Month: February 2024

Tokyo, Japan

Day 2 in Tokyo. We decided that today we wanted to experience more of the present day culture by doing a walking tour of downtown. There is so much yet to see in Tokyo but we just aren’t going to have the time to do it all.

The population of Tokyo is about 37 million. I know from talking with Janet and Brian that this is larger than the population of Canada. The population of Japan is over 120 million. About one third of the United States.

We started today’s adventure by taking a shuttle bus from the port to a bus parking area about 1.5 miles from the ship. This at least took us out of the busy port area that can be too busy to walk through. We use an app called GpsMyCity and decided we wanted to try the Ginza Shopping Tour. Often compared with New York’s Fifth Avenue, Ginza is the most luxurious shopping district in Tokyo.

The shopping district was about a five mile walk. Since my acupuncture visits with Dr. Kim, I am now able to walk again. It feels great. We started out toward our goal and reached a river we needed to cross. The map I used lead us to a ferry but we were unsure where the ferry would take us and the schedule wasn’t clear.

We usually aren’t afraid of exploring but time was an issue and the city is big. I’ll let you look up why the Statue of Liberty is here. Lot’s of cherry blossoms in the area. Reminds me of Washington DC where Japan gifted these to the US.

We knew we needed to get onto the bridge but it didn’t look pedestrian friendly so we grabbed a cab. First stop was the toy store! Hakuhinkan Toy Park. Many businesses in Tokyo open at 11 am out timing was perfect. 5 levels of toys with about 200,000 items. According to Guinness Book of Records, the largest toy store in Japan. It reminded us of what FAO Schwartz was like in Chicago. We had some shopping in mind for the grandkids but it was still fun to go in to just experience it.

Granted, this is the high end shopping district but when comparing it to Chicago’s Miracle Mile there is no comparison. No street people with paper cups and a hand out. No guys beating on home depot buckets. No people sleeping on the streets. No tents, strips of cardboard, shopping carts. No stray needles, or people trying to survive living on the sidewalk. Nobody in a trench coat lined with wristwatches, or gold necklaces offered to sell me anything. Tokyo is New York, or Chicago like they were many decades ago. People were dressed nicely and were very polite. I really miss this back home.

Non Japanese could be spotted a block away. Usually they were the size of two people or a head taller than everyone around.

The Ginza Six Shopping Center was next. Nothing we needed. Just fun to look around. It was after noon and we decided to look for a place to have lunch. Terri was looking on her phone for a place with a nice Japanese name. I told her a place called Bill’s was right down the street. When in Tokyo, eat at Bill’s. It was actually a very nice Japanese restaurant that was on the 12th floor of a building so we had a nice view of the city.

We split a buckwheet and kinoa salad. Absolutely delicious. I had a local draft beer and Terri some red wine. The ordering process was all online but we struggled with that so the waitress took the order by hand on a scrap piece of paper.

Terri snapped some photos that reminded us of shops we have seen in Paris or Rome. Next stop was Itoya. This is Japan’s renowned stationery specialty store established in 1904. It has 12 themed floors. The first floor has greeting cards and post cards. The second floor is the “Letter” floor where one can find everything need for writing a letter. Does anyone even write anymore? Yes. The store was packed with people. When I saw men looking through stationery I knew that this was a culture we have lost.

A floor with pens, a floor with paints, a floor with colored pencils, frames, etc, etc. It was amazing. I don’t even write anymore. I found the cartridge ink pen that I used in college to write music by hand. No more of that.

I bought some origami paper to impress the grandkids with some fancy folding. The woman at the checkout made me think of when I was a kid. A professional at the sales counter. Dressed appropriately and treated customers with respect. I was handed my receipt on a tray. Where has our country gone?

The Japanese government was run by Americans for 7 years after the war while they wrote a constitution for the people. Some refer to it as the MacArthur Constitution. Japan is a solid country while a great economy and very advanced society. We talked about spending a month here next year.

We finished out tour and decided that 5 miles back to the bus was doable. We kept talking about how clean and modern everything was.

I forgot about the Olympics. They were delayed for almost a year because of the pandemic.

We saw many school groups with kids wearing the same color caps. During the day the groups appeared to be in a daycare but around 3:30 all of the kids were running home from school in colored caps. Lots of kids on the streets. Very young ones walking home. Remember those days? I do. Now parents don’t even trust having a child next to them unless they are on a leash and I don’t blame them. There are all kinds of people running around our country and we have no idea who they are.

The walk back was nice. We made it back to the bus at about 4:30 and took the 1.5 mile ride back to the ship. 11 miles for the day and it felt …

Tokyo, Japan

We boarded busses for this HAL tour of Mt. Fuji. This is the largest mountain in Japan. The first stop was an outdoor art museum and then lunch. The museum was full of modern art. I guess I call any art I don’t like modern art. This was the Hakone Open Air Museum.

We walked through the museum and each piece of art had the artists name and place of creation. There were works from all over the world. Nothing I’d want in my backyard. There was a Picasso Museum and a stained glass structure next to it.

We did go to the Picasso Museum. Nothing I’d hang on our walls or even take a picture of. I know I’m missing something when I see others staring at a creation that looked like it took 3 minutes to create.

Lunch was next to the museum. Chokuku-no-mori. It was buffet style and we sat with Joe and Ann who were also on this tour. I asked Joe if this picture I snapped brought back memories.

He said of course it did. Joe and Ann grew up in Cleveland and Lawson was an Ohio company with stores in Michigan also. There was a Lawson in the neighborhood I grew up in. One day all of them closed. What I didn’t know was that they moved to Japan!

Lunch was great. Everything looked fresh and tasted great. We talked about our similar view on the art we saw. Lunch took about an hour and we boarded the bus to get to the dock where our boat would take us on a cruise on Lake Ashi. Lake Ashi is about 2000m above sea level and the boat took us to the Hakone Komagatake Ropeway. The Ropeway, thankfully is a cable car that goes up to the top of Mt. Komagatake. The pictures of Mt. Fuji are worth the seven minute ride to the top.

There was snow at the top and had to be careful walking around the path that circled the top. Mt. Fuji can be seen from anywhere in Tokyo. It sticks out on the horizon and it looks as if it’s the only mountain around.

We had about an hour at the top and then it was time to take the car down and board the busses for the ship. I like Tokyo. Very modern, clean and interesting. I don’t know much about the government. I would have to vet them before moving here.

We got back to the ship about 6:30 and went to the Lido for dinner.
The evening entertainment was a group of young local musicians from Tokyo. Takarabune was the groups name. 5 adults and one child. I think it was 3 guys and two girls but who am I to say.

I added this youtube video of the group. Interesting performance. Very entertaining!

…

at Sea

Another day preparing for Japan. Our Viator tour is not going to work with timing of the ship. We were able to book a last minute HAL tour to Mt. Fuji. We try to avoid the HAL trips but not much choice here.

Our guides in future ports have been messaging me through WhatsApp. Our guide in Kobe, Japan and our guide for Vietnam and Beijing have kept in touch. The countries that really need us as tourists communicate in our language. I don’t think Japan needs us so communication is up to us. My 2 words of Japanese doesn’t cut it.

We played group trivia and lightning trivia. Lightning trivia went well because the topic was math and history. In lightning trivia, 30 seconds are given for each question. Answers are given after 30 seconds.
Perpendicular line bisecting a curve? What polygon has 4 unequal sides?
Another name for Charles the Great? We tied for first place. Tie Breaker ? The team that can express pi to the greatest number of digits. I knew 3.14159, the other team had that plus about 6 more digits, some were incorrect but ours was perfect. Thomas gave it the other team because more numbers that were correct. Huh? Obviously he never uses pi. Wrong numbers don’t cut it.

Cards after dinner in the Crow’s nest. Too cold outside. …

at Sea

Getting much cooler here. At times it is warmer back home.

I hurt my back at one of golf games and have been seeing the doctor on board, texting my doc back home and working with the acupuncturist Dr. Kim. The goal is to complete the journey without getting off the ship. If I need some testing done, Japan is the place to get it. I’ve decided against getting an MRI off the ship because it will only confirm what I already know. I had an MRI done 6 years ago that showed some problems with my spine.

The drugs the doctor on ship gave work but they are very powerful opioids. They really just mess up your mind so you can ignore the pain and they are very addictive and you can build a tolerance to them. The anti inflammatory has done nothing. The acupuncture has yielded the best results. 4 visits to Dr. Kim and I am nearly pain free. Hopefully it will last through May.

My doctor back home gave me stretches to do and they are also helping. I’ll keep doing these. He also given me great advice. I’m glad he is part of my team.

Group trivia went fairly well. Some of them are just beyond what we know. What does the WD in WD40 stand for? The Communist Manifesto was originally written in which language? Which was the first state first state to make alcohol illegal? Which creature has a tongue that weighs more than a full size elephant?

Tours that we have planned for Japan are difficult to manage. Very little English spoken. Doesn’t matter if you call or write. It’s difficult to know if the tours’ pickup location is with a short traveling distance from the ship. I have been dealing a lot with Viator and Trip Advisor. The tour company I spoke with today would have made a great hour long comedy show. Very little communication although when she asked me the same question the 5th time she seemed to understand when I gave her the same answer.

We did dinner a bit later and then called it a night in the room. The back is wearing me out but it is getting better. I’m ready for the next tour. …

Naha, Okinawa, Japan

Today we met our guide at the entrance to the port station. Masayuki Shinjo. Shin would be our guide all day. We did stop at the ATM yesterday and picked up some yen. 10 – 1,000 yen bills. Each 1,00 bill was worth about $8 USD. It is a pain dealing with currency that has been inflated like this. Coins are practically worthless. Now that I think about it, coins at home are too.

Our first stop would be one of the US military bases. We did a bus ride out and started to walk to the entrance of the station. When we arrived, we saw what looked like a young American on his cell phone. “Hey guys, how are you doing”, he said. We said fine and then he said “The cab driver dropped me off at the wrong entrance last night” Lot’s of colorful language followed. “I haven’t slept in over 24 hours”. I asked if this was his base and he said “This is my f*&*^&^g base”. He also said for the three years he has been here, he didn’t know this gate existed. No one was at the gate. Finally a friend came by and picked him up. He said good bye and then screamed out more colorful language. Maybe there is hope for our military?

We boarded another bus and went to lunch. Traditional Japanese food was served here. Upper left, bitter cucumbers, lettuce, below that is seaweed, some vegetable that resembles spaghetti, a piece of pork with the skin still on, below that is soup, fried melons pieces, tofu that looked like ice cream and finally rice. Delicious meal. For desert? Home made ice cream with a brown sugar syrup. It is not sold anywhere and it is to die for. I put a business card here. It would be worth the trip.The translation is interesting.

Next stop was the Shuri Castle. We grabbed another taxi for this.

Between 1429 and 1879 it was the palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom. In 1945, the US navy almost completely destroyed this. After the war, the castle was repurposed as a University. In 1992, the walls were reconstructed and many of the university buildings were removed. It is very difficult to tell what was original and what was rebuilt.

Seiden Hall of Shuri Castle was destroyed by fire in 2019. Completely burned to the ground. A new Seiden Hall is being constructed on the same site. It will be exactly as the old and all joints are connected using tenon joints, posts and other non-nail techniques.

Inside this building is the where the new hall is being constructed. Fascinating inside.

View of Naha from the castle.

We spent a good amount of time at the castle and then walked over to the monorail.

We took the monorail over to the Prefectural Museum. We didn’t have a lot of time in the museum but we did enjoy it. It was time to go back to the ship. We hopped into a cab and were back in about 20 minutes. We said goodbye to Shin and went up for dinner.

After dinner was fun and games on the Lido. A carnival atmosphere. We played a number of games and called it a night.

The ship left Okinawa for Tokyo at about 10:30 pm. Rough sees again. Everything on the desk is secured!…

Naha, Okinawa, Japan

Today we had planned on golfing on Kadena Joint Base but cancelled to give my back a bit more recovery time.

We chose to hire a taxi to visit the old Japanese Navy Headquarters that is underground.

Naha is the capital of the Okinawa Prefecture. The population as of 2019 is 317,000. It looks like it holds many more people as the view reminded me of a large American city.

Not many people here speak English (just a casual observation). This surprised me because of the large military base that is here. In many of the countries we visit, English is taught in school along with the native language. Maybe that is not done here.

When we left the ship, we were diverted to one of two different paths. One path for folks walking to town and one for those who were taking a taxi. Those who had HAL tours went a third way. We chose the taxi line as it was a bit too far to walk. At the end of the line was a taxi and a Japanese woman who also spoke some English. She handed me a piece of paper that had a checklist of commonly visited places, all in Japanese. On the back, the location of the port we were at. Again in Japanese. How handy and how nice. We told her where we wanted to go and she put a check in one of the boxes. I told her we wanted to visit the site and then go to the big shopping area on Kokusai street. She spoke with the driver. He offered to wait while we were in the Navy Headquarters because there is a limited number of taxi’s to hail in that area and then take us to the shopping street. 6000 Japanese Yen was the price. $24 USD. What a bargain! We spent $140 getting to and from the golf course on Guam.

Our driver pointed out things on the way. Pointing was all he could do. When we got to our destination I confirmed that he would wait for us for 30 mins using the translate app. He pointed to the area he would wait. It had many busses there. Probably a HAL tour.

4000 men committed suicide in this bunker rather than face disgrace by surrendering.

The photos of mounted pictures were difficult to take. Some were taken with the translate app so the description could be read.

This trip was well worth the time. I don’t believe it makes the top of the list for sights to see in Okinawa as history has a way of being lost. The pictures say a lot. Often more than history books. We probably spent an hour or so here. This bunker is where soldiers lived and commanded the defense of Okinawa.

The taxi driver was waiting for us when we were finished. He took us down to the center of the shopping district. Loads of stores. We ducked into an arcade full of shops and walked around until we found a place for lunch.

The place we chose was empty but looked very inviting. Nice, large comfortable chairs and some great jazz playing on the speakers. No English menus. Very little if any English spoken. The translate app was our friend again. We shared a salad and then some cheese. I had an Orion draft beer and Terri some red wine.

After lunch we wondered around the shops and started to head back to the ship. We had about a 2 miles or so until we got back to the port. On the way, we found a little dress shop where Terri found a blouse she liked. She tried it on and found the buttons on the sleeves to be in the wrong position. The shop owner marked the spot where Terri wanted the buttons and then took them off and sewed them on in the new position.

We made our purchase and walked back to the ship.

We had dinner and then went up to our spot to play cards. It is much cooler here than in our previous stops. I had to go back and put a sweatshirt on. Winter clothes are coming out as we head North.

Another one for me. Am I up by one?…

Ishigaki, Japan

Today we arrived in Ishigaki. One of the many islands of Japan and part of the Okinawa prefecture. The Captain arrived an hour early so that customs officials can board, set up their machinery in the main dining room, grab a complimentary muffin, and begin with the face to face inspection. Every passenger was required to meet with customs officials. It didn’t matter if you were getting off of the ship or staying aboard.

The process started at 8 am and HAL officials always take those on the HAL excursions first. After those folks are cleared we began deck by deck to clear all passengers. It’s done a little differently each time so that other decks have a chance to be first in line. Today we started with deck one and moved up very slowly. After a while, it began to move faster.

Deck 6 was called and we went down to stand in line. The staff went up and down the line and offered water or muffins. We were without food for at least an hour so I guess an assumption was made that it is feeding time.

We were not in a hurry. Late last evening I was on WhatsApp chatting with our tour guide for Ishigaki. We booked a tour to go snorkeling in the Blue Cave. The tour guide asked many questions. We went back and forth a few times about where to meet and what time we would be picked up. Snorkeling equipment was provided but we brought our own. Next question was shoe size. They provided shoes. Height and weight. They provided a wet suit and needed that info. Next was age. After I provided the answer the guide told us that they do not take anyone over 59. Sorry, the excursion is cancelled. We had booked this excursion a long, long time ago. Maybe they could have posted something on the description.

I guess we have reached a new part of life. Age discrimination is back in our lives. 16 to drive, 18 to vote, 21 to drink. Younger than 60 to snorkel. What else do we have to look forward to?

We managed to get off of the ship at about 10 am. We were going to hire a taxi and go see the stalactite cave. Taxi was about 1/10 of the cost we spent in Guam for a similar distance. Communication with the driver was done with the translate app on the iphone. Incredible and very useful tool.

We spent roughly an hour in the cave. It wasn’t snorkeling but it was fun. We had the taxi driver take us to Eugena Mall and drop us off. The mall was an arcade and filled with many shops. We did buy a few items to take back on the ship. Again the translate was amazing. Use the camera feature and it will automatically translate what it sees through the lens. I bought some coffee liquor and some items for the grandkids.

Lunchtime. Terri likes to use Yelp and she found us a place not too far away. Small place with about 6 small tables and a counter. We sat at the counter. They had a menu in English and we ordered the burger plate to split. Terri had wine and I had a local beer.

We watched the cook prepare the meal. The waiter assisted. I’m guessing a husband and wife team. She was preparing some soup or a stew and would add some spices, stir it in and then took a small spoon to taste it. Everything was fresh. We watched her cut the veggies. He went outside to grab a leaf off a plant for a garnish.

White rice, Ishigaki burger, chicken noodle soup, some kind of spiced meat in the bowl, lettuce and tomato, red cabbage, a bowl of egg or yogurt, fried leaves with seasoning. Wow. Fantastic!

We finished our lunch, snapped the photos and said our good byes. They knew enough English to understand.

We visited a few more stores and then started back toward the ship. It was about a mile and one half and we enjoyed the walk.

The evening entertainment was trumpeter Chaw. Chaw is his nickname and his real name is very long and difficult to pronounce. Chaw is from Thailand. The house band backed him up and he did a marvelous performance. Great chops and a lot of endurance. I had to laugh when he performed the tune called “The Chicken”. The DHS jazz band used to perform this and other tunes by the same composer. Great performance. His last tune was “Feels So Good” by Chuck Mangione. I’m not sure why but he decided to do an unrequested encore. He probably should have ended after the Mangione tune because we didn’t feel as good when he did the encore. I gave it a 9. Eliminate the encore and it is a 10.…

at Sea

It has been the windy and the ship has been rockin’ and a rollin’.

Team trivia for the day. Which actor played the role of Ghandi in the movie? What question is asked in the Nursery Rhyme “Mary, Mary, quite contrary….”? Who wrote the music in the movie “The Graduate” Here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson…. Which group recorded the tune “California Dreamin'” What were the names of the engines that powered the Apollo Rockets? Which company created the Pentium processor. Prior to the movie Titanic, which Kevin Costner movie was the most expensive. (Did you say Waterworld?) Which brand of underwear did Marty wear in Back to the Future?

There are 15 questions in team trivia and then a bonus question worth two points. The fun questions are the those that none of our team members have a clue on such as “What was the day of the week that the stock market crashed in 1929”.

People take this game quite seriously. Today a passenger took up his ipad to educate the team trivia host on a particular answer. Most of the guests are twice the age or more than the host. Give me a break.

We had dinner with Ann and Joe. We met them on the Grand Africa crew and we enjoy talking with them. Brother and sister, Joe and Ann have been traveling together for years. Both have lost spouses and they decided traveling together would be fun.

Ann spent her career teaching. Joe was a teacher for about half of career. They grew up in the Cleveland area and have a similar cultural upbringing and political view. Ann does a lot of knitting and craft making. She sells her creations at the many craft shows she does. There is a project on the ship where blankets are being knitted or crocheted and then donated. The project is called project “Linus” and the blankets are donated to children who are in need. Over 500 blankets have been created on this cruise so far. It really is amazing.

We met Joe and for drinks prior to dinner and the conversation continued through dinner. Very enjoyable time. Joe currently resides in Arizona and Ann lives in Kansas City.

The evening entertainment was Japanese Balloon Artist Syan. Syan is considered one of the top balloon artists of Japan. He is widely known for his speed, his polished skills, and special technique called “Areal Twist”! Watching Syan is what you might expect. A street artist performing making balloon animals. It was quite entertaining as he was in a traditional Japanese costume and used interesting traditional Japanese music as part of his act. The pentatonic scale was quite prevalent and his timing was fantastic. I gave him an 8. Terri fell asleep. (it is dark and comfortable in the theater). …

at Sea

One more day closer to Japan. We are now on Tokyo time. 14 hours ahead of home.

Group trivia went better today as the whole team, minus Richard, was there. Bet you don’t know which candy was created and named after a nickname for his daughter. What is known as the pig in men’s gymnastics? What is known as the royal disease? Which country did graffiti originate? Which fruit has the most vitamin C (not an orange) The sixth commandment in the King James Version of the bible? Percentage of DNA that is the same in both monkey and human? Which was the first breakfast cereal? We did rather well with these and others.

We had dinner with Janet and Brian. They came down from the 3rd floor to our table on the second. Fascinating learning more about Canada. Brian said that the amount of Military that the US has on Guam equals about a third of the entire military in Canada. He also said that Canada relies on the USA to defend it. I guess we already knew that. Janet said that Canada has sent 8 tanks to help with the effort in Ukraine. This was 10% of all of the tanks that Canada has. It also relies on us for health care. This way it can have “free universal health care” and when someone really needs something done they can come to the USA. We talked about Trudeau and Biden. Lots of head shaking by all. Janet told how they shop in land owned by the “First Nation”. The First Nation, a group of indigenous people, decided to build a Costco. Shopping there is much cheaper than in mainland Canada and gas is cheaper too. They also have casinos to draw in Canadians.

Wapole Island is a first nation island across from Algonac, Michigan. Maybe they plan to open a Costco there?

More forms to fill out for Japan and a mandatory face to face with customs officials. We will be in Japan for 12 days. This should be fascinating. No overnights. We will return the ship each evening. Don’t want to miss dinner!

We finished the evening with a game of cards on the back of the Lido. Nice weather! Terri is up by 2.

…

at Sea

Today we spent quite a bit of time with upcoming ports. We plan on golfing at the Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. It’s time to make a tee time and determine distance and travel time to the course. We also received a notice that one of tours through Viator was cancelled because no guide picked up the tour. I’m not sure why this happened but Viator did offer to book another similar tour. That has been taken care of.

Our next port is Ishigaki. Ishigaki is an island that contains Japan’s southern most city, Ishigaki City. Ishigaki is part of the Okinawa prefecture. We have a tour scheduled to do Blue Cave snorkeling. It looks like Blue Cave is on the northern side of the island and the cruise port is on the southern side. We will be picked up and dropped off at the cruise ship port.

It rained a good portion of the day and it was very windy. Another challenging day walking on the ship.

We were able to book a tee time at the Metropolitan Golf course in Cape Town, South Africa today. Email is the preferred method as time zones make calling difficult.

The evening entertainment was violinist Venus Tsai. Venus is 37 and has been playing violin since age 6. She is Taiwanese and currently lives in Seattle. She flew to Guam to get on the ship to entertain us.

Her show started with pictures of her on the big screen. More and more artists seem to be doing this. Many, many pictures of Venus were displayed in many different outfits. The pictures were displayed with her music playing in the background. The house band was already on stage and was waiting for the display to end. I had to check my watch. It was way too long. She is very pretty and looks like she is about 22 but this was about her music. Maybe it wasn’t.

The band was getting bored. The drummer was drumming on his leg and the guitarist was air playing licks from the chart.

Venus finally entered. Tall woman with very long hair. Maybe down to her knees. Very thin and a very nice smile. If the show was about her looks, I would have already given her a 10.

The musical performance.

She says she is on YouTube so you can look her up if you wish. Her musical style was very aggressive. I don’t think her bow moved in one direction more than 4 inches the entire performance. Back and forth it went. Faster and faster. Some of the runs were rhythmically solid. Others, not so much. If it was one number in this style, great. It wasn’t. This was the style. Every entrance was made like Elvis just entered the building. After a few tunes she grabbed the mic and sang a song that she wrote. She sang in Mandarin. Beautiful voice. Not that I listen to words but if it was in English, it may have helped. At one point Venus left the stage and more pictures were shown. After another long period watching her, she came out in a different costume and sat behind the piano. Her skills are definitely better than mine but as a performer they were medium. She played one number on the piano and grabbed her violin again. She finished the show with Evard Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King from Peer Gynt. Her aggressiveness would have been best if she finished the tune with it but she started and finished with it.

Obviously very talented but could use some help arranging a performance for a cruise ship. Performance 3, looks 10. I give her 6.5.

…

Saipan, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands CNMI, U.S. Territory

Today we arrived in Saipan and were cleared to go ashore at 8 am.

During our planning stages, we didn’t find any tours that appealed to us and decided we would wing it once we arrived. A few days ago I found a place to rent cars and decided we would do that.

The walk into town was about 2 miles. The Port authorities decided at the last minute that they didn’t want people walking through the port so they offered complimentary shuttle services to town. We hopped on the bus and were taken to a closed shopping mall in the center of town. It is a holiday and many businesses and schools would be closed. I’m guessing because of the presence of military bases on these islands that this holiday is observed. Do we do this back home?

The car rental place was a few blocks away and renting a car was much less expensive than one of the ship tours.

We had a map and decided that Suicide Cliff was our first stop. This was one of many locations that civilians and military hurled themselves over to avoid capture. I have seen videos of families throwing their children off first and then themselves. The brainwashing that the Japanese did to their own people convinced them that they would be tortured mercilessly by American forces if they were captured. The military had no choice as there was no place to go. There was no honor in surrendering. Good thing our own government never engages in brainwashing.

The 2d pictures cannot show any depth. Just beyond the cactus is a drop of several hundred feet. There is a youtube video showing a woman jumping to her death from this very spot. The last photo shows a triangular shaped piece of land that is an American veterans cemetery. We did visit that on the way up but there wasn’t really anything to see.

We stopped at all of the sites at the northern end of the island. Great views but not much else to see. Our next stop is the top of Mt. Topachau. The drive was interesting and dangerous. The road to the top was washed out gravel at best. Cliff on both sides of part of the road. Careful attention is required.

Once at the top, there were some stairs and a small sidewalk. Signs described and showed what the marines did back in the 1940s. The landscape hasn’t changed much in 80 years. The airstrip shown in one of the pictures is now a highway.

We spent a good amount of time at the top taking in the view. From this point, every portion of the island can be seen. This is why it was so valuable.

We left the mountain top and headed south. There really wasn’t much left to see but we did find this structure that looked like it had been used to house a good sized gun.

We decided to find a place to sit down and have a drink near the car rental place. We did find a nice place. Only one other person was in the place and I recognized him from the ship. He was the cellar master and handled the wine.

Jacques has been working for HAL for 17 years and is from Cape Town, South Africa. He was on the 2020 world cruise and we spent a lot of time talking about that. The cruise was originally Ft. Lauderdale, around the world and back to Ft. Lauderdale. He told me that some time in March, the Captain got on the intercom and announced that tomorrow they all would be getting off of the ship. This of course started panic. Perth, Australia was where they all would disembark. How was one to get home? No one was working anywhere. I can only imagine what was happening on this ship.

We agreed that the whole world when nuts with the pandemic and this should have never happened the way it did. He said that his government outlawed flip-flops. What a great idea. This is the way covid spreads. The flipping motion sends the virus off of the flop and directly into one’s lungs. Sounds like brilliant government officials in South Africa. Maybe those in South Africa called our governor to share some of these great ideas. Maybe they decided to implement the “alcohol yes, exercise no” policy that was in place in Michigan. Or possibly the people standing in restaurants need masks. I remember when the governor discovered that the virus can only be transmitted while standing in a restaurant. While sitting at a table, a person is able to confuse the virus and keep it under control. No mask needed. Brilliant.

We agreed that we need more of these people in control of our lives since they obviously know much more than we do.

We finished our drinks and stopped to fuel up the car. 2 gallons of gas that we used translated into $12. When I pulled into the Mobile Gas station, an attendant pumped the gas. That hasn’t happened in decades. He asked if I was an officer and I said no. “How did you find our island? We are not even on some maps.” I told him about the cruise and he was fascinated. He directed me inside to pay with a credit card. The woman behind the counter said “Mr. Jeff, are you an officer?” Maybe there is the officer rate. She asked “Can I see your ID?” I pulled out my drivers license and I pointed at it and joked with her. “What a great looking guy”, I said. The young lady next to her said, “Bruce Willis. You look like Bruce Willis”. I laughed. Yippee Ki- Ay.

We dropped the car off and decided to walk back to the ship. Under 2 miles. We did take the wrong entrance to the port, walked right past security and went toward the ship. Shipping containers and a chain link fence block the entrance. We were able to talk to a security officer on the other …

Guam, U.S. Territory

I was able to change the tee time to 10:30 from 8:45. Customs at 8 and then off to the course.

Every passenger had to go see the custom agents. The little form was given to one of the 12 officers that were processing passengers. If you had something to declare you were immediately labeled (sucker) and sent to another line. If you checked “nothing to declare” you were moved along quickly. The tall round container that the collected forms were put into filled up quickly. I’m sure they will be sorting these later. The processing went smoothly because the officers really didn’t do anything. Some were busy with donuts, others asked about the golf game as we had our clubs in tow. Processing is in the dining room. For good reason. HAL takes care of these officers with lunch when they are finished. Free donuts and lunch? I’m sure there is no issue with getting officers to volunteer for duty and I’m sure there are very few, if any issues getting the ship cleared.

The course was about 8 miles away and we were able to get a taxi right outside the port. It was hot and humid. The taxi was expensive and we paid almost as much for the taxi as we did the round of golf. Travel was slow. About 30 mins to get to the course.

The folks at the golf course knew that we were from the ship and were interested in hearing about our adventure. They know everyone that comes to play the course and we were definitely “outsiders”. They really went out of their way to take care of us.

We were ready to go at about 9:30 am and they let us start early. We started on the back 9 as there was a larger group starting on the front.

We missed the sign on the cart that says “cart path only” and had our cart lock up in the middle of the fairway on hole 10. A few good shoves got it moving again but this rule really slowed play down. We might have played faster if we had a pull cart.

The course was in good shape and the greens fast. A good amount of water in play but not so much jungle on the sides of the fairways to loose balls in. Balls in the pro-shop were $10. Not a box, a ball. Glad we had plenty in our bags.

We finished our round at about 2:30 and called our taxi driver. Raphael showed up quickly and soon we were back in port.

We watched the ship pull out of the harbor during dinner. Only 130 miles to our next port in Saipan. We will be crawling to get there.

Evening entertainment was a movie (with popcorn). We decided to play cards out on the back of the Lido deck. My lead diminished by one.…

at Sea

Our last day crossing the Pacific. The crossing was very rough and I am guessing it is typical for the area we crossed. Lots of white caps and large swells. It’s amazing to see everyone on the ship adapting to the ships movement. A waiter carrying a load of trays makes it look simple. Passengers walking down the hallways do also. Things change and we adapt.

I am so impressed with the training that the staff receives. There is never a time any type of employee will pass without saying good morning, good afternoon, or good evening. The filipinos work the bars, the Indonesians, the food service. The Russians work on the ships power structure. The Dutch run the hotel and bridge staff. All will say hello. It doesn’t matter if they have 4 stripes on their sleeve or a patch of grease.

I have watched numerous examples of young food service employees helping a passenger to their seat, walking them through line, standing up, or sitting down. Many on these longer cruises are on their final stretch of life. It appears that they expect help and often appear that are unappreciative. I have seen a mid 20s waitress help numerous passengers. She could easily ignore them or go about her regular job but she doesn’t. She and many others go out of their way to help. If it is insincere, one would never know it.

When we walk into the dining room you would think we have celebrity status. “Good evening Mr. and Mrs. Oshnock” is repeated over and over as we walk to our table.

Staff tipping is handled differently than it used to be. At one time when a cruise ended, passengers would tip their wait staff and room stewards. Now a “crew incentive” is automatically added to your account. I prefer this method. Charge me upfront and I will expect them to earn it. They do.

It is possible to have the crew incentive removed from your bill. Do this, and you will be charged a different rate on your next cruise.

Group trivia was lightly attended today. A team of 2 is all we had. Our other team members were listening to Kimberly’s port talk on the main stage. We did rather well with just the two of us. We knew the minimum age to be in the Masters golf tournament, the name of the California city named after a film studio, the author of the Canterbury Tales, the location of the cancelled 1940 Olympic Games, and the oldest known swimming stroke. We didn’t know who Cuba trades with to get automobiles for sugar, which islands are growing at a rate of 1 inch per year, or the Tanzanian Mountain that has a Swahili name.

We skipped the evening entertainment and played cards. Judy Carmichael was doing her second set. Great pianist but not a humorist. I think she should drop that part of her act. Terri let me win another game as she moves in for the kill.…

at Sea

Another day closer to Guam. We are finally on Guam time and are 15 hours ahead of home. All those 25 hour days are really nice. I’m not looking forward to the 23 hour days that are coming.

I sent a note to the Zuiderdam staff about the inability to hear the Captain when he speaks at noon. I received a nice note in response thanking me for taking time to do this. They did address it the next and turned up the volume. DIdn’t help much since it is really the way the Captain speaks. Very strong initially and then trails off. He does this over and over. It’s really inexperience with the microphone. No issue when Kimberly comes on right after. She has years of experience from being on the home shopping network.

We received a customs form for Guam. Same one we received from Saipan. Everybody on the entire ship needs to go see the customs officials just like they do on our southern border. I want to get in the line for the free hotel room and preloaded debit card.

It looks like our tee time may not work since custom officials do not begin until 8 am and our tee time is 8:45am. It looks like a 30 min ride to the course. Hope we can change the tee time.

The evening entertainment was another set by the Bird Dogs. The house band accompanied them and they played some great tunes. They emphasized artists that influenced the Everly Brothers and those that they influenced. Early influencers were Roy Orbison. They played Pretty Woman with an Everly Brothers feel. Those that they influenced included the Beatles and they performed Get Back. Elvis Presley and they performed Falling in Love. Chuck Berry and they played Johnny B. Goode. Fun show and the house band kicked it up a notch. Pianist was very good. Bass player not so much. Drummer fair and guitarist good.

After the show we sat back and chatted with Janet and Brian. They are from Calgary and we knew them for the 2019 world cruise. We of course talked about how each of our countries were run by people that have no idea that there people are suffering. We also chatted about all of the stores that have closed. There is still a Kmart in Calgary. I had no idea. We also laughed at the ridiculous things government was forcing businesses to do. You could go into Walmart but you couldn’t buy certain items. You could buy a gallon of milk but not a tomato plant. A fifth of gin but not a gasoline can. They did these things in Canada also.

As we chatted, we met some other folks today that were on the 2019 world cruise with us. I remember her because she was the executive assistant for Pierre Trudeau when he led Canada. They also were on the 2020 world cruise. This is the cruise that gives folks nightmares. The ship was near Australia when the world decided to shut down because of the pandemic. The ship had a difficult time finding a port to dock. Passengers were being whipped into a frenzy by the media and other passengers. Everyone had to stay in their room until something was worked out. Getting flights home was another nightmare. Some waited for 8 months to finally get their luggage.

We really lucked out that year. We spent the entire month of January 2020 in Australia. 6 weeks after we left it was turned into a crazy, authoritarian place. Much like home.…

at Sea

Today we had customs forms to fill out for our visit to Guam. I’m guessing that those who have checked the box “items to declare” will have their forms set aside for further aggravation. Do they think that customs officials are going to check every room on the ship? It’s amazing to me that the country that hassles us the most is the US government. We are living on a ship for 4 months. Does the government think we are going to bring alcohol and tobacco in to Guam? For what reason would we be doing that?

In addition to this form from Guam, there was also a yellow fever questionnaire. Luckily we have the vaccine and brought the proof with us.

We have two excursions that will take us off the ship overnight. One in China and one in Seychelles. There is a form for that. The ship is responsible for giving information about guests spending the night to immigration officials.

Three of us at team trivia today. The questions continually get more and more difficult. A metal that remains liquid at standard temperature and pressure? Team with the most Super Bowl appearances? Celebrity who cloned their dog three times? Number of eyes a bee has? First president to live in the white house? Brightest star in the evening sky? First video game that Mario appeared in? The animal that has the most human like fingerprints? It’s not a gorilla, chimp or orangutan.

How did you do? That’s how well we did.

I talked to the morning chef about paczcki’s. He never heard of them. He said he would talk to the main chef.

We spoke with Oscar (nice haircut!) again at dinner about the pazcki. He has no idea what we are talking about but it is fun anyway. Oscar is one of several that talk to us everyday to ask how their staff is doing. How was dinner? Could anything be better? How was the service? Can I bring you something else? It’s tough being treated like this.

We went to play cards right after dinner. Wind was bad up on the back of the lido. We used all kinds of items to weight the cards down. My win tonight. Am I up by one? Don’t remember.

I listened to a rather obnoxious passenger talk about how he gambles and takes any money he wins in the casino and donates to a non-profit that he runs. He then takes a tax write off. It sounded like the money ended up in his pocket when it was all over. The IRS is full of agents that are experts at catching tax cheats . The people that created the IRS are some of the most notorious cheats. Maybe that is just Russian disinformation. I’ll send a note to the big guy.…

at Sea

Today is Valentines day and the ship is in full Valentine mode with costumes for the employees and special drinks and snacks.

Gym of course and then lunch. Terri has watercolor class today and I decided to attend the lecture on Guam and the Mariana Islands and skip team trivia. The speaker lived on Saipan and spoke about things to see on the islands. Something called Latte. He did make a Starbuck’s joke but the latte’s are stone structures. Stone post with another post on top. Another one of earth’s mysteries. How were these built?

The Mariana Islands are important to the United States because of the strategic location. Spain lost Guam after the Spanish American War.

The Mariana trench is located in this area. Deepest part of the earth’s crust. The deepest part is more than a mile further from sea level than the peak of Mt. Everest is.

Dinner was formal attire. Not many tux’s anymore but Kimberly did make a lunch time announcement about proper dress at dinner. We noticed a few that consistently wear jeans to dinner absent tonight.

We moved into a storm rather quickly. The skies were very dark shortly after this photo was taken. Rough water, white caps, lightning, wind. Luckily there are things to hang onto as we traversed the ship.

I did ask Oscar about Paczki’s. “No Paczki’s? Maybe tomorrow”, he said. When I asked him if he knew what a Pazcki was he said no. I told him it was a jelly filled donut that has become part of Fat Tuesday. He laughed. He has no idea what I am talking about.

The evening entertainment was Judy Carmichael. We first saw her in 2019. She is a very accomplished pianist that plays jazz in the stride bass style. Many Fats Waller tunes. Her show was just like the one she presented five years ago in that she used the stage band drummer to accompany her and Justin did just that. A good musical show but her attempt at comedy was only fair. She said that this is the first cruise she has done in 5 years. It’s good news that the cruise industry entertainment is started to come back to the way it was before the pandemic. Her musical performance is a 10. Give up the attempt at comedy.

There was a Valentine Day party in the Crow’s Nest after the show. DJ, drinks and special treats.…

at Sea

It’s Tuesday. I will be skipping Monday in the blog since it didn’t happen here.

No pazcki at breakfast today. Maybe I will talk to the chef next time he visit’s us at dinner.

Gym this morning. The seas are calm and that helps the workout. The Captain said we are about halfway to Guam.

There were only three team members at team trivia today. I don’t think Richard is coming back. Clare and Susi went to the afternoon lecture. The three of us really struggled.

Who was the cigar smoking comedian? What animals were Rocky and Bullwinkle? What river feeds Victoria Falls? Which tune was Duke Ellington’s signature tune? What was the event called that they created the tune “We are the World?”. Hope you are struggling, we did too.

We continued to plan shore excursions for the new ports on this trip. Making progress on Seychelles. I chatted with a taxi driver and asked how much for the 1.4 mile ride from the ferry port to our hotel on Praslin. $15. Sounds excessive but we don’t have a lot of choice.

We are working on Capetown. Table Rock on one day. Hop on Hop off Wine tour next. Golf another. Still have to work all of this out.

The afternoon was a Mardi Gras party. Hurricanes were the drink. Lots of beads and other costumes. Some great King cake!

We had dinner with Brian and Janet. We had some great discussions especially about politics and the leaders of both of our countries.

The evening entertainment was a duo called the Bird Dogs. They did music of the Everly Brothers. They were also brothers and their harmony was outstanding. Bye, Bye , Love. Wake up a Little Susie. Great show. I gave them a 10!…

at Sea

Today we spent the afternoon watching the super bowl. The game started at 11:30 am and the staff provided food on the main stage and popcorn in the ocean bar. We decided the ocean bar would be the place to watch. Lots of obnoxious 49er fans. I really don’t car but decided to be a KC fan. Entertaining game. Halftime sucked big time and most agreed.

We continued to work on the new ports. I was able to book a hotel on the island of Praslin. I need to fill out a government application to travel within Seychelles. The form cannot be filled out greater than 30 days from the day of travel. I’m guessing a fee is involved. No place on this planet seems to be immune to dumb government fees.

With effect the 1st August 2023, the Seychelles government will apply a new Tourism Environmental Sustainability Levy. The Levy has been introduced to add to the country’s efforts in securing and enhancing its natural environment. It applies to all international visitors to Seychelles over the age of 12 years.

With respect to your stay at Colibri Hotel the Levy is 75 Seychelles rupees per person per night. Payment of the Levy by credit/debit card will fetch merchant fee. If the fee is paid in foreign currency either cash or card, we charge an environmental fee of 6 euro per person per night.

If you don’t understand this it is simple, 75scr = $5.38 usd. Pay in a foreign currency and 6 euros will be added. Environmental fee?

Taking Seychelle Rupees out of the country is illegal. I guess if you get too many it may be best to feed them to the pigeons.

I’m considering renting a car but rates seem a little ridiculous. It looks like the ferry leaves at 10:30 am and the ride from Mahe to Praslin will take 70 to 90 minutes. The ferry back to Mahe leaves at 2 pm the next day. It looks like golf will need to take place on day one. All aboard is 5:30 on day 2.

Things like this is why we spend a year planning excursions.

Tonight we move clocks ahead 24 hours. There will be no February 12. Super Bowl Sunday to Mardi Gras on shrove Tuesday. Pazcki’s? Not sure. At least muffins.

…

at Sea

Breakfast was back to normal as more fresh fruit was loaded in Honolulu. The fresh fruit is timed to last to the next pickup. Sometimes it makes it, other times they will run out. Bananas get old and blueberries disappear.

It was nice sitting outside for lunch. The balcony can get very hot in the morning on a clear day since it faces east. We sit by the pool on the Lido deck. The roof can be opened and closed. It was opened about halfway at lunch. Ocean looks calm but the swells can be felt.

We learned that the HAL excursions for all of the port changes have opened up. Many were already full or had limited space. We are planning on doing our own thing anyway. I planned on working on that after team trivia.

Team trivia was an absolute low point for this cruise. What is another name for a camel leopard? How many tablespoons in a cup? What measurement is a pinch to a chef? What does GATT stand for? (4 pts). The largest island in Japan? Encephalitis is the inflammation of which organ? What does an arctophile collect? How many verses in the Greek national anthem? How many is a giga? What is the royal family last name?

How did you do? Get the idea that this is difficult. We were down one team member as Richard left in a huff. Richard and Mary constantly argue and he got up and left. Thomas, the host, asked where Richard was. I told him we insulted him and he left. Thomas said that Richard submitted a note to HAL that he thought Thomas was the worst host ever. Kind of makes one feel less sorry for Richard.

We worked on future excursions for Male, Maldives. I think we are going to walk around the city. It is fairly large for a city I never even heard of.

Alexandria, Mahe in Seychelles Africa was next. There are about 1200 islands that make up this country. We found an island with an 18 hole golf course. I found a ferry that can take us there. It is about a 70 minute ride. We are in Mahe overnight so the plan is to travel to the island of Praslin, play a round of golf and spend the night in a hotel. We would return the next day.

The Lido and dining room were decorated for the Chinese New Year. The food represented the best of China. I was prepared to order by number but Ari only took mu order by name. Back home I always order a numbah five. Poak fwied wice. The best part of dinner was the fortune in the cookie. “It could be better but it’s good enough”.

We skipped the evening entertainment and the piano trio. Nice night to play cards. Terri up by one.

Soon we will cross the international dateline. February 12 will be skipped.…

at Sea

Our first of 8 sea days to get to Guam. Our routine starts right up after port days. Breakfast, abs class at 7:30 and then back to the room to change and then we hit the gym.

Communication from our third party bookings is excellent. Since covid 19, the tour agents allow people to reserve a tour with no money due until 30 days before the tour takes place. Great policy if itineraries change. Every once in a while, a tour states that it is “non-refundable”. I certainly understand the policy but things happen beyond our control. We had a tour in Dubai that we prepaid. I contacted the tour company direct and received no response. When I contacted Trip Advisor, I received an email the next day stating that I would receive a refund. This is one reason I continue to use trip advisor and partner Viator. Great customer service. Today I received an email from our guide in Tokyo asking about spots we would like to see and transportation needs.

Honolulu was the end of the cruise for some passengers and the starting point for others. Most are doing the entire cruise but a fair number buy only segments. Many of the staff ended their tour of duty here also. New folks are easy to spot. A little lost and a little too polite in the aggressive feeding lines at breakfast and lunch. The big hungry bellies are always first. Thinner people are pushed aside. They are obviously not in as much need.

The line for ice cream never seems to end. The cookie line is at the end of it and I am able to snag a few if I get really aggressive.

Team trivia was an all time low for this team. 10 out of 23. Too many Shakespeare questions for me. There was a quote about hands and perfume. Lady Macbeth was the answer. Sometimes there is a question about an old tv series. Clare was smart enough to identify the four legged animal introduced on Roy Rogers. If you were thinking Trigger, his horse, you were with a lot of us. The answer was Bullet, his dog. Sometimes there is a reference to a television series that I never watched. Gary Coleman was the answer to one of them. Bring on the periodic table or the pythagorean theorem and I am right at home. The music questions rarely are in my span of education. Usually they refer to some musical artist in the late 20th century that I never listened to.

Another block party took place right before dinner. I was too busy doing my hair to participate. We chatted with Oscar at dinner, he told me it was his idea to do more block parties with free alcohol and less holiday decorations which go right into the trash. I told him a nice delivery of a bottle of booze every month right to the room is a better idea. He liked the idea as he would benefit too.

Dinner was superb once again. It’s hard to decide which soup to go with as a starter. The cold bisque that reminds me of a smoothie or the hot bean or chicken soup. Decisions….

The evening entertainment was Helena Angley. Helena is close to my age and grew up in Detroit. Maybe I will ask her where if I see her at lunch. She spoke about her life experiences, husband and kids. It was alright but not enough to keep Terri awake.…