Okinawa

Today we had an early day going to Okinawa. It was a nice day. We started at Shurijo castle. We learned a lot about the culture and island. Okinawa is different from main land Japan, it was ruled independently for a long tome before being taken over by Japan and eventually the US in WWII.  The island has a great deal of culture and heritage from in China. 

The castle was rebuilt 4 times due to fires and eventually bombing in WWII. It was recently finished in the 90s for visitors. The emperor would meet the king in the castle. 

Next we went to create our very own Ryukyu Bingata, which is the art of painting a dye on a cloth to make colored fabric. I was really looking forward to this part of the tour, but I'm not sure everyone read their guide when booking this tour as not everyone did the craft and yet they paid for it, silly. Anyway, I was very excited to create my very own craft that was like what they do in the island. 

We painted on small bags, learning the technique with a language barrier took time and patience which not all had. I loved the craft and was declared the number one on our group. It wasn't great, but I took the time to try to do a decent job, and I'm proud of my attempt. Travis also did a nice job, but has decided he's not a handi-craft expert and will keep his "day" job. 

After our craft time we had a brief period to shop before heading back to the ship. Once we arrived back we had a treat. A group of children, ranging from teen to 3 or 4. They did traditional dance with drums. And eventually dragons. Very fun to see. 

This evening we get a massage and I got my very first facial. It was fun to treat ourselves. We then had a nice night with dinner and the show. 

Off to bed soon as it's another early day tomorrow in Taipei, Taiwan. 

Much love!

Day at sea - Saturday

It's been difficult to keep track of what day it actually is, but I do believe it was Saturday today. We had a nice day relaxing, with little to report on. We've enjoyed meeting some folks and catching up with them from time to time on the ship. Sleeping in and watching a movie as well as formal night is the excitement for our day. We loved it. I'm busy enough at home I don't mind relaxing and enjoying the day at sea. 

Tomorrow Okinawa and up early! 

Until tomorrow...

Much love!

Kyoto

Today we got to sleep in, which I enjoyed! Travis went to a class about our stop in Osaka. Then we braved the hoards of people to get some lunch. 

At 1230pm we were greeted at Osaka bay by the local water fire fighters. That was neat, a fire fighting boat had about 8 different sprays in all directions that was really cool. Then we left on our tour to Kyoto. 

In Kyoto we went to Nijo castle. Nijo castle is where the Shogun who was the war lord that controlled the country of Japan. While there is an emperor, the Shogun controlled the lands and people. This was his castle. There were 5 different rooms, he lived at the back and guests were greeted at the entrances. The floors creaked as you walked due to metal rubbing together. This was done as a safety measure and they call it the nightingale floor as that is what it sounds like. We had to take our shoes off to walk through. 

Nijo castle

Rock garden at Nijo castle

Then we went to the Kyoumisu temple which was a Buddhist temple built on the side of a mountain. It was large and there was a large stage built over the side of the cliff. This stage had 163 pillars and wasn't built with nails. We drank water from the fountain of health and enjoyed a bit of shopping. 

Entrance to Kyoumisu temple

Kyoumisu temple

Tonight we had dinner with a couple of ladies from the NYC area and a couple from England. We had a very nice chat with them so much so we missed the evening show. 

Tomorrow is an at sea day and I look forward to relaxing. Travis has some classes he may go to, we'll just have to see where the day takes us. 

Much love! 

Embarking the ship

Wow was this an experience. I knew it would be busy with the change of days and everyone being available, but it was even more than I dreamed. And I don't mean that fondly. 

After a morning of chatting with some friends and family on the free wifi we went down and boarded the bus that would take us to the ship. We got on, it wasn't full and we headed out on our journey. We arrived at the cruise terminal and that's where things got crazy! 

Inside we left our luggage and got in a HUGE queue...doubled back around. We made friends with the British family in line behind us and we were so happ to reach the end it was a point where you sat and waited to go through a screen. Beyond it I expected a security screening and check in desks. 

I was right about what to expect, but I was very wrong about it being just that. Behind this screen was another even longer line...much to everyone's surprise.  So we got in it and kept on standing and creeping along. I do think Princess was doing all they could. They had 30 check in people (so we found out later), I just think the influx was way higher than the outflow. So we waited in a line for about 3 hours to get on the ship. Not near the smooth process we experienced last year. Which was ok, but we were ready to be on the ship. 

We did finally make it and did our muster drill and set sail. Travis and I watched from our balcony. We had a nice sunset and bridge as we departed. We turn took care of some business, one of them getting Internet, and we got some food. I didn't eat much as I thought we'd be on the ship long before we actually ended up getting to our stateroom. It's ok, my tummy is full with some yummy food. 

We arrive in Osaka tomorrow afternoon and our tour has had some changes due to the change in port time. Should be a nice day. Sleeping in and seeing Osaka. 

Either it's our location or the ocean here is a bit rougher, but we feel the motion quite a bit more than we did last year. It's not bad though. 

Much love!

Japanese surprise

I didn't think today had a lot of great things to share since we mainly shopped, but tonight we reluctantly left the hotel (we were tired and worn out) and stumbled on a great surprise. We needed dinner, but most of the places in the hotel, and there are like 10 of them, are very expensive. After getting some information from princess staff for tomorrow they provided a map with a ton of local food places. We decided upon a Japanese pub. 

I had no idea what a Japanese pub was, but I figured we should try. I do think a bit of my Midwestern meat eating self thought that maybe, just maybe it might be like a pub I know. I think that was my subconscious thought. Anywho, it was a wonderful experience! 

Starting we had to remove our shoes and place them in a box that we could lock and take the key. Then try led us to our table. Our table was at floor level with a cut out under it for you feet. So when you enter your individual room you get down on the floor and slide yourself in and under the table. The waitresses kneeled to get your order after you ring a bell to call them. It's really eat. 

We had tofu dumplings, rice, some fried chicken bits and grilled chicken on a stick. And to top it off we had tofu ice cream. Good and interesting, I did not like everything, but I tried most. 

It was just a really fun and different experience!

Much love

Extra day in Tokyo

With our cruise being delayed a day, we have had today as an extra day in Tokyo. It has been a rainy day today, so not near as nice as yesterday. The cruise line arranged our accommodation for tonight, so we changed hotels this morning. All of our luggage and us made in one taxi...crazy!  

In the afternoon we went back to Asakusa to do some shopping. Not a lot really to share, we enjoyed ourselves and got some souvenirs. This evening we are relaxing some and preparing to board the ship. 

In lieu of fun information, a few pictures. 

Much love

Shopping area side street near Asakusa.

What looks yummy?

Tokyo

As we woke this morning at 6am the skies were clear and from the 29th floor it looked beautiful. Vongfong played nice with us, moving over during the overnight hours impacting us only a little yesterday and leaving today a bit windy, but nice. Our fears of a totally rainy day we not realized. 

We hopped aboard a bus for our day tour of the city. We first went to the Meiji Shrine which is a Shinto shrine. It was fascinating to learn about the Shinto and Buddhist religions. The shrine was really neat. Everyone is supposed to wash their hands, and mouth before entering. They had a location where everyone could do this, it was neat. 

We learned the difference between the two religions in Japan, Shinto and Buddhism. Shinto is connected with nature and they believe that the gods are in the mountains, large natural things. They believe in their ancestors, eat. There are over 8 million deities. When you want to get their attention to listen to your wish you throw a coin in to get their attention, bow twice then clap twice. Then say your wish and clap one last time. Buddhism gives an understanding for life after death. Shinto only deals with current lives. At a Buddhist temple you also throw a coin, but then you bow and say a phrase then your wish and bow. I think I recalled that right. I may be incorrect in some sections, but it's close. Then the guide said they are all instant Christians at Christmas. Most japanese people are both Shinto and Buddhist. 

Next we went to the imperial place bridge. The imperial palace is where the Emperor lives and the bridge is where they cross to exit to the city. 

Later we went to Asakusa a Buddhist temple. It was very neat a but more ornate than the Shinto shrine. We got our fortunes. The available fortunes come in good, medium and bad fortunes. You give some money and shake a container until a stick with a symbol comes out. You then match up the symbol to get your fortune. I got a medium fortune, Travis got a bad fortune. You leave your bad fortunes in the temple for the spirits to take away, so Travis did that. 

There is a lot of shopping near Asakusa, but we mainly looked. Next we went to lunch and then to a man made island of reclaimed land, Diaba. Diaba is a higher tech area, but we mainly just walked around. 

We finished our day at the Ginza a higher end shopping area. We went into a department store that had a huge food market on the basement floors and then two floors of restaurants on the top floor. 

It was a full day in Tokyo and we enjoyed ourselves. 

The Meiji shrine

The imperial bridge

Asakusa 

Panoramic on Diaba island