September 18, 2007

Yokohama Mama!
Well, it’s been a while since I wrote to everyone on the blog. We have already seen Japan and now, the MV Explorer is docked in Qingdao, China. Japan was fabulous. It was great to have the shipboard community develop a strong affection for the country. August and I really felt at home there, in large part because this is our third year in a row going there and the people are just so nice and accommodating. The transportation system was flawless and the food was just fabulous. When we got to Yokohama, we went straight to Tokyo where we took a number of our friends and August’s students to Yasukuni Shrine. We were met by a friend and colleague, Satoshi at the shrine and he helped us get to our favorite tempura restaurant (6 stories!) in Asakusa. We then went to the temple in Asakusa and took the train back home to the ship. The next day, I was “Duty Dean” so we decided to stay in Yokohama and wandered around. After dealing with some students’ issues (definitely some memorable ones I must say!), we went to Chinatown and got some really good food. For the dessert, I bought the yummy sesame balls with the azuki beans and I broke down and had Starbucks – oh the guilt. Hopefully, that is the last one I will have during this voyage. We walked and walked and walked the town and for dinner, went to a Hawaiian restaurant. The music and outfits were quite authentic but the food was so not!

Best Day Ever!
We had the best day ever so far on the voyage. Because of the overland option (we dropped off folks in Yokohama and they will rejoin us in Kobe), the ship had about 200 participants only. I kept calling that day the one day SAS cruise. I finally got to swim in the pool (yay, I am no longer the pale Pilipina) and did some writing. It was fantastic!

Umm beef, Kobe Beef!
After dealing with more student issues, we got out of the ship along with one of our professor friends, Lara P. We went to Himeji Castle in the town of Himeji. It is considered the most beautiful castle in Japan and I had to say that it was the most beautiful castle I ever went to in that country. We walked all the way to the top – honestly, I stopped counting the steps – where there was a shrine. The shrine had 2 large bottles of sake and also beer. We were so hot after that climb that I contemplated actually seeing how I could take a quick sip without the gods getting too mad at me. Our walk down was much easier although those steps were made for people with size 4 feet! Our lunch that day was amazing – udon, tonkatsu, veggies, and cola. We later met up with 3 of the RDs – Jen, Paul, and Michele – and we scampered off to Kobe City. Amazingly enough, August and I led them to the same place that Gen, Glen, Koji, and us went to last year which was Ikuta Road. We took them to a Kobe Beef restaurant while we had shabu shabu and sushi at a traditional tatami mat type restaurant.
The next day, we decided to stay around Kobe City again and walk around. With us this time were Meagan, Jessica, and Eric. We went to some really fun stores and it took all of my will power to not buy any shoes! We did go to Daimaru dept. store where we did some sake tasting. That area by the way, looked like Union Square in San Francisco but of course Kobe was much cleaner and quieter. Lunch was yummy – we went to a great restaurant and yup, I did have Kobe beef. August had salmon ;-). We took many pictures with our chef and the waiter and maitre d’ who by the way were just fantastic.
That evening, I had to be at the gangway and supervise the embarkation process. The students were great that evening – they were entertained with my constant saying that “let us not repeat Honolulu!”. Someone said that he is going to make me a shirt with those words. Overall, the students really loved Japan – they were so sad to leave and many said that they wanted to come back. If you have not gone to Japan, you should really try to visit.