August 2021 was just over a year after the end of the first COVID lockdown in the UK. Travelling anywhere had ground to a shuddering halt, apart, of course, for the permissible one hour exercise around the local neighbourhood. 

Six years earlier we had spent our respective milestone birthdays in Botany Bay (in my case) and the idyllic  island of Lankawi in Malaysia for Viv. Having spent such a wonderful time, we decided that we could try a similar  experience in 2024 - our next milestone birthday year.

We have always wanted to visit Japan, especially during the Springtime when the Cherry Blossom is in full bloom. Our birthdays fall in March and April so it seemed as though we had the makings of a possible plan. Despite being nearly three years away, we knew that with the COVID rollover cruises (those cancelled and rebooked later) gathering pace, there was no time to lose.

August 2021

Our cruise agent, ROL (with whom we had booked many previous cruises) was the obvious point of contact and between us, identified a 'round Japan cruise' starting and finishing in Tokyo at the end of March 2024. We explained that, ideally, we needed to be away for both our birthdays and therefore needed to find sometime to 'bridge the gap' between early March and mid-April. Thinking we would need to look for a land tour or beach break (not our ideal type of holiday) we started to look for something to fit the bill.

The agent emailed us back a day or so later with a suggestion. Why not fly to Singapore, take a cruise from there to Hong Kong, stay on the same ship, same cabin and sail from Hong Kong to Tokyo and then stay on the same ship again for the round Japan cruise. Sounded absolutely perfect. Unpack once, great itinerary, great ship and all the boxes ticked. All booked, even though it was such a long time to wait.

August 2023

Potential disaster! ROL had been informed that the Japan cruise had been cancelled as the Cruise line had decided to fully charter the ship to another entity. Our first reaction was to cancel everything but thankfully and not without a lot of effort, we managed to secure an alternative cruise leaving Tokyo on the same day as we arrived, albeit for an extra four days longer than the original cruise (sadly someone has to suffer this). Rebooked and all sorted, the only downside being we have to pack, disembark, change ships and unpack - terrible hardship! 

Since early 2023

Planning doesn't stop with the itinerary, what about clothes? With a holiday comprising three back to back cruises with all that 5 star food and copious drink, and now lasting six and a half weeks, we have successfully dieted (at least till Christmas and then again in January). Even with our best efforts, we are still going to need a week's one to three wardrobe and a week's four to six wardrobe, not to mention use of the M&S active waist trousers (other makes of active waist may be available!). So far so good and a commitment to 'dry January' should help.

From now to the end of February 

The 'to do list' is extensive but thankfully we have enough time. The new suitcases are bought and ready to go, final payments made. We will need to hibernate from early February to avoid the seasonal colds and flu (not to mention COVID (for which we are both full jabbed).

Updates as the weeks go on will follow, in the meantime have a great Christmas and all the very best for 2024.

December 2023

Our flights arranged by the cruise line were a source of some concern due mainly to the outbound transfer time between flights into Munich from London and out of Munich to Singapore being a miserly 1hr 20 minutes. 

Contacting the cruise line direct revealed that the minimum allowance time wise is 45 minutes  and the indication was that all would be well. Those who know me will realise that I do try to plan ahead and travelling in late February from Heathrow is at risk of delay and as there are at least six other daily flights in this route, why cut things so fine?

Flights from Heathrow to Munich, business class are available from the Lufthansa website from £182. Note the price!

A request to the cruise line to switch to an earlier flight resulted in a quoted price of £1296! Yes...£1296 per person!

Several exchanges later resulted in a complete change of airline, better routing, better flight times, more transfer time and no extra charge!
It can be done if you persevere.

An interesting Plan B was suggested by our good friends and super cruisers, Terry and Marion who came up with a novel idea of taking no baggage. What?? You may say, how does that work for such a long cruise? Easy... you send your baggage by courier to meet you when you arrive. At a cost of circa £170 per 30kg bag - well worth considering if transfer times are short and you are concerned about bags getting lost or delayed. Definitely food for thought for the future.

30th January

Just four weeks to go and today we booked our car transfer to the Heathrow. Decided to go for the larger 'van' option to cater for the luggage! It is starting to get a little more real now - you won't be surprised to learn that the spare bed is now covered in Keith's ironed and neatly folded shirts, all ready to be packed. Yes I know it's four weeks away but Keith is Keith when it comes to preparing to go away.

This time, we have actually invested in tissue packing paper, supposedly to reduce creasing? We will let you know if it works.

6th February

A word to the wise.... if you book a long holiday, make sure you contact your Home Insurance provider well in advance especially if you need to discuss the unoccupied T&Cs.

i called them back in September and was told "no problem" just phone back nearer the time and check its all been done. This I did yesterday. Over an hour to get through to a person, then to be told you can't extend your unoccupied period if it goes over the renewal date, even if you have auto-renewal! Spent another hour on the phone discussing the lack of common sense on their part! Was told they can't do it as there is no guarantee we would renew the policy. I pointed out that if we didn't renew we wouldn't be covered anyway so why wouldn't we renew? 
Rang again in the afternoon, another hour of my life I won't get back - to be told the workaround is for me to phone and nominate some poor soul to phone on the renewal date to tell them the house is still unoccupied. Why? I could ask Viv's mum who is 100 on 18th Feb to call them!! Yeah right!

Upshot..... cancelled current provider and took out new policy, better terms and 60 unoccupied allowance..... Simples!! and can pay the premium monthly with no interest!! Happy days!

19th February 

Just a week to go now, all getting a bit close. Mother-in-Law's 100th birthday achieved yesterday, King's card duly arrived and nice time spent without too much over-excitement for the birthday 'girl'.

Got a couple of conflicting messages from Etihad regarding baggage allowance but now all sorted. Packing well underway and we seem to have plenty of room for what we want to take.

23rd February

D-Day minus 4, just four more sleeps to go. All getting very real now with just the cabin baggage and the last few checked in bits to sort. 

I read recently that the 100ml rule was going once the necessary scanners had been installed at airports - that would make packing so much simpler.

Talking of packing and maybe it's because of the length of the holiday but we are suddenly starting to panic about losing a suitcase on route. In the past it's always been Viv packs her case.... I pack mine..... job done. We always use those nylon travel pods (best invention ever) but this time we have three cases and are spreading our clothes across all three - just in case! (no pun intended).

Viv is off for a facial and leg wax today and hair appointment tomorrow - so we must be getting close. I am being reminded that my hair clippers need to be readied for the No.1 pre holiday scalping. When you don't have much hair - keeping it short is good.

26th Feb D-Day minus 1

Checked on on-line and just about packed. Few bits of housekeeping to sort out.

One thing I didn't expect today - Wolves have 38 points and sit 8th in the PL. I wonder where they will be when we get back?

Our Holiday Begins............

Tuesday 27th Feb  D-Day

Here we are at last on our way. Picked up at 5pm - easy journey to Terminal 4. Bags checked in and through security and into the Etihad Lounge by 6am! Can't ask for more than that..... well maybe!!

Would be rude not to!!

Still Tuesday 27th

Just arrived in Abu Dhabi after great flight from LHR. Etihad did us proud in an A380, very quiet and food and beverage first rate ( or at least, Business Rate!!).

Couple of hours to wait till the Singapore leg. We are due to arrive at 9.35am Sing 🎵 Time, hopefully to collect our bags and transfer to the Fairmont Hotel.

Not sure what day it is?

Another timely flight from Abu Dhabi to Singapore and arrived at 9.10am. Slightly frustrating intervention from the Singapore Customs system following the introduction of a new in-line immigration entry requirement, of which we were totally unaware until the stewardess mentioned it!

For anyone entering Singapore this form is a must do or you don't get past customs. The app my.ica is available or you use the QR code on one of the many full sized posters. 

The form is quite involved even for a one day visitor. There is help but despite this Viv sailed through (most unusual) and I was caught. The form, when processed results in an email being sent and if you don't get through the auto gates you have to see a person, however no email no entry!

After a few minutes of concern I was allowed in. Our bags fully accounted for we headed to the exit to be met by our Silversea rep and a driver with the Mr & Mrs Keith Robinson board.

We were the only people being collected from this flight so treated like royalty (just heard on the news that Harry has lost his right to tax payers paid for security). Tough!

Fairmont Hotel is a delight, bit of a delay getting our room but eventually all ok. Shared a nice pizza and 1/2 carafe of Pinot Grigio at one of the 12 restaurants in the hotel... yes 12!

The cost of living in Singapore is high due to having to import most items. That said, it is a lovely clean and dynamic city, vibrant and due to space constraints, very high rise.

Booked onto transfer to pier bus 🚌 at 12.45 tomorrow ready to join the ship.

More anon....

Thursday 29th Feb - Day 2 (sort of)

So here we are, Day 2 (ish, depending on how long you managed to sleep). Singapore looks as nice as ever though very much changed from when we were last here. More high rise, building much closer together, but still so green and lush.

Woke early and listened to Wolves despatch Brighton from the FA Cup. Lovely breakfast and a gentle stroll around the local area. Temperature was a cool 26 deg C (feels like 32 due to humidity).

Then ventured into Raffles City Shopping Mall - a very upmarket version of Bluewater! Viv kindly bought my birthday present from Penhaligon's - a rather stunning Eau de Cologne! The irony is I spent many years working in the Covent Garden area and never went into their flagship London Store just a few doors down from our office.

We past an interesting'Tea Shop' - just a small choice of teas..... no sign of PG Tips sadly.

Back at the hotel, bumped into this old boy who seemed to be the local star attraction - when I say old boy - he is the one in the uniform not the pink T-Shirt.

Bags collected and we are told the next time we will see them is in our cabin! Would be a shame if they got all this way and got mislaid between the hotel and the cruise ship pier.

Embarked very smoothly, had to employ my honed skills of being ready to move and good use of anticipation! We were ushered into a holding area in the Cruise Terminal building and just as everyone sat down I saw the check in supervisor wave our group forward. "Follow me Viv" my usual action cry and we were off - front of the queue and they even opened a new desk for us! 

On board after seriously long walk up and down a gangplank that doubled back at least three times. 

Quick snack of shared mezze 🫒 and salmon wrap (half each), glass of Sauv Blanc (me) and Rose 🥀 (madam) then into the cabin, our home for the next thirty days.

I can tell you unpacking five suitcases (ok 2 were only cabin bag size, honest guv) is quite a challenge. Thankfully the walk in wardrobe was a real bonus and loads of storage space. 

Our cabin steward is a cheery chappie called Komang, from Indonesia and his boss, the suited and booted butler, Jouard, called by to check us out!

First job was to ask us what our spirit preference was for the 'stocked daily' mini bar. Easy .... Gin and Tonic or and lemon 🍋 please. No sooner said than done, up comes a litre bottle of Bombay Sapphire - nice one, Silversea!

After the mandatory safety briefing (video and at the muster station, which felt a bit OTT, ), we tried out the jacuzzi bath..... not for the faint hearted!

Lovely thought and well proportioned, in fact so big you could easily be forgiven for needing your recently acquired knowledge of how to don a life jacket. Getting in and out is pretty tricky too - maybe Jouard can find us some steps?

Life took a strange turn as we set sail just before 6pm. After an hour sailing my iPhone and Apple Watch - set on automatic time zone decided we had had enough of Sing 🎵 Time and we lost an hour and 7pm became 6pm - Indonesia 🇮🇩 Time. All very clever you might say, except the rest of the ship didn't change! All very off putting. Sometimes technology is too clever for its (and our) own good.

A nice long G&T in the extremely intimate S.A.L.T bar next the main restaurant was next. I say intimate because I reckon it seated no more than 20 people. Joined by an Aussie couple celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary ( he was born in UK but left for Oz at the age of three. That must have raised the average age of Eastbourne where he lived).

The highlight of the day was the evening meal in the main restaurant. Service was excellent 👌 great menu choice and the quality of the food was, without doubt some of best we have ever had on a cruise. Bodes really well for the rest of our Silversea holiday.

Copious amounts of wine were offered and sadly consumed - our day at sea has been a bit of a challenge. I would like to offer a range of apologies for feeling a "tad" off colour this morning, for example high winds, rough seas, small ship, jet lag, lack of sleep since Tuesday, but no, sadly, it was over indulgence that was to blame, totally and utterly self inflicted.

As we got into the lift after the meal, a British couple announced "Shame about Dave". Upon enquiry we learnt that Dave Myers had succumbed to his cancer. What a real shame - the Hairy Bikers is now just the one. We were, and still are, great fans of their style of cooking. RIP Dave.

Friday 1st March - Day 3

Not much to report on our first At Sea day, largely due to catching up on lost sleep and a couple of abortive attempts to leave the cabin and retiring back to bed, only to surface at lunchtime to enjoy a very light, wine free, buffet lunch. Again food excellent but you can't do too much wrong to a few salad leaves, a couple of tomato slices and a mouthful of crabmeat salad, followed by some fresh fruit salad. 

Don't be fooled...... this healthy lite fare is unlikely to last for long.

Formal dress night tonight, so have iron my winged collar shirt and all being well, we will see what treasures lie in store tonight.

Lovely meal again tonight in the main restaurant. Before that we enjoyed the company of two formidable Scottish ladies, Sharon and Fiona.

We scrub up quite well don't you think?

Saturday 2nd March - Day 4

Arrived in Ko Samui, lovely Thai island. Tendered in using the local ferries, interesting angle on Health and Safety - there wasn't any. You know those Hop On Hop Off buses - this was Leap On Leap Off!!

Great tour seeing both Thai and Chinese temples with Subei a lovely Thai English speaking guide. She was impressed we had visited Asia so often before and was amazed we remembered so much.

Here is a selection of what we saw:

These little devils are catfish - big fish largely due to every guide feeding them!

Another lovely meal and met nice couple from Chorley, Gary and Libby. Bit of a footie chat as he is an Everton season ticket holder. Found it amazing that living in Surrey I could be the same at Molineux! Our chats took place before our respective  losses!

Took in the show, our first. It was a tribute to a variety of artists - not bad. The cruise director then announced most of the singers and dancers ( only 6 for such a small stage) were leaving as their contracts had finished. All sounded a bit ingenuous!

Sunday 3rd March - Day 5

A lazy day today. Docked in Laem Chabang ( the port for Bangkok, allegedly!). What you may not realise is the port is a good 2.5 hour drive from Bangkok. It's a bit like saying your next port of call is London as you sail into Southampton!

So, a lazy day, bit of sun, light lunch and just chillin 😎 

We stay in Chabbers overnight and we have a tour in the morning "An introduction to Buddhism" which I am sure we will find truly 'enlightening'. 

The show tonight featured local Thai music and dance, wonderful costumes and graceful ladies, not to mention a few Thai martial arts exponents.

Best described by picture -

This was the star of the show, a white Jade statue, some 30 inches high.

And to round everything off we visited a cliff face into which, over 40 years ago to celebrate the old King's 50th anniversary on the throne of Thailand, had been carved a statue of Buddha. Carved and then covered in gold leaf it makes a wonderful image.

Tuesday 5th March - Day 7

A week since we left home already! Only day 4 on Silver Moon and we are slowly finding our way around the ship. We haven't quite sorted out breakfast yet - tried in room on the tour days and a la carte on one day and today we ventured to La Terraza, the ship's buffet. Definitely a step up from buffets on othe cruise lines we have been fortunate to sail with. 

Still yet to find a cruise line that can serve a good cup of coffee and now resorted to my trusted standby method of a double espresso with a pot of hot water and hot milk on the side - fussy or what?

Viv is having trouble with the Silversea English Breakfast Tea, thank goodness we bought a big supply of Red Label tea bags!

Last night was our first night away from the main restaurant and we tried The Grill, an outdoor venue just along from our cabin so not far to walk home. Nice menu again with yours truly having the Spicy Mexican pasta salad to start followed by a very tender filet mignon. I could have cooked it myself on a hot rock 🪨 but thought 'why?' I'm on holiday, let the chef do it. Maybe next time I will be a bit more adventurous. Viv had the tuna steak which looked and tasted beautiful.

At sea today so very leisurely. Taking in some rays today but being careful not to burn, sorry, just read it 4deg C and raining at home!

Another swim in a very salt water pool - feels like the Dead Sea and finding it hard to stay underwater.

Met up with Gary and Libby briefly last night and arranged to meet them for dinner on my birthday this Saturday. Should be a good night - we are dining in the Silver Note Restaurant which is a restaurant with live music playing whilst we eat. It's like a jazz and blues club.

Wednesday 6th March - Day 8

Leisurely morning started with a one mile walk around the Jogging Track followed by a very modest breakfast of cereal and fruit.

Called just after 9am to collect our Pink Landing Cards which are required every time we set foot in Vietnam.

A pizza for lunch (should have ordered a half and half combination) and then off to tour on the Saigon Discovery).

The first stop was the Chinese Sea Godess Museum

Next stop was a whirlwind tour of the Ho Chi Minh museum which traced the history of the country from ancient times right up to 1945. Not sure why it stopped in 1945, maybe I dozed off at that point! Lots of interesting treasures 

The painting above is quite fascinating. Covering the whole wall. It depicts a famous battle, whereby the Vietnamese repelled the Chinese by using long stake) (to the left of the picture), which were submerged under the tidal waters. The Chinese, not seeing the submerge stakes, sailed their boats into the Delta area, and as the tide receded, they became trapped and easy targets of prey. All very clever stuff.

Next was a whistlestop tour of a lacquer factory which was made even more interesting as we realised we actually had a piece of the lacquer at home already.

Last stop for us for the day was the iconic post office in the centre of Ho Chi Minh City, and as you will see yours truly standing next to the London telephone box which sadly is empty, as indeed, are all the other phone boxes.

I have to confess that we missed the shopping trip to the local market and decided to stay in the cool confines of the bus.

We arrived back at the ship about an hour late, which did slightly take the gloss off the day, but nevertheless we thoroughly enjoyed our sightseeing trip of Ho Chi Minh City. tomorrow is another day!

Thursday 7th March - Day 9

Early morning start as we boarded our minivan for nine hour tour of Life in the Mekong River Delta. 2.5 hours to get there but when we arrived we were treated to a long boat mini cruise along the Mekong River.

First stop was a coconut candy factory which had much more to offer. A lady who spends her day cooking popcorn and a similar lady making rice paper. We were warned by the guide to expect some strange offerings....

Yes, it's snake wine and the second one is the scorpion version. I am told Tescos sell them on a buy one get one free basis.

Another quick venture back in the boat having negotiated the rather high steps in and out of the boat due to the low tide. We arrived at a charming very wealthy looking property offering a range of local fruits.

Next stop was a very pleasant Vietnamese lunch followed by a 2.5 hour ride back to the ship. Well done the guide and driver!

Friday 8th March - Day 10

A seriously relaxing day today. A gentle stroll 12 times round the jogging track before breakfast. According to my Apple Watch I clawed back 84 calories by walking 1.94km at an average heart rate of 82 bpm!

Replaced those lost calories via a cheese, onion and ham omelette. In fact I think I am now in debit on the calorie front. 

An hour's sun bathing followed by a skinny latte (note the word skinny). As I type this I have the cheek to feel hungry after all it is nearly 12 noon.

We leave HCMC ( well, the port, anyway) at 2pm heading for our next port of call, Chan May after an 'at sea' day tomorrow.

My last day as a 60 something today - feeling very old but chilled nonetheless.

Silversea is living up to its reputation as a 'premium, luxury' cruise line, everything so far has been well up to standard. Interesting clientele on board, with a large proportion of Brits, many from Scotland, Wales and Northern Counties. We even met a couple the other night who hailed from Dudley. Living so close to Wolverhampton, even they thought I was totally mad to have a season ticket at Molineux.

Libby (wife of Gary, of the 'Toffees' fame) celebrates her birthday today and they are joining us tomorrow to help celebrate 🍾 my birthday.

Saturday 9th March - Day 11

Well here we are at last... who would have thought it? Three score years and ten...... the big Seven 0!

A nice champagne breakfast in the main restaurant followed by our butler chappie delivering the above balloons to our cabin. So thankful Silversea are more discreet than other cruise lines who pin Happy Birthday signs on your door for all to see!

We continue to track around the coast of Vietnam, 🇻🇳 past Na Trang and onwards to Chan May where we are due to dock around 8am on Sunday morning.

Tonight is a formal night and we are dressing up in best bib and tucker in time for nibbles and champagne with Gary and Libby in our cabin followed by dinner in the Silver Note - a jazz and blues club restaurant. The menu looks very interesting. Here is a screenshot of the main courses

The Maitre 'D has already noted its my birthday and has offered us the chance to get in early and choose our table! Hopefully we don't have party hats!

Silver Note did not disappoint - great lobster starter followed by lamb loin - stunning. Lovely long evening with Gary and Libby -we didn't leave the restaurant till gone midnight. Things you do when you are 70!

Sunday 10th March - Day 12

Great day out in Hue (pronounced 'Whay') and saw the Royal Citadel, a couple of temples, had a season boat cruise on the Perfume River, lovely buffet lunch and a quick look round the second Emperor's tomb and gardens.

The weather has been a bit of a shock dropping from mid 30's to mid 20's and feels decidedly chilly.

Opted to dine in our cabin tonight with a nice bottle of wine and a chance to watch Oppenheimer. Weather is pretty blowly outside and we expect to reach Halong Bay around 2pm tomorrow.

Sadly didn't go to plan due to motion sickness! Meal arrived but not eaten and I went to bed at 7.30pm and slept for nearly 12 hours.

Monday 11th March - Day 13

Fully recovered today and we arrived in Halong Bay around 1pm. Paradise on water - very mistical and surreal. The overcast conditions made it even more eerie as we slowly sailed between the islands 

Spent a lovely hour walking around the jetty and along to the beach.

Tried the Italian restaurant on board for the first time - boy can they eat!! Great menu and we are looking forward to the next time. Not helpful for the waistline!

Bumped into our Aussie friends for a drink afterwards in the Silver Note bar

Tuesday 12th March - Day 14

Another early start today with an 8am walk to the boat jetty where our Chinese junk was waiting to take us around Halong Bay. Sadly not much like a Chinese junk and having got on and waited 20 minutes the guide informed us we were all on the wrong boat! Quick transfer to another UnChinese junk we set off. 

Great views of the islands in the bay

We arrived at the landing jetty for the fabulous limestone cave found by a fisherman in 1993. Since then the area has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is spectacular.

Can you spot the lady bending over in the last photo?

The locals say the highlight of the islands tour is to see the 'kissing chickens'. The amount of boats surrounding these two small islands suggests they show them to every tourist. I can't see the chickens - maybe you can?

I think the one on the left looks more like the back of a St. Bernard but I was always rubbish at art.

We leave this beautiful place at 6pm heading for our last stop on this part of the cruise..... the wonderful city of Hong Kong - we arrive on Thursday and say a fond farewell to our new found friends and hopefully make some new ones as the next cohort join the ship.

A day at sea tomorrow as we head north.

Wednesday 13th March - Day 15

A pretty uneventful day at sea, at least during the daylight hours. Our first venture into the S.A.L.T kitchen restaurant wasn't our finest hour. It is a speciality restaurant featuring the fusion cuisine of the areas travelled on the cruise.

Sadly my starter was, to say the least, tasteless, and my main, the braised Hoikken duck was worse than an old leather boot. Our first complaint. Thankfully it wasn't our last night so there is time to redeem itself.

Overnight to Hong Kong was really blowy with gusts up to 30 knots which kept both of us up from around 2am onwards.

Nice and calm on arrival at 6am.

Thursday 14th March - Day 16

Said goodbye to many newly made friends as they disembarked and awaiting the newbies who board today.

We had a half day tour of HK taking in Victoria Peak and at the third attempt we managed to get a glimpse of HK from the Peak.

Our two previous visits have not been so lucky with low cloud and mist preventing any views of the city.

Next stop was Aberdeen Bay which was, in a way, disappointing. Why? Well, 10 years ago the sanpan ride took a goodly while, the Jumbo Fliating Chinese Restaurant was still there, and there were none of the multi million pound yachts obscuring the view of the quaint fishing vessels. Nevertheless a nice ride around the bay.

Stanley Market was a reminder of a previous visit to HK when we bought a print of The city having failed to see anything from the peak! It now resides on the wall in a spare bedroom at home.

A pleasnt walk along the seafront with two new friends, Girvan and Liz from Northern Ireland ( two more in transit people like us) took us back to the coach to return to the ship.

Tonight we hope to catch the famous Hong Kong light show.

We had box office seats in the restaurant for the famous Hong Kong light show which starts every evening at 8pm. The wonderful array of skyscraper 🏙️ buildings, each with its own colourful signage comes even more alive with lasers and flashing colour. A truly remarkable scene.

Friday 15th March - Day 17

Viv sadly succumbed to her customary 'holiday bug' and has a nasty cold so she stayed behind as I ventured out for a tour of Hong Kong 'old and new' on foot. Only 3 hours or so but it was filled with sights that would amaze even the most seasoned traveller.

A stop in a street in the Central District revealed a row of shops filled with the most amazing range of foods, all dried. There was fish, including every part of their anatomy carefully dried for storage and waiting for later cooking. Every animal you could image had its most secret inner parts dried and bagged.

Having had our fill of foodstuffs, we ventured into a Taoist temple flanked on both sides by Buddhist statues. Tributes of gods of just about anything you could wish to pray to using the customary incense sticks to send the smoke 'wishes' skyward.

The larger conical shapes are longer lasting circular sticks that burn for weeks. These are used for when your wishes are more complex or maybe take longer to reach their intended target.

It is amazing that in such a space as Hong Kong which is dominated by high rise buildings there is still room for fresh vegetable markets. These are family run stalls, the licences for which revert to the government upon the passing of the parent.

We travelled briefly on an escalator measuring over 800 metres in length in total. Divided into sections, this piece of engineering links parts of the residential area of the city with the more central offices. The amazing thing is that it travels downwards from 6am till 10.15am and then the opposite direction for the rest of the day. This allows the workers to come into town to work (downhill) and helps everyone else to go uphill and return home. Great planning and reduce traffic pollution.

Scaffolding in HK (well, in parts anyway) cannot easily be compared to the UK. If it rains, erection of scaffolding stops. No work is allowed on rainy days. Why?

It's made of bamboo!

Some great building artwork that would rival Banksy!

This guy was not the artist but I couldn't resist 'snapping' him - he just exudes history and I would love to hear his life story.

Our tour finished with a cup of Hong Kong tea, a strong cup of builder's tea mixed with condensed milk ( actually not as bad as it sounds) accompanied by a traditional egg tart.

A quick ferry ride returned us to the ship 🛳️ terminal ready for our departure from Hong Kong and two days at sea on our way to Jeju Island for the next instalment of our adventure.

Saturday 16th March - Day 18

The first of two days at sea so not much to report other than a disappointing defeat for Wolves against Coventry in the quarterfinals of this year's FA Cup. Injuries and a poor performance are not good bedfellows!

Viv's cold still not improving quickly but some local brew from the ship's boutique knocked her out for the night and sometimes a good night's sleep is better than anything.

Sunday 17th March - Day 19

Another sea day with thick sea fog enveloping the ship. I walked a couple of miles around the jogging track listening to the ship's fog horn sounding our position.

We enjoyed a nice lunch as Viv was able to venture out of the cabin. A gorgeous roast tomato soup which wasn't even on the menu. A lovely waitress called Suei took pity on Viv in what was a cold Atlantide restaurant. They say 'feed a cold' so pasta followed.

The next three hours was spent watching Oppenheimer. Viv found it hard going and had a little doze and I enjoyed it and yes.... I failed to spot Gary Oldman playing Harry S Truman! Great make up once again. Churchill.... Truman .... no stopping Gary. Who next? Trump maybe?

As the evening wore on it was clear we were heading into some tough weather. The Captain mentioned something about 25-30 knots... Force something on the Beaufort Scale. He was not wrong. I had a dreadful night, ship creaking and bouncing, doors banging, you name it, I felt it! Wasn't I'll but couldn't sleep.

Monday 18th March - Day 20

Morning dawned over Jeju Island, a lovely sunrise in view of a little nippy. Forecast 5-11 DegC - not for the faint hearted!

Quick snack for breakfast and out by 7.45am. Through Korean immigration and on the bus heading for a coastal walk in place of a cave whose roof was falling in. Good coastal scenes and the odd strange house greeted us.

Our next stop some five minutes away found us staring at a volcano whose crater was at the top of a 500 step walk. We started to climb and realised very quickly this was a challenge too far. Great to look at but that was about it.

A much better plan was to walk along the shoreline and down to the beach where the proceeds of the Lady Divers' exploits could be seen in all their glory. Conch shells (with residents still alive), abalone, sea cucumbers, and other exotic gems from the sea could be seen. I must be honest, taking a picture was as close as I wanted to get.

Thankfully I stumbled across this sign which gave me the excuse I needed to refrain from hiking the 500 plus steps to the crater top.

It's the last part of the first advisory note that tells you all you need to know!

Tuesday 19th March - Day 21

Arrived in Incheon a little earlier than planned. Nice place boarded by the longest bridge in South Korea at 21 kms. Very impressive!

Very cold again, even the Captain said it was unseasonably so. Immigration was tight with everyone having to do a face to face check.

Our included trip featured a visit to the Incheon Landing Memorial Hall which explained the turning point in the Korean War. Sixteen nations from the UN helped the South Koreans repel the Communist insurgence via a two pronged assault including a landing at Incheon. With an expected success of only 1:5000 the landing forces managed to secure a foothold and moved south towards Seoul.

The Hall features army vehicles and machinery of the time.

as well as life size models of the landing.

General Douglas MacArthur led the assault. As you might expect the US deployed over 1.3m soldiers losing over 33,000 in the war which lasted from 1950 to 1953. The British numbers were considerably less with total losses of just over 1000 ( with much fewer men deployed).

The has a wonderful display model of the landing (it puts the Tracy Island Thunderbirds model to shame!).

A showing of a 15 minutes film of the events was really interesting and would have been so much more informative if the pause/stop/forward icon not obscured the English subtitles at the bottom of the screen. Still, the pictures still provided enough images to get the gist of what was going on.

Next stop was a traditional Korean garden and temple. The time of year of our visit coupled with the cold weather meant that most of the garden was not in bloom. Interesting to see the Korean division of labour, ladies toiling on the ground sowing flowers while the men stood around doing not very much!

There is alway one plonker in every coachload of tourists!

Shame about the weather but the temple was still a building worth seeing - albeit we both refrained from dressing up in the traditional Korean garb.

Our final stop was a street market offering sumptuous tasty morsel of local produce. A visit to a  vendor who had an array of warm hats ended in failure when the Korean shopkeeper took my credit card, put it in a very strange piece of kit, and then gave it back with a fierce shake of her head shouting clearly "no good...no good".

We needed plan B to resolve our lack of cold weather gear.... tomorrow was another day.

Back on the boat we had a lovely evening with some new friends Girvan and Liz from Northern Ireland. Girvan it appears was in financial services in the 70's and 80's and recognised the names of some of my Belfast branch colleagues at Scottish Equitable. A small world indeed. He since set up his own very different business making and distributing mobility aids for disabled people and being extremely successful as well.

Wednesday 20th March - Day 22

Deciding the need for warmer clothes was more important than a 7 hour trip to Seoul and the surrounding area, we had a leisurely breakfast and used the shuttle bus to go into town. Alighting at the Hyundai Outlet shopping mall, and after some abortive attempts to find shops offering the right type of warm weather clothes ( the number of golf shops indicating how madly in love with golf the Koreans are is very evident), we found good old UniGlo! A massive maze of countless different items which knocks the Bluewater branch into the proverbial cocked hat. Talking of which, a beanie each were the first items in the basket.

Viv tried in on and secured two sweaters further complemented by a Heattech vest each - job done!

Just one hurdle to overcome - would the credit card work. Offering to a young Korean assistant who, when asked "would this work?" immediately took out her phone and google translated her answer...... "check out the goods and let's see what happens!"

The wonders of technology! and what more when the magic moment came.... yes it worked - we all cheered and rushed back to the waiting shuttle bus with our newly secured warm weather outfits carefully stored in our UniGlo bag.

A lazy afternoon followed pondering a slight hiccup in our travel plans - more about this on our At Sea day tomorrow....

Thursday 21st March - Day 23

A lazy at sea day as we sailed from Incheon to the southern Korean port of Busan.

We attended our first (to our shame) lecture from Sir Michael Burton on the Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, a fascinating man who life and times were delivered by an equally fascinating man.

Before that, and indeed the night before, we had learnt that the Silver Moon would now be docking in Japan, not in Yokohama as previously advised but in Port Tokyo. No problem you may have thought, quite understandably, except for the small detail that the ship we are transferring to, the Westerdam, is arriving and departing from Yokohama, some 43 kilometres away! So much for the short amble off the Moon into the Westerdam.

Enquiries of Silversea had revealed the best offer was a private transfer at a cost of $209. We pinged an email to ROL who after a 24 hour anxious wait confirmed they had arranged a transfer via HollandAmerica so all sorted.

The evening of the 21st was designated a "Formal" night requiring the donning of suitable formal evening dress as shown below.

Here pictured with Liz and Girvan from just outside Ballemena. They were dining at La Dane a lovely French speciality restaurant on board featuring a broad menu of primarily seafood and an array of shellfish to die for, unless you are like Vivien, who doesn't eat anything with a shell on ( or indeed, had a shell on, prior to its demise).

We had booked a table at La Terraza, a nice alternative venue offering a mouth watering range of Italian fare.

On arrival, it was clear that Mr & Mrs Robinson were outrageously overdressed for the occasion, not really appreciating that only La Dame and the main restaurant were formal dining venues. Seated neatly between a Japanese couple on one side and a Mexican couple on the other, both sporting casual outfits rarely seen outside a downtown cafe, we both sensed a feeling of unease. Compounded very quickly by Viv noticing a verbal exchange between the Mexican couple, followed by a glance at my tuxedo, this quickly followed by a chuckle of laughter, we both decided to retreat to the main restaurant and left our table 'tout suite'.

Never have I felt so uncomfortable and ill at ease.

Our hasty retreat to the main restaurant turned into a great success as we were seated once again next to Sir Michael and Lady Henrietta for another shared evening of the insights of thirty seven years in the Diplomatic Service and the wonders of arranging flowers on board the Royal Yacht Britannia for the Queen's visit to the Middle East.

Friday 22nd March - Day 24

Arrival in Busan and we joined the tour heading off the ship bound for the coastal area around the City.

First stop was a wonderful temple on the shoreline and it was only as we fought the crowds doing down the 108 steps to the temple that we realised we had been at the same place some ten years previously! 

A truly amazing place, much more built up than previously seen with shops and souvenirs abounding! The lure of the Won was clearly in evidence.

I identified that my birth year corresponded to the year of the Horse and that of Viv is the Ox. It would be ungentlemanly to show Viv's statue so here is my horse.

A striking likeness don't you think?

Our Deja vue moment was quickly followed by a short stop at a Hilton hotel complex, again situated on the shoreline. Quite why we stopped here, other than a a restroom stop and chance to spread out the many coaches jockeying for position on the coast road, is a mystery to me.

Our final stop was a hike through a bamboo forest. Quite a jaunt but the weather is getting warmer and it was an interesting opportunity to see bamboo trees at their splendid best.

A couple of Brits we had met on day one helped us create an interesting photo opportunity. First shown on TV by Jane MacDonald, the clever use of time delay and wide angle I phone lens created this image.

Not bad for a first attempt!

Off to Silver Note tonight for our second Jazz and Blues meal with Liz and Girvan - should be another great night of laughs and banter.

Saturday 23rd March - Day 25

Here we are at last stepping foot in Japan after years of trying. Docking in Fukuoka and leaden skies for the first time in three weeks, our balcony view cannot be considered to be a huge selling point.

We had booked an excursion but were dithering as to whether we should go and decided to opt for the shuttle bus instead. A long delay in getting early tour passenger through Customs and Immigration meant further delays in getting the Shuttle bus so at the eleventh hour we grabbed our tour tickets and went for the tour instead. Entitled "Introduction to Karatsu" we weren't sure what to expect.

A scenic panoramic view of the area, trip into the town, who knew.... in the event the guide explained we were heading, rather belatedly, to see a traditional former Takatori House owned by an affluent coal miner guru in the coastal area about 70 minutes drive from the port.

A nice property, clearly the mark of a rich industrial entrepreneurial giant of the 19th century. Beautiful gardens overlooking the coast - sadly not yet fully in bloom.

Photos not allowed inside which is hard to understand but the view of the ocean from over the fence was stunning despite the poor weather.

Five minutes further down the road brought us to a very narrow walkway leading up a steep hill to an old pottery. The kiln, situated underground was over 300 years old and whilst no longer in use, did give a flavour of how clever these Chinese, oops sorry... Japanese were, back in the day.

Today's more modern version, still not exactly a vision of futuristic wonderment, did show how pottery can a 'fired' over a period of time using changing temperatures.

We managed to avoid the obligatory visit to the shop which required removing our shoes, donning a pair of rather dubious looking slippers, in the pouring rain - easy choice..... back to the bus for the ride back to port. 

We managed an interesting chat with an older American couple with topics ranging from the recent worrying news about Princess Catherine, to the upcoming elections in both the US and the UK, and a chat about Douglas Bader, the British War veteran who lost both legs and continued to command the skies over Britain in WWII. The things you do on holiday!

Sunday 24th March - Day 26

Dawn broke with a serious storm over Nagasaki. Rumblings of thunder and flashes of lightning lit the darkened skies as Viv and I enjoyed (?) our early morning breakfast of tea/coffee and ship baked toast and marmalade in our room.

Jouard, our butler, (please be aware that every cabin on board is not only called a suite, but also has a butler, such is the equality on board a Silversea ship) was not at his chirpiest best, not sure why, maybe because we had decided to cancel the daily afternoon canapés service from here on in to Tokyo.

As the rain continued to hammer down the announcement came to go ashore and we once again battled the eagled eyed passport immigration staff in the terminal building. Where exactly did they think we had been since Fukuoka or who else had clambered aboard once 6pm last night, remains a mystery!

Boarding the bus, we were on the look out for the mobility impaired passengers who continue to ignore all the information provided to everyone about how many steps the tour includes, how much walking and above all, how unsuitable the tour is for wheelchair users and those with limited ability to walk at a pace above the speed of a snail. If points were awarded to those able bodied folk who grumble about people ( sad though it is) who should not be on a tour, yours truly would be a world champion!

Our first stop was the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, a short drive downtown during which we listened to the dulcet tones of May our Bus 2 guide. We learned once more about the four islands of Japan, the introduction of Christianity by the Portuguese in the 15th century, the Dutch traders and all matters historical other than anything to prepare us for the museum. Perhaps this was deliberate - I don't know.

Entering the museum, you are struck by the silence, its cleanliness and walk down a walkway with the years displayed to the walls, from 1945 to more recent times.

As you enter the main exhibition hall, little prepares you for the graphic nature of what is to follow. Nothing is hidden as the scale of the horror of nuclear war brought to the people of Japan. My father fought the Japanese in Burma from 1943 to 1945 (he was 18) and it is not for me to pass judgement on the rights and wrongs of what the Japanese army did as they invaded SE Asia, the brutality of their treatment of prisoners of war, why they chose to bomb Pearl Harbour or any other of the atrocities of war committed by either side. That said, what struck me above anything else, was the lateness and situation when the Nagasaki (and indeed, Hiroshima) bombs were dropped. Germany had surrendered unconditionally in May 1945, and Japan had already surrendered to Russia so you have to ask yourself, was it necessary to deploy two Atomic bombs to bring the war to an end?

It is not for me to speculate, nor have I enough knowledge or the right to promote any theory, however you do wonder if the bombs were dropped because the US had one to drop or maybe it was a more wide ranging strategic message to others developing their own? The 'given' messsge seems to advocate that thousands of lives were saved by the dropping of either or both of the bombs. To me, and what do I know, I am not sure that was true.

This was Nagasaki before the 11:02am on 9th August 1945.

Many of the images in the museum you felt unable to even photograph even though you could. Damage to buildings was immense but images of human suffering was even more horrific.

Those few words, to me, say all your need to know about the horror of nuclear war. The following images depict some of the material effects and explanations of the how's (not the why's).

Much of the latter stages of the museum exhibits concentrate on the post war efforts to secure lasting peace and to seek to remove any future threat of nuclear war. Sadly you do get the unnerving feeling that despite the many graphic images and testimonies, that the world is not a safe place and we are closing in on a 'doomsday scenario' - especially with some of issues happening in the world today.

Despite the many treaties signed over the years, we still see nuclear tests and threats.

The overwhelming message from Nagasaki is one of peace and the need to maintain that peace. These garlands contain many such messages.

A short walk from the museum takes you to the hypocentre, the point below where the bomb was exploded (I wasn't aware the bomb didn't explode on hitting the ground, but several hundred metres above the ground). A moment of reflection, rather poignantly made more significant by the incessant rain.

To the right stands the remains of the cathedral which somehow survived the blast.

A further short walk, takes you into the Peace Garden with its many statues donated by countries such as Russia and Germany who may not be countries that first spring to mind as obvious candidates.

All symbols of the desire for peace. ☮️ 

At the end of the garden stands the Peace Statue, erected by the survivors of Nagasaki in 1955 to mark the 10th anniversary.

A look back from the Peace Statue gives an idea of the garden and its significance, not to forget the rainy conditions so beautifully portrayed by Viv!

As we have often said on our travels, there are many occasions when we consider ourselves to be blessed and so lucky to be able travel the world to see so many wonderful sights. We wonder in awe at nature's creations, we also admire at times at what man has built, and there are times when you need to see things which remind us that the world has not been and is not always a beautiful place. We should never ignore or try to remove history we don't like, we should never forget and above all, we must learn lessons from history.

Today was one of those occasions.

Monday 25th March - Day 27

Another misty morning greeted our arrival into Kagoshima. We must have upset the Shintu Deity of Rain or Sun cos one of them (or both) have seriously got the 'hump'. 

Let me quote from the Silversea shore excursion brochure -

"A pretty old time ferry chugs across the still waters to the gently sloping foothills of the volcano's cone, and it's easy to imagine where the comparisons with its sister city Naples materialised, as you sail the glorious sweeping Kinko Bay, below beaming sunshine, towards the immense volcanic spectacle".

Will come back to that in a moment....

An early morning tour set off at 8.15am for a view of  the house of one of the areas highest former dignatories. On arrival the rain started however as luck would have it, we were the first group to go into the house.

Surrounded by stunning gardens, even in the rain the scenery was beautiful.

The house was amazingly furnished and showed the mix between the higher society and those who served. Examples of ancient Japanese artwork were plentiful.

A ceremonial wooden sword followed by two beautiful vases.

Each room told a story from long ago, how they lived, slept and even bathed.

The two separate areas of the house were divided by a beautiful inner garden.

A place of peace and tranquility.

Outside, despite the torrential rain, in fact in some ways, enhanced by it as the low cloud and mist permeated through the trees making the whole moment rather mysterious and mystical.

Despite the rain, the early cherry blossom is starting to show. We walked through the various shrines throughout the strolling garden and back to the waiting coach fir the short drive to the ferry for the crossing to Sakurajima Island

Sakurajima volcano on the island remains an active one with over 220 eruptions in 2023. The large major one in 1914 saw the island cease to be a true island as lava from the eruption created a natural link from the island to the mainland. Sadly the weather meant we couldn't see the twin peaks due to low cloud.

Apparently this picture of the volcanic rocks shows the head of a lion - 🦁 I can't see it!

On another day, this the view that we couldn't see. Nevertheless, the obligatory pictures were taken - just imagine the view behind us and all is well.

Simple isn't it?

The final view from the other side shows us with the hard hats which are handed out if signs of eruption are present - thankfully no signs today but we donned the headgear anyway ( for effect if nothing else).

Tried a pano picture of the hidden panorama but not sure it was that successful to be honest.

A quick return from the viewing point to Base Camp revealed a map of the area made from floor tiles - clever these Japanese!

A return back the ship in time for lunch and a dry out in readiness for our sea day tomorrow on route to Osaka. We have been promised a bumpy night tonight by our butler but hoping that he knows less about the weather and sea conditions than he does about serving lukewarm afternoon tea!

Tuesday 26th March - Day 28

At sea day on our way to Osaka. Slight drama overnight with a Code Alpha call at 4am which required the Captain to alter course in the night and head for the nearest port to enable a very poorly guest to be taken to hospital. Hopefully he will recover. 

A very windy day with rough seas and tough sea conditions which lasted most of the day.

Wednesday 27th March - Day 29

Arrived on time in Osaka to be greeted by sunshine and a very close view of the Osaka Eye from our balcony window.

Leaving on the first bus for our tour to Osaka Castle meant although we hit the rush hour, we beat the crowds to the Castle. Built centuries ago but sadly destroyed by lightning strikes and resultant fires, it was rebuilt in 1931 through funding by local donations.

Over eight floors high, getting to the observation deck was a challenge! Views once there were interesting.

We were given two hours which was more than sufficient but we did manage to visit the shops in the museum building and came across a furry toy that repeated everything you said - very clearly in fact too clearly if you said rude words to it. Not very cultural but funny nevertheless.

An interesting blend of ancient and modern.

A short drive followed to the Shintu shrine, also rather surprisingly situated in the city confines. A stunning series of buildings with some lovely views.

The orange bridge you can see in the middle picture of the three above is significant in Shintu religion marking the transition from this life to paradise as you walk over it. What was more interesting was the difficulty with which you had to walk up and down the steps - maybe more significant than I thought.

We arrived back at the ship nice and early in time for lunch but weren't allowed off the coach until a rather officious Japanese official came on the coach and demanded to see our passports and cruise cards. I am not sure he actually looked at them but did give a very impressive bow and thank you from the front of the coach.

The poor weather of the last few days relented and allowed a couple of hours sunbathing - the first in nearly three weeks! Deep joy.

Thursday 28th March - Day 30

Penultimate day of our time on Silver Moon. Overnight last night in Osaka was enlightening! Our friends from Northern Island fed back to the powers that be that there were a few issues that they had experienced before and felt they had not been addressed on this cruise and the response from said powers was the convene a meeting with five, yes five of the senior officers to see if anything could be done. 

Viv and I shared some of the points they had raised, the main one being that the in-suite dining was rarely served hot and we were reluctant to use it. Without wishing to go into detail, we dined with Girvan and Liz in La Terraza restaurant and were met at the door by an array of waiters falling over themselves to help! Our starters arrived and served by a waiter using a seriously thick serviette protecting his hands from the searing heat of the plate. It was so hot even my gnocchi was squealing! Methinks a point was being made!

Thursday morning was our last shire excursion, a drive up into the hills overlooking Osaka to a lovely temple complex featuring both Buddhist and Shintu temples. Before we arrived m, our guide explained a rather strange looking dolls (Daruma dolls). A symbol of perseverance and good wishes. The temple had many positioned in all sorts of strange locations.

A wonderfully serene and tranquil place, helped in large part by the fact we were the only bus going to this venue from the ship. Our guide was helpful in explaining the layout and customs - one of the best tours so far.

A drive to the Kamron market was punctuated by the guide explaining various maps and who wanted to leave the tour and take the shuttle bus instead - all rather confusing and in the end no one did, so a bit of a waste of time!

The market was alive with street food vendors offering an amazing array of delicacies, some recognisable and others, perhaps best forgotten.

Back on board around two o'clock, in time for a quick lunch and then an hours packing in readiness for the big pack tomorrow before we jump ship to HollandAmerica's Westerdam on Saturday in Tokyo.

Friday 29th March - Day 31

At sea day heading for Tokyo.

Left Osaka at 11pm and not longer afterwards the wind and sea swell started. A very bumpy night in a small ship is not a great combination.

The bad weather continued for most of the day and Viv spent most of the day in bed! We ventured out for a coffee around 11am but quickly returned to he sanctuary of our cabin.

Thankfully yours truly managed to finish the packing ( well, almost, I did manage to forget all my shorts in the bottom drawer which thankfully we found on the morning check and had a carrier bag to put them in!).

Viv couldn't join Girvan Liz and myself for the final dinner which was a shame but we managed a final farewell by arranging a joint breakfast the following day.

Saturday 30th March - Day 32

Lovely joint breakfast in our room to say cheerio to Girvan and Liz and thankfully all was calm in the safety of Tokyo harbour. Our butler continued to almost get things right by delivering the breakfast twenty minutes earlier than requested so the marginally above cold hot food continued its customary performance of being pretty much stone cold by the time you came to eat it. Such is life!

Debarkation was organised and we left the ship at 9am, found our expertly packed luggage in the terminal building. The area was dominated by a large number of very small but compact Japanese ladies barking out orders in very high shrill tones. Safe to say, you did what you were told.

Our driver, Kin, arrived after an interesting phone call from which we gleaned that his English was only slightly better than my non existent Japanese. That said, the sight of him striding forward, phone to his ear, waving frantically did give us a clue.

Quick journey from Tokyo port to Yokohama, helped by being a Saturday meant we arrived at the Westerdam earlier than expected. A moment of concern as we joined the queue when on presenting our digital boarding passes, the attending clerk appeared to freeze and look very worried. Frantic exchanges with colleagues resulted in us being marched to a holding area which turned out to be a priority area.

When the announcement was made to proceed with priority boarding we were escorted through check in, a very tedious process given we had checked in on line already, to be greeted by the Concierge Manager, a formidable lady called Lorraine who swept everyone and everything aside and took us to our cabin.

We knew that the Suite we had booked had a certain 'cache' but it is very impressive. Traditional in appearance on an older ship, with electric everything. You can't manually operate anything. Windows, curtains, net, lights - sometimes too much technology is a bad thing.

Our first dinner in the main dining room - again on presenting our room card - feverish looks between staff and a senior Maitre 'D type whisked us to a table. We felt sorry for the waiter, imagine being told you have the occupants of Suite X to serve. Everytime we looked up it seemed another member of staff was asking "is everything alright?" and a look of relief when we said "yes".

The Rollong Stone lounge provided 45 minutes of great soul music - a venue I'm sure we will revisit.

At sea tomorrow heading south towards Kobe.

Docked at 6.30am and another sunny but chilly day. We decided against an organised tour as a free shuttle bus only took 10 minutes to get to the centre of the city.

An incredible 1.2 km long market greeted us.

Largely under cover, with side roads leading off on both sides, there was a veritable feast of all types of shops, food, clothing, souvenirs and all things imaginable.

The unseasonably cold weather in March has slowed down the cherry blossom but we remain hopeful at least during the next few days in the south of Japan of seeing the Sakura in bloom. Meanwhile this stunning pink Magnolia tree was worth a photo despite the lamp-post and wires around it.

This market street is in the Chinatown area of the city as you can see.

After walking the full length of the market street and back again, it was time to return to the ship.

An afternoon of reading in preparation for a marathon five hour tour of caves and a beach in Kochi tomorrow - let's hope this nice weather holds.

Tuesday 2nd April - Day 35

A day spent in Kochi and its surrounding area. Not far from Osaka which we visited towards the end of our adventure on the Silver Moon, today started somewhat differently than tours on that ship. Here, all the information appears (eventually after itinerary and tour changes) on your Navigator App! All high tech! You proceed to the theatre and offer your phone to the waiting staff and they issue you with a numbered sticker! Memories of cruises past!

Boarded our bus and headed out to the Ryugado Cave a short 30 minute drive from the port. The pre excursion information warned of 700 steps, information normally ignored by the infirm who then struggle to even manage to get down the three steps to get off the coach. 

Today we seemed to have avoided most of the intrepid explorers with mobility challenges and/or wheelchairs which was a great relief. That said, what hadn't been explained was the number of small, low and at times really narrow areas of the cave.

Lulled into a false sense of security by an outside escalator taking you up to the cave entrance.

you could see the start of the cherry blossom coming into view.

The entrance to the cave quickly offered a glimpse of a walkway which meandered up and down, not to mention side to side, and revealed some of the most extraordinary limestone formations I have ever seen.

Just a few of the many formations on display.

Every twist and turn provided new and intriguing sights.

Upon leaving the cave, we walked down countless steps, along an outside version of a Disney queue, much larger and far more impressive. Here we spotted a number of exquisite foreign exotic plants, one of which was the strangely named 'Jack in a Pulpit' - a very odd looking specimen not too dissimilar from a Venus Fly Trap.

Our departure from the cave coach park was delayed, not by the customary late arrivals back to the bus, by ladies queuing for the restrooms, but on this occasion by an injury to an elderly gentleman who had managed to slip in the cave, fall and cut him arm which needed some treatment. To be honest, I put my usual grumpy tut tut tut comment to one side and thought "there but for the grace of God". 

Actually, the old boy done good to get through the adventure in one piece with just a flesh wound.

We then drove for what seemed an eternity to Kochi Castle (which if you compare pictures to Osaka Castle, you could be forgiven for confusing the two). This stop turned out to be no more than a photo stop, perhaps due to the aforementioned injury and delay, or maybe because we weren't supposed to stay any longer anyway. A walk to the main gate followed by our effervescent guide showing were exactly we could take pictures from, revealed the following -

Please look carefully to the right of the above picture, in the water is a small turtle whose antics proved far more entertaining than the castle.

Our last stop was a long awaited visit to the Katsurahama Beach, a spot marketed as a beautiful natural beach on the shoreline of the Pacific Ocean. On the Pacific Ocean, yes, beautiful natural, I think not. More a concrete complex of shops enticing the unwitting tourists into buying largely either overpriced boxes of food or alternatively, just tat.

The saving grace was a walkway to a viewing platform where a kind person offered to take our picture, after I had offered to do the same and showed him where to take the shot from. David Bailey, eat your heart out!

He still managed to lose the top of the tree but at least we were both in shot!

Late back at nearly 3pm so lunch was a few crustless sarnies from the Neptune Lounge ( from which we had attempted a Continental Breakfast thus morning - won't rush to do that again!).

Tomorrow, according to the latest Captain's 🧑‍✈️ announcement promises to be a wet and overcast day in Hiroshima. If our thought provoking and emotional day in Nagasaki is anything to go by, the weather could match our mood.

Slipped our mornings and we leave the gentle bay waters of Kochi.

Wednesday 3rd April - Day 36

As expected our arrival in Hiroshima was greeted by leaden skies and heavy rain, with thankfully, no wind.

Boarding the coach at around 9.45am we headed for the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Upon arrival, the massed crowds were evident, despite the torrential rain. It is at times like this, the main advantage of a guide and cruise tour comes to the fore. To the front of the queue we went and given an hour to tour round we entered the museum.

The guide had explained that the bomb was dropped at just before 8.15am on Wednesday 6th August 1945. It exploded at a height of 600 metres, set to cause the maximum damage and destruction. The hypocentre was directly over a hospital near the centre of the city.

As you enter the museum there is a Peace Clock on which is shown the number of days since the Hiroshima bombing and another number showing the number of days since the last nuclear test. At least I am guessing since the last one they know about.

More memories, pictures, testimonies and displays of the horror of the bomb together with moving stories of those who survived only to succumb to illness caused by radiation fall out. 

One such tragic account relates to a two year old girl, Sadako Sasaki, who some ten years after the bombing contracted leukaemia caused by the exposure to radiation from the bomb. She suffered increasing illness, during which time she believed that if she folded 1,000 paper cranes her wish would come true. With the help of needles, she folded 1,000 paper cranes within a month.

Despite her valiant efforts, she passed away shortly afterwards. Another wasted life amongst so many.

As with Nagasaki, the pictures of the horror and human suffering are too graphic to be reproduced here, although by not doing so, it does not lessen the need to learn from the mistakes of the past.

A very poignant symbol of the waste of life is this child's tricycle. A three year boy who perished in the blast, his father found his son's bike and initially buried the bike and his son's remains in the back garden of what was once their family home. Years later, his ashes were placed in the family grave and the bike donated to the Peace Museum to help promote the need for world peace.

The son's picture is to the left of the tricycle.

The above picture shows the contents of a 12 year old second year student's lunch box and water bottle. The student was 600 yards from the centre of the blast and the charred remains of his lunch are all that was found. A lunch he never got to eat on that fateful day.

One of the most striking remains in Hiroshima is the atomic dome, part of a building, very close to the site of the blast which survived in part despite it's proximity to the explosion. It is understood that the dome, made of glass but coated in copper, melted due the extreme heat of the explosion. When the main blast happened a few seconds later, as the dome had effectively disappeared, most of the blast shot up through the building and out of the missing dome. This is thought to have saved the building from being totally destroyed.

The next two pictures show the before and after of the building. These are models, the later pictures show the actual dome itself as it still stands today.

The Peace Memorial Park features many statues and beautiful lawns and flowers, even in the torrential rain.

The arch and flame can be seen in the distance. The peace flame will only be extinguished when the world is rid of its last nuclear weapon.

This is the atomic dome building situated close to the hypocentre.

Many other monuments remain to remind us of the need to maintain peace in the world. The Peace Bell and the Atomic Mound are both dedicated to preserving that memory.

Beautiful gardens and at this time of year, the blooming cherry and other fruit blossom add to the splendour of this rejuvenated city. A clear reminder that beauty can come from horror and to show how futile and wasteful war has been shown to be.

On a day when not only did it pour with rain almost incessantly, but thunder echoed around the city as if to remind everyone of the need to remember. The pictures seemed even more emphatic due to the rain. At times, despite the many thousands paying their own respects, there was an eerie silence, moments of reflection, time to try and absorb the enormity of what we have seen and the events that took place nearly eighty years ago.

As one American guest from the ship said to me as he turned the last corner of the museum before the exit "there is simply not much to say", the pictures say it all.

As we headed back to the ship, went aboard, grabbed a quick bite to eat, we enjoyed a somewhat lighter moment. Japanese authorities require all passengers to carry out a departure face to face passport inspection. Now, firstly we are only leaving Japan today as we head to Korea tomorrow. We return to Japan on Saturday when the reverse happens again.

To do this, all passengers (1767 of us) need to leave the ship, go into the terminal building and meet a customs official. Our concierge lady kindly offered (in fact, she insisted), that as Pinnacle Suite customers, she would escort us through the process. Nice thought.

She collected us from our cabin, took us past crew's quarters and to parts of the ship that only Heineken could reach and whisked us past the gangway cruise card checking station with no more than a "they are with me" wave of her hand. This is great, we thought.

We paddled across the puddles to the terminal building and there was the sight of a mega 'Disney style' queue of people slowly moving towards a row of customs officials. There were hundreds of passengers all waiting patiently in line for their turn to be called - awaiting the sort of UK post office shout of " cashier number three, please!"

Now, we expected our concierge to lay eyes upon a friendly fellow crew member at the front of the queue, a quiet surreptitious removal of the tape guarding the final hurdle, and in we slip, barely noticed.

No, instead, we join the back of the queue and then in absolute horror, our concierge proceeds to barge her way passed all the waiting people and beckoning us to follow! Of course we did, but it must be said " never in the field of human queuing (conflict) has so much (embarrassment) been owed by (caused to) so many (passengers) by so few (me and Viv). Not a moment we wish to repeat in a hurry.

So far no one has yet challenged us but there again we have been hiding in our cabin since we got back.

Thursday 4th April - Day 37

Viv woke up this morning to find herself a year older and opened her cards that had travelled with us since the end of February.

A leisurely day at sea in store so we ambled down to the posh restaurant for breakfast followed by a gentle walk around the ship. We were travelling through the Kanmon Straits which is a narrow passage of water separating two of Japan's largest islands. 

Several islands pop up as you enter the Strait. Sadly the morning weather wasn't great so the views were that brilliant.

As you enter the western end of the Strait, the passage narrows considerably, in fact, at its narrowest point it is only 650 metres wide from bank to bank and is crossed by a bridge.

We were not able to do our regular walk on the promenade deck as the crew were working on some repairs (nice job, boys!).

As a result we joined the art auction run by Park West, an American based art company we have come across before. In fact we have bought a few pieces over the years, but today nothing took our fancy so our bidding cards stayed firmly down. We didn't even win the raffle! Didn't they realise it was Viv's birthday?

A relaxing afternoon reading and doing a very odd American crossword and we returned to our cabin to find a rather small muffin like cake with a card for Viv from the Captain and all the crew. If they all contributed to the cake, it won't have cost them very much! We are still waiting for the celebratory bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries....... not sure we will wait in for those for too long!

Tonight, we are joined by a couple from Texas, Phil and Betty who despite saying they are still working on their ranch raising a particular type of cattle, seem to spend an inordinate amount of time on cruises. I guess these cattle feed themselves easily enough. Should be an interesting evening. They are definitely not DT supporters from an earlier conversation. It's 'dressy' night tonight so again, we will have to run the gauntlet of paparazzi photographers getting to the bar.

Friday 5th April - Day 38

Another day in Busan! Actually only our second on this marathon adventure. Docked. Around 7.30am and had the marginally better view out of the window. The biggest seaport in Korea is certainly what it looks like with boats and ships everywhere, not to mention a hive of activity port side with deliveries coming in and rubbish going out.

Not sure these pano pictures work that well but this is a view from the balcony.

In the next shot, look out for the tents and camper vans in the foreground - a strange place to pitch a tent but the facilities look great with electric hook ups, water and toilet blocks, with raised areas to put the tents up. The wind made for interesting viewing with local Koreans hanging on valiantly to the guide ropes.

A lazy day on board with a quiet ship as many of the passengers got off to do tours. Having been before, we thought we would take advantage of a quiet day.

Tomorrow we are back to Japan arriving at Sakiaminato around 8am.

Saturday 6th April - Day 39

Another excellent tour, this time from the port of Sakiaminato to the Tottori Flower Park, just over an hour's drive away. That is after we managed to persuade Japanese customs to let us back into the country having been to Korea for one day. Given how meticulously cruise ships monitor their passengers, it is hard to fathom out what they are looking for, the old stowaway perhaps? Who knows?

The flower park was exquisite with masses of flowers and cherry blossom.

Beautiful views from all sides of the park and returning to the coach on time was a challenge.

Nearby Mt Daisen was rarely far away and often competing for pictures.

Many types of flowers were to be seen, smelled and enjoyed.

Our second stop involved another Japanese castle only this time not a real one. It was the Head Office of one of the area's finest food factories built in the design of a castle.

Greeted by a samurai was a bit of a shock!

Tasty samples were on show in the ground floor, not many it has to be said were worthy of a purchase. The rice wine in particular was rank.

The second floor was much more to our liking. Our guide said the entry to the second floor was 300 yen, we offered 600 to the cashier who promptly gave us 400 in change. Maybe it pays to be old!

The display was all about everyday meals made from resin and silicone - quite remarkable!

Note the strange items on our heads. Silly people.

A trip up to the fourth floor allowed a view of the mountain and the chance to see how the locals make do!

Guess he was a bit bored with proceedings?

We returned to the ship and intrepid me decided today was the day to try out the whirlpool on our balcony. A bit like first class , this is most unlikely to happen again. At least I can say I have done it. The sun had sadly moved to the other side of the ship, a gentle breeze but even with hot water in abundance it was a struggle. But I survived!

Sunday 7th March - Day 40

With apologies for the beached whale photo yesterday, today returns to normality. Arrived in Toyama (the first time the ship has docked there) and we were treated to a lively arrival party. Our tour today was a 7 hour marathon stint driving all the way from Toyama to Kanazawa taking over an hour and a half. Kanazawa has its own port which has welcomed HollandAmerica ships in the past! 

The lovely sunny weather, cherry blossom season, a Sunday and free admission meant we 'enjoyed' one of the best three parks in Japan - it was heaving! Half of Japan was there!

Stunning cherry blossom nonetheless.

We managed to work a Japanese vending machine to deliver a bottle of water only to find it was sparkling water! Second attempt was more successful.

Our second stop was a Samurai district, an odd place of very modern and very ancient. An area where descendants of Samurai families are allowed to live in different coloured houses depending on their level of class. 

After the Samurai district we were whisked away to the Crowne Plaza hotel for a buffet lunch. Can you imagine, two full coaches of tourists descending on a hotel restaurant - complete bun fight especially with a number of rather large Americans who have no etiquette when it comes to queuing for anything. Also what I found even more incredulous is how mobile they become when food is on offer. It takes for ever to negotiate the three steps to get off the coach but put some food out and they would give Linford Christie a run for his money.

Lunch done, we were off again, this time to a Geisha district which was very colourful and had some intriguing sights.

What you can't see from this picture is the great lump of a man sitting in the left seat of this rickshaw! The poor girl having to pull this load was quite something!

Some lovely blossoms on show before the drive back to the faraway port. Not to most stunning of days but still plenty to see and do and above all, the weather was kind to us.

This last picture taken at speed from the coach is a good example of the many impressive rice farmers' houses. Built on raised platforms, the house normally has a lovely manicured garden, often with a cherry tree on display and surrounded by the rice fields from which they make their living.

Monday 8th April -Day 41

Sakata is our stop for today. Another first for the Westerdam. This port stop was a late substitute on the itinerary so we hadn't booked anything official. 

We were wakened by the sound of Japanese drummers whose rhythmical sounds seem to be heard at almost every port in Japan.

This time as we docked we knew we were going to be facing the port, and it wasn't a bad view. An area was cordoned off to provide space for stall holders and the various performers to congregate.

After a leisurely breakfast (we are cutting back a little on our last week in readiness for the return home), we popped ashore to see what our stall holders were offering. Mainly rice cakes and the odd jar of honey, plus a lot of hand made wooden items which are held together without the use of nails. A throwback to my schooldays of mortice and dovetail joints. Such memories of Mr Goodwin my woodwork teacher!

Kimonos were on sale, the most expensive we saw was 250,000 Yen ( around £1300).

The port of Sakata is overlooked by a snow covered mountain proving a dramatic scene and contrast to the ship.

Tuesday 9th April - Day 42

Our penultimate day at sea, travelling between Sakata and Otaru. Leaving the port around 6pm all seemed quiet and peaceful, however within a couple of hours we noticed a distinct upturn in the wind strength and a corresponding increase in the sea swell. The Captain had suggested we might encounter a deterioration in the beautiful weather we had enjoyed for the past couple of days and he wasn't wrong!

A bumpy night turned into a bumpy day, at least until late afternoon when things started to settle down. Breaks in the cloud and a reduction in wind strength meant that the sun could break through and around 4pm it was as if nothing had happened. How strange nature can be at times.

Heavy winds and sea

Turns into this in a matter of hours

Wednesday 10th April - Day 43

Opening the bedroom curtains on this Wednesday morning, we were greeted by the fantastic view of Otaru, our most northernmost port in Japan, bathed in blue sky it truly looked remarkable.

The weather in Otaru is dominated by the prevailing north westerly winds which sweep in from the Siberian land mass and in the winter this results in colder, more snowy weather than its latitude would suggest is expected. Otaru lies 43 degrees north, compared to London which is 51 degrees north, therefore considerably farther south and you would expect it to be warmer. Not so!

Japan's land mass is 80% mountains, most of which are of have been volcanos. It is an earthquake zone lying on the Asiatic and Pacific plates, hence the likelihood of earthquakes is greater.

Around Otaru, the mountains are still snow covered and there are considerable amounts of snow still lying in the town itself. Within a few miles of the port lies the town of Sapporo, home to the Winter Olympics of 1972.

The ship docked right in the town centre which was excellent news as it meant we could stroll into town and not have to shell out for a shuttle bus (Silversea's complimentary shuttle buses are a distant memory) at a cost of $20-25 round trip, or an even greater cost for a shore excursion!

We ambled into town, dressed warmly, and quickly found our bearings. A helpful American couple who had visited five years earlier, directed us to  music box shop and then a similar museum. What a find!

The town is a mix of old and new with its Main Street home to a real variety of sushi shops, glass, and many other interesting objects. One of which was a dry bonsai shop selling different sized and coloured dry bonsai trees. Fascinating colours some natural and some layered - tempting but we resisted the temptation to buy and have them shipped home.

What we did find was a Wagyu beef 🥩 street vendor and I couldn't resist buying and watching the owner cooking and serving a wagyu beef skewer. At 1800 Yen (£9) it was pricey but boy did it taste good!👍 

The music box museum was incredible and housed many different types of musical box, as well as other instruments included a full sized organ (complete with recitals every hour or so).

All in all, a wonderful town and one which has to rank really highly in the list of amazing places we have seen on this trip of a lifetime.

Now on our way to our final port of call. We start our journey back to Yokohama with a stop tomorrow at Hakodate and are hopeful we may have the chance to repeat our stroll into the town. Fingers crossed.

Thursday 11th April - Day 44

Arrived in Hakodate and as hoped for, we docked very close to the City centre.

We had already decided not to go on an organised shore excursion and very glad we didn't. We strolled to the Hakodate Morning Market so named because it is closed in the afternoon! As we strolled around we saw lots of the tell-tale HollandAmerica coloured stickers. I wonder how much that tour cost?

Lying around the big bay are lots of varieties of different buildings, some box like and modern, others expressing an older more refined and character filled appearance.

Situated almost opposite the pier is where the Morning Market can be found. Mainly food but what an array of fish, seafood of all shapes and sizes, some too odd to be recognised and shellfish, some still alive in water filled crates, others sadly less able to move about.

Some of the vendors were offering taster sized mouthfuls of all sorts of exotic fare, none of which, I am pleased to say passed our lips! Memories of my last experience with oysters in Guernsey left me feeling less than keen to try again.

This chirpy local wearing a red crab hat seemed keen to try and sell us one of those "repeating voice" toys - all very well but highly dangerous in the wrong hands!

These two young local ladies were enjoying a plate of raw squid 🦑. How did we know this? They explained in perfect English and then graciously allowed me to take their photo - for which they duly posed. When did Japanese ever step back from having their picture taken?

A few hundred yards along from the market were the famous red brick warehouses, now turned into large open planned areas very much akin to craft fairs. They even have a beer hall!

Walking around the bay offers many sights, some expected like boats and others less so, such as these old renovated buses.

Continuing along the bayside, you become aware of many different styles of architecture dating back many decades. Various styles can be seen, some are original and others as we have come to see quite often in Japan are reconstructed versions when the original buildings made mainly from wood have been destroyed by fire.

The Hakodate Old Public Hall stands proudly on a hill overlooking the bay, an imposing residence, first occupied in the 19th century.

In front of the building is a statue of four elders, likely to be Chinese and one of whom looks like Confucius - more research is needed to find out who they are. Maybe Google can help?

We know who the two in the front are!

As we walked further up the hill, away from the bay, we came across a number of churches reflecting different religions including Russian Orthodox. The area close to this church is clearly a former Russian enclave as there is the Russian Consulate building - locked and deserted apart from piles of cardboard boxes. It looks like the staff left in a hurry!

Some yards away is the lower station building for the Mt. Hakodate Ropeway, a cable car leading to the top. We decided against the trip to the top on this occasion, not trusting the rather swaying nature of the cars!

Walking back down seemed a little easier and we passed a monument to another of the 19th century Samurai warriors, whose name I think was Takahashi, but once again my knowledge of Japanese was found wanting.

In the three hours we walked, we covered over 12,000 steps so we can enjoy our pasta meal in the specialty restaurant tonight.