Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts

Tokyo. September 17-21, 2014

Wednesday, September 17th

We sailed into Tokyo harbor around lunchtime to the sounds of a brass band playing on the dock. It was not long before the ship was docked and cleared and our friend Dale made her way aboard. We had a good natter and catch-up during the afternoon. As evening approached, Stephen's mum boarded the ship to big hugs and kisses. So nice to see "mum" again and it was not long before a cork was popped from a bottle of champagne and we were celebrating with a wee drink.

Welcoming committee


Thursday, September 18th

We went for a long walk around Tokyo. Doing a little window shopping and exploring of the Roppongi district.

Street Views

Street Views

Ramen Noodles anyone?

Friday, September 19th

Caroline headed into town for some window shopping. Othrwise it was a relaxing day.

The highlight for the day however was an absolutely amazing dinner in a small tempura restaurant that Peter arranged. The chef, supported by his father, mother and wife, prepared a multi-course feast for us. And only us, as the restaurant was tiny and our small group occupied most of the bar that looked over the kitchen. Although the Japanese wine came in small bottles, it was quite drinkable. The restaurant has been owned by the same family since it was established 1885.

Saturday, September 20th

Spent the morning doing a little packing. We packed one suitcase for the return trip to Belgium and left one suitcase load of clothes behind for when we return in November. Stephen played IT support engineer for Peter and Dale. Dale has prepared a nice little blog which includes Tokyo and can be found here. Mum kindly lent us her Mac Air. So now we are a two Mac Air family.

We had a nice last lunch with Mum and Dale. In the afternoon we headed off to find our hotel for the evening, check-in and drop off our luggage. We decided to stay in a hotel on our final evening as The World was sailing at 8:30am and we wanted to avoid the associated disembarkation hassles. We walked around Tokyo in the afternoon just exploring a little more. The late afternoon appearance of rain forced us off the streets and back to the The World.

We had a marvelous last dinner with the two Peters, Stephanie, Dale, Eric and Mum. As the evening wore on, it became clear that it was time to leave The World and head to our small hotel room for the night. Our trip on the The World was absolutely fabulous, and it was a little hard to believe it was all coming to an end. The good news, we will be back in 6 weeks when the boat sails down the coast of Vietnam.

Sunday, September 21st

Up early-ish to catch our flight back to Belgium. We trundled our suitcase through the streets of Tokyo to the nearby monorail station. From here we took the short 15 minute ride to the Haneda Airport.

We had a great stay in Tokyo and will surely be back one day.

At Sea. September 15-16, 2014

Monday, September 15th and Tuesday, September 16th

A chance to catchup on email, the blog and relax as we sail from Otaru to Tokyo. The seas were calm which was very nice and made the sea journey much more enjoyable.

Sunset at Sea

Otaru. September 13-14, 2014

Saturday, September 13th

Today we celebrated Stephen's birthday. The day started with a birthday breakfast with some good friends. The breakfast provided a chance to open some birthday presents. The ship arrived back in Otaru just after lunch. Once docked and cleared and we headed into town to stretch our legs and enjoy being back in Japan and on land after a few days at sea. Hilde and Tricia used the shore landing as a chance to arrange train tickets to Sapporo Airport.

Sunday, September 14th

We woke up early to say farewell to Hilde. She had a very early train and we wanted to make sure her very expensive taxi to the train station showed up on time. It did. So we waved Hilde off knowing that we had a wonderful shared experience with her. We had a final breakfast meal with Tricia before repeating the farewell ritual with her. For a second time we managed to hold back the tears while we waved Tricia off, again knowing we have made wonderful memories.

Caroline and I joined the shuttle bus for the 45 minute ride to Sapporo. Here we took lunch and did a little shopping and exploring with our good friend Peter. Sapporo is a nice enough town and we enjoyed walking around the shopping malls and parks. We fell asleep on the shuttle bus back to Otaru. We returned to the apartment for a quiet night.

Tempura anyone?

Lilly Park in downtown Sapporo

Japan. August 23-26, 2014

Saturday, August 23

After just under 24hours traveling by car, train, plane, bus, taxi, we arrived in Hakodate, Japan, where we boarded the good ship The World for 4 weeks of pampering :). It was good to be back on board. Our first days where spent mainly relaxing.

Waiting for the train in Brussel Centraal.

Sunday. August 24th

Stephen hiked up the local hill with a small group from the The World. The viewpoint afforded nice views of the city. Later that night TW sailed onto Otaru where we docked in the morning of the 25th. From here we would set off for the Main Event: 'The Sea of Okhotsk Expedition'.

Monday, August 25th

Hilde arrived and joined us and Peter for a drink and a sushi dinner. There was still enough time for the ladies to sip for shoes. Tricia also arrived, but too late to see her. We spent the day walking and walking and walking around town. We found an excellent place for lunchtime sushi.

The World docked at Otaru.
Tuesday, August 26th

Hilde and Tricia joined us on the The World and the start of the Sea of Okhotsk Expedition.