Well, we woke up in Shanghai Wednesday morning, took three flights in/out of 4 airports, totaling about 17 hours, and found ourselves back home in Hawaii.....Wednesday afternoon. Sunny was rather excited to see us. Thanks for coming along! (ok, off to plan the next adventure!)

 

Arrived in Shanghai. We’ve been here before and see the same parade of colorfully lit party boats and floating restaurants, which parade up and down the river every night, with the amazing skyline in the background.

 

Dammit.

In Nagasaki we attended a dinner that featured geisha as servers, and who also danced and played traditional music.

 

A (mostly) fish market in Yeosu. I’m guessing that we’ve eaten more seaweed and “things with tentacles” in the last few weeks, than we usually do at home.

A skyway transported us over the harbor/city area. Good timing, as lots of cherry trees are in full bloom. (Yes, that last one is our ship)

Next, Yeosu in S. Korea. The palace we visited was undergoing restoration, so we got to look at renderings of what it’s going to look like, as well as a viewing area which looked down at….a solid roof. Everyone had to wear hard hats, too. Maybe not the single most exciting moment of the trip.

the monitor in the train car was fun. This first one is the train equivalent of the airline “fasten your seat belt and put up your tray tables” speech - they’re identifying what you can and can’t do . (one guide explained to us that the crossed hands/arms means “don’t do that”). The second one was about unagi, I hope.

 

Back on the bullet train. And the ball game. Hey folks, it’s DODGERS & GIANTS!

 

But then we actually ended up at this place. Now yer talkin’

In Seoul it looked like our guide might be taking us to this place. uh oh

Gyeongbokgung Palace, dating back to Joseon dynasty, 1395.

That small boxy Japanese car design I posted a week back? Korea’s version, a Kia.

 

The Bongeunsa Buddhist temple.

The view from the Seoul Sky building really is spectacular, even though the air quality wasn’t great.

 

I’m told that K-pop “Gangnam Style” is all the rage among the young ‘uns in these parts.

Cooking bulgogi beef at the lunch table. And ordering your ice cream cone from a touch screen..

 

So, we’ve disembarked at Busan, South Korea, and taken a bullet train to Seoul, for an overnighter off the ship. 2½ hours, just the right amount of time to watch the ball game. ⚾ Actually, the train moves considerably faster than the video below. 🚄

 

Disco tour bus.

We’re docked next to the Queen Elizabeth. 2,300 passengers, and tour buses on the pier that go on for days.

 

As we sail away from Japan, a few diehard-cruise-ship fans (?) wish us well. Not sure of the motivation here, but it’s pretty easy to just smile and wave back.

 

I’m *so* there.

Seems like every 3rd or 4th car in Japan is of this sort of design - small, boxy, with tiny wheels/tires. I’ve seen logos of Toyota, Nissan, Honda etc, so evidently it’s popular enough for all the major carmakers to offer their own version of it.