drron29

Now you may notice that very few of the tourist things appear in my asian trip reports. Basically because with Thailand we have visited over 100 times and Japan over 50. So generally I jus go walking. usually just to see what I can find. but sometimes I do set out to do something. today was such a day. I set off to walk on the Rainbow bridge. That is the name given by the public but it's official name is the Tokyo port Connecting Bridge. It was a bit of a walk from the hotel to the bridge. Passed by another set of flood gates tor the canal. Plus views over Tokyo bay. Then the bridge itself. You catch a lift up to the walkway. Great views down Tokyo Bay towards Yokohama. And across to Odaiba Island. Another beautiful sunny day. The train runs down the middle of the lower level of the bridge. You can see it coming so you can get ready for a photo. I walked back a different way. Those are all barges to carry cement around Tokyo's waterways. Lots of new apartment buildings. I would hate to live there. That is the expressway running over the top of it. Two more levels of roadway below that plus a train line. Now another plant that has the seasons wrong. I saw lots of autumn foliage but this is a flowering plum at least 2 months early.

Definitely number 1.

The next day was a beautiful day so Rojaan and I went for a walk along the waterfront. The locals were enjoying it on the top of the water taxis. A glimpse of the Hamarikyu Gardens which are worth a visit if in Tokyo. That afternoon I caught the Automatic train -the Yurikamome line - to Odaiba Island. Again a new developement. Amazing roadworks. The Maritime museum. It's only 4pm but the sun is setting. You get views of the planes going into Haneda. Lots of entertainment. The big kids can have a go in go karts. This fellow wasn't that good. Interesting buildings. And more for the kids. I got on the train back to the hotel at 5pm and it was night already. but I had a good seat. The next morning I took Rojaan over to the island to look around. You see some interesting sights. Maybe she had been teleported there.

I took Rojaan shopping but no purchases. This is in a Softbank branch. You can be taken care of by a robot. The streets in this part of Tokyo are unlike most as this is a recently developed area. After dropping R ojaan back at the hotel I wandered a bit more to get my steps up. little temples and shrines are everywhere.

A man walks into a bar and orders three pints of Guinness... He sits at the back of the room, drinking a sip out of each one in turn. When he finishes all three, he goes back to the bar and orders three more. The bartender says to him, "You know, a pint goes flat after I draw it and it would taste better if you bought one at a time." The man replies, "Well, you see, I have two brothers. One is in America, the other in Australia, and I'm here in Dublin. When we all left home, we promised that we'd drink this way to remember the days when we all used to drink together." The bartender admits that this is a nice custom, and leaves it there. For many months the man becomes a regular in the bar and always drinks the same way. He orders three pints and drinks the three pints by taking drinks from each of them in turn. Just after New Years Day, he comes in and orders two pints. All the other regulars in the bar notice this and fall silent. When he comes back to the bar for the second round, the bartender says, "I don't want to intrude on your grief, but I wanted to offer my condolences on your sad loss." The man looks confused for a moment, then a light dawns in his eyes and he laughs..... "Oh, no," he says, "Everyone's fine. It's me......I'm doing Dry January

When we cruised on the Explorer from Ushuaia to Capetown we travelled to the Sacred Valley for 5 days with a full day in Machu Pichu. We also visited Cusco, Iguazu Falls, 3 days in BA and 3 days in Ushuaia. All booked ourselves. most refundable if we had to cancel. And only just a little more than the SS pre cruise package with Machu Pichu. And all in very good hotels.

So you paid Silversea for an extra night at the Conrad and they are switching that to the Westin Yokohama. As you paid for the Conrad that extra night fee must be refunded to you so you can then book your night in Tokyo. But Japanese hotel prices have skyrocketed since they re opened to tourism and Cherry blossom time is peak tourist season so hotels are always more expensive For example the Conrad on April 1st is from $US720 now. And it is possible by train to get from Tokyo Station to Sakuraguchigo station in Yokohama which is the closest station to the Westin in 33 minutes. We have done it last year as we stayed at the IC Yokohama before boarding the Muse. As well one day in Tokyo won't even get you to all the main attractions. We have visited over 50 times and still find new things to do.

Usually September. But it can vary a lot.

Easier way to find the fares is after you have clicked on the cruise you want then click on Suites in the top white bar.. Gives you the price of the different suites. Click on Itinerary to see which ports are being visited and click on the day of the port you are interested and it will tell you the excursions either included or extra cost selected ones.

We did many short cruises in our sixties but now in our 70s 30 days is the new 7.

Very disappointing. Do you have a Non SS travel agent? sometimes they get a better result even if it is only some OBC to keep you quiet.

In our news today Virgin's Resilient Lady is finishing it's Australian season and sailing to Athens via Singapore,Mumbai, Dubai and Suez in March is now going via Perth, Mauritius, South Africa and the west Coast of Africa and then Morocco, Barcelona, Malta and then Athens and it will be with Passengers.

Next some of the food we had in Tokyo. It actually is hard in Japan to find a small local restaurant when there are 7 of you but we did find a couple. The first night was a cheap ramen restaurant where you ordered at a machine and handed your ticket to the cook. Would have been lost without Google Translate but discovered not always accurate. My dish was supposed to be fried oyster with noodle but was chicken. My son ordered the mystery noodle which was a curry soup. Nice scene across the road. Now my son is a Tiki bar tragic so the second night was at Trader Vics. food wasn't great and was expensive. good cocktails. I didn't feel I could finish this. The third night was in a lamb restaurant where the owner took a like to us. Probably because we ordered too much food and bottles of wine. Here is the place. At the corner of the street it is in good views again of the Tokyo Tower.

Each day I went for a walk around the area. The first was a lovely sunny day and a balmy 8C (46F0. Walked back along a canal that ran parallel to the shoreline. and a canal boat and Autumn leave on the Gingko tree even though officially winter in Tokyo. More signs of autumn. . On the second day walked to the Zojoji temple which is very close to the tokyo Tower. Then a little park just down the road.

Our first hotel was the Inter Continental Tokyo Bay. we had 6 nights there and our family arrived the day after us on a direct flight from Sydney. the hotel was decorated for Christmas. We shared a beautiful salmon and salmon roe pizza for dinner as we weren't hungry. lovely views from our room across Tokyo bay.

Our flight to Singapore was on a BA 789 with the new business class seat. I liked it and with the topping made a comfortable bed. But to the food. A faro and brown rice salad tasted much nicer than I anticipated then I had seared tuna,seared chicken and an unseared cheese plate. The only odd note was that the bread roll was still in it's plastic wrapper. A cheese plate that I wish Silversea could offer. Also FA Ruth was wonderful. Never had an empty glass and always a wonderful smile even towards the end of the flight when I had a very tasty Mexican chicken and chipotle wrap. As always we only do one flight a day and stay at the Crowne Plaza Changi. The renovations hadn't finished so we didn't eat there. The next day was Japan Airlines business class to Narita. It is my favourite airline. Possibly because 2 of the last 3 Airline presidents have worked at JAL. One from Maintenance and a pilot. The new President who will start in April started as a flight attendant. They are definitely customer focussed. So to the food. the menus. Rojaan had the Western menu and I the Japanese. her starter was excellent and the beef a little dry but tasty. Now to my Japanese meal. The dessert was the same for both of us. I thought it was going to be bland but quite tasty. We arrived into Narita 2 minutes late so naturally there was an apology from the crew.

Apart from humour there has been little other activity so I thought I would post some pictures of our recent trip. We spent Christmas in Japan with our family and Grandchildren. When they went skiing after Christmas we headed to Bangkok to thaw out and try and find a new regular hotel for our frequent visits. So starting off with some food. If flying out of Sydney we always stay at Rydges at the Airport and have dinner with family. This time only with a neice. The food is nice. So beef cheeks with gnocchi,scallops,garlic prawns mixed seafood platter,creme brulee and chocolate fondant with blood orange gelato. Then the Qantas International business loung. Unfortunately due to covid etc we have lost status. We both though have One World life time sapphire.Now the business lounge is way below the standard of their First lounge in Sydney. The food in the J lounge would not be seen on Silversea. Various slops. We were travelling BA and they now use The House lounge. It was even worse and was full of screaming children so we waited at the gate.

@mysty many people believe I have a knack of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. However i believe it is the right place at the right time. For example in Fiji because of the coup I have had long talks with 2 of their Prime Ministers. Colonel Rambuka as he was then after the first coup who was staying in the room above us at the Sheraton Denarau. Also at the Sheraton I met PM Qarase after the 2000 coup. He was having discussions with the Australian and NZ High Commissioners there. They were at dinner which was a buffet. The PM's bodyguard was trying to serve himself at the buffet with one hand as the other hand was clutching his Uzi under his coat. He held his plate and I served him what he wanted. So after the discussions PM Qarase came over to thank me for what I had done. He introduced himself as Laisenia Qarase though some people just call me crazy. He did say I was a much more interesting fellow to talk to than the others.

Fiji was our favourite place to go in the 70s until mid 90s. the Fijians are really friendly. unfortunately their politics have made it not as nice and far more expensive. The Garden of the Sleeping Giants was one of my favourite places and I visited many times. The most memorable visit was a week after their first coup. We went on 3 occasions within 2 weeks of a coup and they only had 4. On this occasion I as usual booked a tour. At the hour it was to leave the hotel the doorman came over to me and said drron your taxi is here. I was the only one booked. The taxi driver was Indian and the coup was aimed at reducing the Indians influence. We went through 3 roadblocks all manned by Fijian soldiers. All over 6 foot tall and carrying sub machine guns. I asked the driver if he was scared. "No sir your white face is my ticket to get through." Naturally he waited for me to go back to the hotel.