SINGAPORE, BALI & A CRUISE IN JAPAN
* excerpts from Wikipedia throughout ☺
All our flights on this trip
Getting there:
Ottawa - Newark (535 km - 1 hr 10 min)
2 hours 45 minutes layover
Newark - San Francisco (4128 km - 5 hrs 40 min)
1 hour 30 minute layover
San Francisco - Singapore (13,593 - 16.5 hrs)
We crossed the International Date Line, so technically we're flew for 2 friggin' days!
While on vacation:
Singapore - Bali (1669 km - 2 hrs 40 min)
Bali - Singapore (1669 km - 2 hr 40 min)
Singapore - Tokyo (5300 km - 7 hrs 5 min)
+ 2402 nautical miles on the ship
Coming back home:
Tokyo - Newark (10,879 km - 13 hrs)
3 hours 20 min layover
Newark - Ottawa (535 km - 1 hr 10 min)
Total kilometers flown on this month-long adventure =
38,308 kilometers!!!
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| In case you aren't familiar with where these places are (I wasn't 100% either, had to look it up), here are a couple of maps to get your bearings |
Day 1: March 22nd
Singapore
Hotel Mi
Once our feet were finally planted firmly on the ground again we were ready to explore!
Population: As of June 2023, Singapore had 5.92 million people
It has the 2nd highest population density in the world (some sites say 3rd)!
Size: 710 square kilometers (population density of 8,276.58 people per square kilometer)
In comparison, Canada has a population density of: 3.92 people per square kilometer and is
9,984,670 square kilometers in size
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| It is a futuristic and ancient city at the same time. This is an internet photo of the Supertree Grove at Gardens by the Bay |
Time to explore the city. Let this month-long adventure begin!
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| The Singapore Botanical Garden is a 165-year old tropical garden with over 10,000 species of flora spread over 200 acres. It is free to enjoy (except the orchid garden) the peaceful atmosphere away from the hustle of the big city, but keep in mind, it is HOT here - usually 40°C with humidity - so we badly wanted to jump into that waterfall! 🫠 |
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| Peek-a-boo |
Day 2: March 23rd
Singapore
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When space is at a premium, you find vertical ways to park cars!
   Lovely, air-conditioned gardens!  I thought this was interesting art in the Cloud Forest greenhouse dome  We loved the lush vegetation in many areas of Singapore   |
Day 3: March 24th
Singapore
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| Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum in Chinatown (Singapore) |
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Beautiful orchids in the Chinatown temple. Knees and shoulders had to be covered - thus the reason for my outfit. A lovely Chinese woman showed us how we should circle the main temple area 3 times clockwise. I believe she said this was for good luck Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum in Chinatown (Singapore). This structure rotated and, as we learned, it would gong at a certain part in the rotation. Ooops!  Really cool wall mural near the Chinatown temple  This one's for you Aunt Judy 😽   The Lau Pa Sat Hawker food market - these Hawker markets are THE place to eat in Singapore because it's delicious and way less expensive than restaurants  Singapore's iconic Marina Bay where the main attractions are located. In the background is the Marina Bay Sands Hotel (low price is $720 Cdn per night). It is a very beautiful area to wander around and tourists and locals alike enjoy people watching here. It's where they do a free, nightly light show on the water (which wasn't so impressive as Dubai and Las Vegas, but still nice). The lotus-shaped building is the Art-Science Museum. The ferris wheel is the Singapore Flyer. We did not get up in it or go to the rooftop at the Marina Sands Hotel (tickets sold out), but if you have the time and money, I hear they have awesome views, especially at night. From the hotel you can watch the nightly lightshow at the Supertree Grove (which I highly recommend - we watched it from the ground, but you can also go up on the platforms in the Supertree area). The only issue with the Supertree Grove is it is VERY popular, so it was crowded, which took away some of the enjoyment of the show.  The other iconic symbol of Singapore is the Merlion (the official mascot of Singapore) - the mythical creature with a head of a lion and body of a fish (origins as a fishing village) |
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| This is a very popular spot for photos from tourists |
Raffles Hotel (pic above and below) home of the original Singapore Sling drink, which we tried, as part of our Singapore pass. Otherwise it's $39 Cdn per drink! The sad thing is, we didn't even really like it. 😣
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| (Apparently) 1st developed at this restaurant in and around 1915, the Singapore sling (a gin-based long drink) was originally named a "gin sling". It was socially unacceptable for women to drink alcohol in public at the time, so Ngiam made it look like fruit juice, so women could drink it. |
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| Up close pic from the pond as we waited for the light show at Marina Bay to begin |
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| After the Marina Bay light show we headed to the Supertree Grove light show (also free nightly - from the ground). It's very large and impressive! |
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| It's almost other-worldly. LOVE the colours |
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| As we headed out of the park back to our hotel Craig stopped to say hello to his relatives 🙊 |
Day 4: March 25th
Singapore
We went back to Little India for lunch, wandered around high-end malls (to escape the heat really) and that was our last day in Singapore
Day 5: March 26th
🛬Fly to;
Ubud, (on the Island of Bali) Indonesia
Hotel Alena
Ubud is a town on the island of Bali in Indonesia. The population is only about 75,000 and is 42.38 km2. Despite it's small size, it receives more than 3 million tourists a year!
The town was originally important as a source of medicinal herbs and plants. The name comes from the Balinese word ubad which means "medicine".
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| Open-air reception of the Alena Hotel in Ubud. Right away we loved the tropical feel here and it felt so peaceful |
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Our gorgeous room at only $80 Cdn / night |
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| View from the hotel restaurant |
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| Lunch at our Hotel restaurant - The Perantenan. We especially loved mie goreng (egg noodles) & nasi (rice) goreng (not pictured)! YUM! |
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| Indonesia has such fresh, flavorful and beautiful food! I could live here if it weren't for the heat and chaotic traffic |
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| The beautiful grounds and gate at our hotel. Ubud seems to have truly amazing craftsmen who do all the detailed carvings in wood and plaster. I hope they never lose these incredible traditions and craftsmen. |
Day 6: March 27th
From Ubud we toured North Bali
Today was the first of three full days of touring around Bali with our private guide. He was a kind man and a good driver, but don't expect your guide to speak or understand a whole lot of English.
Tour day #1:
1. Handara Gate
2. Banyumala waterfall
3. Pura Bratan Temple on the lake
4. Jatiluwih rice fields
1st stop today as we headed to North Bali was the
Handara Gate. We were one of the first people to get there, so it wasn't busy at all, but the photos didn't turn out great because of the direction of the sun.
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The photographer was not as talented as the other gate we went to. See picture below that shows how beautiful this gate can be under the right circumstances |
Because of the heat, it was an exhausting walk to/from this waterfall, but SO worth it for the gorgeous surroundings and there weren't too many people there yet
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| Nature's umbrella ☔ |
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| Gorgeous natural waterfall & my handsome hubby on the no-so-sturdy looking bridge |
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| A 2nd waterfall close-by |
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| Pura Bratan Temple was a beautiful spot and not too crowded at all |
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| Pura Bratan Temple |
Next stop on the tour: The Jatiluwih rice fields
Here we were just left to wander on our own on the path to take in the beauty of the rice fields. It wasn't busy at all
Here we were just left to wander on our own on the path to take in the beauty of the rice fields. It wasn't busy at all
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| Jatiluwih rice fields |
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| Jatiluwih rice fields |
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| Jatiluwih rice fields |
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| We didn't go here, but this is an internet photo of the Tegallalang rice fields - famous with instagrammers - so way overcrowded |
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| We ended off our day at our hotel (The Alena) where we enjoyed a traditional Balinese dinner and show with these lovely dancers and musicians |
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| They stay in this crouch position the entire dance and have the most interesting facial expressions and hand movements. Sadly, I could not upload the video as it was too large |
Day 7: March 28th
From Ubud we did a tour of East Bali
We agreed to be picked up at 4:45 am in order to get our place in line for today's first stop (a 1.5 hour drive from our hotel)
1. Lempuyang Temple (I didn't think it was worth it to get up so early and to have to wait in line for pictures to be taken of us, but I was wrong, it is definitely worth it)
2. Boa Lawah Temple
3. Tirtagangga fish ponds
4. Besakih Temple ("Mother" temple)
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| We weren't too sure about trying this at first, but once you get past the slimy texture, it's not too bad. It's called a mangusteen |
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This is snakefruit and it has a very unique taste and texture. I preferred it over the mangosteen |
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| Lempuyang Temple - Getting up at 4 am, driving there, getting our "number" (#56) to have our photo taken at the gate...all worth it. If you don't arrive early, however, it could be a VERY long wait. It's quite organized and the photographers know what they're doing as they give you voice commands to do your next pose. You only get so many, so we found ourselves practicing the order so we wouldn't be wasting time and would take the best shots. There is actually no water here, they use a mirror to create this effect (in pic below). Unlike the other gate pictures, this photographer really knew what he was doing. |
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| Staircase to the actual temple at Lempuyang which is for worshippers only (no tourists). Picture above is of the central staircase |
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| I love this pose Craig did - holding his goatee and turned to the side. Good one Love! This is Lempuyang Hindu Temple gate which is at the same place as the picture above it. Located on Mount Lempuyang. This temple is regarded as one of the six holiest places of worship in Bali and is referred to as the gates of heaven. Sadly, us tourists kind of ruin it with our need to get photos. |
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| Craig didn't want to do a jump shot, so I went for it and really got some good height for a nearly 55 year old! |
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| This is a picture from up the staircase where you can see that there's grass and a walkway there (not water) and you can see a much better view of the mountain/volcano behind it. |
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This is Pura Goa Lawah (bat cave temple) ("pura"= temple, "goa" = cave) |
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Next up was the Tunas Coffee plantation (no interesting pictures). We didn't do the tour, we just bought some coffee there.   Last stop on today's tour: Besakih Temple (a.k.a. "Mother" Temple)  On the slopes of Mount Agung is Besakih Temple - the largest, most important and holiest Hindu temple of Bali    Wouldn't you love to have this for your front door? Bad picture (as we were driving by in a car), but it's just so impressive what they are still making in Bali |
Day 8: March 29th
Ubud
The last of our 3-day tour - today in the Ubud area
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| We were too early to start at the Monkey Forest, so we went to the Kanto Lampo Waterfall first. Beautiful area and that waterfall would have been cool to swim around, but we took one look at the long walk down - knowing we'd have to walk back up in that heat - and said "nope, ain't happening" and decided to just take pictures from above. lol |
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| Us lazy oldies making the effort at least to climb into the bird nest (made for this purpose) |
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| I guess now I can't say this is a picture of me at the waterfall - since I just said we didn't go down there. lol It's from https://digitaltravelcouple.com/kanto-lampo-waterfall-bali/ |
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| Mandala Suci Wenara Wana, also known as Ubud Monkey Forest. Approximately 1260 Balinese long-tailed macaque monkeys live in this sanctuary |
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| Boobie statues of any kind always bring this boyish grin to Craig's face. 😁 |
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| The infant monkeys are the cutest! |
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| I loved how patient they all were to get food. Although the guy in the bottom of the photo is high-tailing it outta there with his! lol In the monkey forest (in Ubud), the monkeys are quite tame (non-aggressive) if you just walk around and don't threaten them. The monkeys aren't this docile in all areas of Bali. Some places they're very aggressive and want to steal anything you have. We didn't experience any issues with monkeys while in Bali, but we also kept things close, didn't wear hats, sunglasses or backpacks |
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| I had never before seen monkeys swimming! It was so fun to watch them enjoying themselves. Next up: Goa Gojah Temple (Elephant Cave)  We felt we could have skipped this stop. Mostly because we again didn't feel like walking up and down the stairs in 40 degree heat, but it was, as with most of the Ubud area, very lush and green Next up: Tirta Empul Temple Tirta Empul Temple was founded around a large water spring in 962 A.D. This temple is famous for it's holy spring water where people come from all over the world for they partake in a purification ritual called Melukat. T      Craig & I couldn't get enough of these beautiful structures found ALL over Bali, but especially in the Ubud area. A family may have a very simple home, but they might also have a beautiful Hindu temple gate like this one on their property. Gates in Balinese Hindu culture signify passing from a secular world into sacred, religious space that is normally a temple.  |
Day 9: March 30th
Ubud
Our last day in Ubud 😭
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| More delicious and beautiful food at The Alena Hotel restaurant We decided to just have a relaxing day at the hotel for our last day. We lounged by the pool and took treated ourselves to a spa treatment. Craig had a massage. I had a 1-hour Balinese massage + coconut body scrub and then a coconut hair treatment & blow-dry for only $70 Cdn. And that's hotel prices. Obviously it's even less expensive for a massage in town. Absolutely heavenly. 💗 |
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| Craig likes these "dead man float" pictures |
Sadly we had to say good-bye to Ubud... 😞
Day 10: March 31st
Canggu, (on the Island of Bali), Indonesia
Hotel Theanna Canggu
Canggu is a coastal village with 10 km's of beaches. It seemed very popular with surfers as the waves were quite large here. It's apparently a digital nomad area and there's a lot of beautiful, young people here wearing very little clothing. lol
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| When we first arrived we took a walk from our hotel to check out the beautiful beach area (Batu Bolong beach) |
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| At our hotel in Canggu we had another really beautiful oasis from the chaos. Craig surprised me with this incredible room complete with our own private courtyard and pool! Yup, we went naked out there at the pool. 😱 |
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Can you imagine? This was all ours and included a little outdoor kitchen area and a great lounge couch. It was a nice surprise!  Craig enjoying his breakfast (included @ hotel)     La Brisa Sunday market Canggu Day 11: April 1st Canggu  |
16th century Tanah Lot Temple outside of Canggu
Incredibly beautiful scenery here (Tanah Lot Temple), but even on a cloudy day there were too many people
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| I kept trying to get a picture of what it's like on the roads in Bali. This is a traffic jam on our way back to Canggu from the Tanah Lot Temple. Usually people go there to see the sunset, but it was a cloudy day, so we headed back early, but still the traffic was brutal. |
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| Stinky fruit display at a grocery store of durian fruit & dragon fruit. Many buildings ban anyone bringing durian fruit inside. This grocery store stunk pretty bad (kinda like raw sewage) |
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On our 1st night in Canggu we met a lovely & outgoing Romanian-German lady (Daiana) and her adorable daughter Hanna (seen above feeding the bunnies). We arranged to meet a 2nd time at this restaurant (Casa Dua). This is Daiana & Hanna (face disguised). Daiana's expression sums up what a beautiful person she is. You have a zest for life that is contagious! 💗 |
Day 12: April 2nd
Canggu
We just wandered around town in the morning and then entertained Daiana & Hanna at our pool that afternoon.
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| Free drinks at the hotel under the beautiful canopy architecture that is seen throughout Bali |
Day 13: April 3rd
Drove from Canggu to Nusa Dua, (island of Bali), Indonesia
Hotel: The Grand Bali Nusa Dua Resort
Nusa Dua (meaning "two islands") is a resort area built in the 1970's
Known as the 5-star resort town, it had a very different feel to it than Ubud and Canggu. Craig had planned it to be a relaxing end to our time in Bali, but really, it was just a city with not-so-nice beaches and our 5-star resort was nice, but past its prime. We likely would not have planned to come to Nusa Dua had we realized what it was like. As always though, we enjoyed our time there. We ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant that was cheap and delicious and also met a nice Canadian family at the pool who had been travelling all over Asia for 18 months.
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| Our swim-out pool room @ The Grand Bali hotel |
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| We decided to head to Uluwatu Temple eventhough it was a very cloudy day (no fireshow for us) |
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| This is another beautiful temple area by the ocean. This is where the monkeys can be quite aggressive, but since we were nearly the only ones there, they left us alone. |
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| He looks like he has really short legs! lol |
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| Uluwatu Temple |
Day 14: April 4th
Nusa Dua
Today we went to the beach club and went for a little swim as we watched people learning to surf. Unfortunately, the beach wasn't very nice and had a lot of garbage in the water. That afternoon we were back in the pool (that was way too warm to be refreshing) and then out for a seafood dinner.
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| The beach at The Grand Bali's private beach club area. Each hotel had a little section of the beach. Some nicer and with more amenities than others |
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| Yummy seafood dinner |
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| These insects were everywhere in Nusa Dua - wasn't a fan! |
Day 15: April 5th
Nusa Dua
We didn't do too much besides a little shopping, more Mexican food and then had another massage (gotta take advantage of the inexpensive massages).
Day 16: April 6th
🛬Fly back to
Singapore
Hotel: Crown Plaza Chiangi Airport
The pass we had originally purchased in Singapore had one more attraction left for us to use, so we thought we'd go to the famous airport garden. It was insanely busy in there though. We went to the ticket booth (not easy to find in this mall area) and when Craig got to the cash they said "you have to go downstairs for the pass". He went downstairs, but it's an enormous area and he never found where to go, so about 30 minutes later, he comes back up (where I had been waiting) and goes back up to the cashier. They were unable to help him and we decided to just leave. You'd think it would be easy to just scan the barcode and go, but apparently not. You can see some of it for free without a ticket, so we just had a peek and then left.
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Day 17: April 7th
🛬Fly from Singapore to
Tokyo, Japan
for the cruise
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis is the capital of Japan and one of THE most populous cities in the world with a population of over 14 million residents as of 2023 and is 2,194 km2.
The history is very detailed, you can read about it here if you like... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo
We took a bus and then taxi to Yokohama because the cruise would be leaving from there on April 9th.
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| Look Kiki! You have your own restaurant in Japan! We tried some interesting street food here (Chinatown in Yokohama) |
The next morning we ventured out and took the metro to Asakusa (about 38 km's from Yokohama)
Day 18: April 8th
Day in Tokyo
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Where's Waldo (Craig)? This is the Sensō-ji Buddhist Temple in Asakusa (Tokyo), Japan. It's one of Tokyo's oldest-established temples receiving over 30 million visitors annually (I believe it! Seemed like there was 1 million there that day). All over Japan you can rent Kimonos. These ladies could have rented them or they owned them. Not sure, but it's quite the beautiful site.  The fortune I received from here was pretty bad! It said "Women shouldn't meet together, as they talk too loudly" (I kid you not) and "It is bad to start a trip now. Marriage and employment are both bad". Geesh! Nothing like the positive sayings in fortune cookies! 🥠   Our first up close glimpse of the cherry blossoms   These were the crowds we faced at Senso-ji Temple  Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo is believed to be the world's busiest crosswalk  Same crossing as picture above, but 2 minutes later It was a bit of a grueling day travelling in the Tokyo metro system with millions of people, but I'm glad we experienced it and made the effort.  One thing we both really enjoyed was our two experiences with conveyor belt sushi restaurants. This one - Uobei (which Craig got a kick out of because sounded out it sounds like "you obey") lol. It's a delicious and unique dining experience; very quick and efficient. This one we sat in a bench style and the plates were collected afterwards, but the 2nd one we went to we had our own booth and the empty plates magically went into a little hole and disappeared.     That evening we decided to go see where our cruise ship would be leaving from the next day. This picture is taken from the cruise port into the city of Yokohama (just outside of Tokyo). Japan really does like ferris wheels as we saw several on this journey. It's a beautiful port and we were excited to embark on our cruise of Japan + 1 stop in South Korea! |
Day 19: April 9th
Depart on
Celebrity Millennium cruise
Despite the rain on embarkation day, we were excited to board and be able to finally unpack (vs. living out of the suitcase).
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| Of course, right away (well, after lunch, let's not get crazy), Craig wanted to hit the hot tub despite the temperature being about 12 degrees! |
Day 20: April 10th
Mount Fuji (Shimizu), Japan
We didn't have an excursion booked for this port. Instead we just walked around on our own in this quiet town. This is near the town where locals put up a screen to block the view of Mt. Fuji because they were tired of the crowds flocking there to take pictures and causing dangerous traffic issues.
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| We were very fortunate on this cruise, to be able to see the top of Mt. Fuji. Apparently it's most often covered in clouds, so we were really thankful to be able to see it in it's full glory! |
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| Origami lesson on the ship |
Day 21: April 11th
Kobe, Japan
We just walked off the ship here and went to Chinatown
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| Gate to Chinatown in Kobe |
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| Vending machines like this are everywhere in Japan selling silly little prizes in plastic globes |
Day 22: April 12th
Kyoto (Osaka), Japan (overnight)
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| They love their anime characters! We took the metro to Kyoto to visit a temple |
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| The Fushimi Inari Taisha Buddhist Temple in Kyoto |
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| Love you honey! 🍯 |
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| Awesome bamboo forest |
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| We just could not get used to the huge crowds |
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| Beautiful Japanese fans |
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| Cherry blossoms floating on a small pond |
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| Japan has a lot of very tiny houses/condos! It's no wider than a car. |
Day 23: April 13th
still in Kyoto (Osaka), Japan
🌸Cherry blossoms!🌸
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| We did a ship tour of Osaka including this park area of Osaka Castle (built in the 16th century) |
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| Beautiful Spring blossoms! |
It's so beautiful when there are a lot of cherry trees blooming all at once! So glad we braved the crowds to come on this trip during the cherry blossom season. Originally we had booked this Japan cruise back in 2019 thinking we'd go in Spring of 2020, but covid had other plans and this trip got bumped several times. SO glad we finally were able to go on it... and at a 2019 price!
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| Can you find Craig? We couldn't get enough of the cherry blossoms, but there was one stop, later on, up North, that blew all these views away |
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| These "Castles" started to look the same. This is Osaka Castle. We climbed up it, of course! |
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| Craig was entertained by the saying advertising "octopus balls" 🐙 |
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| We called these bonsai trees, but aren't sure if we are correct or not. They're cool, whatever they're called. |
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| The Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine - a beautiful area to just wander around in. Very calm and there weren't TOO many people here |
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| Japanese Taiko drummers giving our cruise ship a send off. The word "taiko" literally translates into "fat drum". They have huge cultural significance to Japan. The young girl in front with the glasses was very entertaining and enthusiastic. |
Day 24: April 14th
Kochi, Japan
We did a ship tour, "Kochi Sightseeing", to
Katsurahama Beach, Kōchi Castle, Hirome-Ichiba Market and Chikurin-ji Temple
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Ship tour started off at Katsurahama Beach where you're apparently not allowed to swim!?! Katsurahama Beach  Katsurahama Beach |
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Chikurin-ji Temple - stop # 31on the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage |
We tried several of these mystery meats
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| Kōchi Castle |
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| Art work made with real horse hair in Kōchi Castle |
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| We ended our great day at the martini bar |
Day 25: April 15th
day @ sea
Day 26: April 16th
Busan, South Korea
We did a private tour organized via cruise critic. The person was a little rude and disorganized, but the tour itself was awesome. It was called "Highlights of Busan Tour" from 8 am - 3 pm
· Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, Haeundae Beach and Dongback Island (Mermaid statue), Gwanganli Bridge, Oryukdo Skywalk, Busan Gamcheon Culture Village, Busan old downtown (Jagalchi Fish Market, Gukje Market, BIFF square)
This is the conference room for the 2005 APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) when Russia (Putin) was at the table
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Haedong Yonggungsa Temple area is really beautiful on the water, but I didn't feel I could truly experience this place because, again, there were WAY too many people. So many that I even lost Craig for a while. If we could have been there when it was quiet I can see how it would be a very peaceful place for reflection Haedong Yonggungsa Temple  Haedong Yonggungsa Temple  Haedong Yonggungsa Temple |
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| Haedong Yonggungsa Temple |
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| That's a LOT of condos all together. There seemed to be so many here in Busan. I don't know exactly what I was expecting here, but I wasn't picturing it to be so modern. |
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| Busan is a modern city with a huge port area |
When we saw "cultural village" on the itinerary, most of the people on the bus thought we should skip this stop because we started the tour late late, but I'm glad we didn't. It really was a nice glimpse into Korean culture. I probably would have spent a little more time here if we weren't on a structured tour.
Check out this YouTube video if interested in learning more about this village:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOHUlaNld50
Busan Gamcheon Culture VillageThis is the main draw to the area - these houses built on the mountain slope. Tourists flock here! Originally built in the 1920's and 30's when the government decided to move the working class population away from the port, but still close enough to provide labour. It's popular now, but it's origins were a shantytown. The area was very run down so it was decided to do a public art project in 2009. The area now attracts over a million visitors a year (with mixed attitudes from the residents). Filled with souvenir shops, food stalls and art installations/murals, it's an interesting little area to visit. The queues were quite long though with the "Little Prince and the Fox" and we didn't even know the significance of it.
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| Craig's now the honorary 9th member of the Buson-born BTS K-Pop group |
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Jungkook & Jimin from BTS |
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Those are some strange ice cream flavours!  |
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| We also enjoyed lots of different street food before heading back to the ship |
Day 27: April 17th
day @ sea
no no post-worthy photos
Day 28: April 18th
Hakodate, Japan
We just explored on our own in Hakodate. We first found a seafood market where Craig had some delicious crab soup and shrimp tempura.
From there we met the ship Magician/Ilusionist guy - Andrew Lee. Craig dared (on the ship) to show Andrew his one and only card trick. He probably knew how it was done, but he was gracious to seem impressed and even gave Craig a personalized deck of cards. We went shopping in the red brick district, which has some really beautiful things (but very expensive). I bought some glycerin soap that starts off looking like whipped cream (see pic below)
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| I was helping make the soap |
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| Some of the beautiful things you can buy at the Red Brick Warehouse shopping area in Hakodate. If I used or know of someone who uses chopsticks, I would have bought some. |
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| Something we did NOT buy is dried scallops |
Day 29: April 19th
Aomori, Japan
We did a ship tour here, and were very glad we did because this was a very interesting tour and was too far away from the cruise port to easily do it on our own.
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We started off in the Tsugaru-han Neputa Village where we were able to see the beautiful floats (paraded through the streets yearly during the Neputa Matsuri festival) and listen to the music of the shamisen and Tsugaru-jamisen. I even was able to give the drums a try. Some weird formatting thing happened to the pictures below - none of the text appears. FYI it's Hirosaki Castle Park  |
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| Gorgeous! I'd love this as a painting in our home |
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These floats from past festivals are permanently on display for tourists to admire |
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This was the area, in the North of Japan, that had THE most beautiful and plentiful cherry blossoms.  Since we were in the North, the weather was a lot cooler. Apparently there are over 100 varieties of cherry trees in Japan |
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| Selfie attempts |
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| Hirosaki Castle Park |
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| Hirosaki Castle |
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| Hirosaki Castle Park |
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| Hirosaki Castle Park |
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| Hirosaki Castle Park - a bride getting photos taken in the park. Or maybe just a couple on a photoshoot. Not sure. Beautiful nonetheless |
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| Rockin' the hot tub in my new 50+ sunscreen suit |
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| Japanese Navy war ships in harbour with us |
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| The fancy & delicious looking desserts on our 2nd last night of the cruise |
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| Our ships navigation map for our trip - 2402 nautical miles! |
Day 30: April 20th
day @ sea
no pics
Day 31: April 21st
Return to
Tokyo (Yokohama)
for 1 last day in Japan
Hotel JAL City Kannai Yokohama
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| Lovely flowers...Spring is awesome |
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| Ahhh, so sad to still see our ship when we're no longer on it. lol Normally at a port we'd go to the airport or a hotel and wouldn't see our ship again - waiting to bring aboard the next batch of cruisers. This is the Celebrity Millenium, which I believe is going to be decommissioned at the end of this cruising season |
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| Right at the cruise port area (you can see our ship in the background) is this lovely shopping/restaurant district with these beautiful flowers... where people brought their dogs in strollers |
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| So ya, this is a huge thing in Japan...I think I saw more dogs in strollers than babies |
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| Yokohama "art in the park" day apparently. Everyone in this park was painting. We could have probably done it too as they were handing out the supplies |
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| Our 2nd conveyor belt sushi restaurant experience. LOVED! This time we had our own booth and it has a little slot to put the empty plates. Wish we had one of these types of restaurants in Ottawa! |
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| I'm impressed (for people with small kids), this little seat would be handy to put your child while you go to the bathroom in a public toilet |
Day 32: April 22nd
🛬Fly back to
Canada 😒
All went smoothly for the trip home and we were both just so thankful to be able to explore this part of the world and have such amazing experiences.
