On the first day of the cruise, I had spotted the signboard that gave notice to the fact that a Mongolian grill would be featured, only for a short time. I made note of the start time. That is hands-down my favorite style of cooking. I made sure to be there right when the line opened. Apparently that was not good enough. The line was already long. Clearly I was not the only one on the ship who had a penchant for this style of cooking.

Once I got within line-of-sight of the woks, I realized that I had been served by this chef before. He had a distinctively asian look and seemed to almost be dancing as he prepared the stir-fry. For those who aren't familiar, Mongolian grill is the setup in which you have the opportunity to select your own fresh, raw ingredients; vegetables, meat, noodles and sauce. You then hand your plate of uncooked food to the chef, who prepares it while you watch, then hands it back to you, steaming hot. Before taking his prepared food, the taller, younger black man in front of me briefly, but very respectfully, placed his palms together in front of his chest and bowed before taking his plate.

I was slightly startled at this. But, I felt it was appropriate, so I followed suit. The chef didn't bow in return. He did, however, smile a little.

I returned each of the five cruise days to the scene of the crime, each time offering my obeisance to the master of the wok. It seemed like the least I could do.

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