Tuesday, January 23, 2018 - Pre-cruise Flight and Overnight Hotel Transfers

We're off on another adventure.  This time, it is a 60 day cruise around South America starting and ending in Fort Lauderdale on the Island Princess.

We had to wake Price up in the middle of the night to drop us off at the 7-Eleven store in Oak Harbor at 4am to catch our airport shuttle.  We would not have been allowed to park our car for 60+ days.

We were able to check in online the day before, and were offered the ability to check in our carry on bags for free, so we took advantage of that to overstuff our carry on bags.  For a 60 day cruise that will take us from the Caribbean to Antarctica, we have to be prepared for all sorts of weather conditions, from 90 degrees and sunny to 25 degrees with driving snow.  That meant packing not only our usual carry on roller bags, but both the 21" and 26" roller bags to capacity.  It was very tricky to keep the bigger bags under 50#, but we managed it.  We'll see if we end up wearing everything we packed.

We pretty much sailed through the TSA Pre-Check line and had a bit over an hour before boarding, so we had breakfast in the food court.

Our flight was a 737-900 on Alaska Airlines.  This plane has huge overhead bins that can hold six or eight roller bags each.  Quite a contrast to the Delta Airlines 777's tiny overhead bins that won't hold more than 2 roller bags.

We encountered an odd situation on boarding.  We, like many other hopeful couples, had booked an aisle and window seat with an open seat between us, so that if the flight were not to capacity, we might end up with an empty seat between us.  However this flight was booked to capacity.  There was a couple in the row directly ahead of us that had also booked the aisle and window seats.  There happened to be a couple (2 men) who really wanted to sit together, but were situated in the middle seats between our 2 rows.  When we heard of their plight, a woman in the row across the aisle said she'd sit in our row so that the man in the aisle ahead of us would still have an aisle seat, and then the two men could sit together in the middle and aisle seat just ahead of us.  The man, who happened to be married to the woman in the window seat refused to move.  So the two men ended up being separated by the aisle and one row while the husband and wife ended up still separated by a stranger man, who really wanted to be near his traveling companion.  The woman who had given up her aisle seat to sit in our row's window seat and we just exchanged unbelieving looks at each other and the man who wouldn't give up his aisle seat to either sit by his wife, or let the two men sit together.  Some people.

The flight was only 5 hours, so it was tolerable.  The entire coach cabin was restricted to using 3 lavatories at the back of the plane, and each of these was remarkably tiny- about the same size as the head on our 27' boat.  Barely big enough to stand in, or sit on the seat with your head on the door.  Strategy was required when the beverage service carts were rolled out since it meant that no-one ahead of the cart could use the bathrooms until the beverage services were complete for the entire plane and the cart was returned to the aft galley.  There are no seat back screens on these planes, but they do stream video on wifi, and provide 120V and USB power on each seat back.

Our flights were booked through Princess EZ-Air, as was our overnight hotel stay, which includes transfers to the hotel, to the cruise ship, and back to the airport at the end of the cruise.  The airfare we got through Princess EZ-Air was hard to beat- FREE!  When we booked this cruise nearly a year ago, the offer included free airfare, free gratuities (worth $800 per person on a 60 day cruise) and $300 per person onboard spending money for excursions and what not.

I'd have to say, after nearly missing our ship for our British Isles cruise in 2016, we are total fans of using Princess EZ-Air to book all our cruise related flights.  Even on flights that we have to pay for, the fares have been very competitive, and in some cases, a great deal.  Princess apparently buys airline seats in bulk like Viking does, so they can offer competitive fares.  Anyways, it is sure a reassuring feeling to exit the terminal and be greeted by a smiling person waving the Princess Cruises sign.  While we did have to roll our suitcases down the sidewalk a ways to the waiting luxury tour bus, we didn't have to load or unload the suitcases, and had a very comfortable and quick trip to our hotel.

Fort Lauderdale obviously serves a lot of cruise ship passengers.  Instead of a bell ringing to warn people that the baggage carousel was about to start up, they used the sound of a cruise ship's horn blasting it's 5 short departure tones.  It was easy to spot other passengers who were going to board our ship by the sheer bulk of luggage required for a 60 day trip.  There are a lot of veteran cruiser's on this trip, judging by the number and variety of cruise line luggage tags evident.

The Embassy Suites, where Princess put us up, is a vastly nicer hotel than the Quality Inn we stayed at before our previous Panama Canal cruise in 2015.  As the name implies, our room was a suite, and it was a HUGE suite.  There were two queen beds in the master bedroom, and a full sized sleeper sofa in the living room.  We could have easily and comfortably put up our whole family in this room. The only thing missing was a safe in the room, which seemed like an odd omission, or perhaps we just never found the safe amongst all the cabinets and furniture.  They also have a happy hour with free beer, margaritas and Bahama Mama's.  There were also chips, veggies with humus, and popcorn.

There was a Five-Guys burger joint just around the corner from the hotel and it was surprising to walk in to find the place empty.  Either they haven't been discovered by Floridians, or the novelty has worn out.  Anyways, that was dinner.

As part of the cruise transfer/hotel package, they ask that we have our bags packed, tagged and just inside our hotel room doors by 9am for the bell men to collect.  The Embassy Suites has a free made to order breakfast starting at 7am, and cruise ship passengers are to meet at 11:45am for the bus transfer to the cruise ship port.  We had been earlier advised by Princess that the ship would be delayed because of a Norovirus outbreak on the current sailing.  We hope they really give it a good scrubbing.  That notification advised passengers not to arrive before 2:30pm, unless they were part of a Princess transfer, so we may get priority boarding.

Wednesday, November 15, 2017; Heading Home to Seattle

Wednesday, November 15, 2017; Headed home to Seattle

We managed to get in some last minute tourism after breakfast and checking out of the hotel, but leaving our luggage in the cloakroom.  We took a train to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Towers in Shibuya, and got to take advantage of the 45th floor free observatory.  The elevators make the trip in just 45 seconds.  There was enough haze in the air to obscure Mt Fuji, although we could see some of the foothills. We could also see the Tokyo Sky Tree and Tokyo Tower from there, as well as Roppongi Hills, where we had been last night.  At the base of the towers was a park where preschoolers were being run around.  There must be a daycare in the towers, because we saw the toddlers and preschoolers loaded up into carts, which were then pushed into the park, and unloaded of colorful contents in the play areas.  It was just too cute.

Our next stop was the Hachiko monument in Shinjuku, which is also supposedly one of the busiest pedestrian crossings in the world.  There was a line in front of the Hachiko statue- people from all over the world just had to have their picture taken with Hachiko.  We made our way through the pedestrian scramble and observed it from an overlooking Starbucks, and also toured the Tokyo Market below the intersection.  We had lunch in a small shop just outside the Shimbashi Station, within walking distance to our hotel.  You had to use the vending machine to place your order, and then wind your way through the tiny shop to pick up your order, find a spot to sit, and eat your lunch, elbow to elbow with Japanese “salarymen” in their suits.  

We took a minivan shared airport transfer to Narita from the hotel.  The weather had improved, making this a nice scenic ride back across the Rainbow bridge and out of Tokyo to Narita.  The minivan driver was extremely attentive, and even retrieved a baggage trolley for our luggage to get unloaded onto.  We breezed through luggage check in and security.  

The flight home was uneventful except for one incident. Janet has her Princess Cruises Captain’s circle pins (Gold, Ruby and our newly awarded Platinum pins) mounted on the back of her backpack. As she was pushing this under the airline seat in front of her, the Gold pin got snagged on the edge of the seat and popped off.  We did an extensive search using our iPhone cameras to find it, but it had vanished into thin air.  Janet was hoping that Princess would give her a replacement pin, when after arriving in Seattle, walking from the bathroom to our shuttle pick up area, she noticed a clicking on the floor as she walked.  We looked under her shoe, and sure enough, the gold pin had stuck to the underside of the heel of her shoe.  Boy, it’s a good thing she had her shoes on when she stepped on it. This concluded our Japanese vacation. 

We would like to return and do a cruise around the actual islands of Japan with our kids and maybe see Osaka and Kyoto next time.  The partial credit we were issued by Princess will most likely go towards another trip on the Diamond or Sapphire Princess.  While it was disappointing to have missed half of our ports of call due to typhoons, we did have an enjoyable time on the Diamond Princess and racked up a pretty impressive record of trivial wins.  Princess has several interesting itineraries around Japan including the main island, outlying islands, Korea, China, Taiwan, Vietnam and even Russia, so the hard thing will be picking our next itinerary.

We had a great trip. Despite our worries about the language barrier and getting around, having Google Maps on one of our phones using AT&T’s international day pass ended up being a cost effective solution to having data during our trip without hassling with SIM cards or Wifi Hotspot rentals. Tokyo has an amazing public transit system, and the PASMO contactless payment card made using it relatively anxiety free and easy.  It was also nice that some vending machines, convenience stores and restaurants could accept the PASMO for payment.  While there are still many cash only venues, including the machines that store value on the PASMO cards, We were able to get through our trip with only two ATM stops at 7-Eleven stores to get cash. We tried to get cash at an ATM at a Family Mart, but that ATM insisted on charging a $2.50 ATM access fee, which the 7-Eleven ATM’s did not.  We had no idea 7-Eleven was such an important international banking entitiy.  

While the Rose Hotel in Yokohama was in an awesome location and had a fantastic breakfast, its lack of in room air conditioning would have been a problem if we had visited during the warmer months.  

The Yokohama Bay Hotel was awesome for service and location, although the western items on its breakfast were subpar for an international hotel.  But compared with the Villa Fontaine Hotel Shiodome’s breakfast, the Yokohama Bay Hotel did have a much better selection and variety, and with a superior presentation.  

The Villa Fontaine Hotel Shiodome was in a convenient central location within walking distance of Ginza and Tsukiji districts, but it is more of a business hotel with a dark and impersonal feel, and surprisingly minimal staff services.  Porters showed us our rooms and delivered our bags at both Yokohama hotels, but we had to find our own room and haul our own bags up at the Villa Fontaine Hotel Shiodome.

For someone visiting Yokohama prior to or following a cruise from the Osanbashi Pier, We would recommend the Yokohama Bay Hotel.  While the Villa Fontaine Hotel Shiodome was in a convenient location, and was suitable for our needs (aside from the terrible pillows), there may be better places to stay in Tokyo.

Tuesday, November 14, 2017; Kabuki and Oiran

Tuesday, November 14, 2017; Kabuki and Oiran

We have had a couple of nice days in Tokyo, but it began to rain this morning, putting a damper on our spirt of exploration.  We did make it out to the Kabukiza Theatre and got in line at 9:45AM. We were numbers 23 and 24 in line, so we ended up good seats at the front center of the 4th balcony.  It is a huge theatre, but the actors and orchestra do not use any amplification.  The acoustics in the hall are great.  Of course, we didn’t understand a word of the dialog since it was all in Japanese, but the show was very interesting, with several sets costume changes, a few martial arts chase scenes, and even a scene with a giant carp doing battle with our hero, splashing through a real waterfall and pond on the stage. We only booked a single act which was about an hour long.  It was quite interesting and a great way to enjoy something uniquely Japanese without being out in the rain.  One odd note was that before the performance began, the front of the stage was draped with several beautifully painted scenes.  None was used in the actual performance, but at the bottom corner of one scene was clearly the logo “LIXIL”, which we noticed was a common brand mark on toilets.  Just imagine the Metropolitan Opera, brought to you by American Standard.  

Walking back from Ginza, we found the okonomiyaki restaurant that Janet wanted to try.  These are pancakes with savory fillings topped with a yakisoba like sauce and mayonnaise.  We had one with pork and another with oysters.  They were tasty and filling.  

We returned to our hotel and took a nap to prepare for the evening show planned for 7:00PM in Roppongi’s Kaguwa Theatre.  We arrived in the Roppongi district early and walked around the Roppongi HIlls mall a bit, finding a Yakitori restaurant to take in some appetizers, since the “Oiran Show” or Japanese Cabaret show featured all you can drink beverages, but only light snacks with no refills.  We didn’t want to be guzzling alcohol on an empty stomach.  We had some chicken thigh and pork belly Yakitori, as well as some delicious bacon wrapped asparagus Yakitori.  

The Kaguwa Theatre is quite a contrast to the Kabuzika theatre.  It had a very small but deep stage, with dining booths and tables clustered around the front of the stage.  It was quite intimate, and before the show began, the actors walked through the audience introducing themselves and handing out cards, like Pokémon trading cards.  Most of the actors were young and athletic, while one, Hana, appeared to be the Matron of the theatre troupe.  The show is hard to describe but consisted of about a dozen vignettes ranging from updated Japanese Geisha and Kabuki elements set to modernized music, to skits like music videos, and even a short game show vignette.  While the stage was small, it was made of multiple smaller platforms that were constant going up and down, creating a 4th dimension on the stage of vertical velocity.  The troupe did a remarkable job entertaining us with an hour of non-stop action.  Hana, while older than most of the rest of the troupe, carried herself with incredible grace and beauty with flowing kimonos and silks.  After the show was finished, each member of the troupe was introduced to take their bow, and then went through the audience as people held up money as tips for the actors.  Some also gave the actors flowers and gift bags.  While all of the actors each garnered tips from around the audience, when Hana took her bow, and went through the audience, she needed an assistant to help carry all her loot back onto the stage for the final bow.  The show was a striking contrast to the classical Kabuki we had seen in the morning, and we hoped that maybe Princess Cruises could develop a similar show for their Asia cruises.  

On the way back to the hotel, we took a detour to see the Tokyo Tower, which is all lit up in orange in the night. There was quite a Christmas display around the base of the tower as well.  Between the Tokyo Tower and the subway station, we walked through a darkened Zojo-ji Temple, and saw an eerily beautiful, strange and sad sight of rows of small simple statuettes with just a baby’s face and dowel like body, each adorned with a knit cap and colorful pinwheel.  This was a shrine to memorialize stillborn and miscarried fetuses.  

We tried to find a new place to have dinner after the show, but it was after 10:00PM and places were closing.  The other problem, is after 9:00PM, people can smoke and DO SMOKE in restaurants.  We ended up eating at the same train station ramen shop we had earlier, but the food wasn’t nearly as enjoyable with Japanese businessmen in suits smoking up a storm in one corner of the restaurant.  

We’ll get repacked in the morning and have already checked in for our return flights from Narita to Seattle.  We have an airport shuttle booked for 1:30PM.  Maybe we’ll try to see one last sight in Tokyo in the morning after we check out of the hotel, but before our airport pick up.

Monday, November 13, 2017; Odaiba, Tokyo Bay Dinner Cruise

Monday, November 13, 2017; Odaiba and Tokyo Bay Dinner Cruise

I’ll have to take back what I said earlier about the breakfast at Villa Fontaine Hotel Shiodome.  They made the same runny scrambled eggs this morning and served them with flattened meat balls in BBQ sauce on soggy steak fries.  I guess the Japanese just don’t get western breakfasts.  We got to take it easy this morning since nothing in the Odaiba district opens before 10am.  It was a quick and easy ride on the train from the Shiodome station, which is just outside our hotel’s lobby.  The train rides on elevated tracks and crosses the Rainbow bridge to Odaiba.  

We started at the Miraikan Museum of Emerging Science and Technology.  Most of the exhibits are in both Japanese and English. Ben was surprised at how cutting edge some of the medical science was.  They had an exhibit trying to explain genomic assays and how they can be used to direct cancer treatments, and they even had a robotic surgery simulator you could play with.  

They had an extensive exhibit on disaster analysis and prediction that was wrapped around a huge Rube Goldbergian machine with marbles mowing down icons of people in a variety of simulated disasters.  The whole thing was way over our heads, but it was interesting to watch. 

The centerpiece of the Museum is a suspended globe covered with OLED elements that can project a near real-time false image of the earth using recent satellite data.  They could also project other data on it, such as tracked migratory patterns of individual tagged tuna and migrating birds.  

The highlight of our visit was a performance by ASIMO, a humanoid robot made by Honda, who came jogging out of his closet, danced about, sang a Japanese song with hand motions, and even kicked a soccer ball.  

From the Miraikan, we walked towards the Tokyo side of Odaiba, where we encountered a mall with a giant life-sized Gundam (Transformer robot man thing).  They had a nice food court, where we had the mandatory Octopus balls, and then tried a Kyoto specialty of fried yakisoba noodles with egg and spring onions called okosoba.  It as quite tasty, but not the Okinawa specialty Okonomiyaki that we were hoping to find.  

There is a Statue of Liberty replica on the Odaiba waterfront with the Rainbow Bridge for a backdrop.  If someone shows you a picture of the Statue of Liberty with a suspension bridge in the background, you can tell them that it is located in Tokyo, and not New York.  

We then made our way to the Toyota MegaWeb, which is a 3 part museum/amusement park.  There is a History hall with all sorts of interesting old cars and real rally sport racing cars.  Ben’s brother Franklin would be interested to know they had a post WWII Plymouth sedan converted to run on charcoal gas because there was no petroleum to be had in post war Japan.  Just load up the furnace with charcoal, fire it up, and then drive away.  The heat and incomplete combustion in the furnace converts the charcoal into hydrocarbon fumes, which are then filtered and then fed into the carburetor.  Another part was a show room where they had a 4 story tall carousel of Toyota vehicles where if you had a Japanese driver’s license, you could dial up a car and take it for a test drive. There was also an amusement park with go carts and other rides, and a science museum like area with exhibits on hydrogen fuel cell and hybrid technologies.  There were also several free driving simulators to demonstrate Toyota collision avoidance technology and hybrid technology.  There was also a free simulator that strapped you into Toyota racing vehicles across 5 continents.  The best part was that it was all free. 

For dinner, we had booked a Viator reservation on the Symphony Moderna Dinner cruise on Tokyo Bay.  That turned out to be a very elegant and enjoyable event, kind of like dining at the top of the Space Needle.  There was an excellent live pianist in the dining room, and fine china with an impressive array of silverware arranged on the table.  By the time we finished our appetizer, soup, fish and steak main courses, and dessert, we had depleted our silverware and knew the dinner was done.  There were a lot of people celebrating birthdays, and just before desserts came out, the lights dimmed, and the pianist then transitioned into a piano bar rendition of Happy birthday.  Then waiters came streaming into the dining room carrying lighted birthday cakes, not unlike the parades normally associated with the serving of baked Alaska desserts.  It was all very romantic and well worth doing.  The food was excellent- on Par, if not perhaps a tiny bit better than Princess’s main dining rooms.  It was a very nice way to begin winding down our Japan tour.  

Tomorrow is an open morning.  We will see if we can get into the first act of the Kabukiza Theatre’s Kabuki show.  In the evening, we will attend a Roppongi Kaguwa “Oiran Show”, which will wrap up our vacation.  

Sunday, November 12, 2017; Hamarikyu Garden, Asakusa, Imperial Palace grounds and Ueno

Sunday, November 12, 2017; Hamarikyu Garden, Sumida River cruise, Asakusa, Senso-ji Temple, Imperial Gardens and Palace grounds, Ueno

Breakfast at the Villa Fontaine was more limited than the Yokohama Bay Hotel’s.  They had the same sausages that looked and tasted like little hot dogs.  There was no omelet station, but their eggs on the buffet were completely cooked.  There was no bacon or ham but they did have some good puff pastries.  There was salad and a pretty tasty chicken ocra curry soup and a decent minestrone along side the miso soup.  No congee, but they did have rice and pickled vegetables. 

The pillows at the Villa Fontaine deserve special mention. They are particularly awful.  There are 3 on each bed. The first is a tiny throw pillow filled with solid foam.  The second is an extremely dense feather pillow that resists all attempts at fluffing.  The third is an usual affair consisting of crushed walnut shells on one side, and a solid high density foam sheet on the other side, creating a pillow that is both uncomfortably lumpy and unyielding at the same time.  

We met our half day guide Michiyo Seko in the hotel lobby at 9:00AM.  She arrived early and had a sign with our name on it.  She spoke excellent English, and had spent 10 months in Norman Oklahoma as part of her English Studies.  Her 18 year old daughter is working in the Pike’s Place Market and hoping to start college in the fall as an in-state resident to study in a field where she can do the farm to table restaurant concept.  We asked Michiyo why our hotels served salads, pasta and soups at breakfast.  She was surprised that westerners didn’t consider those breakfast items and said that Japanese hotels provide those items thinking westerners want them.  That was kind of funny.  

We started by taking a walking tour of the Hamarikyu gardens that we can see from our hotel room.  The gardens are large, and well maintained.  There did not seem to be the variety of exotic plants and no stone gardens like we saw in Kowloon, but it was peaceful and beautiful.  We had green tea and a miniature moon cake like pastry with steamed bun on the outside and red bean paste on the inside.  The green tea was what she described as “espresso” for green tea, made of ground steamed tea leaves. There were tatami mats in the tea house and you had to take your shoes off to go in.  Fortunately for us, they had some tables and chairs so we didn’t have to sit on the floor.  We were both concerned we might not be able to get back up if that were the case.  While we were there, we saw a pair of women in kimonos in what appeared to be a photo shoot.  One woman was a young Japanese woman, while her friend looked like she was an Eastern European super model.  It was odd seeing a blond woman in a kimono.  

We seemed to be walking slowly in the gardens, and it turns out that the ferry from Hamarikyu gardens to Asakusa didn’t leave until 10:30AM.  Once we boarded the ferry, the ride up the Sumida river was relaxing.  Janet tried to get Michiyo to identify the karaoke song that was stuck in Janet’s head, but that was unsuccessful.  As we cruised up the river, we learned that the Tsukiji fish market is due to be moved to a new location so that a large parking structure can be built in advance of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.  We also floated past the Sumo stadium, but learned that at this time of the year, all the Sumo wrestlers are in Kyushu for competitions and training. Only the young trainees are still in the Tokyo area at this time of the year.  

We arrived at the Asakusa district, where a large shopping district has cropped up around the Senso-ji Buddhist temple.  We arrived on a day when 3 and 7 year old girls and 5 year old boys receive a special blessing, so the place was jam packed with locals as well as tourists.  There were so many little girls all dolled up in kimonos that it was quite a scene.  Parents and grandparents also came in kimonos, and the kids end up going home with a bag of candies, not unlike Easter in the US. The surrounding markets were packed with people and stalls selling all manner of touristy items including ceremonial swords and clothing.  

We were kind of relieved to exit the crowds of Asakusa and take the subway to the Imperial Palace grounds.  Michiyo took us in through the back gate, supposedly used only by servants, women, convicts and the dead.  The back gate is every bit as impressive as the front gate, but we later saw that there was a huge line of tourists at the front gate waiting to have their bags searched before entering the Imperial Palace grounds, while at the back gate, there was no waiting.  The palace gardens are meticulously groomed but don’t have a lot of exotic flora, other than a fruit tree grove with persimmons.  There was also an area growing tea leaves.  There are massive stone ramparts, moats and walls around the grounds, as well as several guard stations that have been restored to pre-WWII condition.  There wasn’t much else to see in terms of structures on the grounds, but Michiyo pointed out a building behind chain link fencing where real-life Ninjas train.  The palace is guarded by 1000 imperial guards. Interestingly enough, there’s also 1000 gardeners employed by the palace.  

From the palace grounds, we walked to Ramen street, which is a collection of Ramen shops buried deep within the bowels of Tokyo station.  The station was packed with people and luggage moving in all directions, so we never would have found it without her guidance. We parted ways at the end of our half day guided tour at Ramen street.  The Ramen shops had the same sort of vending machines outside the shops where you place your orders in advance, and then wait for seating to open up. These vending machines, however, were able to use our PASMO cards for payment, so we didn’t have to get into our Yen notes or coins to buy lunch.  The ramen we had was good and filling, although what we had in the Ramen Museum as a bit more flavorful and interesting.  

From Tokyo station, we headed north to the Ueno district, and toured the tiny but interesting Shitamachi Museum, which contains a reconstruction of a 1920’s pre-Kanto earthquake period low town neighborhood of 8 tiny buildings.  We asked if they had an English guide, and one of the women behind the counter enthusiastically said “YES, that’s ME!”  So for the amazing price of only $2.20 per person, we had a privately guided English tour of their little museum with great explanations and our guide also volunteered to take several pictures of us in the exhibits.  We even had our fortunes told by shaking a stick out of a box.  The first stick Ben shook out, the guide looked at it and frowned and said try again.  On his second try, she looked greatly relieved and said “Good Fortune!”  Janet’s first try resulted in “Great Fortune!”.  On exiting the museum we received detailed printouts of our fortunes. We had seen many similar fortune telling stations at other shrines.  If you get a bad one,  you tie it to a rack and pray for better fortune next time. It was a great little experience.

We then strolled around the Lotus Pond to Bentendo Temple, where there was a festival going on with lots of food vendors, and a demonstration of building boats from reeds where children of all ages were pulling on ropes and pounding on reed bundles to create a seaworthy craft made of reeds.  It reminded us of the Kon-Tiki expedition from the 1970’s.  The food vendors had some unusual items including Tempura battered spiral cut potatoes on a stick, all sorts of meats and seafoods on a stick, chocolate coated waffles on a stick, and there was a huge line for Panda shaped cookies baked in a waffle-iron like device over open flames.  

We then wandered a bit through the market at Ameyoko street, which was colorful, and perhaps a bit less crowded than Asakusa, but by then, all these markets are starting to look alike.  Night was falling, so we headed back to our hotel to rest our feet and take a short nap to recover from our morning.  Ben’s Apple Watch logged 20,500 steps that morning, and boy, did it feel like we earned every one of them.

We had been looking forward to trying an Okonomiyaki restaurant just around the corner from our hotel, but when we got to the building, it was dark and locked.  Apparently this building closes on Sundays.  We talked to a security guard who suggested we try kicking around the Shimbashi Station, which has an underground mall.  As we headed there, we did stop at the Taco Bell.  The sign was turned off, but it looked like they were open.  A Taco Bell Box meal that would cost $5 in the US was $9 in Tokyo. So we pressed on and eventually found a place in the Shimbashi Station that offered a complete set meal including  ramen, 3 gyoza, and fried rice for $8.  While there was nothing extraordinary about the ramen, the gyoza was tasty and we left with very full bellies, and waddled home for the night.  

Tomorrow, we plan to explore the Odaiba district, and have booked a dinner cruise in Tokyo Bay for tomorrow night.  

Saturday, November 11, 2017; Yokohama to Tokyo

Saturday, November 11, 2017; Yokohama to Tokyo moving day

We awoke to a beautiful sunrise over Yokohama Bay.  The Yokohama Bay Hotel was a wonderful facility (huge room, comfortable beds, great view, great bathroom with soaking tub), but when we went down for breakfast, we were disappointed by the breakfast buffet.  It was included in the price for the room, but they had only limp soggy British “Bacon” and soggy ham to go with very runny scrambled eggs.  Interestingly, there was spaghetti with marinara sauce and sautéed yo-choy and cabbage.  The only potatoes were some soggy French fries.  No hash browns or English muffins.  There was plain white bread for toast, and some rolls and pastries.  The rolls were rock hard and inedible, but the pastries were OK.  The fruit salad looked very sad and the melons weren’t sweet.  They did have an omelet station.  It was interesting to see the Japanese chef make the omelet using chopsticks, but my omelet was only partially cooked, so raw egg ran out from the center onto my plate.  Not so appetizing.  The coffee was pretty bad (Maxwell house or Folgers instant quality).  I guess you could say we have been spoiled by the food that Princess had been serving us over the last 2 weeks.  Janet ended up getting some cereal and I scooped up some dried apricots and banana chips to round out our breakfast.  

Our goal for today was to get to Tokyo via train, and we managed to do this with our 2 small and 1 large suitcase.  Google Maps lead us to the wrong platform initially, so we ended up having to make a U-Turn at Chinatown before heading the right direction towards Tokyo.  Perhaps it was a good thing we ended up the wrong way to Chinatown because although there were a lot of people on the train, we were able to get our luggage and eventually find seats at the back of the car so our luggage was braced against the door to the next car.  By the time we were at Yokohama station, the car was jammed full of people-elbow to elbow, and it remained that way all the way into Tokyo.  It took an hour on the train and a 15 minute walk to get to our new hotel, the Villa Fontaine Hotel Shiodome.  

We dropped off our suitcases with the hotel’s front desk, and then headed off to see the Tsukiji Market and Ginza district.  These were each within a 20-30 minute walk, and the weather remained perfect for walking (60’s with partly sunny skies).  

The Tsukiji Market was a huge affair with many small restaurants amongst stalls selling fresh fish, tourist items, sushi and other items.  There was a huge crowd there, so getting through the narrow streets was difficult.  After a while, it all starts to look and sound the same, so we finally ended up in a larger restaurant with English speaking staff, English menus and which also accepted credit cards.  Janet had a bowl of Udon noodle soup, while Ben had the daily special, which was a bowl of seasoned rice with tuna sashimi, sea urchin roe, and salmon roe. It also came with a bowl of Miso soup.  The food was quite good and it included all the hot tea you could drink, and a place to sit and eat. Many of the stalls in the market have nowhere for you to eat.  This also gave our feet a needed rest.  The Tsukiji Market is where tuna are brought in and placed on auction for big bucks.  These auctions take place very early (5:30AM) and only the first 120 tourists are permitted to observe the auctions.  You have to arrive before 2:30AM to register to observe the auction.  60 are allowed to observe the first auction at 5:30AM and another 60 are allowed to observe the second auction at 7:00AM.  You may have seen these auctions on TV.  We didn’t see that part of the market, but saw the unusual 3 wheeled carts that they use to move materials around the market in. 

Rested and refueled, we crossed the street to visit the Tsukiji-Hongwanji Buddhist temple, where we conveniently found bathrooms.  There seem to be none in the Tsukiji Market.  

From there, we walked to the Kabukiza Theatre, the largest Kabuki theatre in Japan.  Seats ranged from $176 for box seats for a full 3 act show, to $13.50 for standing room on the 4th balcony at the very back of the theatre for a single act. 

We then walked down the main Ginza shopping district, which becomes a large pedestrian shopping mall.  We saw a wedding party getting its pictures taken in front of a boarded up storefront.  Not sure why they picked that particular location for their wedding pictures.  

As we walked back to our hotel, we noticed an odd looking sculpture erupting from the side of a building and went to take a closer look. It was the Hayao Miyazaki’s Nippon Television big clock. It looked like a giant mechanical clock and fortunately for us, it was just 5 minutes before it was scheduled to do it’s thing at 3:00PM.  Sure enough, as the hour approached, the sculpture whirred into life with robotic dancers, doors, windows and elevators actuating in tune to music, and at one point, a cuckoo clock emerged from inside a clawed foot.  That was certainly a random and interesting sight. 

We got checked into our room, which was not nearly as nice as the Yokohama Bay Hotel.  The room appears quite dark, and was significantly smaller.  There was a small window it’s a view overlooking Hamariku Gardens and the Sumida river. We did appreciate being able to kick off our shoes and take a nap to recover from our morning explorations.  

Dark fell at 5:00PM and the city lights came on.  We walked back to the Ginza to a Tempura restaurant called Tsunahachi, located on the 8th floor of the Matsuya Department store.  The food was very good, but expensive.  They had set menu options that were around $31 per person.  We ended up splitting a $57 option.  Interestingly, they deep fried the body portion of the shrimp containing the legs and claws with the tail, and it was so crispy that you could eat it easily.  Janet had to ask to be sure it was supposed to be eaten. They had an English menu and accepted Visa credit cards.  They even had a cheat sheet for non-Japanese showing  what was in all the little dishes on the table (various flavored salts, grated radish, dipping sauce) and the proper order for use of the various sized plates (pick up tempura, dip in sauce with grated radish in the medium sized dish, then dip into flavored salts in the large dish, then eat it.  The tempura also came with several small side dishes of pickled vegetables, jellyfish salad, miso and gazpacho.  

After dinner we descended the escalators of Matsuya’s department store and marveled at some very expensive (>$8000) kimonos, and a lot of other high end housewares, including hand forged knives and tools.  From the Ginza, we walked to Yakitori Alley, which is a long row of restaurants nestled under the Tokaido Bullet Train tracks.  We stopped at one restaurant and watched their noodle chef roll out a huge ball of dough into 1mm soba noodles. There was a lot of manual labor involved, but the end product looked delicious.  It sure gave us a greater appreciation for a good bowl of soba noodles. 

The wind had picked up and we did need our coats for the walk back to our hotel.  We have a half day guided tour arranged by Audley Travel tomorrow from 9:00AM to 1:00PM.  We will be traveling by public transit with our PASMO cards which we are now experienced in using.  

Friday, November 10, 2017; Disembarkation & Yokohama

Friday, November 10, 2017; Disembarkation & Yokohama

We set an alarm to get us up in time for breakfast.  It is certainly getting harder to get up before 8:00AM, so we must be completely over our jet lag.  The ship had pulled into Yokohama in the wee hours of the morning, so when we awoke, Yokohama’s Osanbashi Pier was right out our balcony.  We had our last breakfast in the International Dining Room and completed our packing.  As Ben was showering, Janet was on the balcony, and spotted Jack and Sharon walking on top of the Osanbashi Pier.  She was able to hail them and we met them inside the terminal as we walked off the ship.  We caught up with Jack and Sharon and gave them one of Ben’s scopolamine gel syringes for the trip.  We exchanged last minute trivia tips and then walked off to the Yokohama Bay Hotel, through the Minato Mirai district past the red brick warehouses and the Cup Noodles Museum.  Jack pulled one of our suitcases, lightening the load.  It was an easy and flat walk to the Yokohama Bay Hotel from the Osanbashi Pier.  

The weather was perfect for us.  We had partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the upper 50’s to mid 60’s.  Not too cold and not too hot to be doing a lot of walking around outside.  

Ben had activated AT&T’s international day pass so for $10/day he was able to roam on the local cell phone network and use his normal domestic Data allowance internationally. It was less hassle than arranging to have a rental mobile hotspot delivered to the hotel, and about the same price per day.

We dropped our luggage off with the bell clerk, and then walked to the Cup Noodles Museum with Jack and Sharon.  We toured the museum, which was interesting in that you could create a whole museum around Cup-O-Noodles.  We learned way more about Momofuku, the inventor of instant Ramen Noodles, than you could ever want to know.  There is a small food court serving international variations of instant ramen noodles through out SE Asia and even to Kazakhstan.  

Our 1:00PM appointment at the Kirin Beer Factory was rapidly approaching so we bid Jack and Sharon farewell so they could climb aboard the Diamond Princess and head to the Horizon Court Buffet, while we negotiated the JR railroad system for the first time, and made it to the Kirin Beer Factory reception desk just minutes before the tour started.  The Kirin Beer factory has invested an amazing amount of resources to create a nice visitor center and tour, complete with a tasting room at the end of the tour.  We got to taste their house made malt, and sample first and second wort from their mash.  Kirin’s claim to fame is to use only the first wort or first batch of liquid filtered from the mash to make its beers.  Most other beer manufacturers add water to the mash after the first wort, and add the second wort to the first wort to create the liquid for fermentation.  The first wort was noticeably more flavorful and deeper in color and aroma.  

The factory floor is spotless, and they also had windows overlooking the packaging equipment for putting the beer into bottles and cans. We were surprised to see that they also put it into 2 Liter plastic bottles.

The factory also has a culinary laboratory where you can take classes and learn to make beer.  After you create the mash, they ferment, filter and age it for you and in 6 weeks, you have your very own homemade beer delivered.  That sounded like an interesting adult education class.

In the tasting room, we got a small package of Kirin snack mix, which was rice crackers and peanuts. You could buy this snack mix in the gift shop.  We each had a schooner of each of the three beers they were sampling.  We were pretty buzzed by the time we left the tasting room and found our way back to the Hotel.  

The JR trains are remarkably clean and the trains did run EXACTLY on schedule.  We used our PASMO cards to tap in and tap out of the stations hassle free.  

We got checked into our hotel and were surprised by how nice and large the hotel room was.  It had a spectacular view of the harbor, including the Ferris wheel and the Diamond Princess at the Osanbashi Pier.  We were able to watch Jack and Sharon sail off out of the harbor under the Yokohama Bridge in the Diamond Princess while sipping tea in our room on the balcony.  

The bathroom has a separate enclosure for the toilet which is equipped with a heated and deodorizing seat with bidet and bottom wash. The Japanese must have the cleanest bottoms in all of the world.

The room also comes with an Android guest smart phone that includes free calling and LTE data service.  It says it will auto erase data after your stay is over, but you have to be a little suspect about trusting your data to a free service.  It has a city guide but the only feature we really used is google maps which was very helpful in figuring out how to get around on the transit system.

After a bit of rest, and tea, we mustered the energy to take on the subway and find our way to the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum, which is basically a collection of Ramen shops from all over Japan and the world tucked into a reproduction of 1950’s Tokyo with a museum of the history of Ramen.  The ground floor is the museum and gift shop.  As you descend the steps into the two basement levels, you go into the past and into narrow alleys lined with tiny Ramen shops.  Adding to the ambience, they had a bar and a small stage with live singers doing karaoke with both period and more modern pop music tunes.  

There is a 310Yen ($2.73) cover charge to enter the museum, but we had a coupon from our hotel reducing the cover charge to 250Yen ($2.20). Bowls of Ramen from the shops range from 570Yen ($5.02) for a “Mini Bowl” to 950Yen ($8.36) for a regular bowl of gluten free ramen.  The mini bowls were actually a normal lunch sized serving, while the regular bowls would fill up someone with a hearty appetite.  

There are 9 Ramen shops, and each offers 2 or 3 different ramens.  Janet and Ben sampled a total of 4 different ramens with Miso, Shoyu and Tonkotsu bases and wavy, straight, thick and thin noodles.  There are innumerable permutations of broths, soups, toppings, noodle thicknesses, textures and sizes.  In front of each shop is a vending machine where you put in your Yen, select which Ramen style and size you want, and then you hand the ticket to the person in the shop, who then passes it to the Ramen chefs.  The ramens were all delicious and a treat to the senses.  We wished we had bigger stomachs to sample more varieties, but even in our post-cruise ship distended states, we couldn’t manage more than splitting the 4 “Mini” ramen bowls between the two of us.  The museum does have an annual membership.  If you lived in Yokohama, it would be worth it to be able to get your fix of ramens from around Japan and the world in one place.

We returned to the hotel, which is connected to an enormous indoor mall that allows you to go to two different train stations (Minatomirai and Sakuragachi) either entirely indoors or under cover with some moving walkways.  The mall and hotel were all decked out in Christmas decorations, including some spectacular Christmas trees.  These Japanese really enjoy decorating for western holidays.  We turned in early.  Tomorrow, we move to the Villa Fontaine Hotel in the Shiodome district of Tokyo, which is an hour’s train ride away.