Live(ish) Cruising From Japan

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, davwen81 said:

Fabulous pics. We loved Kenrouken gardens, lovely to see their autumn colours. 

Unfortunately there wasn't as much autumn colour as I'd been hoping for. It's been unseasonably warm in Japan over the last few weeks.

[MicCanberra]

Great photos, love the gardens.

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Sat 4th Nov - Kanazawa

 

The seafood was the freshest I've ever seen.

Squid

 

 

2,300.

 

Is that worth around about Six Quid?

Edited November 8, 2023 by arxcards

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, arxcards said:

2,300.

 

Is that worth around about Six Quid?

Nearly AU $24. Currently 96.89 Yen to the dollar.

[MicCanberra]

2 hours ago, arxcards said:

2,300.

 

Is that worth around about Six Quid?

More like a dozen

[NSWP]

2 hours ago, arxcards said:

2,300.

 

Is that worth around about Six Quid?

Quids went out here in 1966 young Geoffrey. Lol.

[lyndarra]

17 hours ago, arxcards said:

2,300.

 

Is that worth around about Six Quid?

They're worse than sick, they're dead.

[bazzaw]

I cant see what the price is for the Salmon pieces. Thought I might be able to compare it to the $42 per kg currently being charged by our local Woolies. Many many many years ago while touring Germany - long before the Euro - we saw prawns on display for X Deutschmarks - I thought it meant per KG so I ordered 1 kg . Turned out that the sign said X Deutschmarks per 100 grams - an expensive mistake on my part 😞

[Jean C]

1 minute ago, bazzaw said:

I cant see what the price is for the Salmon pieces. Thought I might be able to compare it to the $42 per kg currently being charged by our local Woolies. Many many many years ago while touring Germany - long before the Euro - we saw prawns on display for X Deutschmarks - I thought it meant per KG so I ordered 1 kg . Turned out that the sign said X Deutschmarks per 100 grams - an expensive mistake on my part 😞

Hahaha, many years ago my daughter and hubby were travelling in Europe. As a quality souvenir they bought a particularly nice filigree edged plate/dish for 80 Euros. On receiving their credit card statement they realised they'd misunderstood the price - it was 800 euros! 🤯 

[MMDown Under]

3 minutes ago, bazzaw said:

I cant see what the price is for the Salmon pieces. Thought I might be able to compare it to the $42 per kg currently being charged by our local Woolies. Many many many years ago while touring Germany - long before the Euro - we saw prawns on display for X Deutschmarks - I thought it meant per KG so I ordered 1 kg . Turned out that the sign said X Deutschmarks per 100 grams - an expensive mistake on my part 😞

Wow that was an expensive mistake.  My funniest mistake in Germany was when I bought what I thought was hand washing liquid (photo on bottle of hand washing in a basin) to discover it was starch.  

[gbenjo]

On our recent cruise around Japan I misread the tag  ( should have had my glasses on )on a pearl choker type necklace,  of which we bought two for our grand daughters, what I thought was 5600 yen each was really 56000 yen so A$1100 dollar purchase instead of A $110.

[MicCanberra]

Wow, I call those buys 'decimal point spending', it can happen so easily.

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, gbenjo said:

On our recent cruise around Japan I misread the tag  ( should have had my glasses on )on a pearl choker type necklace,  of which we bought two for our grand daughters, what I thought was 5600 yen each was really 56000 yen so A$1100 dollar purchase instead of A $110.

Oh dear.  Are your grand daughters old enough to appreciate the value of the pearl necklaces?

[gbenjo]

10 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

Oh dear.  Are your grand daughters old enough to appreciate the value of the pearl necklaces?

 

11 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

Oh dear.  Are your grand daughters old enough to appreciate the value of the pearl necklaces?

Yes, 18 and 19 but they have not got them yet, saving them for Xmas now that they are a bit more than just a little “pressie” we bought them  while we were on holidays.  But no big deal…..money was made to be spent wasn’t it? 😂😂

[gbenjo]

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

Wow, I call those buys 'decimal point spending', it can happen so easily.

Yes, my wife said she really wanted to buy  them …….but I could  not see the point.

[MMDown Under]

49 minutes ago, gbenjo said:

 

Yes, 18 and 19 but they have not got them yet, saving them for Xmas now that they are a bit more than just a little “pressie” we bought them  while we were on holidays.  But no big deal…..money was made to be spent wasn’t it? 😂😂

Oh that is a perfect age.  I'm sure they will value them.  

[Mareblu]

Julie, I’ve only just discovered this wonderful travel blog.  Such beautiful images and vivid description.  I just love the gardens and their colours and form in Japan.  Thank you for such generosity in sharing.  
I have to confess that Singapore Air BC is my favourite of all, and I actually don’t find the flat beds too hard, although I’ve read quite a few reviews of folks who agree with you.  The food and service is always superb.  We did Cathay BC last year, and in 2019 before Covid, because the price was so very much better, but going through Honkers is a nightmare these days.  And the flight experience, though very comfortable, wasn’t a patch on SA.  

Looking forward to more trip notes and pics🙏🏻

[MicCanberra]

So many things that could have been said.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Hi everyone, sorry I've been absent fot the last few days, it's been hectic! Plus we only get one internet connection PER CABIN so have to share. But I'm making lots of notes so will get around to posting more of our adventures eventually albeit later than I'd hoped for a Live(ish).

 

We're at Kochi at the moment but cancelled our excursion here as I woke up with a stinking headache. Luckily it wasn't a migraine though. My sinuses have been clogging up for the past couple of days too. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

Sun 5th Nov - Sakaiminato

 

Another early start but at least I'd slept well again. We had to have a very quick breakfast as our tour meeting time was 8am, the earliest of all our tours.

 

There was a passport check as we left the terminal but it was very quick.

 

Our first stop was Tottori Flower Park. This was about 40 minutes drive from the cruise terminal so we got to see some of the countryside and smaller villages along the way. Lots of rice paddies, of course, plus other vegetable cultivation. We also saw a few fields with fairly large solar arrays.

 

The flower park was very pretty. There were paths winding through the hills and valleys all through the park but they have created an above ground circle track, about 1km in length. This was covered from above and had a nice springy wooden floor which my feet really appreciated. We got great views from this walkway.

 

 

 

The mountain in the background of this photo is Mt Daisen.

 

At one point there was a hill covered with a blaze of red salvia. It looked stunning. The area covered was too big to fit in one photo though.

 

At another point there was a waterfall coming down over one side of the walkway. That made for interesting photos.

 

And at another point we cut through the hillside in a tunnel. The sides of the tunnel have been left in the raw excavation state revealing some interesting fossils embedded in the sedimentary rock.

 

 

As we came down from the circle walk we passed some lovely lilies which are a speciality of the park.

 

 

There was a big dome in the centre of the park, allowing tropical species to be grown so we headed there once we'd done the full circle. I guess Christmas is getting close as we passed a display of holly bushes.

 

The dome had some beautiful orchids, some in a display at the entrance, others tucked in a wall.

 

 

Nashi pears are a speciality of the region and there was a soft serve ice cream stand selling a pear flavour. I usually don't like soft serve but this was more like a gelato with a beautiful fresh pear flavour.

 

After leaving the flower park I was able to snap a picture of the lovely river running alongside the road.

 

They use a slightly different method to stop bits of rock falling off the hillside. It looked quite picturesque.

 

Our next stop was at the Castle of Sweets. The owner liked castles so much he built his sweet store in the shape of a castle. The ground floor is the shop, with lots of things to taste. Many used a chestnut paste as a filling. There were also very tasty rice crackers which were bigger and had a different texture than Australian ones, and a yummy clam soup concentrate. The next floor was a restaurant, and at the top there was a viewing gallery. On one side of the castle there was another building with the factory where the sweets were made and there were big windows through to the shop. At the entrance to the castle there was a lovely waterfall and koi pond.

 

Kitaro Road has 100 small bronze statues of characters created by local cartoonist Shigeru Mizuki. Buses ate allowed to drive through a short section of this street but not stop. We spotted a few of the statues. When the bus turned around at Sakaiminato Station we saw a big poster showing all of the characters in Mizuki's cartoons.

 

On the way to and from this area we passed lots of docked fishing boats including squid fishing boats with many lights to attract the squid.

 

Back at the cruise terminal we had to do a departure passport check as we are going to South Korea tomorrow. It was fairly quick but once we had done this we could not go back off the ship.

 

We were farewelled by a Japanese band of drummers, flautists and singers.

 

We went to Crooners for our pre-dinner cocktail where our favourite crooner was entertaining.

 

Tonight's dinner was the Chef's Dinner with a French influence. We both ordered the same things: a seafood bisque appetiser, then duck in orange sauce. The leg meat of the duck was lovely but the duck breast had a much denser texture than I'm used too. It wasn't all that nice. We finished with floating islands - poached meringue "islands" in a creme anglaise, drizzled with caramel sauce and scattered with toasted almonds. Very yummy.

 

After dinner we had a quick cognac in Crooners before retiring. Tomorrow was going to be a full day.

Edited November 14, 2023 by OzKiwiJJ

[OzKiwiJJ]

I just realised I had one ready to post, and time to post it - working out and inserting the photos takes a while to do after I've finished writing the text.

[OzKiwiJJ]

I've finished another day so it will be up shortly.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Mon 6th Nov - Busan, South Korea

 

I woke up feeling tired unfortunately. Not a good start to a full day of touring. I perked up a bit after breakfast and a strong cup of tea.

 

Of course we had to go through South Korea immigration but it was quick so the lines flowed smoothly.

 

Our first stop was the Haedong Yonggungsa Temple (Dragon Palace Temple), about a 40 minute drive from the cruise terminal. Most Buddhist temples are in the mountains but this was by the sea. There wre 108 steps to get down to it but luckily there was also a road. It was a steep slope but easier than crowded stairs.

 

Leading up to the stairs/road down to the temple itself was an avenue of statues. Japanese zodiac statues on one side. This is the statue for my Dragon zodiac sign.

 

On the other side there were other various statues.

 

 

 

Part of the temple complex.

 

Buddha

 

There were plenty of dragons around the complex.

 

The way we are holding our fingers in this photo is a tradition in South Korea symbolizing hearts.

 

To cleanse yourself of sins you bow to the baby Buddha, pour three ladles of water over him, them bow again.

 

Statue by the sea.

 

A lovely area with what I think were various memorials.

 

Our next stop was lunch at the Blue Kitchen at Marina. It was on the 4th floor of the building. There were separate dining rooms for each tour group and a huge buffet area with multiple cuisines. We mostly had Korean dishes. The food was excellent. During lunch we noticed one of the dining rooms had a Regent sign on it. Explorer, the ship we are going on later this week, had arrived at the cruise terminal after we left on our excursion.

 

We then went for a walk around Dongbaek (Camellia) Island, where the APEC conference was held in 2005. Up until then the island had been closed to the public for defence reasons. It now has a lovely, fairly flat path around it with plenty of seats if you want a rest. At the outermost point of the island there is a small lighthouse and great views of the bays either side. One has a lovely beach which is very popular with locals and tourists.

 

And there are some very large apartment buildings on both sides. This area, Marine City, is the most popular and most expensive residential area in Busan.

 

To my amusement our group, number 5, ended up walking alongside the Regent group number 5 around the island. The guides appeared to be good friends. Our guide, Sunny, is on the left. She was one of the best tour guides we've ever had.

 

We travelled back to the port area where we first went to a park where there was duty free store which had yummy dried mandarin slices dipped in either white chocolate, dark chocolate or yogurt. Much to my surprise I liked the while chocolate ones best - the dark chocolate, which I normally preferred, overpowered the mandarin flavour a bit too much. There was also another elegant dragon statue.

 

Next we visited the fish market which is quite different to the one we saw in Kanazawa. There were some very big crabs.

 

Some very large flat fish, possibly flounder - these weren't the biggest we saw.

 

I'm not sure what these are. Clams?

 

Plus eels, baby octopus, and lots of other fish and shellfish.

 

Then we crossed the road to another big general market area with lots of small alleys full of shops selling all sorts of things. However they weren't things we wanted to buy, and we were feeling very tired by then, so we wandered off and had a coffee then joined our tour group again.  Luckily this was our last stop and it was a quick trip back to the cruise terminal where we got a close look at Regent Seven Seas Explorer. She looked quite small compared with Diamond Princess even though Diamond isn't considered a very large ship these days.

 

We had our pre dinner cocktail in Crooners again, with a different pianist this time. He was excellent.

 

We both started with the seafood vol-au-vent for dinner. The pastry was a bit too dry but the filling was delicious.

 

I had lamb cutlets for dinner and they had proper British mint sauce. 😊 Rolf chose seafood orecchiette.

 

I had the Princess Love Boat Dream dessert. It wasn't as good as ones I'd had on Coral Princess last year. Rolf had a huge banana split but he said it was mostly ice cream and cream.

 

We ended up chatting to our waiters after our meal so didn't go for an after dinner drink. We were getting very tired after our full day out.

Edited November 14, 2023 by OzKiwiJJ

[OzKiwiJJ]

Tue 7th Nov - Nagasaki

 

Today didn't start well. Our cabin toilet decided it wasn't going to flush! After breakfast we had a bit of a chase around deck 14 to find the toilets, then we had to hurry down to our cabin to collect our things, and race to the Princess Theatre.

 

It was a long walk from the ship to the cruise terminal. We had to go through Japan immigration which was much more tedious than in South Korea as they take index fingerprints and photos. The scanning device took ages before it was happy. The queues moved very slowly. Then we had the customs check. Luckily that was faster. Finally we had another long walk to our bus.

 

There weren't many excursions offered here. We didn't want to go to the Peace Museum, nor do another full day excursion, so we just did the Easy Nagasaki trip. It wasn't as good as I'd hoped. Our tour guide was rather annoying as she would continually repeat words or phrases. It felt like she was treating us like senile idiots! I may be getting old but hopefully I'm still a long way from senility.

 

The first part of the bus trip was fast, so no chance to snap photos out the bus window.The tour offered "Drive through at the Mt. Inasa Lookout is an opportunity to take in wide views of the city". Nope. In reality it was short glimpses of the city as we wound our way up and down the mountain and a short stop in a car park completely surrounded by trees and bushes. No views at all, plus we were told to stay on the bus at this stop. This was the only decent photo I got.

 

On the far side of the carpark was the terminal for the "Slope Car", a monorail-type of transport that goes up to the summit. It holds about 100 passengers. It would have been great if the tour had included a trip on this.

 

After coming back down the mountain we wound our way through the city, past the atomic bomb ground zero, which is now a tree-lined park.

 

Our final stop was the Peace Park. At least we could get out of the bus here! It was a lovely spot with a huge peace statue at one end and a fountain at the other end, plus several smaller memorials scattered through it. It would have been a very peaceful place too but school tours added to cruise ship tours made it very crowded.

 

Peace statue.

 

Autumn colours.

 

Peace fountain.

 

Then we whizzed through the town again, passing the One Pole Torii Gate ' one pole was blown off by the atomic bomb but the other is still standing. The bus did pause here. I was sitting on the other side of the bus but the seats across from us were empty. I had just lined up my photo when a guy from further down the bus decided to stand in the aisle so he could take his photo from the vacant seats. Grrrr! The bus started move again just as he went back to his seat so I missed getting a decent photo. Double grrrr!

 

We were glad to get back to the cruise terminal. The tour had been a big disappointment from a photo opportunity point of view.

 

After lunch we sat on our balcony for a while. We were overlooking the cruise terminal and the city behind it.

 

 

 

We had another drumming group farewell.

 

Luckily it started before I had to get showered and dressed. It was a formal night and the Captain's Circle Cocktail Parties. We were invited to the early session at 5pm .

 

I spotted a new "look" in men's formal wear - black pants and a black tshirt with a glittery panel with "Alaska" on it. Oh well, at least it was sparkly! 🤣

 

The most travelled passengers were from:

USA - 2089 days

Japan - 948 days

USA - 808 days

I don't think we'll ever get enough days to be in the top three, we started cruising too late.

 

The breakdown of Captain's Circle levels onboard are:

Elites 289

Platinum 494

Ruby 307

Gold 574

First timers 979

 

The Captain announced some of the changes that the new Sun Princess will have, like azipods, and everyone clapped politely. Then he said that it would not have shower curtains. It will have glass doors. Everybody cheered! 🤣

 

Tonight was the second formal night so the Gala dinner menu. The escargot had mushrooms added so we both passed on those. My second choice was crispy fried tofu which was seriously yummy. Rolf had a prawn and crab bisque.

 

I had the land and sea main - a perfectly blue piece of fillet steak with a small lobster tail. Rolf managed to wangled no steak and two lobster tails.

 

We both tried the Grand Marnier souffle and came to the conclusion that Princess souffles are no longer worth ordering. The smaller ramekens mean the souffle doesn't rise properly. The best part was the Grand Marnier sauce!

 

Tonight's show was Bravo, one of my favourites. We haven't seen it for years as it has been replaced by Encore on most ships. It was the best show I've ever seen on Princess. The lead Princess singers have strong voices which complement each other and the guest soprano, who was from Sydney, had a glorious voice. There was some wonderful dancing as well.

 

One of the bands was doing ABBA songs in the Atrium so we stopped in Crooners to listen and have a cognac before heading back to our cabin.

Edited November 14, 2023 by OzKiwiJJ

[MicCanberra]

Mushrooms and snails, too confusing.