Musing around Japan (Sept 25 - Oct 9) live

[wristband]

Gourmet Gal & Cruiselover - what private guide(s) do you suggest?

 

PortPower - thank you for the photos & reports!

[Gourmet Gal]

The Backstreet Guides are excellent.  Our guide was Mayu and she was delightful.  You can customize the tour to what you’re most interested in.

 

For food tours Culinary Backstreets is outstanding but their Tokyo tours are almost full-day.  If you want a fun shorter evening food tour Arigato Japan is excellent as well.  They also have guides in Kyoto.

[wristband]

Excellent suggestion - thank you GG!  May I say domo arigato?

[Port Power]

Wednesday, September 27th.  Osaka overnight.
 

This morning’s tour was to Osaka Castle followed by a Shinto Shrine.  It was 32C today, too.  Our tour bus only had 20 guests, which was a manageable number.  We wandered around the gardens a bit while awaiting our time slot to enter th3 Castle.  There was a long queue for the lift (elevator), so some of us walked up.  At each floor we toured the whole area before going up to the next floor.  The view from the 8th floor was over the grounds and then the city intruding.

 

 

[Port Power]

The samurai helmets were interesting.  Many are made of lead.  What a headache!  What looked like metal was often tightly woven fabric using metal threads, which gave strength and flexibility.  This was mainly seen on the body armour.

 

 

[Port Power]

The two hours there went far more quickly than expected.  There was an interesting diorama of the life of Hideyoshi Toyotomi.  The last feature is a model of the castle and its environs in the Tokugawa period when it had expanded and had a new outer moat. The inner moat was the border in the previous generation.

 

[Port Power]

The second stop on our tour was a Shinto Shrine.  I walked over the timber bridge and spent some time watching terrapins swimming around. A lake at the back of the complex had juvenile terrapins as well as one tiny one.  There was young couple with their one month old baby attending the shrine to bless the baby.

 

Last night was pretty quiet aboard as several guests were eating out and/or doing the harbour cruise dinner.  Others had taken the train to Kyoto and were spending the night there.  My new trivia team, although with only 5 of us, won!  Who would have known that remembering Popeye’s father was called “Pappy” would make the difference?  I have no idea how I remembered that!!  Four of us ate at Silver Note.  The jazz duo are really very good.

Edited September 28, 2023 by Port Power

[Port Power]

Thursday, September 28th.  Another morning tour of Osaka, first visiting a Buddhist temple, the oldest in Japan.  We observed while a monk chanted a personal prayer for a man and his son, which our guide said would have been for a family member who has died.  A rear temple housed two large, gold buddhas.  No photos could be taken inside the temple grounds, so here is only the entrance.

 

[Port Power]

Our second stop was the Umeda Sky Building.  The two 40-storey towers (173m high) connect at their two uppermost storeys, with bridges and two escalators for crossing the wide atrium-like space in the centre.  You ride three escalators to the 3rd floor, then take a lift to the 35th floor.  That lift has glass walls, so you are looking over the city while you ascend. Then you take the escalator from the south tower to the north tower to the 38th floor. (For those in wheelchairs, there is an option to go to another lift and get there.)

There is a “crater rim” walk on that level, with an inward facing glass wall.  Then another set of stairs (or lift if needed) to the outside 360 degree skywalk.

 

 

I did rather cower in the middle of the lift on the way up, but quite happily looked out over the city on the way down.  I cautiously (fearfully?) side steeped to the inner glass wall of the skywalk to take a photo looking down at the escalators.  What I do for my fellow Cruise Critic Members!

[Port Power]

Views from the top floor below the skywalk.

 

 

 

This photo from the bus was just to give another perspective of the escalators crossing under the upper floors.

 

[Port Power]

This is my absolute favourite photograph, inspired by one take by our destination lecturer.

 

[Port Power]

In the middle of Osaka, 2.2 million people living in “the city”, there is this lovely veggie garden, including a rice paddy and scarecrows, right next to the Umeda buildings.

 

This structure is 30 years old and is in the top 20 buildings of the world (some sort of architectural designation).  My excellent travel agent had never heard of it, nor had I before today.

 

[jpalbny]

A very interesting building. Thanks for sharing those pictures. Those glass walls and walkways always make me weak in the knees too. But the views are pretty!

[highplanesdrifters]

8 hours ago, Port Power said:

The samurai helmets were interesting.  Many are made of lead.  What a headache!  What looked like metal was often tightly woven fabric using metal threads, which gave strength and flexibility.  This was mainly seen on the body armour.

 

 

 

 

I need one!  Think it would pass the MDR dress code?

 Very cool, thanks.

[Gourmet Gal]

18 hours ago, wristband said:

Excellent suggestion - thank you GG!  May I say domo arigato?

Do Itashimashite!

[Port Power]

Friday, September 29th.

 

Today is a relaxing sea day before we reach Hiroshima.  I have really noticed the difference on board between an ocean crossing and a port-intensive cruise.  Nevertheless, I am still not cooking dinner, so am very happy.  The CD’s department had the solo gathering scheduled too late and often at the same time as the early show.  However, they have moved it back to 6:15pm at our request.  That allows solos to meet up even if briefly, and then move to the show together or in small groups, or arrange to meet for dinner later.

 

Last night’s performance was a violin duo, two very talented young Japanese ladies.  They varied their show with classics and contemporary tunes and moved around the stage gracefully to add movement.  I look forward to their second show.

 

It is a lovely, sunny day and people are out and about on deck and in the pool.  
 

Silver Note again tonight, this time with a Texan couple from my trivia team and a solo gentleman.

[Port Power]

Saturday 30th September: Hiroshima.

 

There were many excursions to the Peace Park, but as I had done that at the beginning of April this year, I elected to visit Hiroshima Castle and the Shukkeien Garden.  For me the castle was t anything special, although there was a memorial there for the young teenagers who had died from the atom bomb.  13-14 year olds  manned communication posts to free older boys to fight.

 

The garden was lovely, as most Japanese garden parks are.  There were several tea houses.  Our guide had been to one the previous night to participate in a tea ceremony for the full moon.  There was a very large pond and sections with imported plants. The usual bonsai-styled trees were gorgeous.  The lake also included koi and terrapins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A shogun’s armour displayed in the castle.

 

Edited October 3, 2023 by Port Power
Add photos

[Port Power]

Special guest entertainers are a Japanese violin duo.  They also underwent further studies in London.  They have done two shows, playing a range from classical music through to modern songs.  Many of us felt we could practically hear their violins singing!  Their short talks and movements around the stage completed their excellent shows.

 

[Port Power]

Sunday, October 1st: Busan, Korea

 

Arriving back to the ship on Saturday, we went through the Japanese departure process had our passports stamped to exit the country.  On Sunday morning the Korean authorities came aboard and we all filed through the Venetian Lounge to complete Korean immigration.  The visa sticker was put on the back cover of our passports to facilitate re-entry.  Then off we went on our various tours.

[Port Power]

My tour was to the Buddhist Temple by the Sea.  In fact, I think nearly every tour went there as I saw many familiar faces as we filed through the very crowded temple area.  This was the last day of a 4-day public holiday, a type of thanksgiving holiday.  The guide and driver were very pleased we went there first as the traffic later on was even worse!

 

I found Busan to be very neat and pleasing to the eye.  The high apartment blocks were all the same in each grouping, so there was more symmetry.  Eighty per cent of the city lives in high rise apartments.  However there are so many mountains and hills that there is a lot of greenery in between and behind.  We could see a few playgrounds along the drive, but there are few if any playgrounds around the apartment blocks.  Our guide children are encouraged to study, not play outside. 🙁

 

The highway was also high rise!  It ran above the water, giving views of beaches and marinas.  Busan is the second largest container port in the world.  It went on forever!  

[Port Power]

Through the temple entry, there are 108 stairs to the temple at the bottom.  “Keep to the right!” signs were pained on the past and steps.  A few people were even carrying their small dogs.
 

 

I could see a landing down to my left.  To turn off the main line I actually had to put my arm out to go in front of people coming in the other direction!  This landing contain a small Buddha.  There was also a stone carving of this god with the eleven faces.  I cannot remember her name, but others will know.

 

[Port Power]

I could see another terrace a bit further down, so headed that way, again having to hold out my arm to pass through the lines of people.  That’s when I know I would not be going any further down.

 

I could see the main temple quite clearly from the terrace, and also hear the monks chanting.

 

This view is from the upper terrace.

This view is from the lower terrace that can be seen in the above photo.

 

 

Over to my left was another gold leaf covered statue.  I didn’t go any further, but stayed for fifteen minutes looking out to sea and watching people move over the bridge.  A fellow tour member joined me until we decided to walk only 50 steps as well as the path through rock back up to the entrance.  Despite the crowd, the temple was well worth visiting.

 

[highplanesdrifters]

Great stuff @Port Power. Keep it coming!

[Port Power]

After Temple by the Sea, the bus drove to the Sky Walk.  This was only a glass bottom platform that jutted out over the coastline.  Shoe covers were provided to reduce scratching of the glass floor.  Definitely take it or leave it as a place to visit, but the actual area was pretty.  There were a few men down on the rocks fishing.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The apartment blocks facing the sea were obviously the choice flats.  Lot of grass around, so a very nice place to live.  At least some outside area  kids here.

 

[Port Power]

That night we had a Korean dance troupe come aboard to perform.  They were fabulous!  First there was a flower dance…

 

 

…then a fan dance, which was supposed to depict animals, but I could see any.  Beautiful dance, though.

 

 

Three ladies then played traditional instruments, which I couldn’t photograph.  A long board with twelve strings that sounded at various times like a harp, guitar or  harpsichord. 
 

Then another group of ladies played drums set in stands.  Magnificent!  One woman on the left beat just the one drum, and a man sat to the far right with an oversized drum.  Unfortunately my short video will not load: maybe it’s too large. 😩 (No teenagers on board to ask for help, either!). I will try and ask our very IT savvy assistant cruise director for help when I see him next. 🙂