Wonderful Japan

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4th March
Got up sharp had things to do and places to go……………………
After breakfast we attended the gym for a body constitution assessment and personal fitness plan. Told what to do to get fitter, even though we seemed to be not to bad for our ages - or so the machines said.. We have to go back towards the end of the cruise for a recheck-he he-we know what that will be like. Goals: to get fitter and maybe loose some weight.
Started well with a 2 mile brisk walk around the deck- then, faltered at lunch time - had some cake, afternoon - couldn’t resist the chocs, dinner time- more cake and 2 extra puddings…argh don’t tell our trainer!!!
Judi went sun bathing on the top deck-windy and not too warm only 26 today.
Murdo sorted and uploaded the photos from the memory cards, recharged the batteries and got the cameras sorted for the next few days.
Went on internet and Lizzie spotted us as Judi was checking her emails. Had mini 3 line chat but had to cut short as the ship had bad connections.
Tex-mex night in the upstairs restaurant - food refreshingly ordinary and we do not have to dress up as we would for the formal dinner in the downstairs restaurant.- had a wee rest from that tonight- many folk in cowboy shirts and jeans. Looking like they have just returned from a rehearsal of the hillbillies!!!!! Raised some giggles. Ooher.
Just after me saying I wished we could see some wild sea-life Murdo spotted what he thought were aquatic butterflies but I thought they were flying fish as some of them dived into the water-whatever they were they seemed to appear on request to placate me and were very cute and in abundance, a rare moment without the camera.
Retired early to catch up with the blog.

5th March

Typical day at sea - hard to get time to rest far less do everything we want to do. ….. Oh the hardships we have to contend with!!!!!

6th March
We’ve been 2 weeks at sea already!
Last night was very bumpy and I felt sea sick and Murdo just loved it.. We had a wind speed of force 7 which is nearly gale force!! However this morning the seas are more settled. The weather has got colder 15 degrees C and a bit drizzly- only to be expected- so out came the winter woollies!!
Last night we gained an hour back and were up this morning at 6 am. We were docking into Nagasaki 30 mins ahead of schedule. We got up and looked out over our balcony to see our first glimpse of Japan. There were lots of little islands all lit up. We got ourselves ready asap and up on deck, as we were told to expect a big welcome. But because we were early I think there was a change of plan. We were to have water jets off tugs, which would have been great to see, but I think they must have slept in!! It never happened which was a shame. The Commodore had said the people here were very pleased that we were coming to Nagasaki and wanted to welcome us in. I found it very emotional, couldn’t believe we were here and I was agog at its beauty. Shed some tears. Although it was a busy harbour it was lovely as the city was set in fantastic surrounds of vegetative undulating hills with settlements scattered and tucked in all around. Me and Murdo soooooo exited and snapped lots of photos.even without the grand welcoming it was thrilling. We ate a hearty breakfast, gathered our stuff and got off by 9.30.We had to do a face to face, eye scanning and finger printing session yesterday by the Japanese immigration officials and today were thermally scanned before being allowed off. Better than Bupa…a free MOT !!
A lone Samari lookalike man welcomed us with a traditional dance to music, swinging his sword about. It was interesting to watch. Like a couple of weans, we disembarked.
It took us a few mins, after getting a photo shoot with a Japanese lady and collecting our map, to decide what we wanted to do.
We decided to head towards Glover park. Named after a Scottish man who came here and married a Japanese lady and settled. He became important with the shipping trade. We had a giggle when we saw in the gift shop, Walkers short bread, Scottish bagpipe keyrings and ‘I love Scotland’ t-shirts!! Whats that all abooooot then!!!
The gardens were lovely, filled with familiar flora and also wonderful Japanese trees and water features. Old was blended with the new. Time was short so we were unable to explore in-depth. We did get a feel for the place and saw all that was to see. There were some fantastic views of Nagasaki. It was interesting that they had a display about the famous Japanese opera singer known for her performance in Madame Butterfly. Her clothes were displayed along with how she would wear red roses in her hair. News clippings told her story whilst the opera ran in the background.
I experienced their unusual loos! Thought I had gone into the gents by mistake when I saw them! They were ceramic vessels at ground level…thought what do I do with these then? Obviously not made for western women wearing trousers, ok if I had on a kimono and no knickers he- he-!! Murdo took pictures of them. They were also open air and had spectacular views across Nagasaki.
There was a traditional cobbled street leading to the park which was filled with little shops selling all their tourist items. Our eyes were everywhere as we tried to take it all in. so many different sites and smells and sounds.
After the park we ambled our way through to the city centre via the back and side streets. Absorbing all the delights they had to offer on the way. The streets were clean as they were always being swept, the traffic quiet and the people polite. Great signposting and plenty of public transport. Old architecture was mixed with new. We experienced their China town and found a very long and straight shopping mall. We went into 2 Kimono shops to look for souvenirs to bring home, although it was very lovely and interesting it was mightily expensive for an outfit, so sadly nothing was bought from them.
We passed endless little fruit stalls and eventually were beguiled by the biggest red apples we had ever seen…if that is what Eve was offered no wonder she gave in!! Delicious and sweet, and both of us munched on the same one as we walked along, took ages to eat!! Magic.
We left this part of the city and went looking for one of the many temples marked on our map. It didn’t take us long to find one. On the way to it we passed a traditional cemetery with a shrine and very, very old steps up to it. Brilliant to discover it amongst the highrises and carparks. We could imagine being there in the olden days. I delighted over the amazing Japanese trees. So just up the road from there was a Buddist temple which had been built by the Chinese. You had to pay to get in and weren’t sure if it was going to be a rip off. We weren’t disappointed it was magical. Set within hustle and bustle was a haven of peace and rituals. We saw there a very large cauldron used to make porridge-another Scottish slant!- to feed 3000 people during some hard times. Murdo would have liked a taste of that!!!
We met a lovely lady stall holder who did her best to communicate with us, who insisted on taking our photograph but politely offered her wares to us, we bought a little trinket as she was so nice.
Leaving here we headed for their famous Spectacle bridge, its name describes its style! It had a lovely little river running through it. It was filled with huge carp and had old stone bridges dotted along it, which were so pretty. The sun came out and the water glistened and the fish frolicked. A thrilling site was the huge birds flying everywhere and soaring above us, someone said he thought they may be red kites. They were the size of eagles!! We watched school boys climb along the river walls to take photographs of a heart shaped stone.
We walked on and bought ice-creams sold by a little old lady- well more ice than cream- this did not matter as she moulded them into roses, each petal lovingly created individually. We attracted the interest of a bunch of school girls who wanted a photograph with each of us, each had their own camera and we felt quite famous by the end of the shoot.
We ambled through the older part of town, through the fish markets and saw unknown creatures to us trying to escape! Hunger pangs struck and we opted for a Japanese takeaway, went into Hotto Motto and because of the language barrier could only point at the food and hope for the best when we got it. All very neat in little moulded trays were our pork and chicken dishes, side thingies and rice. We found a park bench and like a couple of down and outs struggled to eat with our chopsticks!!! This thought never occurred to us…but we had great fun and became master chop stickerers!!!!
Our day was used up and it was time to walk back. Sad to leave but ready for a sit down, our little legs were walked off!
We watched a lovely send off as a group of delightful Japanese school children played in a brass band on the quayside and at one point picked up pink cheerleading pompoms and waved, cheered and danced us off while the brass section of the band lined up at the rail giving it laldy with auld lang sine. Shouting goodbyes until we were too far apart….emotional and special….we would love to come back here. What a fantastic day, what lovely people. If all our days on shore are like this one then we will be more than happy!! There were people on the bridges we sailed under, cheering and waving as we steamed out of the harbour, and away from Japan with the wind getting up and the sun setting in a truly majestic, land of the rising sun moment. Memorable, magical and an exhilarating experience.

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