a Directory Team Breakfast at (gasp!) 7:30 a.m. in the World Café.

Ted attended the morning’s photography workshop again. Today’s theme was using your camera’s aperture settings to achieve depth of field. While he was learning, I was chatting with fellow passengers (no surprise to anyone who knows me) and joining a large group of book lovers in the Wintergarden to share what we’ve all been reading and enjoying. Naturally, I left with additions to the list of books I’d like to read, and with a few already on hold in my Libby app.

Our afternoon was low-key, with me mostly reading and chatting and Ted getting in his laps of deck 2, but at 4:30, there was a cooking demonstration in the Star Theater, featuring Guest Chef Pepi Anevski, that I was determined not to miss.

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One of the things we enjoyed so much on our first world cruise was these opportunities to expand our culinary skills – and our palates – through the expertise of chefs from around the world who have partnered with Viking. As we learned from the page (above) that was inserted in our Viking Daily, Chef Anevski is responsible for the excellent sushi that I enjoy so much on board.

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Chef is on board with us for 15 days. For the first five he is giving basic sushi classes; for the second five he will be working with Chef Vivek in The Chef’s Table to present a special 5-course menu (which we’ve already booked); for the third section of 5 days he’ll be doing intermediate/advanced sushi making classes.

The word “Sushi” means vinegared rice. We learned that how the rice is cooked and marinated is what gives sushi its main flavour. We also learned that the nori (seaweed) wrapper needs to be dry when making sushi, since wet nori will wrinkle when being rolled. He demonstrated hosomaki (“small roll”), kappamaki (cucumber roll, although kapa actually means a skinny green sea monster), a variety of futomaki (“thick roll”), and uramaki (the type of sushi roll where the rice is on the outside and the nori is on the inside). Uramaki, also known as a California roll, is not Japanese nor Californian, but was a Canadian invention, created by a Vancouver chef to cater to Californians who didn’t like the aesthetic of the black nori on the exterior of the roll.

Chef’s opinion is that true sushi is not maki (rolls) but nigiri, the perfectly hand-made one-bite individual pieces. I admit that nigiri is my favourite kind of sushi: whether it is tuna, salmon, shrimp, hamachi (yellowtail), octopus, or smoked eel perfectly cut onto wasabi-coated rice. He joked about the most common kind of wasabi used in North America, which is actually green horse radish, and “hits you in the face and keeps hitting”, whereas real wasabi “hits you in the face but then caresses you with sweetness”. I’ve always liked the sinus-clearing pungency of wasabi, but then I’m a horse radish fan too. Related to that, he also reminded us to only dip the fish side of the nigiri in soy sauce, never the rice. AND, the pickled ginger is not a garnish, but a palate cleanser!

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Throughout the presentation, he repeatedly wet his hands in vinegar water, which is antibacterial.

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At 5:30, we attended a reception in the Wintergarden for the 49 Canadians on board for this world cruise. In our experience, that’s an unusually high proportion of guests, even though it is only 5%. Much to everyone’s delight, Viking provided poutine and Nanaimo bars for the reception. Amazing, eh?

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We had so much fun connecting with fellow passengers that, before we knew it, it was almost 7:00 p.m., which meant a quick dinner in the World Café before tonight’s show, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Mark Donoghue (from Grimsby, Ontario!!).

Sometimes a performer can make a theatre show feel like an intimate cabaret, and Mark certainly did that – especially with his outstanding cover of Nat King Cole’s “Nature Boy”, and a gorgeous emotional harmonica rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”. He also wowed us with The Devil Went Down to Georgia on fiddle, and Bohemian Rhapsody on electric guitar.

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All in all, another great day.

Tomorrow we cross the equator. We’re already shellbacks, having crossed it three times before, but we’ll definitely be at the ceremony to see the pollywogs on board initiated!