Finally! Japan!

 Third time's the charm, as they say. After two Japan cruises were canceled by the company during the Covid crap, we finally were on our way to Japan. First, though, a stop at Keelung, Taiwan and a visit to Yeliu Geopark, where nature formed some very interesting shapes at the beach.

Next stop, Ishigaki, Japan, where they have a sense of humor about their resident stingrays.

But wait, no, we're not staying in Japan? Nope. On to Shanghai, China for two nights. A visit to Yu Yuan Garden and the Old Town Quarters on a very busy holiday weekend.

Then it was South Korea. Busan. Another temple and a very lively fish market.

Okay, now really. Japan. Nagasaki. The clock stopped when the bomb hit on August 9, 1945 at just after 11:00 a.m.

They have a mockup of Fat Man, the atomic bomb that hit Nagasaki, cut away to show the guts of the operation.

The Peace Park. Here, there are statues donated from far and wide and dedicated to peace.

Back to the ship and on to Osaka with a visit to the Palace with its iconic tigers.

View from the Umeda Sky Building, 85th floor! 

The elevators, you see, are glass. So are the escalators. Gordon: "How did I let you talk me into this??"

Guess where? Went to the Tokyo Tower and looked up and down.

What a show we saw during dinner!

Finally, from earlier in Shimizu, Mt. Fuji, hiding in the clouds.

World Cruise Part 7: International Waters

 Like the title says:

The international waters that we visited next were, again, some places that we'd already visited, so we'll keep it brief:

Benoa, Bali, home to about half of our ship's crew...

Celukan Bawang, Bali...

Chinese Temple Ling Gwan Klong

Beji Temple:

Pura Dalem Segara Madhu:

By the way, the temple offerings, as shown above, are hand-made daily and disposed of at the end of each day. Lunch at an amazing hotel:

Next, Surabaya and a visit to the Majapahit Hotel. Very old, and home for Charlie Chaplin while filming nearby.

A traditional village inside the town called Kampung Lawas Mespati has turned intself into a tourist destination with demonstrations of handiwork, foods, and dancing.

Singapore Bird Paradise, one of the best aviaries we've ever seen. All the birds fly freely.

Laem Chabang, the port for Bangkok, and a second visit to the all-wood Sanctuary of Truth.

Viet Nam, celebrating 50 years of Reunification. Flags and grandstands ready for the big parade. Fighter jets overhead on April 22, and an introduction to Viet Nam's way of serving coffee. Note: it could become addicting. Much better than Starbucks and much cheaper.

Fun, life-sized woven animals in Cam Rahn.

You know your cruise is winding down when the orchids began to droop. Flashback to the Equator crossing ceremony. That's Assistant Cruise Director Matthew in drag:

Hong Kong!

World Cruise Part 6: Australia

Sydney, and a turnover. Captain Abhi left us and there came Captain Vasta. He's the secret keeper from a previous cruise who didn't tell us for two days that we were not going to Bermuda when we could all see clearly that we were pointed at New York. New cruise director as well, exchanging Andrew for David.

Australia is about wildlife. We were disappointed that our port call at Mooloolaba was cancelled and so we missed a return visit to Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo. We did get to some others and they were great. So here we go, with minimum commentary.

This guy was more invested in a nap than in Pati.