Dec 13 – San Diego



San Diego Sunrise


 

We have spent the last 6 days sailing for our final port of San Diego and we arrived this morning at 7:30 to blue skies and sun shine.  Some of the parents came out to meet the ship as we pulled into the harbor and there are quite a number holding up welcome home signs on the pier. 



San Diego, CA

 

Parents and Frinds Await our Arrival

Parents Greeting Their Student

Parents Greeting Students

 All our baggage has been picked up and stored on the lower decks and is now being moved to shore.  We have to clear Customs here.  Because of the number of people that will be getting off the ship, everyone was divided into groups and the individual groups disembarked one at a time.  We finally got the OK from Immigration and our group, the second to get the go ahead to disembark, moved off the ship about 10:30.  It took us another hour to locate all our luggage and boxes, clear Customs, locate the UPS truck and send our 5 boxes to Seattle. 

We finally got to the airport about 1:00 PM for our 5:00 PM flight to Seattle only to find out that our flight had been delayed until 7:30 PM.  We tried to check our luggage in for our flight, but we were way to early so rather than try to see any of San Diego with 4 large duffle bags in tow we would just hung out at the airport until the flight left. 

We finally arrived home in Seattle about 11:00 PM.  It was an unforgettable trip.  We made friends from all over the U.S. and have had wonder adventures with many of them.  It was sad to say goodbye, but nice to be home.  Now comes the reentry back into our normal lives and the task of getting ready for Christmas that is 10 days away.

Dec. 6 – Horse Riding in Hawaii

Waipio Vally Beach

We rolled out of bed at 5:30 AM today to get ready to drive to the Waipio Valley and go horseback riding in the Valley of the Kings.  Julie is less than enthusiastic about the adventure.  We looked for a place to have a quick breakfast, but the navigation system I was using must not have had the latest maps because the McDonalds we were looking for was nowhere to be found.  We gave up looking and headed down the highway towards Waipio so we could be at the meeting point by 9:00 AM.  We finally stopped in at a supermarket in Honokaa for apple turnovers and coffee and that would be breakfast.



Waipio Valley



We arrived at the rendezvous location, boarded a van with 7 other guests for a ½ hour drive to the floor of the Waipio valley and our awaiting steads.  The drive was more the interesting on a narrow, winding, steep road with views of Waipio bay and beaches, ocean and the valley walls that went almost straight up.  At the bottom of the valley we passed by a few houses, but our leader told us that most of the large population of Hawaiians that used to live in the valley were gone after 3 major tsunami waves had devastated the area since 1946.



Ann and Julie Almost Ready to Ride



We arrived at the stables and were shown our designated horses according to how much riding experience you had.  Our traveling partner, Ann McDonald, and I got horses that were supposed to be a little harder to handle.  Ann and I mounted up and watched as Julie, who is not so comfortable on horseback, was given a little more instruction on getting on, sitting in the saddle and letting her horse, Shady Lady, know who was in charge.  It is only vaguely clear that Shady Lady was buying the bit about who was in charge of the ride.  She had her own idea of the peck order between the 2 of them.  Actually Julie did quite well and it was not long before she had figured out Shady Lady had a need to bit horses next to her or to close in front of her and occasionally take a swipe at her rider.

Once everyone relaxed and was comfortable on their horses, we started a leisurely ride through the valley, across small streams and up a sandy bottomed river.  The valley floor had beautiful trees, bushes and flowers and the sides of the valley with it waterfalls were really spectacular.  Our ride lasted about 1 ½ hours and that was plenty for all of us.  Both Julie and Ann were ready to dismount.  We jumped back into the van for the ride up to the top of valley and back to our car for the trip back to Hilo.

Riding the Waipio Valley

We stopped in Honokaa and had lunch at Jolene’s Kau Kau Café.  It was a small, homey place with great, fresh seafood.  We were also told that Tex’s driving had the best mallasadas on the island and had to try them.  Personally, I found them to be too big and not nearly as tasty as the one I had had in Honolulu, so in my opinion, I doubted they were the best on the island, buy they were hot and fresh.  We bought a pack of 6 and munched them on the drive back to the ship.  We leave at 8:00 tonight for San Diego and home.



Ann, Julie and Dave in Waipio Valley



Julie on Shady Lady



Dec. 5 – Hilo

Entering Hilo

We arrived in Hilo at about 8:30 AM to blue skies and sunshine.  It had been raining for the last few days and we are hoping that we could get good weather for the next couple of days.  We are renting a car while in Hilo so we can explore the big island.  Today we are just looking around the east side and around Hilo bay.  Our first stop is downtown Hilo and of course there is a farmers market.  Our plan is to visit Akaka Falls today so we bought fresh fruit in the market.  The merchants were willing to cut up the fresh pineapple, papaya and lime and an avocado.  We bought sandwiches and fresh milk at the supermarket and headed to the falls.



Akaka Falls - Hawaii



We found Akaka falls, road ends there so not a real challenge, ate our picnic lunch overlooking the Pacific ocean and then took a hike around the area.  It was a beautiful walk and the valley and falls were very calming.  We headed back towards the highway and stop in the little village, name of which is unknown to either Julie or I, where we bought jars of honey and passion fruit jam and a bag of fresh ginger cookies.  All this talk of fresh fruit could give you the idea that we really missed that component of our diet onboard the ship – we did!



Akaka Falls - Hawaii



Kahuna Falls - Hawaii





Unnamed Town in Hawaii selling  Passion Fruit Jam



On the return to Hilo, we stopped at the Macadamia Nut Plant, but could only take the self-guided tour and briefly visit the gift shop.  We forgot it was Sunday.  We also tried to visit a coffee farm, but they were not open on Sunday either.  We found a restaurant not too far from the ship for dinner then returned to the ship because tomorrow we had an early morning adventure.

Dec. 4 – Day 2 in Honolulu



MV Explorer at Aloha Towers Pier - Honolulu



We took our time this morning having nothing in particular that needed to be accomplished.  About mid-morning we decided to ride the bus to the Ala Moana shopping mall to see if we could finish up some last minute Christmas shopping before we left town.  I visited this mall for the first time in 1968.  It has gone through significant growth since then as have the rest of the areas between Honolulu and Waikiki.  We might as well have been in Northgate or Bellevue malls in Seattle – lots of people wondering around, but we did not find anything we could not live without.



Dave and his Friend in Honolulu



About 1 ½ hours of the mall scene, was enough for both of us and we headed back to downtown Honolulu.  We realized that today was Saturday and most of the businesses and restaurants were closed.  We found a Vietnamese restaurant near the University of the Pacific, had lunch and headed back towards the ship when we passed a Verizon store. When I retired I gave up my company cell phone and had cancelled Julie’s cell phone before we left on the voyage.  Having time to kill we decided to investigate Verizon as our new cell phone provider.  An hour later we were equipped with new cell phones and Julie was interested in trying hers out to call family that we have not talked to, other than through email, for almost 4 months.  We had coffee near the ship while Julie call the kids and had a wonderful time catching briefly catching up with everyone she could get a hold of.

We had to be onboard the ship by 6:00 PM to be ready to sail for Hilo at 8:00.  Two ports to go and we will be home.

Saying Goodbuy to Honolulu

Dec. 3 – Honolulu, Hawaii



Julie Happy to be Back in the U.S.



After 10 days of sailing, we have arrived back in the U.S.A.  We were up, dressed and ready for immigration by 6:30 AM.  Since we have been to Honolulu several times, we did not have any trips planned. Our main objective was to find a UPS store and buy boxes and packing tape.  We have to have our rooms packed up and luggage and boxes ready to be taken off the ship before we get to San Diego on the 13^th. We have to get boxes and tape either here in Honolulu or in Hilo.



We located a UPS store a few blocks from the pier and headed into downtown Honolulu.  As we walked into Honolulu, it dawned on us that although we have been in the area several times, we have never really been in Honolulu proper.  We have always been in Waikiki.  It has somehow never occurred to us that the two locations are different.  So this morning we just went walkabout through Honolulu on our way to UPS.  We found an open air farmers market selling fresh fruit and malasatas, a Portuguese donut, and ended up at a coffee shop named “Bad Ass Coffee” in recognition of the donkeys that were used to carry Kona coffee from the plantations to the markets in days gone by.  Did I ever mention that the coffee on the ship was really bad?  Bad Ass Coffee was a little better, but only a little.



Honolulu Christmas Display



After we located the UPS store and purchased boxes and tape, we continued our walkabout with a visit to the city hall where they were getting ready of the annual Christmas Shopping parade and had a display of Christmas trees set up.  It still did not feel like Christmas with 80^o temperatures and native palm trees.   We had lunch at the Mission House Museum and slowly made our way back to the ship stopping at the Aloha Towers mall for an after lunch coffee and some coconut & Pineapple ice cream.



Christmas in Honolulu



Waikiki Sunset from Halekulani Hotel



A group of us had made it a point to have one nice dinner in each of the countries we visited on this voyage and Hawaii would be our last in our adventure.  We decided to go to the House without a Key restaurant at the Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki.  We were able to find a table outside and toasted the Hawaiian sunset for a final dinner.  It was a beautiful sunset with sail boats on the west and Diamond Head stood our prominently to the east.  The meal and wine were very good and everyone was a happy camper as we left the restaurant and headed down the beach for an after dinner stroll in the sand.  We ended up at the Moana Surfrider Hotel – the “First Lady of Waikiki”.  Earlier in the day we bought a print at the Mission House Museum of the back deck of the Moana Hotel and wanted to see the real thing while we were close.  We also walked through both the Moana Surfrider and Royal Hawaiian Hotels and then caught a cab back to the ship.

Nov 23 – Nissan Plant Tour

Nissan Leaf

Yokohama is home to Nissan Motors and there are several plants producing cars in the area.  One of the student field trips was a tour of one of the plants, and there was room for several of us non-students to tag along.  One of the models made at this plant is the new Nissan Leaf.  We were not allowed to take photos during the tour which is too bad.  It was an absolutely fascinating tour and provided a great look at the assembly lines.  We were able to see many of the practices that made Japanese industry so efficient and that western manufacturing has tried to emulate.  The students got a good look at how manufacturing lines should work.  One of the more impressive features was that each manufacturing line built 4 different models of cars.  The cars would come down the line, the parts for that model were available at each station and the workers had the knowledge to install the parts regardless of what model came along.  It was one of the highlights of the entire 3+ month trip, but it was a short tour and we did not get to see nearly enough of the operation. 

While I was taking the Nissan tour, Julie and a friend were shopping in some of the old warehouses in the port area that had been converted into a large craft market.  All the stalls were showing off their Christmas selections.  It was a nice place to spend time, but nothing there that she considered worthy of hauling back to the U.S. We all met back at the ship in time to have dinner and be on deck for our departure to Hawaii.

Leaving Yokohama

Nov. 22 – Yokohama



View of Yokohama from Minatonomierouka Park
MV Explorer, our ship, in Background



We docked in Yokohama this morning.  This is our last non-American port of call.  The pier and the visitor center are relatively new or updated -  possibly something that was done for the World Expo that ended a couple of weeks ago.  The roof of the center is all grass and it appears to be a  very eco-friendly design.  There are lots of people walking, jogging along the river walk and quite a number taking pictures of the ship as it docked.  The weather is similar to what I would expect Seattle is like this time of year – gray, cloudy and on the cool side.  Autumn is definitely in the air.

Statue in Minatonomierouka Park

We did not really have much planned for Yokohama for today.  We thought we would take our chances and just walk around the city.  Our first stop was the Minatonomierouka Park.  Yokohama was the first city in Japan to be opened up foreign trade.  As a result many British and Americans located in Yokohama and many of the elite built houses in this area.  Some of the houses for the Diplomats are open to public tours and gives one a glimpse of life in the mid 1800 for the expats living there. The park also provides a wonderful view of the city and harbor areas of Yokohama.



Dave and an Item for his wish list



After walking the park we walked down the main street in the Motomachi Chukagai area.  This was the original area where Yokohama started.  Today this area a full of high end stores and has a very British feel to the area.  All the shops had their Christmas decorations up and you could hear American Christmas carols all along the street.  We had lunch in a small restaurant that a local shop owner recommended.  The restaurant was small and warm, and severed terrific food.  At the time, we were the only non-Japanese customers. 

This area is also not far from the Yokohama’s Chinatown.  In addition to being able to buy goods from China, this area is full of Chinese restaurants and is where people from Tokyo come to have Chinese dinner.  Yokohama is only about 40 minutes by high speed train from Tokyo.  We wondered through the Chinatown area and headed back to the ship for dinner.

Nov. 20 – Kyoto

This morning we headed for the train station to go to Kyoto and to the shogun palace.  A 50 minute train ride took a little over an 1 ½ hours due to some problems on the tracks.  Usually trains are very punctual in Japan.

Nijo Castle

We visited the Nijo Castle that was home to the Shogun in 1623.  The whole fortification houses several building and gardens covering over 275,000 sq. meters.  One of the most striking features of the Palace was the "nightingale floors" in the hallways. To protect the occupants from sneak attacks and assassins, the builders constructed the floors of the hallways in such a way as to squeak like birds when anyone walks on them.  The surrounding gardens were showing off their autumn colors and they were gorgeous.

Gardens of Nijo Castle

Gardens of Nijo Castle

After our self-tour of the castle, we boarded a city bus and headed for the Gion section of town and the home of a couple of the temples that were recommended as must sees. 

The first adventure was riding a Kyoto city bus.  It is not the ride as much as it is the crowd on the bus.  The buses are packed literally and you enter in the rear door and have to make you way to the front of the bus when you exit.  The Japanese are very good at moving a little closer together when the bus stops to let people from the back squeeze through to get to the front door, pay their fee, and exit.

Keyomizu Temple

We made our way to the Keyomizu Temple sitting on the side of a mountain on the eastern side of Kyoto.  It is also called the pink temple.  Again the gardens were very beautiful as was the temple buildings and the view of the city especially with the fall colors in full display.

We were unable to visit another site because we had to get back to Kobe and the ship.  We sail tonight for Yokohama.







 

Gardens of Keyomizu Temple




Gardens of Keyomizu Temple

Nov. 19 –Kobe, Japan



Docking in Kobe Japan with Welcoming Band



We docked at 7:00 AM this morning and had a rousing welcome in the form of a marching band.  The band did not actually march this morning.  Instead they played John Philip Susa tunes on the balcony of the Passenger Center. 

Before we could actually see Kobe, everyone on the shop had to go through Customs where we were finger printed and photographed.  It took us an hour and a half to waiting in line before we could get into the city.

Kobe Mall



Our intent was to do a city orientation on our own using a hop-on-hop-off bus service that we had used in some of our other ports, but we could not figure out exactly where the Kobe version of this service traveled.  We decided to walk toward a few block to see what was available.  We found a market but decided to walk another block before dipping into the market stalls.  A block or so from the market stalls was an open air mall that appeared to be constructed by turning one street into a walking only area and partially covering it.  The mall was then created by the buildings on either side as one huge mall. 

We started a casual stroll down the mall only to run into a French pastry shop.  We just had to stop to see if the Japanese could make French style pastries.   We quickly discovered

Kobe Santa

that, like many other things, they have superbly mastered the art of baking French pastries.   We also discovered as we continued to walk through this mall, that they have done this not only in one or two shops in this mall, but a couple of time or more on every block in this mall.  We are still not sure how big this “mall” is.  We walked about 10 blocks in this mall and never did see the end of it.  

We started out thinking that we could sample a pastry at the shops we saw, but gave that idea up about 2 blocks into the mall.  By the time we had visited 3 French bakeries, a sidewalk shop advertising Kobe steak on a stick, a coffee house advertising a royal milk team drink and fresh chocolate croissants and another sidewalk shop selling Japanese style cream puffs, we had to give up the quest.  We spent the rest of the day poking around the shops, looking at the Christmas decorations and listening to the old American Christmas carols.

We gave up trying to find the end of the mall and walk back through a large Chinese area.  Julie did find a custard cup that she says is the best she has ever had.  Unfortunitly we did not get back to buy more of them either because we could not find the store a second time or we were too far away to retrace our steps or some of both. 

Having just come from Shanghai, we decided to find some other than Chinese food for dinner. We had dinner at an Italian pizza shop and then headed for SOGO - one of the large department stores on the way back to the ship.  Stores like SOGO in Japan are a similar to Harrods in London - massive with goods and prices for everyone.  Like Harrods, SOGO also has one floor dedicated to food.  We were late getting to the store and did not realize that 8:00 PM was closing time.  We managed to wonder around the food floor and taste bits of many things - all good.  We also saw our first $100 fresh cantaloupe next to a cheaper version for only $50 (US dollars).  Having eaten more than our share for the day, we headed back to the ship for the night. 

$100 Cantaoupe

Nov. 16 – Suzhou Tour

We decided to take the tour to Suzhou today.  Suzhou is a city about 2 hours ride from Shanghai on the lower Yangtze River.  It is considered a small city in Chinese terms because it has a population of fewer than 10 million people.  It also is home to some of the most beautiful classic gardens in China.

Tiger Hill Garden

Leaning Temple at Tiger Hill



Tiger Hill Garaden



Our first visit was to the Tiger Hill garden.  This garden is built over 1000 years ago.  It covers approximately 50 acres and surrounds a leaning Buddhist temple.  Our second visit was to the Master of the Nets Garden.  This garden was originally constructed in 1140. It redesigned 1785 by a retired government official of the Qing Dynasty.^[2] He drastically redesigned the garden and added new buildings, but retained the spirit of the site. He often referred to himself as a fisherman and renamed it the Master of the Nets Garden, in honor of the simple life of a fisherman.

Humle Administrators Garden

The last garden we visited was the Humble Administrator’s Garden.   It was originally started sometime between 618 and 907.  In the and early 1500s a government minister bought it and spent 16 years building it into his residence and naming it the Humble Administrator’s Garden. At 51,950 m² it is the largest garden in Suzhou and generally considered the finest garden in southern China.  It was breathtakingly beautiful as the trees were beginning to show off their fall colors of red and gold.



Master the Net Garden



The last part of our tour was a river cruise down a river that was diked on both sides and the city had built up on the banks.  As you moved down the river you viewed the back of the houses of the local residents.  We stopped for lunch at a local hotel and then boarded our bus and headed back to the ship for our voyage to Japan.

Our River Boat in Suzhou



Canal Street in Suzhou



Homes on Canal Street - Suzhou

Home Canal Street - Suzhou

Home on Canal Street

Nov. 14 – Lunch with the Tutu’s

Today we had a special luncheon with Archbishop Tutu and his wife Leah.  Sue had arranged for the luncheon with just our family; Sue and husband Greg, son Marcus, daughter Lauran and Julie and I.  The ship assigned an aid to the Tutus for the voyage so Liz and her husband Jeremy also attended.

We have a new cook on the ship and one that has sailed with the Tutus on a previous trip.  Our new cook knows that Archbishop Tutu likes curry so he spent 2 days prior to our lunch to make up curries and curry dishes for this lunch.  We had a cold shrimp salad to start, followed by a well-seasoned fish, curry chicken and rice, non, dal and carrot cake with ice cream.  It was all delicious and an occasion the will be remembered forever.

Front- left to right: Marcus, Leah, Archbiship Tutu, Lauran
Back: Liz Ezvodsky, Jeremy Mohr, Julie, Dave, Sue, Greg

Nov. 15 – Shanghai



Shanghai, China



Neither of us was up to watch the ship docki in Shanghai at 3:00 AM for another overnight stop. We figured the captain had it well in hand and did not need either of us to supervise.  This is the first port landing we have missed.  I took some time for Immigration to clear the ship so we could disembark.  The Chinese were not letting anyone with an abnormal temperature enter the country.  The entire ship had to be scanned by a thermal temperature sensor before we were allowed to get our passports and get off.



Shanghai, China



Julie has decided to take the City Tour today and my sister, Sue, and I were going to just to a walk around Shanghai.  Julie was accompanying Leah Tutu for the day and was thrilled to do so.  They started out in Shanghai’s old town, a picturesque, bustling tourist part of Shanghai.  Old Town is part of the original town of Shanghai, or so the advertisements say, with many pagoda-like building housing eating shops (including 2 Starbucks), souvenir shops, tea houses, temples and a wonderful old Chinese garden.



Garden at Shanghai Old Town





Old Town in Shanghai



Old Town in Shanghai



After Julie and the tour visited the garden, museum and jade temple, they headed for dinner.  On the way to the restaurant they could see a fire in one of the monstrous apartment building close to where they were going.  The fire burned the upper floors of the apartment building, killing more than 50 people and injuring at least that many.   The fire also knocked out the electricity at the restaurant she was scheduled to have dinner.  After dinner at an alternate restaurant, they attended an acrobatics show and saw some amazing performers and some equally amazing feats of strength and balance.