29^th March, en route to Hong Kong!

Dear friends,

The last time I posted, it was March 19 and we were on the way to Kagoshima, the city on the southern tip of the Island of Kyushu. It is nicknamed the “Naples of the Eastern World” for its bay location, hot climate and impressive strato volcano, Sakurajima. It is a stop on the Shinkasen or bullet train. It also has a ferris wheel that gives great views of the city. With the volcano as a possible tour, and the likelihood of cherry blossoms, we were excited to visit Kagoshima.

I am sorry to report that Kagoshima was a terrible dud. It was bucketing rain all day, so any outdoor activities, visiting the volcano or looking for sakura or cherry blossoms was impossible. We took a shuttle into town to Dolphin Port to walk inside the covered shopping arcade. I was disappointed that we saw no dolphins! Where is truth in advertising? No purchases made, we stopped for a coffee and a chocolate croissant. French bakeries/pastry shops are very popular in Japan. This one was a bit different. The pastry eater picked up a tray when you entered, and selected pastry or rolls from about 35 different baskets. Then one took the tray to the cashier where it was priced and charged and transferred to a different tray. We ordered two coffees and they were made much like a Cafe Americano. The Japanese are very particular about their coffee. One very nice thing in Japanese coffee shops, is the individually wrapped moist towelettes to use before eating. Even Starbucks has them, though not as large or as nice as this little shop.

Back on the ship, we warmed up and dried off. I should mention in more detail about the Japanese Sushi Chef onboard just for this segment. Hiroshi Kusunoki, Master Sushi Chef. He is the ower of 3 highly regarded sushi restaurants in the Hyogo Prefecture, and served as an apprentice under Teiichi Yuki, founder of Kyoto and has been a qualified sushi chef for about 37 years. He did an 8 course meal experience, paired with sake wine in the Veranda Restaurant at the cost of $125 per person.

Anne, my dear friend who lives in Dubai, you will be interested to know that several objects of art were removed from the Queen Elizabeth today: the silver model of the QE II, the huge bust of Queen Elizabeth and the bell and builders plaques located on the starboard side of the Commodore Club. They will be packed and delivered to the Queen Mary 2 to return to Dubai Ports from which they were on loan from the Queen Elizabeth II.

There were two sea days before we returned to Osaka, Japan. The days were filled with lectures and a Japanese workshop. We were able to try on a kimono and learn how to wear it, try out some origami, have our name written in Japanese Calligraphy. It was a nice change from the usual activities.

The evening of the first sea day, we dined with our great friends, Lin and Bryan, in Coriander, the Indian pop-up restaurant. Delicious, but way too much food! The environment is so nice up there, and they easily catered to my “no meat” rule on the ship. Everything that was made with meat, shrimp was substituted. My entree was a monk fish and tiger prawn curry—excellent!

We were fortunate to meet and become friendly with a family from Osaka. A mother, father and their two adult daughters. I am including a photo of us all together. I had complimented the younger daughters, Yumi-san, on her beautiful kimono and she responded in English, and that paved the way for a friendship. We had afternoon tea with them and enjoyed our time together. Now Yumi-san and I are Facebook and email friends. Our grandson, Lennox, will be in Japan this summer for a Japanese immersion program, and the family offered to be available if he needed anything. It was so kind of them. Yumi gave me a beautiful box of candy from Japan as a gift.

The evening entertainment was finally worth seeing: Lorraine Brown! She sang both West End songs and Motown and was terrific!

Our dining table will be featured in a travel article for a Japanese magazine! The Maitre d' asked if we minded if they filmed us, and we all said no problem. Surprise of surprise—we knew the photographer, Yohi, from our 2016 World Cruise on Crystal Serenity. He recognized us also. His interpreter said that he wanted to tell us how great it was to see us once again, but his English was not good enough. It was fun to see Yohi, and he also filmed us having drinks in Cafe Corinthia. Small World!

Osaka, second visit!! The best thing about this day is that this is where our good friend, Chuck Conine, joined us on the ship. Sadly, our fiend Yumi-san and her family are leaving the ship in Osaka. We hung around the ship in the morning and walked over to the shopping center attached to the Tampozan Seaport. It's a very busy area with a Lego-land and a huge aquarium within the mall, not to mention the ferris wheel! Our goal was the 100 Yen Store on the top level. This one was Serio and it as even better than the one in Kochi. We were planning a cabin party for David's birthday so I was able to buy imitation lacquer bowls for chips and nuts that look great, plastic glasses, etc. When we walked back to the QE, Chuck was onboard and we met for lunch. We got caught up, and there was so much to say, even though we had seen him in San Francisco in February. We had planned to show Chuck around, but it began to pour and he had a muster drill at 4:30, so we just continued to talk. Chuck was welcomed to our table at dinner and quickly became an integral part of the conversation.

In preparation for our visit to China, we had to go to the Purser's Desk where they made a copy of our China visas. We had purchased a 10 year visa in 2016, so we did not have to go through the process of applying for a visa again. If guests did not have a Chinese visa, they were covered to go ashore in Shanghai and Xiamen if they purchased a ship's tour. In Japan, we had to carry our passport everywhere, but nobody asked to see it except when we left the ship. In China, we had a photocopy of our passport with a strip on it to carry.

Saturday 24 March, Nagasaki. Another emotional day. Nagasaki was the second city after Hiroshima to be experience a nuclear attack. Hopefully, it will be the last. Our goal was to visit the Nagasaki Peace Park, and as a bonus, to see the sakura/cherry blossoms in bloom. We took the tram independently to the park. While not as large as Hiroshima's, Nagasaki's Peace Park and museum were still deeply moving locations. At the park, three upper-middle aged people, two women and a man, asked if they could practice their English with us. They were all studying conversational English. We spoke for about 15 minutes and they did quite well. At the end of our conversation, they asked if they could take a photo of us, and then gave us two Origami tops.

We did a bit of shopping on our way back from the Peace Park, and I can effectively announce: “There is no tonic water that we found in Japan.” However, Lin and Bryan managed to find some, and indeed a store employee came up to them and asked if they were looking for tonic water. Their English accent must have given them away!

All guests were required to attend Japanese Departure Immigration face to face procedures. After meeting with immigration officials, we had to return to the ship via a temporary above ground “tunnel” with no ability to return into Japan this visit. Our passports were collected and we were very sad to say goodbye to Japan.

Such amazing positives in Japan:

1. Warm, extremely warm welcomes and departures from every Japanese port with loads of volunteers to guide us and answer questions. Our last port was no exception with a Dragon Dance and a band.
2. They have thought of everything for the elderly or disabled population. There are benches along every commercial seat. The buses kneel. As I wrote before, there are grids in the sidewalks and streets to guide the blind.
3. Everyone was universally helpful whether they spoke English or not. They went far out of their way to make sure we found the location we were looking for.!
4. The cities are clean. The subways are clean. The restrooms are clean. There is no litter. It is a pleasure everywhere.
5. People are nice, VERY nice. They smile and greet you and get excited if you can say a few words in Japanese.
6. They ask your age. Knowing if you are older than they are is important because of the respect it entails. One lady asked my age, and soon it had spread throughout the Japanese lady population on the ship. Strangers I had not met would come up, smile and giggle “73!”
7. The children are adorable and well behaved.
8. The kimonos are beautiful and many men wore them on the ship. Adding that kind of beauty to your day has to have a positive effect.
9. The food is delicious. I suppose not for everyone, but I love raw fish, sashimi, and anything with soy sauce. You never leave a meal feeling overstuffed, just clean and rather virtuous.
10. Japan has moved to my Number 1 position of favorite countries.

It was bound to happen...I am a victim of the Cunard Cough. I began feeling unwell en route to Shanghai, and positively ill by Shanghai. I went to the ship's doctor, Petra, who I like very well, and she told me my lungs were clear but my right ear was badly infected. I think I could have made the ear diagnosis myself, because it hurt—badly, and I couldn't hear out of it. I weathered the worst of it and am on the mend, but still prone to relentless coughing jags, especially at night when I am trying to sleep.

So, I missed Shanghai, Monday, March 26. But David and Chuck did not. We had hired a car and driver who picked them up at the ship and drove them back at the end of the day. It was a very comfortable Mercedes. The boys had a great day, and the car and driver took them everyplace we had planned to go: the French Concession, filled with beautiful homes and great shops and places to eat, the Old Town and Pudong to go to the large discount market. David came home with some gifts for me and both of them had a good day and vowed this was the way they would do widespread cities again. They ate their fill of soup dumplings and bao and generally had fun. David would check in by messenger and I mostly slept.

The next day, we were en route to Xiamen, China. We were here two years ago on Crystal, and boy has it changed! There is a brand new huge marine terminal that handles, not only cruise ships, but ferries to Taiwan. We were supposed to go to Taiwan, but it was canceled as a port due to the relationship between Taiwan and mainland China. I went into the port area with David, but the air was so bad, so thick with pollution that I began to cough furiously and went back to the ship. There was none of the warm welcome with volunteers cheering you on as we arrived in Shanghai and Xiamen, just officious, unsmiling Immigration officers. When I returned to the ship, my purse was x-rayed twice within 20 feet. Welcome to China!

The best part of March 28^th is that it is David's birthday! The irony is that we were also in Xiamen 2 years ago on his birthday. We had planned a cabin party with some of our friends, and we had a great time. Attending were Chuck, Lin and Bryan, Randall and Bobby, and Paul (Andy was under the weather) Evana and Alan are on a China overland and Edwina and the other Bryan did no know the cabin number. The hit of the evening taste wise was chicken flavored potato chips purchased in New Zealand. Several Gin and Tonic's later we went to the dining room and had a nice dinner and a beautiful birthday cake! The birthday boy was very happy.

Tomorrow we are in Hong Kong for an overnight stay. It will be the World Cruise Dinner on the 30^th at the Kerry Hotel. Since we are docked so far away at the new Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, we decided to stay at the Kerry Hotel overnight. I will include a review.

Off to Trivia now, glad to be back among the living!

Ricki

18 March 2018 En route to Kagoshima, Japan. St. Patrick's Day in the US. Happy, Happy Birthday to our son Ben! We love you!

Lest you think that we we returned to Papua New Guinea, where I was a tasty lunch for a small village, I apologize for the length of time between posts. It has been a very active week, with only one sea day in which to compose the blog once we reached Japan.

The sea days pass so quickly, and our routine continues. A Wing and A Prayer—our Trivia team has consistently come in second to one other team. Grrr! Some of the highlights of the sea days have been:

High Profile Speaker, Stephen Cole. He is noted for launching four 24 hour news channels, and he has a history that involves investigating organized crime behind the iron curtain and working for Al Jazeera “Terror TV or the best news channel in the world?” as said by Hilary Clinton. His take away on his talks have been chilling. ISIS is here to stay in this or any number of other forms. If it fails in Syria, other terrorist agencies, including Al Qaeda are waiting in the wings. ISIS has been stockpiling money and agents in a variety of other countries. Follow the money and see who is funding terrorism. We need to be a lot less politically correct and condemn those who practice fundamental Islam as promoting terrorism. I came away feeling hopeless for any hopes of peace and resolution.

The highlight of entertainment on 10 March was the Crew Talent Show. What a gifted group of performers, made all the more meaningful since every number, including a dance number of highly choreographed dance steps with about 20 people, was obviously very well rehearsed. Considering the limited amount of time off, their devotion to their performance was amazing.

Sunday, 11 March was Mothering Sunday in the UK. On Sundays, the Captain conducts a traditional maritime church service. Along with Lin and Bryan, we deserted the table in Britannia tonight for the pop up Italian restaurant, La Piazza. What an unexpected pleasure! First of all, you would never know it was a section of the Lido Buffet. It was closed off from the other tables and had tablecloths and subdued lighting. Both the service and the food was excellent. Everything was presented beautifully and creatively. David, Lin and Bryan had the antipasto starter that was enormous. Since I am not eating red meat, the chef prepared a shrimp and portobello mushroom flatbread for me. I had a tasty shrimp and scallop entree and Lin had a chicken Parmesan that looked great. I can't recall what the men had. Dessert was a selection of tiramisu in a chocolate tulip cup, a small cannoli and gelato rolled in coconut. Delicious!

12 March, brought another concert by the Singers at Sea. Our friend Andy is one of the members and they did “Mama Mia,” “Danny Boy,” as well as a number of other songs.

I LOVE Japan! Every port has had extremely kind and helpful people, and it has been an amazing part of our journey. In case I didn't mention this before, but all the port stops in Japan were the reason we chose the Queen Elizabeth and this itinerary. We had been in Japan before, during the Crystal 2016 World Cruise—but amazingly--these are all new ports.

13 March, Okinawa, Japan.

The US presence is heavily felt on this island. As we walked, we saw shop after shop selling Hawaiian shirts, cowboy hats and other US type goods. The Battle of Okinawa in 1945 was the last pitched battle of WWII. Okinawa is an island, and as the crow flies is approximately 965 miles for Tokyo, but only 510 miles from Shanghai, China and 395 miles from Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. It is on the same latitude as Ft Lauderdale. We had a face to face with Japanese Immigration that took a while. We are required to carry our passports while in Japan.

We docked about 20 minutes from the center of the city, but Cunard provided complimentary shuttle buses into the city, known as Naha. Interestingly, the bus driver wore white gloves, and the buses had lace curtains. Our drop off point was in front of the Okinawa Prefectural Government Office. Japan is divided into prefects, similar to states or counties. Highly touted by the port presenter on board, was Kokusai-dori Street—the longest shopping street in Okinawa. Give it a miss on your visit. We walked from the head of the street until it ended at the mono-rail. It was shop after shop selling the same touristy things, interspersed with the US themed goods I mentioned before. The only thing interesting was the Makishi Public Market. This is where the locals come for produce. We saw lots of vegetables that were unfamiliar to us, and some fish. There were many stalls selling bitter melon in various forms: bottled juice, sliced, preserved. Bitter melon is thought to cure many ills and help prevent cancer. I did manage to get the ear piece of my sunglasses repaired in an optical shop. Perhaps they are on to something, the Okinawans are among the longist-lived people in the world. One section was devoted to clothing, another had small food stands for lunch or a snack. One of the most adorable things we saw was a yellow cart with six babies about one year old in it. The nursemaid/nanny was happy for me to take a photo. All told, we walked almost 12,000 steps. Okinawa, as every other port we will dock at has a castle, but we thought we would wait for Osaka to see our first castle.

14 March, another sea day. Stephen Cole spoke again, with shuddering results. We changed up our routine a bit and had drinks with Randell and Bobby in their cabin. Lots of fun!

In anticipation of the boarding of almost 900 Japanese guests in Osaka, Cunard has created their first ever Washoku experience. Two famous Japanese chefs will board in Osaka and create an amazing number of dining experiences, from sushi and sashimi lunches and dinners to Japanese tea and Namagashi Demonstrations. The dinners are $125.00 per person, and the tea is $49.00.

15 March, Osaka. We awoke to a cool, but sunny day. As I opened our curtains, I was startled by the sight of a giant ferris wheel right outside of our balcony! It seems like the idea of a giant ferris wheel has caught on big time in Japan, as every city has had one. This city of 19 million is the third largest in Japan. Today was David's choice for activities, because we return to Osaka in a week's time. He selected Osaka Castle. We navigated the the subway (a station is within walking distance of the ship's berth at Tempozan Wharf. We rode for about 40 minutes on the Chuo Line to the castle, part of which was underground and part elevated. The subways system is really easy to navigate as the lines are all color coded. For example, the Chou Line was dark green, and we transferred at one point later in the day to the Midosuji Line which is red. We had purchased a day pass for the subway for about $5.00 US. We arrived at our designated port, and had about 120 steps to get to the street level. These people must be very fit! I've climbed more steps in Japan than anywhere else! The Castle was built in 1583, but rebuilt in 1931 and is a commanding presence rising 50 meters above the ground, surrounded by both wet and dry moats and with walls built of giant pieces of rock, measuring about 12 feet by 14 feet in places. How did they do this in 1583? Possibly much the same way the rocks were moved in Stonehenge, rolled on tree trunks and pulleys and levers used to put them in place. The grounds measure in acres and is popular for jogging and dog walking. We did see a few plum trees in bloom, and one cherry blossom in bloom, far earlier than the others. After our visit to the Castle, we took the subway again (down those 120 steps) to the Shinsaibashi Station in the prime shopping area. Connecting to the subway was an entrance to the Daimaru Department Store, and that was our destination. This department store puts Harrods to shame. What an amazing array of very expensive goods: every designer label you can imagine, an entire floor devoted to high end watches, half a floor devoted to men's hats, elegantly dressed elevator operators with a “starter” in every car who calls out the floors and bows to the shoppers upon entering and exiting the car. We knew we wanted to see the food section in the basement, but by this time, we were hungry and headed to the 13^th floor (no superstitions here re: the number 13) a floor devoted to a cooking school and an assortment of lovely restaurants. We opted for a tempura restaurant and were seated at a table overlooking the city of Osaka. It was like being on top of the world! (I tried not to think about earthquakes.) Our lunch was beautifully presented and we each had a glass of Asahi Beer to go with it. Service was perfection! After lunch, we headed down to the food floor. The produce was gorgeous and perfect, as were the prices! The equivalent in US dollars of $16 for a tiny pineapple, $14 for a perfect orange, $26 for a beautiful mango, all nestled in little beds of woven plastic. The take out section of food was amazing, with everything available and everything looking appealing. The Paul Bocuse bakery selection were so much better than anything I have see in the US. But the chocolate, fancy bakery and cookie section was out of sight! It took up about one third of the floor and each piece was a work of art. Boxes of cookies are popular Japanese gifts when visiting someone. They started at $56 a box for lovely, but tiny cookies, perhaps half a pound. Exhausted both sensorily and physically, we headed back to the ship. Again we topped 12,000 steps. The sail away was very special, with people on shore and on the balconies of the shopping center at the port waving colored lights until the ship entirely left the berth. Music was playing and it was a super send off!

We left Osaka at almost midnight and arrived in our next port, Kochi on Friday 16 March at about 9 am. It took until almost 11 am until we were cleared and could leave the ship, but it was just as well since it was bucketing rain. Finally, at 11 am, we bundled into rain jackets and boarded the shuttle bus with Randell and Bobby as planned. Our goal was to walk through the shopping arcade and head to the castle. Luckily, the sheltered arcade had lots to occupy us, as the rain did not stop until about 12:30. We were on a mission to find tonic water, but only found tiny bottles for more than the ship charges. We did find a surprise outside of Kochi's Daimaru Department Store. A group of ladies, similar to the UK's Women's Institute volunteer group, some dressed in kimonos, were offering a lovely tea service to Queen Elizabeth guests. The machi (not in spell check!) was served in delicate bowls on lacquered trays and accompanied by a tasty tea cake. The tea was a bit bitter, but we were encouraged to eat the sweet first and then drink the tea. It was a lovely, unexpected experience and the ladies spoke to us in a mixture of Japanese and English. Somehow, we understood one another. My Japanese vocabulary has increased a bit. We then walked further and found a 100 Yen store, similar to our Dollar Stores in the US, these are so much better! I found lots of little gifts. Hunger called and we wanted ramen on this cold and rainy day. We asked one of the many English speaking volunteers, mostly high school students who were identified by signs they were wearing, and he directed us to a traditional ramen restaurant. We knew we were in the right area, but it was on a side street and we couldn't find it. We approached a woman seated in a park having her lunch, and showed her the photo of the restaurant, and she left her lunch and directed us down the side street. We were bewildered by the choice of not one but two ramen restaurants, and as we stood there, she came running down the steps to us and took us to the right one. She spoke no English and we thanked her in Japanese with bowing and arrigato's. This kind of help is typical in Japan, every where we have gone, people went out of there way to help us. On the way back, we passed a used kimono store, and I spent 500 yen (less than $5.00) on one that fit my decidedly un-Japanese body. I had 3 lovely ladies helping me and we were laughing and gesturing to communicate. I purchased the one, which they wrapped beautifully and also gave me a gift of a mug, daintily wrapped. Incredible!! We headed back to the ship, because the wind came up and it was quite cold. Our entertainment that night was Ms Lorraine Brown, who sang a selection of great songs. Although we haven't enjoyed a lot of the entertainment, she was excellent.

17 March, Hiroshima. We had studied the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that finally ended the war with Japan, but I was not prepared for the upheaval of feelings seeing this huge lively city as it is now compared with photos of the city of Hiroshima after the bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945. We elected to go to the Peace Park today, to visit the Atomic Dome (all that remained of a building after the bomb dropped) which symbolizes the pledge to convey the horror of the atomic bombing and the call for the abolition of nuclear weapons and eternal world peace. In 1996, it was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and to visit the shrines to those who perished. We wanted to have time to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum without rushing. We took a tram (really an elevated subway car or cars) from our shuttle drop off place to the Peace Park. The first thing that strikes you is that the park, in a country where urban space is tight, is huge—and quiet. There is obvious respect for the solemnity of the location. There were many monuments to those who perished, the Children's Peace Movement covered with thousands of paper cranes to inspire peace, the monument to City Workers who died, the monument to students who died, etc. The Atomic Dome is the first thing you see, and then you walk past many of the monuments and a special fountain, across the bridge to the other side of the park. Playing on the side of the river was a sextet playing classical music. The monuments continued, and then we entered the museum. We first saw photos of Hiroshima as it was before the bomb dropped and then the devastation after. There was a virtual reality display of the city, with people walking, working, going to school, etc. and then the bomb and the fireball and the destruction. We listened to the stories of those who miraculously survived the bombing and radiation exposure. We saw photos of those human beings burned and scarred, the melting of solid stone and glass, the deaths of 90-150,000 people by the bomb blast, burns or radiation poisoning. The far reaching effect of radiation killed many more with cancers, especially leukemia and thyroid, years later. Those who survived, struggled with ill health their entire lives. I wept as we looked at the photos and heard the stories. I understand the thinking of the allied forces that the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were meant to end the war and save lives, but I can't believe that this was the only way. I know the US threatened the Japanese by releasing photos and films of the testing of atomic weapons, and the government supposedly hoped that threat would be enough to cause them to surrender. Trump, Kim Jung-un and Putin should be forced to visit the Peace Park and see what the destruction looks like. The challenging behavior of “my button is bigger than yours” is not an idle threat, they need to see what devastation looks like on a human level. We are doomed to repeat our tragic mistakes, not mistakes encouraged by the average person, but decisions made by politicians. I read a book called “The Flowers of Hiroshima,” in college, and that book has stayed with me for over 50 years. I encourage you to find it and read it.

I close on this somber note—we must find a way to make peace not war, not terrorism.