Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Four

[TLCOhio]

Doha Airport is huge! Walked about a mile from arrival gate to New departure gate. Anyway we're now only 10 hrs from Cape Town.

 

Yes, that airport in Doha, Qatar, is huge, huge!! But, very nice, especially if you are spending time in the premium lounge areas. As you might know, the Cape Town airport, by contrast, is not that large. Good luck for continued safe, on-schedule travels.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Lisbon, NWSpain, Bordeaux/Brittany: Just finished June 2017 sailing from Portugal to France along the scenic Atlantic Coast, plus great pre- and post-cruise experiences. Many interesting pictures and details on history, food, culture, etc., from my live/blog at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2511358

[Lois R]

Just thought I would say hello.........I live in an area of the country that does not get cold like the Northeast/Midwest.......

we get some cold but these few days are ridiculous......high is 35 today, NO SUN....and about 1 hour north is south Georgia

and it snowed there today...........:eek:

[mysty]

Hope the rest of the journey goes smoothly TTS!

 

J.....we are trying to save our pennies right now. It's on offer for $149.99 CAD. Not outrageous! Just doesn't fit with our budget right now. :) Not forever....just for the time being.

 

Lois...snow in Northern Florida too! A "weather bomb" is moving up the east coast and eastern US and Canada are in the flight path. Could be very nasty!

[Lois R]

Hi Mysty...............I know the panhandle got snow. Tallahassee is 3 hours west of here......they

got between 2-4 inches:eek:

[mysty]

Hope you don't have to deal with snow Lois! Places not accustomed to snow have no way to deal with it!

[Bill B]

Also, most people who have not tried a Zoji think they don't need one, but once you have one you understand what you have missed. Expesnive but well worth every penny.

 

I'm one... and must ask "why"?

 

Rice is the easiest thing in the world to cook -

Two measures of water to one of rice. In a covered pot, lightly salt the water and bring it to a boil. Add the rice, turn down the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, turn off the heat and let sit for 10 minutes (do not stir or lift the lid)... done. Perfect every time!

[jillyf]

The forecast here for Saturday is 40C to 42C (104 -107). Getting ready to find the coolest spot for the day. Probably reading, with air con full bore and the overhead fan circulating.

We live by the beach but will be too hot to venture out until evening when we should have a cool breeze.

 

On the rice front, we had a cheap Chinese one, then my husband bought a thermomix. It does rice beautifully. Trouble is we don’t use it for much else now the novelty has worn off. Makes for very expensive rice!

We have just sold our house and moving into a retirement "resort" so I think we will take the opportunity to sell it as we declutter before the move.

[TLCOhio]

Lois...snow in Northern Florida too! A "weather bomb" is moving up the east coast and eastern US and Canada are in the flight path. Could be very nasty!

 

In defense of that Canada cold that is covering a large part of the USA, here is the "rest of the story!!"

 

Yes, I know it is not all the fault of Canada, but it is fun to give our northern neighbor the "credit". Right? With such colder weather, wehave an excellent reason and need to start a warm, charming fire in the fireplace. As you can see below, we have the real kind of fireplace. No gas or other cheating!! It's the real thing. Looks good, is warm, etc.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Panama Canal? Completed Feb. 28-Mar. 15, 2017, Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco adventure through the Panama Canal with our first stops in Colombia, Central America and Mexico, plus added time in the great Golden Gate City. Lots of fun, interesting pictures!! Those visuals start on the second page, post #26. See more at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2465580

 

Here's how our living room fireplace looked a few minutes ago. Nice fire?:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see these pictures larger!)

[UKCruiseJeff]

Bill, I felt exactly as you do. The nature of Zoji owners is that they really know and love their rice and as evidenced by the cash they eventually spend on a Zoji are prepared to spend to achieve what they subsequently discover is perfection.

 

I've conversed with many Zoji owners on line over the years and pretty much all of them considered themselves cooks of perfect rice before they were Zoji owners but were swayed into buying one by other enthusiastic owners. They then almost all seem to have realised that their previous rice wasn't near as good as from their new Zoji and then proselytise others into buying one. I have only ever heard of one person who didn't fit that. Many Chinese owners had previous cheapo rice cookers as the Chinese seem to like rice machines.

 

Zojis have fuzzy logic -so it sense and adjusts for each different prep - in them and you measure the rice and water hit the button for the type of rice and your preferred style and it does it all, and most importantly keeps it in perfect condition for hours and hours. Or if you do as I do when doing basmati and put some butter and pillau spices in the bottom and you get that wonderful charring of some grains that many prize and adore.

 

I think almost every owner I have met online felt they didn't really need one but wanted to find out what all the fuss was about and then understood perfectly once they had one. There is also a sub-culture within owners that insist that the Zojis made in the Japan factory is better than the one's from China, but that is a whole different debate.

 

Hope that explains.

[mysty]

Jilly...right now I would gladly opt for 40+ C. My body does not deal well with cold. Loved the heat in Australia we hit in 2016. In small doses of course!

 

Also the challenge of downsizing is also at the fore for us. Unfortunately we are having issues getting rid of things that used to be treasured. China, crystal, silver.....our kids are not interested. Things have changed in terms of what is valued. Best of luck with the de-clutter!

[UKCruiseJeff]

Jilly, the temptation of the Thermomix is something I understand perfectly and somehow I have sensibly managed to resist the tempttion.

 

I'd say that a third of the gadgets I buy end up in the garage, but two thirds are used more than we expect.

 

Some of the gadgets would be considered as non essentials by others but are used more than we expected. I think the pizza oven that goes up to 950f for true 90 second Neapolitan pizza. I don't use the beehive as often as I should,mand shipped all the way from Portugal ... but our indoors bbq is used two or three times a week. The hot smoker doesn't get used as much as I expected.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Bill B]

The forecast here for Saturday is 40C to 42C (104 -107).

 

Ewwww... anything above 35 is too hot.

 

 

We have just sold our house and moving into a retirement "resort" so I think we will take the opportunity to sell it as we declutter before the move.

 

I feel for you... I hate moving. After six years in an apartment in China (where it's currently -4 C and snowing), I'm retiring and flying to Vietnam on the 31st. I have a resort booked for the first four weeks on Phu Quoc to lounge by the pool and palm-fringed beach (where it's currently 27 C). :D I'll look for a condo/apartment/bungalow to rent (must have a 'great': kitchen and bathroom - I've been deprived of those in China). If I can't find anything suitable on the island, I'm moving on to Vung Tau. The trouble is, I have to pack my whole life into: one checked (23 kg) bag, one checked garment bag (that I'll have to pay extra for), one (5 kg) carry-on... and my laptop computer bag. :(

 

P.S. Jeff, thanks for the Zoji explanation.

[SonjaWinson]

Bill, I felt exactly as you do. The nature of Zoji owners is that they really know and love their rice and as evidenced by the cash they eventually spend on a Zoji are prepared to spend to achieve what they subsequently discover is perfection.

 

I've conversed with many Zoji owners on line over the years and pretty much all of them considered themselves cooks of perfect rice before they were Zoji owners but were swayed into buying one by other enthusiastic owners. They then almost all seem to have realised that their previous rice wasn't near as good as from their new Zoji and then proselytise others into buying one. I have only ever heard of one person who didn't fit that. Many Chinese owners had previous cheapo rice cookers as the Chinese seem to like rice machines.

 

Zojis have fuzzy logic -so it sense and adjusts for each different prep - in them and you measure the rice and water hit the button for the type of rice and your preferred style and it does it all, and most importantly keeps it in perfect condition for hours and hours. Or if you do as I do when doing basmati and put some butter and pillau spices in the bottom and you get that wonderful charring of some grains that many prize and adore.

 

I think almost every owner I have met online felt they didn't really need one but wanted to find out what all the fuss was about and then understood perfectly once they had one. There is also a sub-culture within owners that insist that the Zojis made in the Japan factory is better than the one's from China, but that is a whole different debate.

 

Hope that explains.

 

I bought a Zoji solely because of the fuzzy logic claim....and I discovered over the years that many of my friends got hooked on Zoji, too, for the same reason. It seemed like a kind of in-joke for AI types. It may be marketing hype, but we are all extremely pleased with the output.

 

I hope the bar opens early tomorrow. It was -13 degrees F yesterday morning and just a bit warmer this morning when I drove to work. By mid-day tomorrow we may have more than a foot of snow to deal with. Curry sounds like the perfect antidote, but it's too late to get to the store to buy ingredients. Will you be serving any leftovers at the Cooler bar tomorrow?

 

K.

[UKCruiseJeff]

K,

 

Lovely to meet another Zoji owner. We Zojis seem to be a clique bound together by a common love not understood by others!

 

Yes the bar seems open 24 hours although tommorow's lunch is kippers!

[Lois R]

Good morning, I received an email from the Tour Company and they have decided to cancel their March Tours:(:mad:

so no Ireland for me............I wonder if this means I am just meant to cruise..........will be looking for a new birthday trip.

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers! Hope our friends from across the pond have survived Eleanor! She seemed rather wicked!

 

In another example of fun poking:

 

 

 

Notice the polite driver is indicating his intention to turn left. :)

 

Have a great day all!

[jpalbny]

Lois! You are having a terrible time with this trip. Sorry that after all the agony of a decision, it didn't work out. Back to the drawing board...

 

mysty - Canadian Uber. Thanks for the chuckle. We used some Uber rides in Atlanta.

 

Have been keeping up but too busy to post much. The New Year's Gala was really fun. Might post a few shots of Atlanta this weekend if we're not too busy getting ready for the next trip, in less than a week... And some day I have to get back to my last trip blog. Still 2 days of cruising left to finish up.

[MissSophia]

G'Day All....

 

Poor M...hope you're well wrapped up! We did survive the storm but have more high winds and heavy rain forecast for this afternoon afterwhich temps are due to plummet.

 

Totally out of my depth with all the fancy cooking gadgets....I'm still using kitchen stuff I've had for over thirty years!! Think being on my own makes me a lazy cook these days.

 

Lois, so sorry to hear that the Irish plans have been scuppered....always a disappointment but I'm sure you'll find something else and my take on these events is that you weren't meant to go!

 

Great to see more Coolers at the bar ....☺️

 

Have decided on the Hotel Elysee for my two night NY stay in November....it has consistently good reviews on TA and rates are reasonable.

 

Happy Day 😊

[jpalbny]

S, that will be a nice location to see many of the iconic NYC sights. We used to stay in that part of the city years ago, but we've gradually moved downtown.

 

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[MissSophia]

Thanks JP.....I'll be doing a bit of shopping rather than sights as I've done all the main ones before....the only place l want to see on this trip will be St Patrick's and as it's a Sunday a nice easy stroll through CP following the retail therapy and maybe a good brunch somewhere...:)

[silkismom]

Thank you for the "curry links", will do some ordering. Indian food is hard to come by, although there is a rest. in CO Springs. It sounds like most of the US is having blizzards while we sit in the 40sF with sun and no snow, people usually think of the CO mountains as being snow bound all winter, far from it. If we don't get a huge amount in the next few months we'll be having fires again this spring/summer. I just don't want to worry about flying out early Feb for a cruise out of San Diego.

[Tothesunset]

Now in our Cape Town Hotel. Went up Table Mountain and back via the cable car. Amazing views. Huge queues!

 

No sleep on either flight so early to bed. Need to be rested to take full advantage of the Spirit tomorrow.

 

Night all.

[Tothesunset]

 

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[jpalbny]

Welcome to CPT, TTS. Nice view from the mountain as always. Thanks for sharing and enjoy your well-deserved rest.

 

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[mysty]

Lovely TTS! Thanks for posting! Enjoy your adventure!