Sayōnara from Japan

 We’re nearing the end of our journey and it’s been a remarkable experience. The last few days have been at sea and stops at the ports of Nagasaki Kobe and Shimizu.

We all know about the second atomic bomb dropped on Japan was at Nagasaki. A trip to the Atomic bomb museum was a very somber experience. The devastation and destruction and loss of life from a bomb that was insignificant in size to today’s arsenals. Very graphic photos of the impact show the amount of destruction. Nagasaki is located between two small mountains and when the bomb exploded the impact and fires leveled most buildings in the valet and up the slopes of both mountains. With a population of 250,000  almost 76,000 died and another 75,000 suffer severe burns and radiation sickness. Today Nagasaki is a modern city with a large harbor that has lots of industry along its shores. Every port city  that we visit has a huge amount of industry from shipping to manufacturing. Acres of new vehicles sit along the docks awaiting shipped to some where in the world.

A day spent at sea then we parked  the boat at Kobe. For the next two days.  Near Kobe is Kyoto and Osaka  both cities with lots of history our first day we travelled about an hour by train to Osaka and visited the Osaka castle. It was a beautiful day on Sunday and the cherry and plum trees were in full blossom thousands of people were out visiting the Castle grounds.  It is very impressive with a huge moat and stone walls surrounding the castle.

Osaka Castle

After visiting the castle we headed to the entertainment and restaurant district in Osaka called Notenbori. This area is famous for all the signage outside the restaurants and shopping areas. Again the area was packed with people looking at all the sites and taking a river cruise the canal system. Many steps later and a train back to the ship it was another busy day. 

Osaka food District Notenbori

Our ship the Norwegian Jewell has very good restaurants and entertainment in the evening. We did a behind the tour of the ship and saw all the different departments that provided services to us. From the huge supply rooms, the mega sized kitchens that prepare thousands of meals each day to the laundry services and the engineering facilities and the deck where the captain and his crew navigate the waters was a truly interesting tour.

Our last day in Kobe was rainy but warm so we hopped on a bus and headed to Mount Rukko overlooking the bay of Kyoto. We took a tram up the side of the mountain and the views were great even though visibility was limited. 

Kobe is famous for its Sake so of course we went to a Sake brewery and museum and learned about the fine art of Sake manufacturing. After trying a few samples I don’t think I’ll develop a taste for it on a regular basis. We left Kobe in the afternoon and sailed overnight to Shimizu which is close to Mount Fuji. It was pouring rain and overcast for most of the day. We were only in port from 9:30 to about 3:30. For a lot of people who had booked excursions to see Mount Fuji were disappointed and no refunds were given for these tours. We haven't taken any of the Cruise lines tours as we can do them ourselves at a fraction of the cost and have the fun of taking the buses and subway to get to the various sites. Getting around is very easy as long as you have good cell or WiFi connections. While in Shimizu we ventured to a museum about the history of Sushi making. A walk along the harbor and a stop at a 7-11 for lunch which is nothing like the 7-11’s in Canada. Convenient stores are everywhere in Japan three chains dominate from Family Mart, Lawsons and 7-11 you can find all kinds of freshly prepared foods from steam buns to soups and sandwiches all very good quality and very cheap. Just as we are about to leave port the skies cleared partially and Mount Fuji appeared and pandemonium broke out across the ship as everyone was excited to Japans iconic dormant volcano.

As I write this we have left port and are heading back to Tokyo to start our flight home on Wednesday afternoon. It seems forever that we were in Vietnam and the millions of Scooters on the congested streets and seeing the magnificent remains in Seim Reap Cambodia. The beautiful beach’s and great food in Thailand. Japan is so unique and I think one of the great countries in the world with so many people and so unique it has to be seen to be appreciated. I must thank my traveling partner who had lots of patience while I kept us from getting  not too lost and was willing to be a bit more adventurous than usual. I hope you have enjoyed this blog and who knows where we will travel to next.

Sayōnara From Japan

Rob and Karen

I Karen must take this opportunity to thank my personal travel agent, excursion master, money translator and companion as he absolutely nailed it  my only job was to carry the passports and If I don’t say so myself did a damn good job at it  

So to Rob Thank you Arigato Gozaimasu

“Oh the Places You’ll Go” Dr.Suess

 Hello friends and family, I’m not sure if you realized  this blog subscription included a special addition blog written by Karen. As Dr. Seuss said “Oh the places you’ll go”  and here’s some of the places from Vietnam to Japan and how we got there.  

A carrier boat out to the Island in Hoi Long Bay

Many many many subways took us to faraway places to sight see

Our tour in Vietnam was by bus. Full of my very own “classroom” of kids 

We did ride a scooter taxi in Vietnam (with my eyes closed)

                Long boats to take us island hopping 

               

Oh dear Lord pics from the bike tour when we were still part of the group 

                       Round boats in Vietnam

                          Motorcycle tuk tuk

Happy cyclist BEFORE I  knew what I was getting myself into

                 Night tuk tuk with a lady driver

                 Long boat I think I’m the captain

Round boat 

Tuk tuk and taxi competing for a piece of the road

                     Ship Norwegian Jewel 

                 Cable car up to Mount Rokka

                 Subway at rush hour 

   

        Back of a pick up 

    Mekong River water Taxi

Rickshaw in Hanoi

If you Cruise you cant Snooze

 Our departure from Yokohama on the 31st of March was the start of our cruise. A quick train back into Tokyo to pick up our baggage from storage and we headed to the cruise terminal. Our time in Tokyo and Yokohama was awesome with so much to see and do even with cool and wet weather the first few days didn’t slow us down to much. We are starting to figure out that the warm weather in Japan doesn’t really start until May. Thinking it would be warmer gave Karen a reason to get some shopping done for appropriate clothing. As there isn’t shortage of retailers willing to accommodate her needs prior to leaving port.

Our cruise ship operated by Norwegian Cruise Lines called the Jewell awaited us. It will be nice not having to pack and unpack and moving from hotel to hotel for the next 11 days. The cruise ship has about 2400 passengers of which 1/3 are Americans another 1/3 are Australians and the remaining being made up of about 19 other countries with about 75 Canadians on board. Recently renovated in 2022 the ship has lots of restaurants, bars and lounges. We have some areas that are a bit quieter and have set up  in the Spinnaker lounge at the front of the ship with great views when coming into and out of the ports we visit. 

Departure from Tokyo at 7:00 pm the next morning we woke up in Nagoya. We had breakfast and headed to the Toyota Memorial Museum only to find out that it was closed on Mondays. It was then back into a bus and then another train bus to reach the Nagoya Castle a world Heritage Site it was very busy and too tell you the truth we have had our fill of Temples and Pagodas dating back hundreds to thousands of years. 

 BulletTrain Museum

Wanting to see some more recent history we stopped in at the Japan Rail Museum where the history of the Bullet Train was on display, along with many displays of Japans rail history. We have seen many large train stations but Nagoya is the second busiest and the largest train terminal in Japan again. We are finally getting some warmer weather but the forecast isn’t looking great. Back to the ship diner and catch a show in the ships theater with some really good entertainment. I spoke with the piano player in one of the lounges and he was from Cochrane and has been working on these cruises for the past 8 years. If you see a line up on the ship there is usually a buffet or a restaurant and the end of the line.

Day three we were expecting to visit Kochi but due to low tides we were diverted to Wakayama for a short stop of about 5 hours a city with limited history and sites to visit. But we able to finally able to see the cherry trees in full bloom. 

Back into the ship and the next morning (day 5) we arrived in rainy but warm Kagoshima home of an active volcano that blows off some steam 5-6 times per month. Unfortunately with low cloud cover the Volcano was invisible to us. After  a train ride and a ferry ride to a good interpretative centre rounded out the day with a bowl of  Tonktonsu Pork Ramen at a small little restaurant the south of Japan is famous for its pork Ramen and I think it was one of the best meals we had in Japan.

Today we landed on Busan South Korea  before we arrived Karen reached out to an ex-teacher friend who moved nearby Busan. Glen Oxford who taught at Sacred Heart moved to Korea to teach. Since they were in spring break Glen met us at the cruise port and took us out to see some of the sites in downtown Busan. A walk through some local markets and an authentic Korean lunch and a viewing from atop a high rise shopping centre made out for a great day.

Karen and Glen Oxford

Busan 

It’s hard to believe that we are less than a week from  arriving back home, but we still have lots to see before then so one more blog before we wrap up the Ballhorn’s in Asia.

Japan Land of the Rising Sun…….Sometimes

 After our time in Thailand we flew from Bangkok to Tokyo leaving at 10:00 pm and arriving in to Tokyo at 5:30am. Japan is efficient towards all things we were able to ship our luggage from the airport to our hotel, since we were not able to check into our hotel until 3:00pm. 

Karen enjoying the weather and Cherry Blossoms 

So what to do inTokyo on a rainy cool day (8 degrees C) a temperature change from 38 degrees in Thailand. Japans transit and rail system is phenomenal with Google maps you can seamlessly travel throughout  out this city of 37 million people. I would expect less than 10% of population  owns a car so the transit system is the way ever gets around. We hit the morning rush hour on the metro and it was absolutely pack its chaotic in an organized way. It’s my second time here and I find it absolutely amazing how things function so well with so many people.

We had expected to see the cheery blooms in full bloom so we headed to a famous park area and saw a total of two blossoms, apparently the abnormally weather has delayed the big bloom. Tokyo is absolutely packed with visitors from afar and all parts of Japan to experience the great Sakura (bloom). After visiting a couple of museums and getting absolutely drenched and cold we headed toward our hotel to get some rest and dry out.

River walk near our hotel

Japan is an absolutely amazing country and Tokyo is even more amazing! There is so much order to everything, no litter any where if you have anything  like a coffee cup or pop can you will challenged to find a garbage can anywhere. No graffiti or any type of social disorder that we are seeing in Canada. With a huge population and trying to keep things working efficiently everyone buys in to creating a society that is based upon respect. It’s a busy city that doesn’t sleep but doesn’t overwhelm you with exception of a few areas of the city. 

Great food is abundant throughout the city we went to restaurants ranging  from McDonald’s for breakfast and Ramen restaurants that seat only 6-10 people. Breakfast in Japan usually includes rice a salad, vegetables and maybe a soup so McDonald’s for an egg muffin and drip coffee was our choice. One thing we loved is the vending machines that are located everywhere from street fronts to back alleys they offer all kinds of drinks including really good hot coffee in a can , I don’t understand why coffee crazy Canada doesn’t have this yet.

Vending Machines Hot coffee in a can 

Our second day the the sun came out and we went on a diner cruise through the river system within Tokyo of course we booked expecting to see all the cherry blossoms but no luck. The tour included a great 5 course meal and unlimited drinks. The Japanese like their alcohol but there intake tolerance is quite low so about after 2-3 drinks the normally quiet and polite Japanese turn into a loud laughing individual. Karen met this inhibriated lady called Yuko who became her best friend for about an hour and a half on this 3 hour tour. It was a great tour and being able to see the city from a different type of view. We’re not sure if Yuko will remember the cruise.

Karens new friend Yuko

 After the tour and leaving Yuko with her embarrassed daughter we went up the top of one of the highest building’s in Tokyo to see the great expanse of the city. As far as you can see is nothing but building and a scattering of small parks and green space. On the evening we went to Shibuya crossing which is like Japan’s version of Times Square large electronic billboards and all the flash and glitz plus thousands of people taking it all in.

Part of Tokyo Skyline

Shibuya District

Day three took us to some of the more out of the ways places in Tokyo where we experienced normal day to day living of the people in the city. Small markets with great bakeries and small restaurants and more amazing food with no tourist type vibe. People are always friendly to non Asians usually asking where we’re from and more than helpful in giving you directions and assisting you with the language barrier. (Goggle translate is another great tool)

On Friday it was again another cold and rainy day we headed to Yokohama about 1.5 hours from Tokyo by metro. The sun started to come out and the weather started to warm up. We had booked two days in Yokohama prior to our cruise as it was planned to be our departure point but was changed a couple weeks ago to depart from Tokyo. Yokohama is a large harbour city and still big and busy but it doesn’t seem as busy as Tokyo, lots to see and do with a large entertainment/shopping district. Our first day we walked along the harbour front went to the Cup of Noodles Museum (yes it really is a museum about cup of noodles) and went out for diner at a great restaurant and wondered around the entertainment area.

Yokohama 

Saturday was baseball day in Yokohama, baseball is huge in Japan and Yokohama is home of the Baystars.  Friday was opening day of the new season so we headed over to the stadium which is about a 20 minute walk from our hotel. Not thinking we would be able to get any tickets as the game wasapparently sold out but we found a ticket office that had limited game day sales tickets and were able to score two great seats on the second deck behind home plate. Two hours before game time the place is buzzing with lots of vendors selling stuff outside the stadium and pre game activities. The stadium was sold out to capacity of 43,000 against the Hiroshima Carps, a lot like European hockey the cheering and singing of team songs was non stop but in the Japanese way very polite. The visiting team has there own section and would cheer and sing and bang drums when there team was up to bat and then the home team would do the same when it was there turn to bat. It was a great way to spend  a warm sunny day enjoying what the locals love to do. Post games activities took us over to the largest China Town in Japan with more great food and then back to our hotel. 

Yokohama Stadium home of the Baystars

Tomorrow we head back to Tokyo to board our cruise to the southern parts of Japan and to South Korea, maybe we will head over to North Korea and get thing squared away with Mr. Kim Jung-un.

My -Thai Land

We arrived into Thailand Monday evening flew from Bangkok then  1.5 hour flight to a beach resort call Krabi. We checked into our hotel and are planning to just chill and relax for a few days. After  all the things we did with our group tour it’s nice to just relax along the beach or by the pool for a few days. No wild monkeys or eels to deal with but there is an elephant sanctuary we may go to so who knows what could happen there.

On Wednesday morning we loaded into the back of an old Toyota pickup and went to a Thai-cooking class.We went to a local street market with our chef and she explained all the ingredients and there impact to the cuisine we will be preparing, then it was off to the kitchen, joining us was a nice couple from Zurich. We cooked up Pad-Tai, different green and coconut curries, sweet and sour Tom -Yum soup along with Tai spring rolls. So much more flavour than the Vietnamese food we tried. 

Picking out our ingredients for our cooking class

Thai cooking experts

Riding in style 

Then back to our hotel to to relax beach side then back into the local town to take in a local night market with lots of food vendors and a lot of the same type of clothing and souvenir stands almost reminds me of going to Klondike days in Edmonton. 

Night Market

Thursday was spent mostly by the beach plus 38 with a cool breeze. The beach is very spacious, not busy and the ocean is very warm and you just walk right in like a bathtub. 

For the next few days  not much was happening other than sitting along the beach, attending the hotels happy hour and then out to some local restaurants for really good Thai food. Coconut seafood soup was outstanding and chicken Pad Thai was Karen’s favorite. 

Sunday came along and we spent the last few hours by the beach before heading to the Krabi airport then to Bangkok to catch our flight to Tokyo. Weather in Tokyo when we land at 5:30am is expected to be about plus 12 a major temperature change and attire. I’m really looking forward to showing Karen around Tokyo and Yokohama before our cruise starts on March 31. 

Good Night Vietnam Good Morning Cambodia

 I have been delinquent in keeping the Blog up to date but we have been busy our last few days in Hoi Ann gave us a day to ourselves so we headed to the beach to catch some waves and a cool breeze. A beautiful beach that wasn’t very busy a few beers and pizza with some of our fellow travel group made a great morning. After my skin turned into a nice pinkish hue it was time to head back into the market for Karens final dress fitting. Hoi Ann has at least 200 custom tailor shops and almost everyone we travelled with got a new custom made wardrobe and prices and quality is great. The food is very good with a bit more spice the further south we travel in Vietnam.

Bang Beach in Hoi Ann

We left Hoi Ann on the morning of March 13 to Ho ChI Minh City (Saigon) for three days. If we thought the traffic in Hanoi was busy it was nothing as compared to Saigon. A much more  metropolitan modern city it's skyline is as modern as any city in the world. Rush hour is to to be avoided at all cost as grid lock sets in, I’ll never complain about waiting for the train to clear the crossings in Wetaskiwin. We experienced night life with loud music flashing lights and street performances  it was a sight to see  

We arrived early in the day so before checking into our hotel we had a couple of stops. We stopped at the war remnants museum they explained all the atrocities from the Vietnam war. The museum was previously called the American Atrocities museum but changed its name to appease the American Tourism industry. It was a very graphic 4 story museum with the Vietnamese point of view of the conflict. After the  museum we went to the presidential palace that was occupied by the president of Vietnam prior to being surrendered to the North Vietnamese the building wasn’t all that presidential almost like a vintage municipal  office building that could be found in any Canadian city, but nonetheless the Vietnamese that it was a big deal. We then checked into our hotel our for diner and it was the end of a long day.

View of Saigon from the presidential palace 

Our second day we went to the Chu Chi Tunnels a couple hours outside of Saigon, this tunnel system consisted of over 200 kms of very narrow and small tunnels the the jungle that the Vietnamese army and Gorilla’s used to evade the American and French forces in Vietnam. We got to experience creeping through the tunnels I’m sure they enlarged the tunnels slightly for the larger size tourist, but they were quite snug. It was really amazing to see the facilities they had underground from kitchens to operating rooms. After trip to the tunnels it’s back to Saigon which was about 75kms away and took 2.5 hours to complete. 

Amazing Karen a Chu Chi tunnel Rat

In the evening we when on a diner cruise along the Mekong river travelling through the city. Our last day in Saigon took us out to the countryside to do another river cruise through the jungles in small boats to see all the uses of the coconut and brick making industry. All tasks are done by hand and I think if automation were involved there would be massive unemployment. Another long bus ride back to Saigon then our guide took 6 of us out to visit the Saigon bar scene…..Wow! If this place wasn’t full sensory overload I don’t know what is. The place was packed with people, scooters and bar staff asking you to see there club with cheap drinks and dancing girls we stayed for a few drinks sitting at a street side bar watching humanity pass by us for a couple of hours.

Clubbing in Saigon

 Food in Saigon is very good we went to another restaurant that was visited by Anthony Bourdain for some Pho and Bin Mai sandwiches. In the morning we head to Cambodia to see the temples of Angkor Watt one of the top Heritage sites in the world.

The “Still” Happy Couple 

We’re getting near to the end of our tour of Vietnam and Cambodia but hadn’t mentioned much about our tour group. I (Karen) will take it from here  This group of 30 was equivalent to a classroom . Some were high needs and required frequent reminders  what the agenda was and what was required of them.  There were those rushing to the front of the line to always get the front seat in the bus . A few keeners that asked way too many questions therefore monopolized the tour guide. Indeed this was a classroom at its finest. our local guide Dang was exceptional and took great care of us  I gathered more patience and tolerance as the days went on  and I’m a better person because of it. I shed a few tears saying goodbye to new friends this morning which was evident great friendships were formed.

Our Group

While I have command of the keyboard I must share an Amazing Rob situation. During one of our temple visits in the forest we were warned about the wild monkeys and to stay away from them. While we were waiting for our group to gather, Rob had his empty water bottle in his hand and an aggressive monkey wanted it so he/she he/her jumped at Rob to grab it. I screamed but with Robs quick thinking and agility he managed to ward it off with one quick smack and the monkey retreated with the look of defeat. Thank goodness is all I had to say. Rob was the talk of the tour as he would be game for almost anything. Eating crickets and juggling  a live eel at the market and then dropping it on the floor and trying desperately to pick it up again and of course the monkey episode which was a minor incident which he was later embellishing the story about fighting off a troop of monkeys with only one arm  still attached, after  the other one was chewed off  my the ravenous apes. 

Now that I have the keyboard back (Rob) and my wounds have healed I must admit that the temples at Angkor Thom and Angkor Watt were spectacular built about 1200 years ago then abandoned for about 250 years these amazing structures were a testament of what people will do for their gods. There are about 72 temples in the area but these two are spectacular.  The large stones temples are up to 180 feet high and are made by stacking stone with no mortar. Angkor Thom  is being reconstructed and huge piles of stone are being put back together like a jigsaw puzzle. Angkor  Watt is of the best condition and is still used by the Buddhists as a major religious site. Most definitely a must see in Cambodia. Our last night in Cambodia concluded with a nice diner with our new tour group friends and then a last stroll thought the markets district near our hotel. The vendors like to tease the tourists and would rub my belly and say “we have shirts that fit Baby Bear” Breakfast this morning and then off to the Airport outside of Siem Reap then onto Thailand for a more laidback week of sitting by the ocean and taking in the local scenes of Krabi Beach.