JAPAN / OKINAWA / TAIWAN / SOUTH KOREA

My 22-day trip to the Orient was fabulous.  One day I'll be able to share more information on certain details, so wait for the possible book.

First, on November 19, goodbye to Oahu.  I'm cranking this out in Seoul, so the internet speed is the best in world.  What took ten minutes to download a photo on the cruise takes about a second here.

Then, hello to Mt. Fuji from Yokohama.  Friends have told me that they've spent a couple of weeks in Japan and never saw Fuji-san.

One concern from Day One was that Typhoon Kammuri (Tisoy) was heading straight for Taiwan, and would arrive just about when our cruise ship got there.  Fortunately for us, Kammuri, which attained speeds up to 105 MPH, made a sudden left turn and slammed into the Philippines.  For us, the sea was choppy for a couple of days.

We walked around Yokohama to see how far those Fall colors had developed.  Only a few Gingko trees, but nothing much else.  At Yamashita Park we saw the Diamond Princess, soon to depart on the cruise before ours in ten days.

We then used Japan Rail Pass Green Car and Shinkansened to Sendai.  At the train station we went to Iseya for a wagyu beef lunch.  Fall colors were looking good in the city.

The above is the view from our Westin Sendai room.

This was a quick one-day stay for the Fall colors (as were the other stops):

Then on to Matsumoto.  A bullet train bento and typical view of hills from train:

Nice Fall scenes at Matsumoto Castle, but, no Pearl Gold Koi:

Above, one part of a soba meal with duck soup.  Can't believe "we" stood in line for an hour, but it was almost worth it.

In Tokyo, the Fall colors at Koishikawa Korakuen Garden was gorgeous:

We stayed at the Tokyo Westin, and I must add one breakfast photo, for this is the meal symptomatic of my weight gain on these trips:

On to Nagoya, where there was a particularly evocative cloud at the top of Mount Fuji:

We stayed at the Marriott Associa, located at the Nagoya Station.  I've used this hotel several times and got confused, for I don't remember ever being in their Concierge Lounge.  First because it was so beautiful, spacious and welcoming.  Then I learned they just opened this room in April.  If you have any chance to book this hotel at the Club level, you will experience the best hotel executive lounge in the world, even better than the top floor of the Tokyo Ritz Carlton, which I equated to Heaven.

This was a Monday, and it turns out that in most of Japan museums and tourist sites are CLOSED!  So we decided to just rest.  Read about our afternoon and evening in this Club

That was just the afternoon tea set above.  Alcoholic drinks are always available, even for breakfast. Later came appetizers, heavy hors d'oeuvres, then a later evening cornucopia of dishes.  Rarely are these executive clubs much good for breakfast buffets.  Here, however, their "secret" special order Japanese set is unbelievable.  With sake and red wine from Nagoya.

The top spot for Fall colors in Kyoto is Kiyomizu-dera Temple.  However, this was the peak and the information office advised us that there were too many people there today.

So we went to Tofukuji Temple, which is only #12 on that above list.  You can appreciate why with a Kiyomizu photo below:

Here is one scene from Tofukuji:

What quickly has become one of my favorite places to visit is Shukkeien in Hiroshima, mostly because this is where Pearl's Black and White Koi lives, seen here with my blue-bar pigeon:

On Day 11 of this Orient trip, we boarded the Diamond Princess.  The highlight of the cruise might have been our suitcases waiting at the door...with those shampoo bottles and diaphragm bag of three whiskies and one of gin, which snuck through the screening process:

We essentially drunk then all and, by my calculation, saved $1500.

I can't say I particularly enjoyed the venue below, for it was freezing cold, and I was the only one in outdoor theater watching, but it was memorable to be covered with our room duvet, for a concert from Waldbuhne, while enjoying a glass of martini:

After docking at Okinawa, it was a two-hour bus ride to Churaumi Aquarium:

While there is controversy about aquaria and zoos keeping wild animals, according to Bruce Carson, Chief Science Officer of the Georgia Aquarium (which is the only site outside of the Orient with whale sharks), the two they have would have been eaten if not saved.

And, speaking of food, I had an assortment of the most popular Okinawan dishes at Churaumi.  With a nice view.

Took the one-day tour of Taipei, and the highlight was, of all the things, a buffet lunch at the Grand Hotel.  This is not to say that meals on the Diamond Princess were bad.  They were outstanding.  But something about the variety and lavishness of this buffet was worthy of commendation.

The looks of the Grand Hotel, incidentally, can be credited to Madame Chiang, wife of Chiang Kai-Shek.  As you might know, she was one of the three Soong sisters who married titans:  the other two to Sun Yai Sen and H.H. Kung, richest man in China.

Back in Yokohama, the colors were gorgeous at Sankeien Garden:

You would not expect that the best part of the flight from Narita to Incheon would be cuisine, but, yes, that was it.  Tomorrow, I again feature food from Incheon to Narita to Honolulu airports.  Narita is only the 9th best airport in the world, but Incheon is #2, next to Singapore Changi at #1 and Haneda at #2.

So I looked up which were the world's worst airports.  The one in Kuwait (left) took bottom honors,  Another survey had Lisbon Portela Airport as the worst.  I fully expected to see Honolulu International Airport on this list.  Now called the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, I guess we are only mediocre, for the worst in the USA is Chicago Midway.

But, aha, the J.D. Power 2019 North America Airport Satisfaction Study ranked DKIIA as the third worst large airport, #'s 1 and 2 being La Guardia and Newark Liberty.  Kahului Airport (above) is the worst of midsize airports.  And we are not even in North America.

In any case, in Seoul the coming freezing weather meant that the thin type of shirts and shorts had been replaced by winter wear.  So shopping was stymied.  Thus, the best part of our stay was the Sheraton D-Cube City, where we had free breakfast at Feast and free dinner at the Club Lounge.

In addition to the food, this hotel is located in a tall tower, right over where subway lines 1 and 2 cross.  On the seventh floor there is a entertainment complex:  cinemas and broadway show theater.  Plus, we are surrounded by a shopping center.  This is the final stop for the airport limousine, so coming and going are convenient.

We bought an item in Itaewon and a few other stuff.  I thought we'd go to the Westin Choshun for lunch, as they host my Johnny Walker Blue Label.

Alas, it was a disaster, for we showed up late when the restaurant had stopped serving.  So in the next door coffee shop I ordered a local favorite, hamburger.

The subway system functions well.  Note the emergency gear available if something happens.

Our final dinner in the Club, showing my meal.  We met a friendly couple from San Diego, Catherine and Tom:

Their life work is traveling,  We chatted for a bit, but I had to retire early, for I awaken at 4:30AM to catch a flight to Narita, then home to Honolulu.

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