Hakodate!

Friday, July 22, 2016

After a delightfully restful day at sea (with a trivia win for team Carter+Cyril!), we made it to the city of Hakodate, located on Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido.  Hakodate has frequently been voted as Japan's most beautiful city, and with only 270,000 or so residents, it definitely felt a little more laid back and a little less bustling than some of the other cities that we had visited.  Below is a picture of the old British Consulate building.

Our first stop was to the Morning Market.  Similar to the one we visited in South Korea, this mostly consisted of street vendors selling unidentifiable types of food, or live/very-recently-dead seafood.  While the spectacle is wildly interesting, it was also a little frustrating, since it's not as if we can really take live crabs back to the ship, and, let me be real - sushi by the side of the road doesn't actually appeal to me all that much.  I'm good with just a few more steps between ocean and table.

Anyway, after an hour of the Morning Market, our 71-year-old tour guide took us on what he described as a "leisurely walk" through the historic district of Hakodate.  May I only have as much energy as he does when I get to 71.  There were parts of the tour where he was literally running (which only caused us to get back to the bus 30 minutes ahead of schedule.  Points of interest included a statue of Commodore Perry, a Russian Orthodox Church, a Buddhist Temple, a Roman Catholic Church, and an authentic British rose garden (because of course?).  It was a very pretty area, and I for one really enjoyed the decorative manhole covers in the streets.

The highlight of Hakodate is the view from Mt. Hakodate, which towers over the city.  To get to the top of the mountain, we took a 3-minute tram, similar to the one we took in Juneau last year.  The view was not oversold.  It was AMAZING.  And very misty, which made me glad that we hadn't opted for the night view.

Busan, South Korea!

July 21, 2016

Today was our non-Japan adventure in Busan, South Korea.  I was hoping for more passport stamps, and I was only partially disappointed.  When we left Nagasaki, we got an exit stamp for Japan.  When we got to South Korea, they gave everyone photocopies of their passports, stamped those, and then kept them in South Korea.  It was kind of a bummer.  South Korea, however, was not.

The main part of our excursion for the day was the Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, which is a Buddhist Temple on the sea.  While there, we saw giant golden Buddhas, listened to Buddhist chanting and enjoyed the sea breeze (because, as has been the theme, it was a million degrees - guess who's sunburned?).  The Temple was really different, especially compared to the eight million Shinto Shrines.  This was definitely the South Korean highlight.

The next stop was supposed to be the beach, but apparently school in South Korea let out yesterday, so the tour organizer decided that with the likely crowds, the beach was a big ol' heck no.  Instead we had to got to go to the Asia-Pacific Economic Convention building, where nothing has changed since the meeting occurred in 2005.  I know what you're thinking - why would they possibly want to use an event hall on the water with glass for miles for anything other than a place to rope off chairs and display 2005 menus?  Great question.  They don't.

The final stop was at the Busan Central Market, which had lots of street food and other things (lingerie? yup.  Belts? yup. Seemingly disorganized computer wires? We got 'em.).  Unfortunately, we kinda missed the memo on exchanging currency to get South Korean won, so we more or less just walked around and soaked in the experience.  I did manage to get a magnet though, so all is right in the world.

After the tour ended, we headed back to the ship for a little downtime.  When we checked in, Princess was kind enough to gift us vouchers for one of the specialty restaurants on board, so we opted for the steak house (other cruisers gave more mixed reviews on the Italian).  It was AMAZING.  Wildly good steak.

Now, for some color commentary, I thought that I'd share Troy's update from Busan.

The heat is on in Busan. The following are the continuing observations of America's Goodwill Ambassador.

FAVORITE MISTRANSLATION OF THE TRIP
Minors -/-> Minorities
"Please watch your minorities closely."
"I cannot tell that story because there are minorities on board."
Third place: Haedong Yonggungsa Temple
Second place: The Diamond Princess pool (Toad the Wet Sprocket had better be getting royalties, yo.)
First place: The Yokohama DeNA Baystars Fan Shop
Choosing between Trump and Hillary like choosing between garbage truck and poop truck.
Taken a selfie with the laser etched wood plaque of the man himself.
Indeed.

"We have 39 people on this trip, including minorities."

AWARDS FOR MOST REPETITIVE SOUNDTRACK OF THE TRIP

POLITICAL STANCE OF OUR TOUR GUIDE:

Today I Learned: South Korea has poop trucks?

BUSAN'S MOST INEXPLICABLY PRISTINE LANDMARK: The meeting place of the 2005 APEC, with all chairs and informal meeting areas roped off so that none may ever sit where there is a 1 in a 16 chance that W sat 11 years ago.

TO PROVE THIS I HAVE:
Taken a selfie with a laser-etched wood carving of the man himself.

WAS THIS PLAQUE PROTECTED BY A VELVET ROPE?
Indeed.

Nagasaki!

July 20, 2016

Today was our Nagasaki day.  We had booked an excursion to go to the Peace Memorial Park and the Atomic Bomb Museum, but we didn’t dock until around 2:00 pm.  Since this was our first opportunity to not wake up and get going by 8:30, we opted to sleep in slightly, play trivia (which we did not win, but are starting to notice some themes in the questions – specifically, if Sting, Elvis, or type O blood are your things, this is the cruise for you!), and read in Princess’ “Sanctuary.”  The Sanctuary is pretty much my favorite place on the ship.  It’s this big shaded area in the bow, with tons of lounges and comfy chairs.  And no one seems to talk to each other, so it’s always quiet and pleasant.  Great for reading, or just sitting.

At 2:15, we headed ashore to meet up with our walking tour.  After a few minutes of perusing the souvenirs available at the cruise terminal, we headed off to catch a tram, and then switched to another tram.  Twelve stops, a little bit of walking, and all the uneven stairs later, we arrived at the bonus portion of the tour!  A Shinto Shrine!  Surprise! (I guess that with 8 million gods, the tour designers want to make really sure that we get the gist of what’s going on).  This Shrine was more topical, however, because normally shrines are marked by two vertical posts with a horizontal beam across the top.  This one was one post and half of the top beam, with the other post and beam section having been destroyed when the atomic bomb detonated over Nagasaki in 1945.  Since then, it has been a popular place for people to leave folded paper cranes, which, in groups of 1,000 represent hopes for, and symbols of peace.

After the shrine, we walked to the Atomic Bomb Museum.  The Atomic Bomb Museum was very well-designed, and the displays took you through first the events that immediately preceded the plutonium bomb being dropped on the city, then the impact of the blast of heat that occurred after detonation, then the human impacts of the radiation, and then pulled back to contextualize the two atomic bombs with happened before, during, and after on the world stage.  Generally, the museum’s message was for peace, and for what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki to never be repeated.  Outside, there was a monument to show exactly where the bomb detonated above the City.

Right around sunset we hit the Peace Memorial Park, which included both the Peace Statue, and also a number of smaller statues sent as gifts from other countries around the world.  The statue from the United States had seven figures holding hands, forming a sphere, to represent the seven continents, united in peace. 

Again, pictures will come as soon as my internet connection is less expensive!  Tomorrow we’re off to South Korea!

Kochi!

Tuesday, July 19

So, obviously I’m a little behind on the blogging.  I blame the craziness of the Republican National Convention.  Once you start watching it, it’s just really hard to turn away.  Anyway, today was another excursion day, this time in Kochi.

Definitely a highlight for me (of the day and the cruise) was Ryugado Cave.  This is one of the three largest limestone caves in Japan, and the tour was “not recommended for guests with limited mobility or claustrophobia.”  So… sometimes I think that the “warnings” and “levels of difficulty” for excursions are exaggerated.  This was not the case.

Keep in mind, there were four busloads of people moving through a cave single file, which ultimately took approximately 45 minutes to move through.  Our tour guide told us ahead of time that a few years ago, a sumo wrestler went through the caves, and came out complaining of a scratched belly button – if that was his only injury, he was the most agile sumo wrestler on the planet.  In several places, the ceiling of the cave was so low that we almost had to crawl, and the walls were often so tight that we had to approach them sideways.  We went up, down, and side to side.

All that said, the limestone formations were really neat, and we got to see a bunch of underground waterfalls.  And, even better, it was cool and not at all humid underground!!  Even with all the people!!  I love the caves! We should all move underground!  I’ll add some pictures soon, but it was just a really interesting and different thing to do.  (You can't really tell, but we're in front of an underground waterfall)

After the caves, we went to a castle in the heart of Kochi, which had some great photo opportunities (because, like everything else in Japan, it was at the top of very, very many stairs).  Our guide pointed out that the stairs were all uneven because it discouraged barbarians from storming the castle – Success!!  We didn’t actually go into the castle, but we did get a full description of how the drainage system worked (and still works, ~250 years later).  I’m not sure why that was one of the big highlights, but thank goodness for those civil engineers.

The last stop of the day was at Katsurahama Beach, which was described as a statue on a hill (because of course it was) and some souvenir shops.  I’ll fill in some additional information on the statue when Troy wakes up (trying to spell Japanese names is making spell check freak out a little bit, and I seem to be making it worse), but let me speak to something that I have way more experience with.  Souvenir shops.

I’ve been a bit disappointed by the souvenir shops in Japan, and these were no different.  It just seems like most of what tourists are being sold is either unidentifiable food stuffs or small toys similar to those that you would see coming out of a 50-cent vending machine.  The US Liberty Bell pencil sharpener was a highlight.  All I’m really looking for is a nice refrigerator magnet, a few postcards, and a couple of gifts or mementos from the trip.  Thus far, no dice.

That said, tomorrow our stop is Nagasaki, and I am determined to persevere in my search for a magnet.  It will happen.  We’re also hoping for a cruise ship trivia win – no luck there so far either.  We did make a new trivia friend, who’s a geologist from New York.  Tomorrow will be our day!

Shimizu!

Monday, July 18

So, a little about our cruise.  We’re on an eight-night cruise that circles the main island of Japan, with two days at sea and one day in Busan, South Korea.  Demographics seem to be pretty evenly split between Japanese and the-major-primarily-English-speaking-countries (USA, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK).  Definitely an older crowd, but we’ve seen more people our age or with young children on this cruise than in the past.  We went to dinner totally prepared to make new friends, but we’re actually at a table by ourselves, which is pretty pleasant.

Today we docked at Shimizu, and we did a three-part excursion.  The first part of the tour was to visit a Shinto shrine and black sand beach, with views of Mount Fuji.  A little Shinto background (because we’ve now been to four Shinto shrines, and the narrative is remarkably consistent) – the vast majority (>95%) of Japanese citizens are both Shinto and Buddhist.  Shinto shrines are visited on happy occasions (births, weddings, etc.), while Buddhist temples are visited for more somber occasions, such as funerals.  There are approximately eight million Shinto gods (no one has thus far listed them for us).  When praying at a Shinto shrine, you first ring a bell, to let the god(s) know that you’re there.  You then bow twice, loudly clap your hands twice (again, there are a lot of gods, and you need to get their attention), make an offering, pray, and bow two more times.

The shrine and the black sand beach were separated by a long wooden walkway through black pines.  This made for a pretty pleasant walk, because it was shaded and breezy, while the beach was approximately one million degrees, and massively humid (that’s a theme for the trip).  At the beach there was also a monument to a French ballerina ambassador.  We have no real idea what that was all about – we don’t speak French, and Troy only learned how to say numbers, dates, and articles of clothing in Japanese on the flight over.  Also, there were zero views of Mount Fuji, due to the haze, and the mountain being “shy.”

After the beach, we went to a much larger shrine complex.  The original complex had been damaged by fire, but (according to legend) a golden dragon flew to the coast and brought back water to quell the flames. There were separate shrines for a smattering of the eight million gods (only ten or so), that were all fairly intricate.  This part of the excursion had the smallest impact on me (other than the lack of Mount Fuji).

The final part of the excursion was Shogun Tokugawa’s palace/retirement home, which included representative elements of Japan, including the flowing water of the sea, the flowering trees, and even a mini-Mount Fuji.  We were unable to confirm its likeness.  The garden was lovely, and a nice walk, even in the 9,000-degree 100% humidity weather.  The other part of this stop was the statue of Shogun Tokugawa.  Tokugawa completed the unification of Japan and began a dynastic rule that would last for 200 years (Troy referred to him as a Mafioso).  Our tour guide also told us that if you dream of Tokugawa’s favorite things (Mount Fuji, falcons, and eggplant), you’ll have a good year.  I can’t even make this up.

Tomorrow we’re off to limestone caves and another palace.  Since I’m taking pictures on my phone, and the internet is a gazillion dollars a minute, I haven’t downloaded them to my computer yet – rest assured, they will come.

Yokohama!

Sunday, July 17

Today was our big day of public transportation!  Time zones are strange things, so of course, we woke up wildly early.  The plan was pretty much to get from our hotel in Tokyo to the international port in Yokohama, so after having a delicious breakfast in Tokyo, we headed back to Tokyo Station.  

We managed to get on the correct train heading south (lots of unsung heroes in that statement – special shout out to the conductor who turned us from the north side of the platform to the south), and forty-five minutes later, we successfully navigated Yokohama’s subway system.  Really pretty straightforward (thank goodness!)

All this success meant that we were wildly early for our boarding call time, which was 12:30.  Having dropped off our luggage, we decided that walking around Yokohama was preferable to hanging out at the incredibly humid cruise terminal.  So, we turned around and walked to the Yokohama Bay Stars stadium, which had, just the night before, hosted the Japanese All Star Game.  While we weren’t able to go inside, we were able to go to the Bay Stars official store, which was all sorts of interesting.  The team has a theme song, which played on repeat the whole time we were there – Troy’s been humming it now for the last three days.  Additionally, the Bay Stars players all have individual slogans, including our favorite: “Be Sincerity and Hunger for Baseball.”

On the way back to the terminal, we walked through the largest China Town in the world, which was, as you may imagine, pretty overwhelming, especially because it only got hotter and more humid as the day went on.  Just before noon, we got back to the cruise terminal, to find that they were ahead of schedule, and that our floor was going through the check-in process. 

Princess had maybe the fastest check-in process of any cruise I’ve been on before.  It took us less than 15 minutes from walking into the terminal again to boarding the ship, and, also for the first time, our cabin was ready for us when we boarded.  Our luggage showed up maybe two hours later, which was awesome too.

During the afternoon we explored the ship some, read some, and took the first of many afternoon naps.  We also finally selected excursions for the first two days, in Shimizu and Kochi.  So far, pretty awesome!

Tokyo!

And we've made it!  Summary so far:

• 12:55 is in fact a very long time to be on an airplane.  Can confirm.  That said, I really think that it could have been way worse.  Shout out to Delta (who ever saw that coming?) but the food was highly edible, the flight attendants came around frequently with drinks, and the on-board entertainment was pretty comprehensive.  I finally watched the Big Short, which was 1000% depressing.  Luckily though, I also watched Zootopia, which, in addition to being a great movie in general, has a very uplifting message and deals with some sensitive subjects incredibly well.  SO good.  Shakira steals the show :)
• I didn't read a ton, because the lights went down on the plane about two hours in (we assumed to simulate "night," though it never actually got dark, or just to save the flight attendants from having everyone up and moving for 13 hours), but I've opted to start with The City of Dreaming Books.  Thus far, I like it.
• Customs and leaving the airport was a breeze.  Got the wrong train tickets to start, but everyone was super helpful, and got us straightened out pretty quickly.  The train ride into Tokyo was very comfortable, and we got to see a little of the countryside (and also the kudzu... good to see that it's invasive everywhere).
• We're staying near Tokyo Station in a nice (but tiny!) room at the Tokyo Courtyard Marriott.  We had planned to decompress for a little while and then head back out for dinner, and we did that, if by "decompress" we mean "fall dead asleep for four hours."  Luckily, we were able to stumble into a waffle shop, and get waffles with ice cream (it's like Tokyo took the good stuff from Belgium, and ditched all the crap, like the Brussels airport).

Tomorrow we head for Yokohama to catch our cruise ship!  Despite our naps, my guess is that we will both sleep well tonight, or, you know, as you EST people like to say, at 11:00 AM.

Japan!

Hey All,

It's obviously been a while (which is not to say that travel hasn't been happening, just that travel hasn't been blogged about).  In fact, since getting back from Alaska, I've been to a number of new (to me) and exciting work-related places, including:

• Puerto Rico
• New Orleans
• Albuquerque (I was only there for ~6 hours, but I did leave the airport, so I'm counting it)
• Buffalo (not work-related)
• Toronto (also not work-related)

... And many more.  But now, it's time for another big trip - to Japan! We're taking off in approximately 11 hours and 50 minutes.  Tomorrow morning, Troy and I depart from Charlotte, enjoy (?) a brief stopover in Detroit, and then do a 12:55 mosey on over to Tokyo-Narita.  From there, the plan is to spend the night in Tokyo, and then head to Yokohama, where we'll hitch a ride on the Diamond Princess cruise ship.  The next eight nights will be spent circling Japan (with one day in South Korea), before returning to Tokyo, spending another night in the city, and then flying back home. 

We're pretty excited, but honestly, it's a little surreal to actually be going.  We booked this trip AGES ago, immediately after finding incredibly reasonable airfare, so it's definitely been simmering for a while.  I spent most of this week working north of Dallas, and have barely wrapped my head around packing for someplace that's not going to be 95+ degrees for the entirety of the stay.

As always, I'm planning to post as we go.  In the meantime, I asked Facebook what everyone was reading, so that I could pretend not to be in a tightly enclosed space for 12 hours, and I thought I'd share the list of what I got back, in case anyone else was looking for a recommendation:

• The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers
• The Second Amendment: A Biography
• Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari
• Mad in America by Robert Whitaker
• Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
• Hit Man by Lawrence Block
• Mortality Doctrine by James Dashner
• The Butterfly Garden
• The Rogue Lawyer
• The Unfortunate Englishman
• Avenue of Spies
• The Paris Architect
• Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
• Dorothy Must Die (Series)
• Hyperion
• Six Frigates
• Without Remorse by Tom Clancy 
• Homegoing
• Book of Memory
• What the Dead Knew
• Relativity 
• Eyrie
• The Light Between the Oceans
• The Heart Goes Last
• The Last Innocents
• Earthsea Books
• The Ocean at the End of the Lane
• The Outlander Series
• All the Light We Cannot See

So... I'm planning to read a ton.  And I'm pretty excited about it. Let's see if my enthusiasm lasts through the first of the lengthy flights :)

Catherine

P.S. In terms of the conversion rate, $1 = 106.08 Yen.  Just thought that you might like to know.