Day 38 - Friday, March 23, 2018 - At Sea to Fukuoka, Japan

With another sea day before arriving in Fukuoka and getting to bed early, it was a good chance to catch up on sleep. Following breakfast, Jeremy gave an excellent presentation on Shanghai. The Mariner awards presentation and luncheon took the center part of the day and while my wife went to BBC game show, I went to the GoPro 5 demo and ended up buying one with some of our shipboard credit. Afterwards, Dr. Kam gave his part 2 lecture on China which was excellent.

When we went to Phil's 3pm presentation, we were informed that his father had some sort of incident and that Phil was given the day off for bereavement and was flying home to Toronto tomorrow. We were saddened to learn this.

Gala Night was tonight and we had great table mates from Canberra and Los Angeles. The movie was 'The Commuter' (a thriller) which was followed by the cast show 'Rock Legends'.

More adventures are planned for tomorrow in Fukuoka. Stay tuned.

Day 37 - Thursday, March 22, 2018 - Naha, Japan - Day 2

I love it when a plan pretty much comes together. The plan for today was to do a self-guided walk using an app called GPSMYCITY. Since we had overnighted in Naha, we didn't get up until after 8am and that was a short night after staying up late the night before. So we went up to breakfast and came back and our room keyscard wouldn't open the stateroom door. We called our cabin attendant over and he tried his card, and it wouldn't open the door either. He said it was probably a dead battery in the lock assembly, and that it would take a while for the locksmith to come and fix it. We indicated that we needed in to get our things to be off the ship for the day. So he called the front desk and a front desk clerk came down with a physical key and let us in to collect our items.

We carded off the ship, and just outside the gangway, Angela remembered that she had forgotten her iPhone. So I stood with Phil, the EXC guide, and helped passengers with routing while Angela went through the drill of scanning back on the ship, going to the front desk, drafting someone to go the the room with a key, and then repeating the first departure process.

With all of our goods in our possession, it was a short walk to the Naminoue Shrine which was the first stop on our tour route. The shrine which literally means 'above the waves' is perched on a cliff with some pretty caves in the sandstone. Nearby is a poignant memorial to the Tushima Maru ship that carried some 1600 children and teachers and soldiers who were being evacuated August 22, 1944 to Nagasaki. The ship was torpedoed by American submarines and almost everyone was killed. It's another reminder of the horrors of war.

From there we walked across the harbor area to the Tomari International Cemetary where many foreigners are buried and there's a memorial plaque honoring Commodore Perry who landed near there in 1853. If you Google the cemetary name, you can find an excellent article about the cemetary and one man's attempt to document all of the graves there despite the names being rendered unreadable due to the ravages of the elements. At this writing there are only 6 remaining plots available and the cemetary will be closed to further burials.

Just down the road from the cemetary was the Naha fish market. This was the cleanest and neatest fish market we've ever visited in all of the world. It certainly smelled fishy, but wasn't overpowering. We even bought and consumed some sushii that was quite good.

It was then a long walk and hike up the hill to the Okinawa Prefecture Museum. This is a relatively new museum that is a very large and stark fortress appearing structure. Inside it was bright and cheery. We aren't art fans, so we passed on spending much time in it other than to use the restroom, visit the gift shop and the hands-on exhibit.  

From the museum, we walked about a mile to Sugar-Loaf hill which was the site of one of the bitterest battles of the American's fight to capture Okinawa. There's a plaque on top of the hill (over 100 steps to climb or a more gentle ascending path on the backside of the hill) describing the battle with a picture of what it looked like during the battle. It was again a reminder of the horrors of war. Now there is a water tower on top of the hill and it appeared that major parts of the hillside had been landscaped more steep than the original from 1944 as shown in the picture.

Nearby we found the fairly large Catholic Church which had for my taste a very refreshing sanctuary design. It was rather plain with good architectural detail and a simple sculpture of Jesus with outstretched arms at the altar area.

It was an interesting walk under the monorail tracks and then through the neighborhoods to the pottery street and museum which we visited last year. From there we entered the back side of the market and quickly walked through it in search of the Giant Tug of War Monument which was located behind the Tourist Information Office next to the Market. The tug of war rope is about 4 feet across for the center sections, and smaller ropes are attached for the contestants to pull on. It's a long time tradition that stopped during the war, but was revived in 1971 and is certified by the Guiness Book of World Records as the largest rope in the world. It was pretty cool.

The tourist map then indicated another memorial of what we thought was to Don Quijote (their spelling). After walking back and forth next to the market and not finding it, I pointed to the map with a policeman, and he laughed and pointed behind him. It was a shopping mall! We did enter it and go up to the hard goods section where I looked at small Japanese automobile and motorcycle items.  

We were now officially at the end of the planned tour and I was pleased with the app even though I think it needs some tweaking. That part of the plan came together. But would we be able to get back into our stateroom? That would have to wait as we stopped at Burger King for a little late lunch for me and a drink for Angela. We then strolled back down the main tourist street (A. Loki said-Dori Street) and did a lot of window shopping. This city is quite walkable with lots to see and do. If one added in the Monorail as a travel option, it opens up visiting Shurijo Castle Park and the Tamaudun Mausoleum 

Back at the port, we showed our passports to the Japanese officials to get back on the ship, got scanned on the ship, went through the metal detector, and then headed for our stateroom. We both bet that we could get into our stateroom as they had all day to get the lock battery fixed. Wrong!! Both keycards wouldn't work. So we had to walk back most of the length of the ship and up 3 floors to the front desk where new keycards were printed for us. One of the guest services personnel then accompanied us back to our stateroom which is 4 doors from the stern or back of the ship. Wahla! It worked. Finally that part of the plan came together.

We then made our way back the length of the ship and up 8 floors to the Crow's Nest to watch the sailaway. We were there after 5pm and missed Happy Hour, but we met up with Rick and Pat and shared about our day. We set sail on time at 6pm with a modest 22mph wind and only one tug assisting us to do a clockwise stern first rotation from our berth. The harbor exit has two breakwaters that are slightly offset and the Captain skillfully navigated us through the narrow opening despite the wind. As we were leaving, commercial and military jets overflew us on their takeoffs and they were quite low as the airport was nearby.  

Tonight was another Asian night in the Lido with primo sushii and a full compliment of Asian cuisine. The whole area also had lots of Asian decorations and it was a very popular dinner venue and was crowded.

After dinner we decided to see the 8pm Main Stage presentation of Frozen Planet Live which we've seen multiple times before on other ships including when it was first released. It's a film produced by the BBC for HAL, and is accompanied by a live orchestra. It's always fun to see the penguins and baby polar bears and the sheer majesty of the ice formations of the Arctic and Antarctic.

Given that we walked over 10 miles today, we came back to the room to get to bed early and it allowed me to update my blog for the day. Tomorrow is fortunately a sea day so I can prepare for leading the Palm Sunday Interdenominational Service in a few days. As part of the turn down materials there was an advertisement for a HAL shore excursion in Shanghai to see Chinese acrobats on the first evening of our 3 day stay there. So I booked us for it on the Mobile Navigator which is HAL's smartphone application that doesn't require the use of the internet but allows one to see the daily schedule, plan dining options, book shore excursions, review your statement, chat with other guests electronically with text messages and much more. It's actually pretty nifty,

We're looking foreword to the sea day tomorrow. We need to catch up on some rest. Stay tuned.

 

Day 36 - Wednesday, March 21, 2018 - Naha, Japan

Our overnight sailing to Naha was a rocking and rolling affair. With winds Force 8 on the Beaufort scale (40 plus mph), and a very choppy sea plus sailing at 18 1/2 knots, we had the most motion of any sailing on this cruise. Since we weren't planning to dock until 2pm, it was sort of like a sea day. But it was a very full time until we docked.

After breakfast in the LIDO, we attended Phil's Japanese language primer session, He drafted a native speaker Japanese woman to assist him and we were exposed to some simple words and phrases. I collected our passports and then Jeremy did another fabulous presentation on the upcoming ports of Fukuoka and Nagasaki. He talked nonstop for 45 minutes with lots of tips and details for the independent traveler. Since many of these ports this leg are repeats, it's good to get a refresher course on them. Dr. Kam followed with his presentation on the history of Japan. He concluded his talk with a very funny segment on Japanese toilets that he learned about on last year's Volendam Asia cruise that we were on.  

Following a very quick lunch we watched as the Volendam came into the harbor with 26mph side winds and two tug boats helping restrain her from being blown into the dock. This is the first time we've experienced tugboat assistance. The Captain skillfully inched the ship up to the dock at precisely 2pm and we then went to the Main Stage to get a disembarkation ticket. Ours was number 16. The ship was cleared about 20 minutes later but we continued to wait as the immigration officials were not yet set up. Finally Bruce, our CD, started calling numbers and the process went fairly smoothly. Once we got inside the terminal we were termperature scanned and we noted that 4 and 5 star Mariners had a special line, so we skipped ahead of about 100 people who were queued up.  

The immigration inspection involved presenting a filled out landing card, one's passport, fingerprinting one's index fingers, and having a photo taken without a hat or glasses. After that was completed, we went through a customs inspection (there were agricultural inspectors looking for suspicious characters) where one presented one's passport again along with a customs form (one per family). We were out of the terminal by 3:20pm and gathered up a map, confirmed some directions with Phil, and walked out of the building. We later found out we could have played our 4 Star Mariner card earlier. A note to future travelers: Be sure to allow lots of time for your first port of entry into Japan immigration check. While I described ours in some detail, yours may vary. We'll have at least one more when we return from China.

Our plan for this day was to walk into town seeing things we hadn't seen on last year's visit. On last year's visit, we visited many of the major landmarks, so this year our plan was to find some we hadn't seen plus re-visit some others that might come our way. I had walking maps from GPSMyCity.Com on my iPhone plus the paper map. A short distance from the Port we found Fukusyuen (spelled Fukusyuen on the map) Garden which was marked as a must see on my GPS map. We paid the 200Yen per person entry fee (about $2US). The ticket agent asked us where we were from, and we said USA, Seattle, Washington. I handed them a sticker which has an outline of Washington State and Seattle and the Space Needle on it), and they were thrilled to receive it.

The Fukusyuen Garden was very tranquil and we took our time following the circular path around the garden snapping pictures and feeding the carp. There was one large white carp that we nicknamed "Piggy" as it bullied the other fish for food. The fish would see people come to the railing and they would swim up to railing. I even got Piggy to stick his head out of the water in anticipation of receiving some fish food. It was good fun.

We continued walking along Matsuyama-Dori Street to the main shopping street which Matsuyama-Dori Street teed into. The Okinawa Prefecture Government Building is located at that intersection. We turned left and strolled along the clean and colorful street with all sorts of merchandise for sale. We found the Makishi Public Market that we visited last year and strolled through it locating vendors we remembered from last year including the Owl Museum and a Beef restaurant that we ate at. This market is huge and fully covered and very neat compared to many others we have seen around the world. Afterwards, McDonald's was nearby so we ducked in for a drink and a chance to use the WiFI (it saves the data on our portable device).  

We started a stroll at 7:00pm back to the ship retracing our path but on the other side of the street. We wanted to be back at the ship in time for the 9pm cultural performance. Steak dinners were $50 per person and up (this area is noted for its beef). But we found this nice restaurant on the second floor of a candy store and enjoyed some WONDERFUL pork and noodles and a most delicious broth for around $10 per person. There was also a couple performing traditional music on the 3 stringed instrument found in this area plus drums. The restaurant wasn't full, and the entertainers tried to communicate with us in their very limited English and our non-existent Japanese. In the end "Icharo" (a Japanese baseball player now back with the Seattle Mariners resonated with them and they also got a sticker. There was also a family from Brazil eating there. I wish I could give the name of the restaurant, but there were no English characters spelling out the name. I do have a picture of the building if anyone is planning to visit and needs a tip for a nice meal (they have much more than pork).

We wandered our way back to the ship and watched the cultural presentation which I didn't understand a word of. The costumes were very colorful, the music was nice, but I couldn't exactly tell if this was modern music or historical music. I'd bet on the former. Www.ryuchim.com is their website.

Afterwards, I happened to be next to the Event Manager, so I mentioned that I've led the last 3 Sunday Interdenominational services and asked if there would be a Protestant Chaplain on board for Easter Sunday. He said no and Bruce, the CD, was standing next to him confirmed it, so it appears I'll be the one leading both the Palm and Easter Sunday services as a volunteer.

We're overnighting in this port so tomorrow, we're planning to find a number of scenic points on our GPSMyCity walking tour. I created a custom walking tour and we'll follow that. Stay tuned.

Day 30 -Thursday, March 15, 2018 - Hong Kong Day 2.

I guess we are getting spoiled by this cruising thing. Today we are still in Hong Kong and there were no whirring motors to wake us up. So we didn't get up until after 9am and were just able to get some breakfast in the LIDO before heading out for another day of touring in Hong Kong.

The shuttle this day went to a different shopping center at the Diamond Hill subway station. Nearby was the Nan Lian Garden which was a real treat to visit. It's an immaculate garden with amazing shrubbery, glistening clean reflection ponds, beautiful rocks, and a display of some intricate wood joinery. The koi in the reflecting pond were among the prettiest I've ever seen.

We then hopped on the MTR (subway) and made our way to the Ladies Market which we had never seen before. It's much like the Temple Street Night Market but not quite as big. While we arrived after noon, many vendors were still setting up their 8'x10' stalls. Probably the biggest difference that I could see between the two markets is that there were much more ladies clothes and accessory items. We also were finally able to find some deodorant and disposable razors at a nearby beauty store. We retraced our route back to the Diamond Hill Subway station and cashed in our Octopus cards. We used that money plus what we had left to enjoy a very nice Chinese meal at the Modern China restaurant in the huge mall.

Our 3pm shuttle bus was waiting for us at the meeting point and it turned out to be a full bus. The mandatory passenger emergency drill was held at 4:15pm for ALL guests including the in-transit guests like us. Fortunately, as in-transit guests we didn't have to do the face to face immigration check as HAL was already holding our passports. As I write this at 5:30pm, there are still two guests who haven't shown up. Fortunately they must have finally shown up, because at 6:03pm we cast off from the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal and began our slow cruise out to sea and towards Manila.

The only evening entertainment on the Main Stage was "Listen to the Music" which introduces the entertainment staff as well as the singers and dancers. We've seen this 3 times this voyage and many times on previous HAL voyages. We continue to enjoy it.

We'll be at sea for a day and I am leading a M&G tomorrow for the Cruise Critic members on board.

Day 35 - Tuesday, March 20, 2018 - Keelung, Taiwan

Today we had another 8am Port arrival and we didn't have to meet our group until 8:30am in the Ocean Bar. We ate breakfast in the Lido with Dennis & Katie before I went down and exchanged 100US$ for 2810 Taiwan New Dollars from the money changer that had set up shop on board.

We scanned off the ship just after 8:30am in a very industrial port. There were 4 cruise ships in port today including the Celebrity Millenium and our ship definitely drew the short stick as we were docked the furthest away. We had to walk outside the port gate where we were warmly greeted by our guide and driver, Jeff, for the day. It was then about a 45 minute drive to Taipei where we did a highlights tour. It turned out that Yuni, our tour organizer, had used Jeff for another tour in Taiwan back in January.

It started raining as we reached the city and 

began our tour. We visited the National Palace, Martyr's Memorial, The Grand Hotel, Confuscious Temple, The Chang Kai Shek Memorial with the changing of the guard ceremony, and the Sun Yat-Sen Square with its views of Taipei 101 which was once the tallest building in the world. During the day we ate a yummy lunch at Formosa Gong for $4 per person, and enjoyed pastries at Riyu Sunny Cake.

On the drive back to the port it began to rain harder and continued to rain throughout our departure into the open seas. The Captain's departure announcement even included the prediction of rough seas as we progress to Naha, Japan. We watched the sailaway from the Crow's Nest before eating a light dinner in the Lido.

Our evening entertainment was first the movie, 'I Tonya' followed by a concert pianist, Naomi Edemariam.

We don't arrive into Naha until about 2pm, so tomorrow will be like a sea day.

Day 34 - Monday, March 19, 2018 - Kaohsiung, Taiwan

We weren't scheduled to dock until 8am, so we didn't have to roll out of bed until 7am. Our little group assembled in the Ocean Bar and after the ship clearance announcement was made, we scanned off the ship and walked through the small terminal area. A couple of us tried to use our ATM cards to get local currency, but we were unsuccessful. In the end it didn't matter as our US$ were accepted where we needed them.

We headed off with Andy, our driver and guide, for our first stop at the Lotus Pond. This area is marked by a very colorful dragon and tiger with a couple towers. Across the street is a temple and we visited it along with another temple down the street devoted to government officials and business people. Next we drove a ways out of town to an area called Tianlao Moon World Mud Rock Geology Tourist Center which could best be described as a miniature Dakota Badlands. It was quite scenic and we strolled around a little retaining lake named the Jade Pool formed by a set of earthen dams. The Rihyue Temple was also located there but we didn't visit it.

After a short drive back towards the city we came to the Fokuangshan Monastery. Its notable feature is the world's largest sitting Buddha and the teaching here is of the Humanistic persuasion as championed by one monk. The complex is huge and contains meeting rooms, museums, a hotel, restaurants, and the like. Our meal there was nice with many courses of primarily vegetarian cuisine. The cost was $15US per person.

After lunch we made our way back to the city and saw the glass done in the main subway station before visiting the Holy Rosary Catholic Church and then the Shoushan Love lookout (it overlooks the Love River). We were back at the terminal just after 4pm and said our goodbyes to Andy, did a little internet in the terminal, and then were shooed back onto the Volendam.  

There were no stragglers and we watched the sailaway from the Crow's Nest while enjoying nuts and a beverage and conversation with a couple from Alaska that we've sailed with before. The captain indicated that the narrow harbor entrance was only 1 1/2 ship widths and I can certainly agree that it was narrow as we passed through. There was an electronic guidance screen to aid in the departure. Once we were out in the open sea we turned north to follow the west coast of Taiwan which should give us some smoother seas tonight.

After a very light dinner we watched a short film about Salvador Dali and Walt Disney (a strange combo to say the least) and then the movie 'Red Obsession' a documentary about China's obsession with Bordeaux wines. We capped the evening off watching the cast performance of 'Dance'.

Tomorrow we're in Keelung which is the gateway to Taipei, Taiwan. Stay tuned for more adventures.

Day 33 - Sunday, March 18, 2018 - At Sea to Kaohsiung, Taiwan

The waters overnight were relatively calm as we plied our way north along the west coast of the Philippine Islands. But that would change about 2:15pm in the afternoon. But I'm getting ahead of my story.

Sleeping in a regular window stateroom wth the curtains not drawn at night has the important effect of causing an early wake up due to the sunlight streaming in the large window. Given that it was a sea day, it was a nice lazy sort of day. After breakfast, Jeremy gave another excellent and fact filled summary of the next two ports of call: Keelung (Taipei) & Manila. He's a wealth of information and if you ever have him on a cruise you are on, DON'T miss his presentations. Dr. Kam followed with his first lecture on Chinese history. He elected to skip his dynasty presentation and went immediately to the era from 1921 to almost current times. It was excellent also.

After lunch, Phil gave a brief introduction to Mandarin with a few typical phrases like Hello, Goodbye, and the like. He's another presenter to not miss for his cultural insights and helpfulness. The Ask the Captain session followed and it was during his presentation tha the seas became rougher with a bit more chop. When I looked at my map, I could see that we left the protection of the Philippine Islands, and we were now in the open seas. The ship had a bit of a pitch to it (pitch is the sensation of the bow moving up and down) and pitch cannot be controlled by the stabilizers. They are only effective for dampening rolling action (side to side motion).

Phil then gave another presentation. This one was on Chopsticks: History, types, and how to use them. He even had enough chopsticks for his audience along with various shaped objects for people to practice on. It was a good presentation.

At 5pm, once again I led the Interdenominational Service with over 30 in attendance. Since several of the participants had 5:30pm dinner plans, I held the length of the service to 1/2 hour. Easter is only 2 weeks away and I don't know if HAL is putting a pastor on board for that segment. If not, I'll be prepared to lead it.

We enjoyed a light dinner in the LIDO. Roast turkey and cranberry sauce along with carrots and brussel sprouts made for a nice dinner. Erik and Mary Anne joined us after dinner and we sat and chatted about a number of things and made plans to have dinner together before the cruise ends. They're going all the way to Vancouver. We'll also be on another cruise with them next year.

The evening entertainment was Annie Frances, a VERY talented Australian singer we've enjoyed on a number of previous cruises. She covered number 1 hits from the 1970's. She was so good that I saw both of her shows while my wife only saw the later show as she watched the movie, Walk With Me which was about Buddhist monks.

Tomorrow will be our first visit to Taiwan and we're looking forward to it. Stay tuned for what we discover in this new port.