[Old_Salt]

Shobai is a Japanese term that refers to the act of enjoying plum blossoms in full bloom. The plum blossom season in Japan usually runs from February to March.
Sho=Love and Enjoy.
Bai = Plum Blossom

The assignment for the month involved sailing with the vessel from Yokohama until Shanghai. She was already running a little behind schedule thanks to the notorious bad weather in north pacific this time of the year. In fact my worst memory of sailing career when vessel was rolling violently is from the same area.

Great circle route is usually the shortest, however to provide additional protection, weather routing services will sometimes advise vessels to take the shelter of Aleutian Islands(Part of Alaska), aka go more north into Bering sea.





I booked a direct flight on Air India to Tokyo to arrive a day before vessels arrival. Was pleasantly surprised when i got upgraded to business for the overnight flight, which was a Dreamliner.
Air India welcomed with a small Tumi Pouch, nightwear and noise cancelling headphones (specially mentioned by the stewardess)




The excitement of the upgrade was short lived as the usb port on the seat wasn’t functioning along with the inflight entertainment. For the whole 7 hour flight, the screen displayed “passenger announcement”.
Those noise cancelling headphones never saw the light of the day.
It was quite shameful to see Japanese travellers trying to see the route map and all the crew could do was profusely apologise.
I really wonder what kind of feedback is given by the AI flight crew to fix issues. There are few airlines like Emirates who send a survey on your screen soon upon touchdown. But yes, for that a prerequisite is a working screen.

The drive from Narita to Yokohama is around 1.5hrs.
Yokohama is the second largest city in Japan and popular apart from many things for Yokohama tires/rims and fenders for the maritime industry.

My hotel was right across Yamashita Park. Apart from passenger terminal, The Hikawa Maru, a Japanese Ocean Liner built in 1929 and used by Charlie Chaplin, is anchored and now a museum ship.
Also present is the The Guardian of Water, a sculpture gifted by Yokohama's sister city San Diego in 1960. It is a replica of the Guardian of Water sculpture located in front of the San Diego County Administration Center.




In the afternoon I headed to the Sankeien Garden after reading about the plum blossom viewing.







Plum blossoms are also known as ume in Japanese. They bloom in late January to mid-March. Plum blossoms are also China’s national flower.
Symbolism in Chinese culture:
* The plum blossom's delicate petals and rugged branches symbolize elegance and tenacity.*

* The flower's triple grouping of stamens represents Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People.*

* The five petals symbolize the five branches of the ROC government.*

* In Chinese poetry, the plum blossom is often used as a metaphor for perseverance and hope.


Apart from plum blossom, the Cherry blossom viewing is more popular in Japan. Sakura is Japan's national flower. They usually start blooming in mid-March and reach full bloom in early April.
Symbolism in Japanese culture:
* Good fortune: Plum blossoms are considered auspicious and are often used in New Year's greeting cards.*

* Renewal: Plum blossoms represent the transition from winter to spring.*

* Perseverance: Plum blossoms are resilient and can endure hardship before blooming.*

* Inner strength: Plum blossoms are believed to endure hardship before blooming into something beautiful.*

* Elegance: Plum blossoms are celebrated in Japanese poetry and are a symbol of elegance and dignity

Basically, Plum and cherry blossoms differ in their petal shape, bud structure, bark, and leaf color.


The garden had many trees with flowers in full bloom. The place is also frequented by couples for their pre wedding photo shoots.


The most important cultural property in the garden apart from many tea houses is the year 1457 built wooden pagoda, which is the oldest in Kanto region.


Small restaurant which sells udon noodles and dango(rice balls) right below the pagoda.



Evening I visited the Yokohama Chinatown , which is the largest in Japan.





By late night, I received an email that vessel will no longer be calling Japan and omitting Yokohama as a schedule recovery measure due to weather delays.

It seems by some stroke of luck , I was called to Japan , just to view the plum blossoms. Feeling thankful and appreciative for this god-send experience.


Anyway, I now head to Singapore to join my next vessel.
Hope she will maintain her port call.