Broken Foot

Cindy broke her foot during a tour of a silk factory in Shanghai on March 17th.  She may be getting a regular cast on it tomorrow after she sees the ship's doctor again.  Right now she is using a wheel chair round the ship and crutches to move around the stateroom.  With this partial cast, she can't put any weight on her foot.

Busan, Korea

Thursday, March 15, 2012, Busan (Pusan), South Korea – a port we enjoy and feel comfortable visiting.  Busan is the second largest city in South Korea and boasts lively markets, both traditional shopping items and fish markets.  You can even participate in a traditional Korean tea ceremony inside a local temple.   Speaking of temples, there are many, many temples to visit in this area, mainly Buddhist and they are lovely.  However, we choose to spend our day shopping and watching the women cook.

Off to Gwangbokdong, a market of many small shops crowded together along narrow side streets, each open front store specializes in one item or a bunch of souvenirs!   And in the middle of a couple of streets you mind the mamma-sans cooking – such a sight.

It was a successful day; we came back with a couple of packages and sailed for Shanghai at 6PM. 

Hiroshima, Japan

After a needed sea day to rest we arrived in the port of Hiroshima approximately 8AM.  Though it was founded in the late 16^th century, its tragic claim to fame as the first city to be eviscerated by a nuclear weapon has forever earned Hiroshima a significant place in world history.

We will visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park but later in the day.  First, we leave for the train station and headed for our ride on the Rail Star Bullet Train from Hiroshima to Iwakuni.  This sleek train had just 8 cars and travelled at 285 miles per hour.  It was so smooth we hardly felt any movement and the trip passed very quickly – so did the landscape!  We did not want the trip to end.

Bullet Train

Arriving in the small town of Iwakuni, we travelled to the Kintai Bridge, a place of scenic beauty; the Kintai-kyo spans the Nishikigawa River.  Over 700 feet in length, its five graceful arches were built without the use of nails.  Adjacent to the bridge, Kikko Park boasts beautiful gardens and a collection of historic samurai residences.  The cherry blossoms were just beginning to bloom and it will be gorgeous in another week.  We fell in love with the old city of Iwakuni and its beauty and peace.

Kintai Bridge

Our return to the city of Hiroshima took us to Hiroshima Castle, originally built in the 16^th century.  It was destroyed by a firestorm following the atomic blast.  It was rebuilt in 1958.

Next we stopped at the Peace Memorial Park to view to area and the Atomic Bomb Dome.  The old Industry Promotion Hall was one of the few buildings near Ground Zero to survive the blast, although its dome was vaporized, its gutted walls and skeletal dome structure stand as mute icons and powerful symbols of a weapon’s destructive force.

Today we were rewarded with the traditional Japanese lunch we have been waiting for and it did not disappoint.  There were so many dishes, so colorful and tasty, we didn’t know where to start!  After lunch we went outside to view the sacred Miyajima Island across the bay but alas, did not have time to visit.  Next trip.

Sail away at 5PM.  Next port will be Busan (Pusan) Korea.

Tokyo, Japan

About 7:00am on Monday, March 12^th, we arrived in Tokyo after traversing the very busy waters of Tokyo Bay and through Tokyo harbor.  Tokyo spans over 200 square miles and is the world’s largest city.  We were greeted with glorious blue skies and a spectacular view of Mount Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan.

A traditional Japanese band, mostly of big drums welcomed our arrival.  Today we choose a tour to visit the Imperial Palace Grounds, Meiji Shrine and Sensoji Temple ( Asakusa Kannon Temple), free time for shopping and a city tour covering Tokyo North, South and East.

The first stop on tour was the vast expanse of the Imperial Palace Grounds, the primary residence of Japan’s Emperor, the private homes f his family, elegant gardens, a museum and administrative offices  and was built atop the original site of Edo Castle.  Nijubashi Bridge (which means double bridge) is one of the most well-known bridges in Japan.  If you are looking at the bridge from the front, the two separate bridges appear as a single two story bridge.  There are approximately 2,000 beautiful Japanese Black Pine trees planted in the National Garden Plaza area.  Before Edo Castle was built, this area was an inlet of Tokyo Bay.

As we travelled through the city of Tokyo we arrived at the Meiji Shrine.  Originally completed in 1921, this is a Shinto Shrine and is surrounded by a forest comprised of thousands of trees in the heart of Tokyo.

This woman is preparing to pay respect at the Shrine by rinsing her hands and by using water from the stone basin at the place called Temizusha, then proceeds to the Shrine building.  At the Shrine she bows twice, claps her hands twice and bows once again.

Travelling again back across town we stopped for lunch at the beautiful Le Meridian Grand Pacific Hotel.  The lunch was delicious and the service impeccable.  However, we were disappointed that it was a western style food.

Next we moved onto one of Tokyo’s most colorful and popular temples Sensoji, also known as Asakusa Kannon Temple.  Legend says that in the year 628, two brothers fished a statue of Kannon, the Goddess of Mercy, out of the Sumida River.  Even after they put it back into the river, it returned.  To commemorate this miracle, a temple was built in 645, making it Tokyo’s oldest temple. 

In the corner of the Outer Garden there is the Meiji  Memorial Hall where the shrine carries on one of the important religious activities, that of performing Shinto wedding ceremonies.  We were fortunate to witness a ceremony the day we visited.  The bride wore traditional white.

After touring the temple we had free time to shop the streets.  Unfortunately, things are so expensive that all we did was a lot of looking and laughing at the unusual objects.

The weather was wonderful and it was a very good day.  Tokyo, although big and busy is fascinating and a sight to behold.  The Pacific Princess set sail at 9PM for Hiroshima.

Iwo Jima

March 10th was a very memorable day for both of us.  Today, we sailed very close to Iwo Jima, the site of one of the most horrendous battles of World War II.  On this small island, the U.S. Marine Corps landed to retake an island that the Japanese had taken in their quest over many of the Pacific islands.  After a month of fighting with really no front lines; no rear lines; and virtually every inch a continuous battle ground, the Marines were successful at retaking the island at a very heavy cost.  Of the 22,060 Japanese on island, some 21,844 were killed.  The U.S. Marines lost 6,800 during this battle.

(CLICK ON THIS PHOTO TO ENLARGE)

This is a composite photo take by us that shows many LSTs (landing ships) which were loaded with Marines but destroyed by artillery fire as they hit the beach.

Here is a photo of us with Mount Suribachi where the U.S. Marines raised the American flag during the battle.  However, the battle continued for an extended time after taking this extinct volcano.

After viewing the island from several sides and holding a memorial service on board our ship where veterans laid a wreath overboard in memory of all fallen veterans, the Pacific Princess departing heading for Tokyo.

Guam, U.S.A.

On March 8^th at around 8:00am, the Pacific Princess entered the Apra Harbor passing many naval ships and submarines as we made our way to our dock in Guam (territory of the USA).  Guam and the Aleutian Islands were the only two U.S. Territories to be captured by the Japanese during World War II.  Guam has become a major tourist destination with more than 80 percent of the tourist coming from Japan.

Today, we headed out for Hagatna which is the capital of Guam and the Tumon Beach area.  It was interesting to note how high gasoline prices are here on the island.  Unleaded gasoline was $4.97 and the rising.  Since Guam has no mass transit system, the ratio of cars to citizens is almost 1 to 1.

The island has some very impressive reefs, clear blue waters, and great beaches.  Most of the major hotel chains have beach front locations.   Our shuttle bus dropped us off at the Hyatt Regency which was convenient to many locations.  We took advantage of their complementary Wi-Fi and got caught up on email.  After that, we boarded the Red Guahan Shuttle similar to a “hop on/hop off” and toured the city.  After lunch at Ruby Tuesday’s we returned to the Hyatt and then back to the ship. 

Our ship departed at 5:00pm, en route Iwo Jima.

Cindy's Foot

When we were in Shanghai, Cindy tripped and broke her foot. She is recovering onboard the ship and hopes to get a cast that will allow her to walk in the next few days.

Today we are in Hong Kong and will be heading out of here tomorrow (March 21st) at 5:00pm en route to Phu My, Vietnam.

We are behind on the blog by 5 ports, but should be able to catchup on the blog real soon since we has had to cancel many shore excursions.