April 24, 2024 John and I visited Singapore last summer. In that visit, we concentrated on Chinatown and Little India. For our brief few hours in the city, we took a Guru Walk that showed us the historic Malay district (Kampong Gelam) and Burgis Street. Anyone that visited the infamous …
April 21-22, 2024 $1 US = 25,000 Vietnamese Dong One of the things you have to keep track of onboard is preventative health. Most I did prior to leaving last April and will be slightly overdue upon my return in September, but dental cleanings are something I have learned not …
April 15-16, 2024 (and sea days April 17-18) When we arrived in Shimizu, we did not have the best view of Mt. Fuji. Very friendly local volunteers provided a map of local sites and a free shuttle. When the free shuttle bus dropped us at the rail station, we decided …
April 13-14, 2024 We docked in Yokohama a ten minute walk from the metro – which links to the Tokyo metro about an hour ride to central Tokyo. We traveled to Tokyo with friends – Yokohama ___ station to main train station, train to Tokyo, a short walk to a …
April 10-11, 2024 In Nagasaki, time stopped on August 9 at 11:02 AM, 1945, as the bomber Buscar dropped an atom bomb named Fat Boy just above the middle of the city named for the island on which it resided, effectively ending WWII in the Pacific. It exploded approximately 1800 …
April 7, 2024 John and I visited The Great Wall in fall of 2019, with colorful leaves changing, giving a lovely contrast to the grey and brown stones. We did not relish the thought of spending 6+ hours on a bus from Tianjin, but seeing the wall in spring would …
April 3-5, 2024 $1 US = 1,370 South Korean Won Busan: Second largest city in South Korea. With heavy rain off and on, definitely a museum day! Jeju: Seoul: Unfortunately, the taxi into town took about 30 minutes too long due to traffic and we missed our walking tour – …
March 31- April 1, 2024 Altogether, we will eventually have 7 stops in Japan, but divided by a few other countries. Ishigaki is not a common cruise port. We made the mistake of paying the $27pp shuttle from Royal to town – it would have been a $6 taxi ride …
March 30, 2024 $1 US = 32 NTD We were lucky that we visited a few days before the earthquake shook the island. A Very Abbreviated History lesson: In the 1500’s the island was called Isla Formosa – Beautiful island. In 1624, the Dutch East India Company established a base …
March 27-28 $1 US = 7.7HKD Hong Kong continues its transition from a British protectorate to part of China. The handover started in 1997 and will go for 50 years. As such, the people consider themselves from Hong Kong. They are very welcoming – and all of the ship’s passengers …