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Friday September 20. Bright and sunny in Hong Kong...

A remarkably, a good sleep Thursday night on the ship for me but Fellette was restless. [Maybe she was wondering if she still knows how to cook!]

The morning dragged on: We were out of our cabin by 7:45, off the ship by 10:00, at the Airport Hotel at 10:45 and out of there in an hour. Some passengers had flights into the evening and would spend several hours at the hotel.

Check-in, customs and immigration was not a problem and neither was security as we certainly do not look like Hong Kong protesters. We were early and had three comfortable hours in the Cathay Pacific lounge before we boarded.

We are sticking close to home from now until the end of the year but we do have an interesting trip coming up the first couple of months in 2020. I will let you know more  about that closer to the time.

In reflection...

Japan was very, very interesting. It is certainly a very orderly and well structured society, life appears to be quite predictable. I suppose that most are happy not to be bothered with refugees and immigration from foreign lands because Japan has very strict rules in that regard. Even if that fact is going to be the reason for the slow decline in Japan as a world powerhouse, they are happy, it appears, to keep Japan for the Japanese.

I do feel sorry for the citizens of Hong Kong as I believe they are really in a No-Win situation with China. China is disregarding the agreement it signed when the British left in 1997 and what can anybody do about it? The end game is that in 2047, 28 years from now, Hong Kong will just be another 'Province' of China. Pity the younger generation. Who knows how it may develop. Fellette pointed out a sign in the bus today: 'Hong China'

This vacation again was a different experience for the two of us, it was a bit on the quieter side, very educational and somewhat  more upscale than we usually do.

'Slow Boat to China": 888 hours to get there, 12 hours to get home!

** . ** . **

The plane came in early. We landed at 12:30 PM, four hours before we left Hong Kong as we gained that missing day back again!. 

We were in the car on the way to Bligh House for a quick visit with Alicia and Ewan, then home around 3:00. I cut the lawn and Fellette went shopping and then harvested the tomatoes and carrots. We had an early light dinner and tumbled off very early. We will unpack the suit cases when we wake up very, very early tomorrow.

That's it folks, hope you enjoyed the ride, we did. I will let you know when we travel again.

Very happy to see Robert, Adrienne and Jeanette at the airport to greet us.

The tomatoes went mad!

Jurassic Acorn Squash.

Carrots are ready to dig up for the winter as well.

At Our Destination: HONG KONG...

Thursday September 19. Cloudy/smoggy. 31 C.

We are moored at Kowloon, looking across Victoria Harbour to Hong Kong Island. Hong Kong/Kowloon are all the same thing basically, called Hong Kong. The two are connected by 'Star Ferries' that run every few minutes.

Hong Kong is a very, very civilized and interesting place to visit. It does not have the sterile Japanese feel. I love it here and all that goes with it. We have had some wonderful times here while visiting with cruise ships and a land trip in China a few years ago.  Fellette and I decided a year ago that we were not going to spend time here this time, just order some shirts and then go home.

When we pulled in this morning around 6:30 it was wonderful, it even smelled familiar. When the ship was berthing it turned and gave our cabin the best view in the world of the city at night.

Hong Kong does a thing called 'Illumination', when the city's buildings light up their exteriors in a great display of lights. It is magical and exciting every night at 8:00 that lasts for 10 minutes. We intend to soak it in and then call it quits, put our bags out and try to get some sleep for the long day and night ahead tomorrow.

6:30 AM this morning, mooring in Kowloon.

The last days of 'Coffee On The Deck.'

In the tailors office after clearing customs and immigration.

Some measurements have seem to have changed a bit in the last several years!

There are some very nice places in Hong Kong. 

It is in my opinion more cosmopolitan and welcoming than Japan.

Rather impressive in fact.

The ship is a few hundred yards from the Tailor's shop. [That is Downtown Hong Kong on the left.] Our cabin is on the side facing Hong Kong

The Star Ferry Terminal is an interesting place.

No shortage of fancy treats here, they are a good competitor 

to the ship we are on.

A 'Light and Illumination' shot from our balcony before we put our bags out.

Packing Day...

Wednesday September 18. Clear skies, moderate sea. 30 C.

A day that comes every vacation: Packing up and getting ready for the Real World again.

To us, a Sleep-In is awaking around 5:00 but not having committed to do anything urgent that day. Such was the case today. It was still dark out when we went on the deck for coffee but the sky was turning red as Old Sol slowly popped up and going on his daily journey across this tired old earth. We could smell the land, a soft smell of what we thought was wood smoke but may have just been smog.

After breakfast and a walk around the deck doing our daily exercise we went in and started to pack in earnest. Around 11:00 we took a break and then lunch and back to the cabin for a bit while Fellette did a bit more packing.

Lunch came and went, after which we attended a lecture, then watched a movie in the cabin and chilled then got cleaned up for dinner at the Italian Restaurant, followed by a 1/2 hour cabaret show, then the Captain did his farewell thing with many, many crew in attendance, then, finally, the Last Show by the entertainers with a Beatles Parade of Hits. Long evening and a good one.

Hong Kong tomorrow, hopefully on the deck, as we sail in.

Early morning on the balcony is when the coffee tastes best!

iPhone and iPads out, seeing what is happening in the world and at home, where it is 2:30 in the afternoon.

We found Disembarking Instructions and luggage tags for Hong Kong on our bed when the room was made up this morning.

Fellette does an excellent job of packing, whether it be a load of lumber in the truck or suitcases for a trip, I am relegated to a fetcher and a spectator. 

Taiwan, then Sailaway, Sailaway...

Tuesday September 17. Cloudy earlier, sun later. 27 C.

We were out on tour by 8:30. Even before we were docked there I could detect the noticeable difference between Japan and China, [even though this is Taiwan, it is still Chinese]. Japan seems to have taken everything American and made it more so, whereas China is still China. Sure, China is a bit messier, not so neat and tidy but it sure has more character and intrigue. Japan seemed to be so predictable.

We had a tour of the city of Taipei where we could actually see what the place looks like, there were no concrete jungles or interesting sites hidden behind trees or other buildings.

As you may likely know during/after WWII, China became communist under Chairman Mao. Chiang Kai Shek fought against the communists and lost. He eventually retreated to Taiwan/Formosa with his followers. It is now a democratic country of 23,000,000 million as opposed to their next door powerful neighbour, China, only 100 miles away with a population 52 times their size!

During the tour we basically only visited Liberty Square, Revolutionary Martyr's Square and the 1800 foot high Tower 101. It was good enough for Fellette and I and it gave us that taste of China again.

Tomorrow is a sea day, we will finish packing and then a day in Hong Kong and that is the end of this great journey that we have been on for five weeks.

101 Tower, 1800 feet high, 101 stories.

This is basically a shrine to Chiang Kai Shek, the founder of their country. Very nicely made and preserved. A perfect last tour for us, no rain, no oppressive heat and good cloud cover for photos.

The happy couple.

It was nice to get away from hordes of people for a change.

They build them big here.

Well kept and well laid out.

Does it get any more Chinese than this?

Boarding: for the last time today.

The changing big screen picture at the top of the lower floor staircase.

Our suite came with a bottle of Champagne so we decided it was time to drink it, over the next two days!

On our balcony as the ship pulled away without any fuss or bother. Next stop Hong Kong.

A Rolly Polly Sea Day...

Monday September 16. Moderate sea, warm. 28 C.  Day 33 of 37.

The clocks went back for the last time last night. We are now nine hours behind you but a day ahead. Same time now as Melbourne, Australia

We have had the most rocking and rolling day of the whole journey today, it is conducive to being rocked to sleep, continually!

It was indeed a lazy day, which I love and Fellette has adapted to as well. We had a deck walk after breakfast but once again the heat and humidity then drove Fellette inside after the one mile  point.

We went to the cabin and Fellette packed one suitcase, mainly with some items we have purchased and heavy clothes that we needed earlier on in the trip.

After lunch we took in a couple of lectures but bailed out on the third one and retired to the cabin to read and me to write. We have heard some of the lectures earlier and we are quite content with our cabin, books, computer and wide selection of educational matter on the  cabin TV.

We are ready to come home! To us, this wonderful journey is over, but it's time: Home beckons. 

Tomorrow is the country of Taiwan, the capital city of Taiwan. We have never been here and I am a bit anxious to compare Japan to Taiwan, [which is really China].

I only took two pictures today, one of my much younger wife, on the veranda at 5:30 this morning having our first coffee, the other of the steward bringing the coffee. 

Fellette is quite looking forward to exercise and quilting on next Monday morning and then Choir Practise on Wednesday evening. I am eager to see the progress made on Bligh House and visit CTI. We are both very anxious to check out the garden as well.

I did accomplish something on this trip! I no longer need suspenders to hold my pants up properly. They are packed!

5:25 AM today.

5:30 AM.

Nagasaki, then: 'Sayonara' to Japan...

Sunday September 15. Warm, 34 C.

Nagasaki: What a neat little city this is. It was A-Bombed a few days after Hiroshima but did not have as many casualties. One reason was of the hilly terrain here whereas Hiroshima was flat land.

The city is about the most diversified we have seen, some of the building look Dutch and there appears to be no shortage of Churches here and there. There were bagpipes playing up the hill a bit as Japan seems to have caught Rugby Fever and it appears some Scottish Rugby team is going to be here soon.

In Hiroshima and Nagasaki the guides acknowledge the war and actually the cities benefit with tourism by that fact. We are quite happy with the tour today and actually all of the seven cities we have visited, the exceptions are Tokyo and Osaka. They are just too big  to take in unless you are a lover of  'All Things City'.

The nation of Japan appears to be very orderly, well run, polite-as-a-nation, over taxed with excellent infrastructure, transportation and communications systems.

I can fully understand people falling in love with the place. However I am sure that Fellette and I will not be here again as a destination, we may some day drop in for a port or two on some far distant travel adventure, hopefully.

We were on a morning tour then walked ashore after lunch and strolled the streets which were really too hot for us. We came back and passed through 'Japanese Exit Immigration:' They want to make sure we really do leave the country!

During our afternoon stroll we saw some lovely Tortoise Shell Jewelry, that cannot be taken out of the country unless you are going back to some backward country that allows that stuff. As nice and advanced as Japan is, it seems that they continue to thumb their noses at international agreements on things like Whaling and some Endangered Species.

When we sail late this afternoon, that will be the end of Japan on the cruise. We  will be in Taiwan after a sea day, then another sea day and then Hong Kong! Gad, we are almost home it seems!

This is a statue of a cross between Jesus and Buddha, apparently, erected as the centre piece of the peace Park which is a park devoted to statues and art from around the world supporting World Peace. Kind of a Motherhood issue here after the bombing.

And here is  Mother and Child.

Water feature of course.

Great transportation here, easy and relatively cheap.

The Chinese Community makes its mark here.

Fellette bought some scarfs after the tour today, at least they pack and travel well.

Amsterdam?

Tortoise Shell jewelry anybody?

This lady made a brooch of Fellette's name out of a 

brass wire as we waited. $7.00. [Difficult to photograph.]

************

A Ramble...

We had a great day here in Nagasaki which was topped off by a great Sail-Away which we watched for some time from our balcony. It is hard to describe the feeling of departing a foreign port with musical accompaniment unless you have experienced it yourself. 

It is difficult to accept the fact that this city was basically bombed into submission in 1945, some 74 years ago by the USA. Yet, the band that played for us, [some 60 very well qualified  young musicians] were sincere in playing and waving at us with great gusto as we pulled away and left their country.

It was a  bit humbling for me, who has been a spectator of the terrible war between Japan and the rest of the free world.  Amazing world.

Gardens and Kamikazes in Kagoshima...

Saturday September 14. Beautiful weather. 32 C. [82 F]

Kagoshima is the port today, the most southerly of the main Japanese islands, 462 miles north of Okinawa.

There were only 25 on the tour we bought today, nice size. The town of Chiran was a 50 minute easy and pleasant drive through the countryside. It is a very, very pleasant neat little town, just the way I had thought Japan would be. 

It started as a Samurai town 250 years ago, with the homes still occupied and lovingly cared for in the traditional way, all classified as Historical Buildings by the government. Several of the homes have their gardens open to public viewing.

It was a dream seeing how they lived here, 250 years ago. The gardens are very formal but natural, no irrigation is used, amazingly. There are 27 homes and gardens in the old village. We as a group stopped at around four and we could then visit half a dozen more on your own time.

A five minute ride away was the Chiran Peace Memorial, which is a museum and memorial area within an existing park that has its own natural beauty.

The Museum is dedicated to the 1036 Kamikaze Pilots who flew from here to their deaths in April/May 1945 during the battle for Okinawa. I thought that this would be an informative yet controversial tour rather than another city tour in the city of Kagoshima.

As I thought, there is two sides to the story of these pilots. They lost their lives in defense of their country just as millions of men and women have fought for their country since men have been going to war. I will not go into a physiological discussion on the matter at this time. 

It was a wonderful day for us, the best tour since we sailed.

The main street has a stream, as part of the sidewalk and boulevard running through it, with Coy swimming safely in it!

Clean as a whistle.

This hedge is over 200 years old.

A street in the Old Village.

These gardens are very comforting and peaceful, yet simple, in a complicated way!

Once in a while there is a dot of colour, not often.

A few gardens have water features in then.

A monument to the 1036 pilots who died in the battle for Okinawa who flew from the airfield that was here during the war.

These lanterns are all inscribed with the name and particulars of a pilot, as we do with crosses in war cemeteries.

A photo of an actual plane that never got used as a Kamikaze.

A recovered Kamikaze after 70 years in the ocean,

Rice and green tea farms in the country.

Some little town that probably has been there in some form for centuries.

I noticed these interesting wind-turners hanging in the street. I found out that a local barber made them so I searched him out in his shop. I went in and asked him how much? He handed me two and said "Present, no money." How humbling is that? Now we have to pack the very fragile strips of  flailed Green Tea tins!