Carnival entertainment on the ship last night

 Popcorn, cotton candy, hamburger sliders, corn dogs, etc.  All the alcoholic beverages free of charge. The blue lagoon was very good  The crowd became too much for me so I retreated after an hour thinking of Covid, but it was a nice diversion from the usual nights on board.  

Interesting plants

 Actually these are stalactites in Gangala Valley a collection of caves. There was a male and a female cave with stalactites I will leave to your imagination 

This is a walking Banian tree. As the roots grow down from the branches and take hold in the ground, the tree will slowly move its location. 

Orchids attached to the tree. 

Mangrove trees with multiple roots popping up all around 

Unusual sightings

 Lion dog faucet in public bathroom 

Drink found in a vending machine.

Okinawa as a Blue Zone

 Okinawa is rapidly losing its status as one of the world’s 7 greatest Blue Zones. The number of centenarians is declining for a couple of reasons. They are walking less and driving cars more. The younger generations are eating more western foods that cause obesity and diabetes among other diseases. 

Cheryl, Jill and I ate at a Chinese, Okinawan, Italian ? restaurant the other night where we ate deep fried Goya, an antioxidant green vegetable that is shaped like a cucumber with bumpy skin. It has a bitter taste and requires getting used to eating it, but that is part of the centenarian diet. Pork dumplings were very good with endame. To finish it off, we shared a snake sake. It sounds horrible, but actually tasted like cinnamon cough syrup. The snake is actually a venomous one. The sake dilutes the venom. Quite the culinary experience. 

Beautiful flowers

Cherry blossom trees are almost finished blossoming 

 

Lion dogs in Okinawa

Lion dogs are on the roofs of most homes

And balconies of apartments as protection from evil. They are in front of most businesses also. They usually come as a pair. The female one has her mouth closed to keep in pease and happiness. The male one has his mouth open ready to attack if danger is lurking. 

 

Hello Japan

 It is getting colder now.  We are in ishigaki, Japan the southern most island of Okinawa.  We took a glass bottom boat off the coast and saw some interesting coral, some brilliant blue. A very large turtle swam right up to our boat and of course we saw Nemo. After that I took a long walk through the mangrove here. I love listening to the birds chattering. 

We came back to the ship for lunch and then we were on our own to walk around the town. They have cash machines in the grocery stores so I got $20 of yen 3000!  Most shops take credito cardos.  It started to rain so I returned to the ship. The shopping was not that great anyway. 

I splurged at dinner and got a Bahama Mama that was very tasty. Tonight’s entertainment is a solo trumpeter named CHAW. He is supposed to be really good. Last night a Japanese balloon guy entertained us with all sorts of designs and creatures. 

The ship is getting very rocky again tonight. 

Bye bye Guam and Saipan

 I never realized how much of WWII was played out in the Pacific Theater.  So much for my world history classes. Both Guam and Saipan were very important strategic islands in fighting against the Japanese.  The thousands of lives lost is absolutely staggering.  The brutality of it all and all the memorial parks here commemorating the victims and saying’never again’ and peace must prevail. But then we look at what is happening now and realize that we have very short memories and everything is repeating itself. 

So these 2 islands are basically military bases. Guam is a US territory and Saipan is a US Commonwealth like Pennsylvania, Virginia etc.  A Commonwealth has a constitution and greater control over internal affairs than a territory. They are both very small islands, but it took us 8 hours each day to cover all the military sites and of course have beautiful, delicious buffet lunches at different resorts. Saipans beaches had gorgeous seashells that we were not allowed to takes as they were protected natural habitats. Boo hoo. 

Part of the Japanese jail where it is believed that Emilia Earhart may have spent some time. The theory is that she crash landed on another Mariana island called Tinian and somehow got to Saipan 

One of many preserved Japanese bunkers. 

Pacific Ocean

 Our trek across the Pacific Ocean is coming to an end tomorrow morning when we enter Guam, a US territory. We will have a full 8 hours on our tour. I hope to be able to walk steadily  on land.

We had a nice brunch sampler the other day.  Here is a picture of half of our group.

Food presentation is everything!

Mardi Gras

 We lost a day by crossing the international date line so Monday did not exist on the ship. We just skipped to Tuesday. We all masked up and drank hurricanes. 

I won a day spa certificate a couple weeks ago and used it today. The thermal pool was so relaxing with jet sprays all over and the water was so hot. After 1/2 hour of that I relaxed in a heated lounge chair for another half hour. It was a fun experience but I’m glad I didn’t pay for the package. 

We have a passenger on board who teaches daily water aerobics in the afternoons, so I tried that and really enjoyed it. The pool is pretty small so not many can participate at a time. 4-5

Being out in the ocean for a week at a time is very humbling.  The vastness of the water, the isolation of the ship and the tiny speck of me.  

The music venues on the ship are so varied and very professional.  I’m enjoying them most evenings.  The lectures are also very good in the mornings.  

King Kamehameha

 Statue of King Kamehameha in his feather cape and hat. He united the many islands of Hawaii.

Pearl Harbor

 Pearl Harbor is a whole different story.  Very somber knowing that over a thousand sailors are entombed in the sunken SS Arizona. The memorial sits over the Arizona and you can see bits of the ship sticking up out of the water. It really is a beautiful harbor and well maintained.  This symbol is the tree of life.  We took a ferry over to the memorial.

Blue Hawaii drink

 We had a farewell party for our lecturer who left us in Hawaii. The blue Hawaii drink was great on the deck of the ship.

More Hawaii

 Rainbow falls without the rainbow!

Kilauea volcano last erupted a year ago. There was seismic activity here the day after we left. (5.7). There are many active steam vents all around the area making it a very dangerous place to just be walking around. The crater is gigantic and is sinking slowly from the heat. 

Lychee fruit at the fruit market in Hawaii

 Lychee tastes a bit like a grape and it has a big seed in the center. Nice and sweet. 

This was actually a Japanese market. 

A

Hawaiian lei

 As soon as we disembarked the ship in Hawaii, we were given leis to wear. They were beautiful and fragrant. After all the allergy problems I’d had over the past week this was not something I wanted right under my nose so I quickly had a friend take a picture of me and then I gifted one of the dock hands the lei. Problem was, we then got on our bus and everyone on the bus was wearing their lei. I managed to get through the day with decongestants and lots of Kleenex. 

This carved tree was on the property of the family owned co op coffee production plant. No coffee was being produced on this day only purchased!

Super Bowl Sunday

 I watched the game all afternoon in the ship’s theater with several other Road Scholars. We were feted with so much food :  hot dogs, pork sliders, coleslaw, fries, popcorn, cotton candy, assortment of cakes and desserts. All fun. It actually felt like a real Sunday at home.

Tomorrow we cross the international date line, so tomorrow will be Tuesday and not Monday here. Fat Tuesday actually,  with Ash Wednesday the next day.  

New cruise schedule

 We are no longer cruising in the Red Sea. Here is our new plan that starts after March 30. After we leave Sri Lanka. 

Sea Legs

 If ever I needed sea legs, it would be today. The swimming pool has become a wave pool and the ocean waves are very turbulent.  When I walked by the ship’s shops this morning, the mannequin was laying down on the job!  The wind is so strong I can’t open my balcony door  

So, our voyage has been altered and we are no longer going into the Red Sea.  Instead we are sailing all the way around Africa after we leave Sri Lanka to be on the safe side. I’m glad I didn’t buy myself a Grand World Tour sweatshirt or t shirt as they are no longer correct. 

I revisited the doctor today and got a Covid retest which was negative again  my sore throat is improving but the coughing is still hanging on  

We had a Sunday sit down buffet sampler lunch that was interesting and gave us a break from our usual routine  

Sea days

 We’re headed to Hawaii for 6 days on the Pacific Ocean. The weather has turned a little cooler and the water is more turbulent but I still haven’t gotten sea sick. Thank goodness. I have managed to catch a nasty cold and cough. I’ve asked my room stewards to get the feather pillows and duvet out of my room which should help. I tested for Covid today and the test was negative. 

So all our activities for the week are Hawaiian in theme. I’ve learned 2 hula dances and attended many lectures on the topic of Hawaii. 

There is a Project Linus group on board making blankets for kids in trauma situations so I’ve been knitting a bright yellow blanket. It is sort of like the prayer shawls I’ve made for adults. 

I gave in today (Saturday) and visited the ship doctor to get some antibiotics. I’m hoping they work before we arrive in Hawaii on Tuesday. I isolated myself for the evening missing Gatsby Soiree but should feel better for Sunday brunch. There are so many activities on board that we have to pick and choose. 

My room stewards are so good to me and make me towel animals to make me feel better  

Mexican picnic

 

Mexico

 We spent 2 days in different ports of Mexico. Manzanilla is an industrial port with hundreds of cargo ships coming and going. From there we drove 11/2 hours to an archeological site that is only partially excavated for lack of funding. 

We had a wonderful tapas “snack” afterwards that doubled as a dinner for me. 

In Porta Vallarta we visited another chocolate farm as well as a honey cooperative. Here are the chocolate pods and honey beer

Driving further we stopped at a beautiful park where we dined blue plastic gloves and made our Mexican lunch. Tamales, salsa, mole, etc. Never knew cactus could taste so good with salsa and a bit of pomegranate tequila to wash it down. We were very excited to get back to port where there was a WALMART and we could quickly run in to get supplies we had either forgotten or didn’t know we would need. Crazy but true.