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Tokyo: Monsoon Rains, Trains, Blossoms, and Brains
So I cheated. The photo above is not Tokyo, but it could have been a couple of weeks ago. The Japanese adore all things cherry blossom, and although the delicate pink blooms only hang around for a week, Tokyo dwellers go all out. Office workers pour out of skyscrapers to frolic under the blossoms at elaborate picnic parties, we hear. We witnessed this firsthand farther north in Hakodate, where I took the picture above, smack in the middle of 600 blooming cherry trees – lucky us. And lots more cherry blossom pictures in my next post (I threw one in here to help us imagine what Tokyo might have looked…
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Kamchatka, Russia: May the 4th Be With You. Twice!
What a perfect day to get to live twice: Star Wars Day! On a cruise ship crossing the international dateline, for us that means late-night parties, cakes, balloon drops, and two daily schedules, both for May 4th (not making that up – check out the picture). Even though I’ve been planning this cruise itinerary for months, I didn’t really get the fact that we would do some Groundhog-type time travel and repeat a day of our lives, only with cruise amenities and Star Wars cupcakes. So what did we do, with our extra day on earth? Same old, same old (writing, reading, failing to avoid the buffets, attending science presentations).…
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Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan: Buddhists and Buddhas Everywhere!
I can see Russia from my cruise ship! Well, maybe that’s Russia – it definitely will be Russia tomorrow morning. For the next week, we occupy a room on the Celebrity Millennium as it sails across the Bering Sea (with a stop in Russia, if the Russians see fit to let the passengers off. Sometimes they just say ‘nyet’ we’re told, and miss out on all that tourist cash. Bad capitalists…..). This week, I hope to NOT do two things (eat too much cruise food or read the news) and plan to concentrate on one thing: Capturing our Epic Journey in words and pictures, before my memory starts its inevitable…
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The Golden Triangle: Burma, Laos, Hill Tribes, and My First World Assumptions
We were sitting on red ants. We had crossed the border into Laos, and at the local market children had been trailing our every move, pestering us: “Baht! baht!” – imploring us to give them money, pointing to our Diet Coke cans, asking us to buy some for them (we think that’s what they wanted, anyway). As hard as it is for both of us to say ‘no’ when asked to help (especially when the askers are children), we listened when our guide Ranee told us that if we gave in, we’d cause a mini-riot among the poor children. So we hardened ourselves and kept saying ‘no’. But now the…
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Thailand: Ancient Kingdoms, and an Elephant or Two
A ride on an elephant was definitely not part of the plan, but here we are: riding on elephants. Go figure. We knew we were going to visit an elephant rescue camp, but if you’d asked me yesterday if I would ever ride an elephant in this lifetime, that would be a definite ‘no’. So glad we did (Padre even swam with them), and the elephant rescue camp impressed us so much that I plan to devote an entire post to our visit and the camp’s work in the near future, as well as longer posts on topics such as Burma, our visit to the Northern hill tribes, endemic poverty,…
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Bangkok, Thailand: Temples, Buddhas, and Watch Out for the Supersoakers!
We’ve been in Thailand for a few days with our small Gate1 Tour group, an eclectic collection of Americans and Canadians, shepherded expertly by our Thai guide, Ranee. I’m writing from the bus as we travel north, through rice fields and a heavy rainstorm. Quite refreshing after the relentless heat of Bangkok. Bus travel take us back to our old student tour days – suitcases outside the door of our (quite elegant) hotel rooms by 7:00 am, rotating bus seats, getting to know the various personalities of fellow travellers. For Ranee, it’s probably a bit like herding cats – she’s very good, giving extra attention where needed, keeping everyone on…
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Japan: Kyoto, Shimizu, and the Two-Heart-Attack Train Challenge
We don’t back down from travel challenges, but our race through Yokohama’s sprawling train station had me longing for the rocker and remote, just for a moment. The morning started on a high note, with our entrance to Yokohama Harbor and our last morning with the Diamond Princess (thanks Shari for the ‘view’ tip, and the detailed instructions – it helped, trust me!). We hoped to disembark by 7:30 AM at the latest, catch a taxi to Yokohama station, locate the ticket office to buy our Narita Airport Express tickets, then find the Promised Land – platform 10 – all by 8:26 AM to make our noon flight. Hey, old…
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Hong Kong: No New Husbands Here, but a Great City Nevertheless
Hong Kong more than lived up to expectations, and I didn’t have to find a new husband there, thank goodness. Our wonderful tour guide Mandy would have helped me if things had come to that, I’m sure; she was simply the best. (Mandy and her sister Apple make up the much-in-demand tour company, The Hong Kong Getaway.) So Mandy started the new-husband thing as we taxied under Hong Kong Harbor, then traversed switchbacks all the way to the top of Victoria Peak. She described the various neighborhoods as we passed through each one, and informed the ladies in our small group (myself and Judy) that if we were looking for…
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Vietnam and Malaysia: Chaotic Scooter Culture, Vibrant Markets, and Rickety River Bridges
Let it be known that we did not die when we rode, perched in the front baskets of trishaw bicycles, through the middle – and I mean the middle – of Central Saigon traffic. I thought I might be a goner when my driver stuck his bike – I mean he stuck ME, since I was on the front of the bike – into the middle of an intersection, where waves of scooters revved, impatiently waiting to zoom across from three different directions. I closed my eyes and braced for impact, but they must have stopped for me, or I wouldn’t be writing this now, would I? Millions of small…
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Australia Easter: Convicts, Conquests, and Light in the Darkness
I’m having my own Sunrise Service here at sea, waiting for the sun’s rays to peek over the horizon any minute – I’m sure the captain up on the bridge is on the lookout as well. Padre plans to check out the passenger-led service later this morning, but you know Padres. They assess the ministering, just like teachers critique the teaching when they become the students. So I’m staying here to do my own Easter thing, and I’m sure I’ll hear all about it later. Padre has great fun attending the various offerings on board – yesterday, he went to one on men’s mental health (seriously) but he came back…
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Darwin, Australia: Crocodiles, Cyclones, Bombs, and Snakes – Oh My!
Darwin, Australia: It started with a romantic Fanny Bay beach walk, until I found out that saltwater crocodiles crawl over rocks there. Oh, and the bombs. Oh, and the cyclones and snakes. Let’s just call this the Death to Humans Day. Before I get to all that, an important discovery: A new favorite pool! In my last post I said the Sanctuary pool was behind a pay wall – not true (so don’t believe everything you read on the internet…). Anyway, What I thought was the private pool is actually the adults-only Lotus Pool, just steps from our room. Very peaceful and almost empty, except for a man floating on…
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Diamond Princess Dilemma: What to Do Onboard for Six Sea Days?
Today is Day 6, and we’re not bored yet. Not even close. One of the best things I’ve amused myself with so far was the Goldilocks Swimming Pool Challenge. It started at 5:30 am and Padre wasn’t invited, since he’s a morning snoozer. We’re opposites in many ways; I’m up at the crack of dawn or before, he sleeps ‘til 8; I’m usually in bed reading by 8 pm (or earlier, no joke). He’s up ‘til midnight watching sports, news, and bad movies. He’s more of an introvert than me in some ways but handles crowds fine, but I dislike crowds and crave quiet. And our opposing preferences usually work…
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Diamond Princess: How to Find Your Cabin, Coffee, Chocolate….and a Fave Sparkling Swimming Pool
So first things first: Where ARE we? Not in the world, mind you; we know we’re in the Coral Sea sailing along the Great Barrier Reef and on to Darwin (see map). No, it’s more basic than that. Where are we on this ship, and which way to breakfast? You know, the important stuff. So we’re learning school stuff (map locations), ship stuff (the best places to eat, sun, swim), and people stuff (new friends!). And so far, we’re miserable failures when it comes to avoiding all the fabulous food everywhere, including chocolate on the pillow each night. Who knows, maybe tomorrow we’ll stick to the salads – there’s always…
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Sydney, Australia: The Bus to Bondi Beach and Beyond
Sydney Touring Day 3 An almost free bus tour – sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? It was true, though; approximately $14 U.S. for transportation costs, and the tip was up to us, for an excellent three-hour tour. Our tour guide Martin drove the big rig as he narrated our ride out of Sydney proper to beaches, lookouts, ocean cliffs, far-flung Eastern suburbs, and more incredible views, which seem to be absolutely everywhere. I wonder if Sydneysiders yawn about all this gorgeousness after awhile; I really hope not. We began the day in Hyde Park, part of the City’s green parkland corridor running right through the heart of…
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Sydney, Australia: Ferries, Free Walking Tours, and Flinder’s Cat
The Harbor City just might steal this Seattle girl’s heart, and trust me the Emerald City is no slouch when it comes to scenic beauty. Back home, I’d still be bundled in the puffer coat and wool socks right now, but here I’m rocking my Judy Dench Best Exotic Marigold Hotel linen pants (Goodwill, $1) and clutching the sunscreen bottle closely (don’t leave home without it, our hotel attendant admonished us first thing). This just might be my favorite cruise port yet; what’s not to like? Just steps from our hotel’s front door, the Sydney Opera House’s white sails and the Harbor Bridge hover over little ferryboats puttering back and…
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Waikiki: Three Days On the Quiet End, and a Trip Down Memory Lane
It was one of those 1970’s low-ceilinged lounge cabarets; murky dark, smoky, packed. My teacher buddies kept calling for more rounds of syrupy-sweet Chi Chis with umbrellas, and sure – why not? So what if I was pregnant at the time? Hey, this was 1979; no one cared about that yet. Bad lounge singers marched out in cop/construction worker/cowboy/Indian chief outfits to belt out a brand new song we’d never heard before: Y – – -M – – -C – – -A- – -!!!! We rose to our tipsy feet, cheering them on – more Chi Chi’s, please! That bad behavior happened on my first visit to Waikiki almost 40…
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Oahu: How to Take Great Photos in Paradise, No Experience Required
Update: When visited Honolulu in 2019, arriving by cruise ship this time, we took this same photo tour and it was wonderful! See 2019 photos and info here. If you want to go right to the most exciting part of this post, check out the info about our first encounter with an automated Japanese toilet, which we’re still giggling about..…too much information on that later. We think the newfangled toilet discovery is just the first of many oddities (odd to us, anyway) that we’ll discover now that our two-month journey is finally underway. One problem, though – we did a bang-up job getting ready for this trip, but because we…
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Plan, Pack, and Don’t Forget the Relationship
This ship is about to sail. In T-minus two days we toss our bags on the local airport shuttle, and off we go! The months of trip planning had me thinking about travel challenges, and the time when Padre yelled at me on our honeymoon in Ireland. We’d been married two weeks; what do you know about your partner at that stage in the relationship, really? Not much. Now, I’ve lived with the guy for decades and know he’s not a yeller; that’s only if he’s really frustrated, and I’m talking too fast/interrupting him mid-sentence due to stress/panic/exhaustion, or we are working on a complicated problem with lots of unknowns.…
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The Epic Journey, With Maps
We refer to it as The Epic Journey, although it’s not ‘epic’ in the classical sense, celebrating heroic feats of a legendary hero and all that. (One family member I know says Bill is her hero, so maybe that counts?) No, it went epic when it morphed from a ‘short’ three-week cruise, to a meandering two-month cruise/land tour/transpacific cruise multi-staged journey. All because I loathed the thought of an outrageously expensive one-way Tokyo-Seattle flight to get us home after the three-week trip. I discovered we could cruise home via the Bering Sea, cabin steward, covered spa pool, and fine dining available during the entire crossing. Infinitely better than cramming ourselves…
