Adventures of Beth and Dan: ‘Life is a GREAT ADVENTURE or nothing “-Helen Keller

Yesterday was Shimizu, Japan. As has been typical since we left San Diego the day was one of pouring rain, fog and chilly temperatures. There were a few tours off the ship but they focused on viewpoints of Mt Fuji and since the clouds were so low into town there was really no chance of seeing it. We came into port about 8 am and we were to leave at 2:30 so not a very low day for us. The port area and the town were very clean. In all the ports of Japan we have seen no graffiti or garbage. It just feels like there is so much pride in each community. The garbage must almost be collected daily because when you do see it it is in small tied plastic bags often in caged bins or covered with netting so the huge ravens don’t pick it apart. We heard that Honda has a large plant here and also that there is a manufacturer of plastic toys. There was a large Ferris wheel here also in port much like the London Eye. It just seems that every port has this. When we got off the ship there were many older Japanese women who had maps available for us, spoke English and were volunteers to help with our questions. We have noticed that there have been no tour vendors at any of our ports unlike what you find in the Caribbean or other cruise destinations. Sometimes there are taxi’s but sometimes not. The maps the provided us had locations of shrines, WifFi , several shopping areas and 7 - 11 stores which are prevalent. So we took off toward the free WiFi which was shown to be in the city government area and also at an indoor mall. Because it was somewhat early when we got off the mall wasn’t open till 10 or 11 and the offices of the city not till 9, Many people get around with bicycles; An interesting thing about them is that they all have pedal generated lights for night that are attached close to the front wheel but low. They also use a rear type kick stand that attaches around the back wheel allowing for the bike to be parked in a very stable position and not leaning to one side or the other. We saw stacked automated parking also three cars deep where the cars were on elevators that allowed them to take up vertical space and be manipulated by the push of a button! I took a photo of the sidewalk areas too because here in Japan they use a system for the vision impaired on the walk ways that allows them to feel where the side walk is. Most all the street signs are in English and Japanese which helps. We also noticed that their advertising uses more comic type figures than real people.

So we hung out at the free wifi in city hall which was extremely clean, organized and quiet. Many of the ship personnel came in as we were there to also get wifi. Dan downloaded some of his online magazines and I was able to check messages from home and send off my last blog.

After about an hour we wandered down to the mall area and found lots of passengers there hanging out and doing some shopping. Things in Japan we have found are not inexpensive. Since we really don’t need anything and we aren’t into souvenirs we just wandered around. I found some different kinds of Campbells soups that sounded kind of tasty! Ha ha.

Of course Dan is always looking for birds and bugs but honestly the birding is almost nill. We spotted one very large eagle type bird a few days ago and some shore birds but nothing else. The parks are very small and now nothing there is colorful or blooming. Dan seemed to be getting kind of a cold and was ready to board the ship so by 12:30 we were back on and it was STILL raining! At the dock a group of preschool children dressed in their colorful raincoats and boots were there performing a few songs which was so cute. We stopped and took a few photos getting there at the tail end of their song. We dropped off our packs and headed to lunch where we had something small and warm. Slowly folks started coming in from the few tours offered and we asked them about their day. Most said they saw nothing but fog and rain but they did get out of town and that it was very rural. They joked about taking photos of Mt Fuji off postcards and photos on walls just to say they got a photo! There was a special geisha performance from the locals at 1:30 in the theater so we attended that. It was very difficult to understand the gist of the story they were enacting but their traditional costumes and regalia were impressive. Dan kind of slept through it. I gave him some DayQuil when we had gotten onboard and he was feeling kind of tired. After the performance we were to sail away at 2;30 or 3. Always they have a sail away party in the Crow’s Nest which is the highest lounge on the ship. They serve different appetizers there and have the happy hour pricing for drinks. We opted out of that and headed to the room. The phone rang when we got in and it was an Arizona friend who asked me if I wanted a Kimono!! She said a lady was in a lounge on board and had about 400 Kimono’s there that had been her mothers. She was giving them away for free! I guess when her mother heard she was coming on this cruise she told her to pack them all up and take them onboard and give them away!! So my friend happened to walk by this lounge and someone encouraged her to come in and take several!! She got 5 or 6 and gave me my choice after she took what she wanted. They seem pretty authentic, heavy and interesting. They really smelled musty like they had been packed away for years but we had fun trying them on and talking about them. Her husband was out on the balcony on the 6th floor and waved us to come out. The town was giving us a send off with a school group performing a drumming ceremony; the preschoolers were back at the far end singing and then everyone had bubble wands and were sending us bubbles up into the sky! When the ship pulled away they set off fireworks and the captain blew the horn multiple times which just thrilled them all. The crowds on board were waving and cheering; it really was fun.

When I finally got back to the room we were well on our way out of the channel heading toward Osaka. We have a private all day tour here on a big bus with about 30 other people. Dan was resting and had heard none of the fireworks. Since our window was on the other side of the ship he also knew nothing about the send off. He missed a fun experience. I noticed when I got back to the room that there was a t shirt hanging off a hook in our room with a note attached to “Dan Davis”! I asked him where the shirt came from? He had not even noticed it. Well it came from a passenger we met; an older newly widowed gentlemen from Prescott who decided at the last moment to take this cruise. He and his wife had been signed up to come but she died suddenly in the spring so he cancelled...then in late August he decided to come and had to hurry and see if he could get on and get his VISA!! He is a birder too and has hung out with Dan and I several times. He found a shirt with binoculars and a cute saying on it about birding and bought it for Dan :). What a nice gesture and how thoughtful. So Dan hurried and wrote him a nice thank you and we delivered it to his cabin before we headed to dinner. We skipped the entertainment which was a group of four gentlemen singing some cross over classics they said. We decided Dan needed a good nights rest and some night time meds.

Anyway, as I write this we are pulling in to Osaka and should dock by 8. We leave here at 5;30 today and our next stop will be Beppu. Soon I’m going to jiggle Dan awake and tell him it’s time to get off. Good thing it is a bus tour so if he needs a little nap be can do that!