Although the onboard Photo people could not read our erased SD card, one of our fellow Cruise Critic members, Tom, had a photorescue program that was able to recover all 450 of them! Much happiness and relief... They are saved, burned to CD, and we are happy, happy, happy!
The International Date Line is behind us now, and we have the certificate to prove it! We are also just slightly north of Winnipeg, latitude wise, and south of the Aleutians, shipwise. Grey, cold, dismal and wavy day... We are all screwed up sleep-wise, because there has been an hour change one way or another every day for the last week, with a couple more to go. But, we are now 6 hours behind Winnipeg on the same day, and catching up...
We've been on a Galley tour (with champagne and Orange Juice), walked the deck (with toques and gloves!), rented a car for Whittier so we can drive to Anchorage, done laundry (joy!), read and ate...
Bye for now
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Muroran
Today is a sea day, but yesterday was Muroran, on Hokkaido, the northernmost Japanese island.
There was the (sadly and frustratingly) usual customs and immigration and health scanning kerfuffles before we were able to get off the ship. The Japanese people are wonderful, but I regretfully report that their official procedures are not up to snuff.
The town had a circular shuttle bus laid on for the day, so we took it! The first stop was at the tourist center. Laurel was guided through arranging flowers and conducting a Japanese tea ceremony. There ceremony was exacting and the tea, well, it is an acquired taste--it is a green, frothy, seaweed tasting, thick, hot drink. They also had a bunch of schoolkids--the youngest about 3--who sang a few Japanese songs for us--very cute, and they did a great job. Then, we climbed up 289 steps to a Shinto shrine--which was exquisite. Peaceful, beautiful landscape with traditional buildings. Laurel got to pound on a traditional Taiko drum in the shrine.
We hopped on the bus and went to the next stop, which had a couple of department stores--so we wandered around. Then, we went into a shop selling Bento boxes--box lunches--got a couple and went to a park area beside a canal to eat them. No idea what some of the items were, but they were tasty! Got some Mothers Day flowers and walked around a bit.
Went to another stop along the way and got an example of Japanese calligraphy, done in front of us by an older gentleman. Wonderful.
A great ceremony by the townsfolk as we were leaving port.
Today, we had a DISASTER. Laurel was trying to view the little camera pictures on the Coby viewer when the viewer erased--without asking!--all the pictures on the SD card--about 400 or so. We have the card in the photo shop now in the hopes that they can recover them. And, they are making a DVD of the 1300 pictures on the big camera. We will know tomorrow if we have lost the pictures--we are keeping fingers crossed that they can recover them.
For the next few days, as we sail east, we lose an hour each night--and a day tomorrow! There will be Monday-1 and Monday-2 for us--but each one will only be 23 hours long. This will put us eventually on Alaska time, but it will make for strange sleeping and many adjustments of the watches and clocks. Although we have been over the International Date Line before, each time is a new and strange--incomprehensible?--experience.
Smooth sailing across the Pacific so far--the Captain has the throttle open so he can get a bit ahead of schedule in case the weather slows us down later on during the crossing. He has 3000 miles to cover over the week.
We're doing fine, and they assure us that the Internet will be available the whole crossing, so we will do email, but will probably only post on the blog if something interesting happens. A sea day is relaxing, with reading and lazing about and participating in shipboard events. So, they are great, but usually there is little to blog about. We will let you know about the pictures...
There was the (sadly and frustratingly) usual customs and immigration and health scanning kerfuffles before we were able to get off the ship. The Japanese people are wonderful, but I regretfully report that their official procedures are not up to snuff.
The town had a circular shuttle bus laid on for the day, so we took it! The first stop was at the tourist center. Laurel was guided through arranging flowers and conducting a Japanese tea ceremony. There ceremony was exacting and the tea, well, it is an acquired taste--it is a green, frothy, seaweed tasting, thick, hot drink. They also had a bunch of schoolkids--the youngest about 3--who sang a few Japanese songs for us--very cute, and they did a great job. Then, we climbed up 289 steps to a Shinto shrine--which was exquisite. Peaceful, beautiful landscape with traditional buildings. Laurel got to pound on a traditional Taiko drum in the shrine.
We hopped on the bus and went to the next stop, which had a couple of department stores--so we wandered around. Then, we went into a shop selling Bento boxes--box lunches--got a couple and went to a park area beside a canal to eat them. No idea what some of the items were, but they were tasty! Got some Mothers Day flowers and walked around a bit.
Went to another stop along the way and got an example of Japanese calligraphy, done in front of us by an older gentleman. Wonderful.
A great ceremony by the townsfolk as we were leaving port.
Today, we had a DISASTER. Laurel was trying to view the little camera pictures on the Coby viewer when the viewer erased--without asking!--all the pictures on the SD card--about 400 or so. We have the card in the photo shop now in the hopes that they can recover them. And, they are making a DVD of the 1300 pictures on the big camera. We will know tomorrow if we have lost the pictures--we are keeping fingers crossed that they can recover them.
For the next few days, as we sail east, we lose an hour each night--and a day tomorrow! There will be Monday-1 and Monday-2 for us--but each one will only be 23 hours long. This will put us eventually on Alaska time, but it will make for strange sleeping and many adjustments of the watches and clocks. Although we have been over the International Date Line before, each time is a new and strange--incomprehensible?--experience.
Smooth sailing across the Pacific so far--the Captain has the throttle open so he can get a bit ahead of schedule in case the weather slows us down later on during the crossing. He has 3000 miles to cover over the week.
We're doing fine, and they assure us that the Internet will be available the whole crossing, so we will do email, but will probably only post on the blog if something interesting happens. A sea day is relaxing, with reading and lazing about and participating in shipboard events. So, they are great, but usually there is little to blog about. We will let you know about the pictures...
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Vladivostok
Yesterday was a sea day, but today was Vladivostok, Russia!
We woke up berthed across from a couple of Russian navy ships, complete with big guns, missiles and radars--this is the home of the Pacific Fleet. We got off the ship and started our walking tour, led by Svetlana (a university language student with awesome English) by going past the city square, which had been taken over by the Pacific Fleet for a parade rehearsal. Think a couple of thousand sailors, jeeps, Personnel Carriers, missile carriers, trucks, etc. etc--not to mention the Admiral in Charge of the Pacific Fleet taking the salute. Quite amazing, and noisy--bands, a cannon, commands, etc.
We walked on past and stopped at the GUM "department" store. Full of strange items, some new, some used, all pretty out of date. The building itself was old, many stories, no elevator.
We walked all over, seeing hotels, apartments, a beach and a seafront park. We went into a museum with lots of historical--ancient to Stalin--items. All in Cryllic, so we really had no idea what was going on, but the models and pictures and artifacts were neat.
Chilly day today, not too much sun, but OK for walking around. The local people came out to watch the ship arrive and depart and took pictures and brought the kids. We got some of the little nesting dolls and Laurel got a Russian fur hat, complete with Naval insignia.
Dinner tonight with funny people. She's going to write a book..."I was married to a sea captain, one time..." or "close calls and near misses"!
Michael looked for the 1919 Royal Bank building -- no luck, or at least nothing conclusive. There was one possible, just up from the harbour--the stonework and windows looked right, but the roofing was wrong, and the front walk wasn't elevated like in the 1919 picture. Could have been renovations and street rebuilding, I suppose, but...
Tomorrow is a sea day, and then Muroran, Japan. (Remember that we don't have internet in Japanese waters) So, our next blog will likely be during the sea day out of Japan--3 days from now; Sunday.)
We woke up berthed across from a couple of Russian navy ships, complete with big guns, missiles and radars--this is the home of the Pacific Fleet. We got off the ship and started our walking tour, led by Svetlana (a university language student with awesome English) by going past the city square, which had been taken over by the Pacific Fleet for a parade rehearsal. Think a couple of thousand sailors, jeeps, Personnel Carriers, missile carriers, trucks, etc. etc--not to mention the Admiral in Charge of the Pacific Fleet taking the salute. Quite amazing, and noisy--bands, a cannon, commands, etc.
We walked on past and stopped at the GUM "department" store. Full of strange items, some new, some used, all pretty out of date. The building itself was old, many stories, no elevator.
We walked all over, seeing hotels, apartments, a beach and a seafront park. We went into a museum with lots of historical--ancient to Stalin--items. All in Cryllic, so we really had no idea what was going on, but the models and pictures and artifacts were neat.
Chilly day today, not too much sun, but OK for walking around. The local people came out to watch the ship arrive and depart and took pictures and brought the kids. We got some of the little nesting dolls and Laurel got a Russian fur hat, complete with Naval insignia.
Dinner tonight with funny people. She's going to write a book..."I was married to a sea captain, one time..." or "close calls and near misses"!
Michael looked for the 1919 Royal Bank building -- no luck, or at least nothing conclusive. There was one possible, just up from the harbour--the stonework and windows looked right, but the roofing was wrong, and the front walk wasn't elevated like in the 1919 picture. Could have been renovations and street rebuilding, I suppose, but...
Tomorrow is a sea day, and then Muroran, Japan. (Remember that we don't have internet in Japanese waters) So, our next blog will likely be during the sea day out of Japan--3 days from now; Sunday.)
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Pusan or Busan, Korea
Today we went shopping! Korea is a shopping Mecca so that is pretty much all we did. Our one foray into learning about the city took us to a museum in the downtown where we learned about the prot city. We saw the market area and had a great day just wandering around. The stalls sold everything from food to fish, to dried tree bark! We bought a few things...got a lovely silver necklace...not cheap but pretty! Mike got his first T shirt! He has been remarkably restrained.
In the afternoon we went for a swim as the day was so warm and beautiful...hope it stays that way for Siberia, where we visit Vladivostock tomorrow!
In the afternoon we went for a swim as the day was so warm and beautiful...hope it stays that way for Siberia, where we visit Vladivostock tomorrow!
Kagoshima
Sorry for the delay in this post--Japan does not allow ship-to-satellite communications in its waters, and we missed yesterday. So, Kagoshima:
There was a huge mess trying to get off the ship. Due to H1N1, they wanted an additional paper from everyone and they wanted to see and scan EVERYONE on the ship before they would let ANYBODY off. So, we were about 4 hours waiting!!! Ugh.
When we did get off the ship, the GAiGO kids were waiting for us. (Cruisecritic shore tour with English students as guides) Because we were late, bits of the tour had to be shortened or cut out, sadly. Anyway, the first thing we did was take a 15 minute ferry over to a volcanic island, where we got out and looked around the landscape. We also did a lot of chatting with "our" students. Then back to the mainland for a bit of a bus ride to a Japanese Garden. Absolutely gorgeous--we could have spent a lot more time there. We had box lunches in the Empresses Room--an honour--sitting on the floor. Then, a bit of a tour around the city of Kagoshima and back to the ship.
The kids were wonderful. They could speak excellent English, they were in guiding us around on a national holiday, and they were really friendly and obviously having fun.
When we got back to the ship, there was a performance of Taiko drumming. 10 drums--but the biggest was on its own trailer and was about 2 meters diameter drum surface. Boy did they play! Laurel's desire to join one of the Winnipeg groups was reinforced.
As we were leaving, the Sakurijima volcano let loose with a gas, smoke and ash eruption. Amazing to see the ash rolling down the mountain and just about over the place where we had earlier observed the volcano from. Lots of pictures.
There was a huge mess trying to get off the ship. Due to H1N1, they wanted an additional paper from everyone and they wanted to see and scan EVERYONE on the ship before they would let ANYBODY off. So, we were about 4 hours waiting!!! Ugh.
When we did get off the ship, the GAiGO kids were waiting for us. (Cruisecritic shore tour with English students as guides) Because we were late, bits of the tour had to be shortened or cut out, sadly. Anyway, the first thing we did was take a 15 minute ferry over to a volcanic island, where we got out and looked around the landscape. We also did a lot of chatting with "our" students. Then back to the mainland for a bit of a bus ride to a Japanese Garden. Absolutely gorgeous--we could have spent a lot more time there. We had box lunches in the Empresses Room--an honour--sitting on the floor. Then, a bit of a tour around the city of Kagoshima and back to the ship.
The kids were wonderful. They could speak excellent English, they were in guiding us around on a national holiday, and they were really friendly and obviously having fun.
When we got back to the ship, there was a performance of Taiko drumming. 10 drums--but the biggest was on its own trailer and was about 2 meters diameter drum surface. Boy did they play! Laurel's desire to join one of the Winnipeg groups was reinforced.
As we were leaving, the Sakurijima volcano let loose with a gas, smoke and ash eruption. Amazing to see the ash rolling down the mountain and just about over the place where we had earlier observed the volcano from. Lots of pictures.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Dalian
Yesterday was Dalian. The smog had blown away for the morning, and it was a beautiful, sunny day, and everyone in town was taking advantage of it. Its an interesting city--brand new beautiful buildings and some old ones, reflecting Chinese as well as Russian and Japanese architecture--the city has changed hands a few times in history. Big wide streets and beautiful big open squares or parks everywhere. When you think of modern China, think of many new buildings taller than the Richardson, with stunning architecture--none, literally, of the box stuff we North Americans are used to. The older buildings are still there, but are off the beaten track. Housing and apartments are equally newer, but there is much more of the 20-30 year old stuff. Think downtown shopping centers that are 4 stories underground with a park at street level on top. All this in Dalien--a city of over a million.
We did a walking tour and then went to a big park--a circle about a kilometer in diameter in the middle of the city, with lots of landscaping and statues--to fly kites. What a blast; just awesome. There were mostly delta kites, but a few outlandish shapes and one "kite" that consisted of about 100 small kites along a single string that went upwards a *long* way. Back to the ship for a swim--the smog was starting to blow back in--and then sailaway.
Sea day today--not much to report--and Kagoshima tomorrow, so we'll blog that one for sure. We have an adventure scheduled!!!
We did a walking tour and then went to a big park--a circle about a kilometer in diameter in the middle of the city, with lots of landscaping and statues--to fly kites. What a blast; just awesome. There were mostly delta kites, but a few outlandish shapes and one "kite" that consisted of about 100 small kites along a single string that went upwards a *long* way. Back to the ship for a swim--the smog was starting to blow back in--and then sailaway.
Sea day today--not much to report--and Kagoshima tomorrow, so we'll blog that one for sure. We have an adventure scheduled!!!
Friday, May 1, 2009
The Great Wall of China
After 2 sea days and a 3 hour bus trip, we made it!
The part of the wall that we saw was a reconstruction, as is the rest of the wall, but it is in the same place and built in the same way as the originals--earthquakes did them in. It is just like in the pictures--about 2 stories high, wide enough for 8 people to walk side by side, and very steep. It is either like a ramp on top, or with stairs that are either about 3 inches high or about 18 inches high--walking was not easy. There are water drains across the walking part every 30 feet or so as well that you have to avoid! There are towers placed for defence that are about 4 stories high, with a very steep--75 degrees or so--and narrow stairway to get up to the roof. Other towers were placed on higher peaks for signal smoke, messages about how many troops were coming from Mongolia. And they also had one of the major encampments built into the wall--sort of a walled-city-like place--complete with temples, a hotel (now!) and disgracefully, a ferris wheel (now!)
Lunch was sort of Chinese food, sanitized for westerners, including french fries and beer. Another 3 hour bus ride back to the ship.
Some of the roads were narrow and twisty, but the majority were 4 lane or more, with interchanges and the like. Just like being in California, road-wise and agriculture wise too--flat plains with canals and irrigated crops.
The smog here is terrible. We don't know how people stand it. This morning, you could see about 2000 feet before stuff just disappeared into browny-grey. (We know this, because there were 2 cruise ships parked, and you basically couldn't see the back end of the second one...) It smelled and tasted like chemical crap. Fortunately, there was some rain in the afternoon that washed some away, but it was still bad.
Tomorrow is Dalian, with the promise of some Chinese Kites if the weather is OK.
The part of the wall that we saw was a reconstruction, as is the rest of the wall, but it is in the same place and built in the same way as the originals--earthquakes did them in. It is just like in the pictures--about 2 stories high, wide enough for 8 people to walk side by side, and very steep. It is either like a ramp on top, or with stairs that are either about 3 inches high or about 18 inches high--walking was not easy. There are water drains across the walking part every 30 feet or so as well that you have to avoid! There are towers placed for defence that are about 4 stories high, with a very steep--75 degrees or so--and narrow stairway to get up to the roof. Other towers were placed on higher peaks for signal smoke, messages about how many troops were coming from Mongolia. And they also had one of the major encampments built into the wall--sort of a walled-city-like place--complete with temples, a hotel (now!) and disgracefully, a ferris wheel (now!)
Lunch was sort of Chinese food, sanitized for westerners, including french fries and beer. Another 3 hour bus ride back to the ship.
Some of the roads were narrow and twisty, but the majority were 4 lane or more, with interchanges and the like. Just like being in California, road-wise and agriculture wise too--flat plains with canals and irrigated crops.
The smog here is terrible. We don't know how people stand it. This morning, you could see about 2000 feet before stuff just disappeared into browny-grey. (We know this, because there were 2 cruise ships parked, and you basically couldn't see the back end of the second one...) It smelled and tasted like chemical crap. Fortunately, there was some rain in the afternoon that washed some away, but it was still bad.
Tomorrow is Dalian, with the promise of some Chinese Kites if the weather is OK.
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