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