We've said farewell to the small but 'exquisitely outfitted' ship and our doughty Californian shipmates. They now steam North to the colder waters of Hokkaido and Sakhalin. After dutifully exchanging e-mail addresses and phone numbers and promising to keep in touch - ' Come visit the next time you're in Monterey we know a great place for sea food ' - we disembark and head into Tokyo. I'd have to say that some of the gardens we visited were looking their best and were quite spectacular and probably some of the finest gardens anywhere:https://en.japantravel.com/shimane/adachi-museum-of-art-and-yuushien-gardens/56967
The trip was most enjoyable but small ships are exactly that - small. This didn't seem important when we booked for a cruise on the inland sea but the inland sea is still a sea and at times can act in a particularly 'Scottish' manner. For the last couple of days dining has had to take place in the pauses between the 'lurches'. The captain seemed unphased and dealt with questions about rough waters and busy sea lanes with a smile and a cheerful ' Is bracing - No ? '
Our companions have been great fun. However, in any group there are always the inevitable ones who have set their watches to a different time zone from everyone else and are always twenty minutes late. Appointments are missed and sights rushed around. This clearly drives some of the laid back Palo Altoans 'nuts'. We depart amid a developing sense of tension. Yesterday on the coach there was a fraught moment when the late arriving white silk woman hissed a ' You ain't ever been late for anything lady ?' to her Rubenesque nemesis. Whoever knew the word 'lady' could be said in such aggressive tones ? The heavily botoxed 'techy' couple also seem to be having problems. She hasn't appeared for three days and he dines alone. ' My wife has got the flu bad' says the man. On Wednesday night he stands up half way through the entree and says ' I hope I'm not making a fool of myself . I'm real drunk'. He then sits down and carries on drinking. The Palo Altoans , perhaps distracted by the heavy swell and the sound of unfastened safety doors banging , seem completely untroubled by this as if its the most natural behaviour in the world. By the time the boat gets to Sapporo the deck quoits might have become murder weapons. Oblivious to the developing friction 'Ginny' and her grandson continue to enjoy their voyage. For the last 'Fall of Saigon' Gala dinner the 'grandson' chose to interpret black tie as a Patagonia track suit, Yankees baseball cap and sneakers. Formality is a different world for the young.
Last nights 'Cocktail of the Day', produced by the ever smiling Filipino bartender and served by 'Tiffany' the unsmiling and decidedly non-English speaking cocktail waitress, was a Strawberry Daiquiri. The strawberries taken on board in Hitachinaka had stayed too long on the quayside under the sun and were turning mushy. A quick burst of improvisation and strawberry puree was the order of the day. There was a lot of strawberry puree to get through so there was a never ending flow of daiquiris. The cruise organizer seem to have decided that 'sedation' is the best response to 'challenging' sailing conditions and murderous passengers. The ex-military types complained about being served daiquiris but drank them.
You can't steep outside the front door without being confronted by young couples and attentive photographers.
There is a sense that all this doesn't come cheap.
Misleading fashion claim :https://www.livescience.com/animals/dinosaurs/t-rex-researchers-eviscerate-misleading-dinosaur-leather-announcement
Surprisingly recent :https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/unraveling-the-colorful-history-of-why-girls-wear-pink-and-boys-wear-blue-1370097/
Fashion and ecology :https://birdhistory.substack.com/p/a-great-and-growing-evil
9 comments:
Glad to hear you avoided the pirates, sea monsters, and icebergs. And yes the idea of formal, seems flexible these days.
That was certainly a memorable cruise! The one advantage of a larger ship is that you can distance yourself from those who insist on an audience.
Tokyo looks interesting.
Oh, now you're in my old neighborhood and making me rather homesick, with Ginza and the turtles in the moat. Just recently, my daughter told me the thing she misses most is the strawberry shortcake from Fujiya in Ginza, just on the right of your first photo. I'm glad your cruise was fun and hope you enjoy your last few days in Japan. Golden Week in Tokyo is nice, with many people out of town and the koi nobori (carp streamers) hanging everywhere for Boy's Day (the idea is that a boy should grow up to be as strong and brave as a carp).
Hari OM
Memorable, for sure... I guess the big tester on any such excursion is to ask the question, "Would I do that again?"
How wonderful to have Angus back with photos and worthy links!!! Enjoy this tail end trip to Japan and safe travels home. YAM xx
P.S. Japanese weddings are indeed very expensive - and kind of weird. The guests are expected to give money, in a special envelope, and the number of Yen 10,000 notes given must be an odd number, not divisible by two. This runs into a lot of money, as unless you are very young and small-salaried, Yen 10,000 is considered to be too little. Yen 30,000 is already GBP 150 or so, and many people are expected to give more. And then the guests get a return gift worth about 40% of the gift they've given. In recent years, this gift typicallly arrives in the form of a catalog from which the guests can select something. Clothing is also a big expense, as the bride is expected to change her outfit numerous times, starting in kimono, moving on to a Western white dress and so on - these are all rented. These clothing changes, with the bride often emerging from a cloud of dry ice smoke, are a welcome distraction, as the receptions themselves are typically not much fun - no music, no dancing, endless speeches and sometimes a video montage of the lives of the bride and groom. All of this helps explain why many Japanese couples choose to get married in Hawaii. The rules around Japanese funerals are actually quite similar, although harder to escape.
Wonderful memories you'll both have and its always the case that the 'quirky' moments will no doubt stay with you the longest. Wishing you and "The Font" safe travels as the next portion of the trip begins to point towards home. And thank you Lisa as I enjoyed your description/experiences with Japanese weddings.
'There was a lot of strawberry puree to get through so there was a never ending flow of daiquiris' 🤣😂
I'm so glad that you're back!
Such a welcome post and pics today and interesting comments.
Wendy (Wales)
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