CHUCKYV

OSAKA - SECOND FULL DAY - I awoke this morning undecided about my activities. One option was to spend the day at Universal Studios Japan. The other was to go downtown and experience the city center. I have been to Universal Los Angeles and Orlando before, I’m not a big movie fan, especially since I’m not in the target audience for the current crop, and I don’t do many thrill rides. So, I opted to go downtown, by train. I’m one of the few Caucasians on the trains and I haven’t heard any English in my wanderings. Needed help from the information desk about my fare and which track my train would be on. The fare was 160 yen, less than $2. US and I only had to wait about three minutes before it came in. ... read more

Well Murphy’s Law strikes again! I’m on a cruise ship between China and Korea; I get an email from American Express asking me to verify I bought gasoline in Canada. After a thirty-five minute satellite telephone call (which they said they will reimburse me for the charges), they issued me a new card making the one I was carrying invalid. Good thing I had another card. Moral: carry two. The final night dinner I spent with two people from Australia, one man from Vancouver and an American-Japanese lady from Los Angeles who kindly offered to show me around Kyoto and Osaka. Don’t know whether that will transpire, but a much appreciated offer. Disembarkation went smoothly and three buses of people from the cruise headed for a tour of Kobe before going to the airport. Nice city ... read more

BUSAN, KOREA - Yesterday was a sea day and I spent it going to lectures about our last two ports of call and organizing some of my pictures on the computer. Dinner dress was for the final formal night and I decided to wear my tux shirt and my black suit since I didn’t want to carry them all the way to Asia without using them. After dinner was the “Black and White Ball” where all the ships officers, male and female, dance with guests and, after each dance, an officer identifies their self as a “mystery officer” and the dance partner wins a prize. I’m sitting at the bar with my bar buddies when the last dance is announced and a beautiful, young lady officer (if I had a granddaughter, she would be that age) ... read more

BEIJING DAY TWO - An early start for another day of touring the capitol of China, Beijing, previously known as Peking, as in duck, man, Opera and the Great Wall, the top “musts” in Beijing according to my tour guide, Lee. He also says the best time to visit is April-May or September-October. In the year 2000, China changed its policy on ownership of property and became a government with a socialist philosophy but with a market economy. People could own condominiums but not the land. Land rights extend for 70 years at the present time, but China is modifying their policies as conditions dictate. Air pollution is a growing problem for the government to deal withand needs to be dealt with. It is a cold morning, again, and we bus to Tian’amen Square, the largest ... read more

SHANGHAI DAY TWO - Last night I got some great photos of Shanghai at night from our fantastic berth. The night was clear and cool. After writing yesterday’s blog, I went to bed and reflected on all that I had seen. Most I wrote about yesterday, but I neglected to mention the Bund area which still reflects the colonial architecture of the time. Also, the number of hotels (Waldorf Astoria, Grand Hyatt, Holiday Inn, Hotel Indigo, etc), fast food establishments (Starbuck’s, McDonald’s, KFC , Pizza Hut, etc.) and even car brands (Buick) could help prevent homesickness. I was greeted this morning by a light rain, fog and smog. By the time I got to the tour bus though the rain had stopped, just some puddles to walk around, but very gray. I had an hour and ... read more