Diane

Today we left the ship with all our luggage. We have three very large bags being shipped home by Luggage Forward and then each of us have 4 more bags(2 checked and 2 carry on) to take with us! The carry on bags are very, very heavy with all our electronics, important stuff and a set of clothes in case our luggage gets lost.

It took a bit to find the luggage forward person but we finally found them and off went our three very large bags.

Our flight to Perth leaves in the afternoon and we had to leave our ship cabin at 8am and leave the ship at 8:30am so we arranged a car, driver and guide to show us Taipei for a half day. We really wanted to see the National Palace Museum because that’s where all the Forbidden City treasures were sent. When we were at the Forbidden city, the guide explained that we couldn’t see any treasures because they were sent to Taiwan for safe keeping. We didn’t get to see it because all the museums are closed on Mondays.

Instead we visited the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial, the Lungshan temple and the garden in the Shilin Residence Park.

This is our last port before we leave and the last night on the ship.

Jennifer and I had planned to go on an excursion that included a glass-bottom boat ride but because the rough seas and yesterday’s storm reduced visibility they removed the boat trip from the excursion and we decided not to go.

I walked off ship to the town and then spent the rest of the day trying to figure out how to fit everything into my suitcases. Ended up purchasing another suitcase and then it could all fit.

Today’s a sea day where we head to our last stop of the cruise. Jennifer helped organize a picture event inviting everyone on the ship that had purchased clothing with elephants to go to the grand staircase and get their photo taken. It was lots of fun and there were many different elephant clothes shown off.

Jennifer and I went on another excursion together today and visited the Senganen Garden and Museum. Jennifer explored the gardens while I did a traditional craft and made a pendant.

I did walk around a little and enjoyed the cat shrine and it’s cat statues. The shrine enshrines two cats that safely returned from the battlefield out of the seven that were taken

Visiting our last new country of the cruise today. It’s our first stop in Japan- Nagasaki. Jennifer and I went on the same excursion today which usually doesn’t happen. We went to Arita (a town famous for it’s porcelain), had a traditional Japanese lunch, and visited Peace Park Nagasaki. The peace park is right next to the spot where an atomic bomb was dropped during World War II which has the Atomic Bomb Museum.

We went to a Shinto shire with a Porcelain torii gate in Aruta. Torii gates are usually made from wood or stone. A torii gate is a specific style Japanese gate, usually found at the entrance of a Shinto shrine. It marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred.

I tried almost everything in my lunch but didn’t really care for any of it except maybe the Almond Jello and strawberry.

Just as we got to Peace Park Nagasaki, it started raining. It rained hard during the 15 or so minutes we were there and it stopped shortly after we left.

We heard from a couple of different tour guides lately that it’s called the South Asia Sea not the South China Sea.

Spent most of the day relaxing. The theme of today’s Afternoon Tea was strudel. There was only one kind- Apple with nuts and raisins not like the variety at the ‘Strudel Afternoon Tea’ earlier in the trip.

We had hardly any time today to explore Shanghai. We can only enter and leave the International Cruise Port when the tide is high. We left about 11:30 in the morning. I had just enough time to take a short walk along the riverwalk. It was a beautiful green space next to the river.

We went to the Great Wall, a jade store, had a wonderful Chinese lunch and flew from Beijing to Shanghai today. I was surprised to see how much farmland is around Beijing. Some of the flowers and trees are blooming and there is lots of pollen in the air. Jennifer is very congested.

Our guide, Martin, was amazing. He adjusted the timing so that we could visit sites with the least number of people- even tho it was still quite a few people. We got to the Great Wall in the morning and got a parking space near the front, by the time we left, the parking lot was full and the overflow lot and street were also full.

Since today was a Monday, some of the other tourist attractions were closed so more tourists visit the Great Wall on Mondays.

At the jade store, they explained about the dragon statue at store entrances. The dragon statue has an open mouth to get the money but no opening at the back so the money doesn’t come out. They want all money to go into the store and none to go out of the store.

At the Great Wall I climbed up partway to the top- got to Fortress #9 (the furthest was Fortress #12)

We were pretty tired when we arrived back at the ship port and there was a little mix up getting back on board the ship. They thought we’d have two copies of our passport but none of us had any copies, only the original passport. After 10 minutes or so, they determined they could make the necessary copies and we were able to go thru immigration. Can’t believe they had a copy machine right there that could be used to make the necessary copies. It was pretty quick and painless but many of the folks on the tour were very upset- one was so upset they called the general manager of Oceania to complain!

Today was a busy, long day but at least it wasn’t hot. We flew from Xian to Beijing and then visited the Forbidden City and Tian’anmen Square. After the tour, I still had energy to go out for Peking Duck with 3 other people from the tour at the restaurant the tour guide recommended.

Young women get dressed in traditional clothes and put on makeup to go to popular/beautiful sites and have their friends take pictures of them. It’s a national past time. The Chinese government will give free public transit to women wearing traditional clothes to promote nationalism. We saw them in all the places we stopped, walking along the streets, shopping, riding motorbikes or riding bikes. They usually weren’t wearing traditional slippers but rather were wearing tennis shoes or other modern footwear.