2026 – 14 Pacific Rim in 133 days – Part 14 Japan

Tuesday, April 7, 2026   Naha, Japan                    Port for Okinawa

I decided to stay on the ship and work.  I am so behind with everything.  We scored a second cocktail party and it’s so soon another Newsletter has to go out.  I went out briefly in a taxi to the city of Naha, and can’t remember a thing about it or even whom I was with.  It’s too long ago.  I did note that I had a nice dinner at the table with Dee and Anne and somehow, we missed the show.  

Wednesday, April 8, 2026  Amami Oshima (Naze), Japan              

This was truly a lost day.  I was sick from 5 to 8 am.  Woof.  Had to cancel my nice plans for eating out in Naze.  My cabin stewards ratted me out to the medical centre and the nurse called and put me in isolation.  Who knows whether I needed that or not but it was fine with me as I needed the rest.  Barfing is exhausting.  Chicken soup was a fine diet.

I missed Martin Beaumont’s second show, which was a pity, as he’s great.

Thursday, April 9, 2026     At Sea

Another day at the office.  

Friday, April  10, 2026       Nagasaki, Japan

We had a very good guide for our Nagasaki shore excursion to the Peace park, Museum and lunch.  

 It wasn’t easy, either because it was just pouring during the 45 minutes we were touring the park.  We were mostly dressed for it, but it was hard to keep track of who was where.

Miraculously, we lost no one in that segment, but one Distinctive Voyager caused us a good 15 minute delay, reading every little sign at the museum.  Thank God for telecommunications and Anne Bitonti, who was replacing Joanne.  Joanne had left us this morning to join her husband, John, who had flown in to join the ship.  She was having a little “overland”.  God bless Anne, she was equally efficient.

Lunch was really delicious and in a unique setting overlooking a rugby field.  We had all the Japanese favorites, sushi, sashimi, tempura, teriyaki, etc., beautifully served.  Our last stop was a relaxed visit to a cultural museum/Magistrates house. 

 The Distinctive Voyagers were happy with this excursion.

Dee, Anne and I were even happier with our dinner.  Our guide suggested we pick the Hamanomachi Arcade district which was close to the ship and offered good shopping and good restaurants.  I did some online research and came up with a few candidates.  The best looking one was going to have us doing our own cooking.  Dee and I are pretty lazy when it comes to that, especially after a big day, but Anne was all in and happy to cook for the old girls.  The name of the restaurant is Osakaya and we had a wonderful time in our own little pod, with chef Anne.  Note the wonderful marbling in the wagu steak, Anne’s attention to detail, and Dee’s contented smile.

I’ll never understand why people have dinner on the ship in these exotic ports.  I only do when I can’t find someone to go out with me and that makes me feel pretty sorry for myself.  Not this night.  It was fabulous.  There was even a birthday party in the pod next door, so we made a few brief Japanese friends by sending over greetings.

Saturday, April 11, 2026    Nagasaki, Japan

Yesterday was a big day, so I stayed aboard to rest and work.  Yes, again.

We had Ben Sack, the Artist in Residence, for dinner, with his mother, Kathy.  Ben is an old friend, Kathy, a new one.  We like them both, a lot.  The entertainment on the World Stage tonight was fabulous.  It was a group called The Boulevards, and don’t miss them if they come to a ship you are on.  The show was called “Rock & Roll is here to Stay” and it was my youth all over again.  Just for laughs I wrote down the songs from the show that I could remember and come up with: Great Balls of Fire, Rock around the Clock, Pretty Woman, Runaround Sue, Johnny be Good, Twist N Shout, Let’s Twist Again, Shake, Rattle ‘n roll, Tutti Fruity, With Love from Me to You, and that wasn’t the half of it.  I googled, got The Boulevards | Rock & Roll Band | UK and their full repertoire is up there.  They are for hire.

Sunday, April 12, 2026      At Sea

Another day at the office.  Now I am working Sundays, too. It was a formal night and we had Martha and Bob and Jeffrey Jack, the Assistant Hotel General Manager and it was a lot of fun.  I know I complain about the work, but it keeps me going and I sure like this cruising life.

Monday, April 13, 2026 – Shimizu, Japan

Anne and I went out in Shimizu.  There was a shuttle to a shopping street, near the fish market and that sounded good to us.  We spent an hour on the shopping street, where Anne picked up a bunch of chopsticks for presents, and I bought a very nice blouse.  Then we went to the Fish Market.  It wasn’t the best Japanese fish market I had ever seen, but it was pretty good and very clean.  We had no qualms about eating there.  The Bento Box of everything was a proper adventure.  All the pictures landed on Anne’s camera or I would have something wonderful for you here.  We had a lovely time bonding, eating and drinking.  It was quite magic.  We parted company after lunch as I was looking for a pedicure, which I never found, these lovelies found me, though.

I am told they were probably guys.  Do I care? 

There was a good view of Mt. Fuji from the dock, but it was overcast so not a spectacular picture. 

Tuesday, April 14, 2026       –   Yokohama, Japan – Port for Tokyo

Today, my cousin, Joanne’s husband, John Sidorchuk got on.  I moved into the cabin Joanne booked for him on Deck 3.  I like it here.  The cabin is a little smaller but I am alone with little luggage.  The size difference is outweighed by the fact that it is just four cabins away from access to the Promenade Deck, which is a wonderful place to log and blog. 

I was unpacked and ready to go out by 11:00 am.  I met Linda and Bob and we did the short walk to the Red Brick Warehouse, a nice waterfront redevelopment of a couple of old warehouses.  They had turned the space between into a flower show and it was lovely.

It brought out a lot of locals, too, a surprising number with their dogs, a more surprising number with their dogs dressed up to have their portraits taken.  Get a load of this, tongue and all:

The best restaurant was on the third floor of one of the warehouses and it served wagu steak.  Linda ordered the wagu burger and Bob and I had the steaks.  They were excellent but came with absolutely nothing.  They were at least four times as expensive as the burger, which was very well dressed.  I am not sure I will ever understand the Japanese, but it was still a nice experience.  The dress I bought was another example – it was Japanese made but proudly marked “European Style” or maybe that was them, laughing at us again.  I like the dress though.  It’s long and red.

Ordinarily, I would have wanted to eat out in Yokohama but it was time to introduce John to Dee at the table.  That went swell.

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

It was our second day in Yokohama, we went to Chinatown for Dim Sum, Bob, Linda, Lenora and me.  Yokohama has a cute little Chinatown but we couldn’t find a big Dim Sum house and had to be content with a little restaurant that served it.  It was a pretty complicated system but it worked.  First you figured out what all you wanted, then you ordered four dishes only.  For example:  spring rolls, cashew chicken, har gau, chau siu bao.  There would be 4 pieces of each, one for each of us.  When we had finished that lot, we could order four more. When we finally found the rules on the menu, we saw that they did it that way to avoid food waste from eyes bigger than tummies.  The menu warned we would be fined at the end for unfinished food.  Not a bad system, and not a bad lunch.  We managed three rounds of four dishes.  No fines.

Linda and Bob took a taxi back to the ship and Lenora and I continued to mosey around Chinatown.  She was looking for dog bane tea and guess what? She found it.  The tea vendor managed to google it, find out what it was in Chinese and sell it to her.  I had even better luck, I ran across Hump Fu 2. Those of you who have been following my travels since 2007 will remember Hump Fu 1.  Ruth Berggren still has him.  The Fu brothers are naughty Fu dogs that run along by my side and hump the legs of anyone who shows the slightest interest.  Just as HumpFu 1 had been on Oceania in 2007, so was Hump Fu 2 a hit on the Volendam.

I don’t know how many times he had his picture taken.  This is the only one on my camera.

The Boulevards were on stage again and it was just as good as the first time

Thursday, April 16, 2026     At Sea

Sure enough, we have another new Distinctive Voyager and a lot of correspondence with Distinctive Voyages and her Travel agent getting her in.  I could hope this is the last one, but it isn’t. Christine Allado was on the World Stage and she was good. 

Friday, April 17, 2026                    Hakodate, Japan

And would you believe another day at the office?  In all fairness to my DV assignment, a lot of my office time is spent serving my regular client’s and there’s nothing wrong with making money.  The Canadian government should be delighted with me.  I pay them enough.  No geriatric drain on the system, moi.