LUXURY TRAIN TRAVEL IN JAPAN

   From Worldometer (new  COVID-19 deaths yesterday):

        DAY  USA  WORLD   Brazil    India    South Africa

June     9    1093     4732         1185       246       82

July    22     1205     7128        1293      1120     572

Aug    12     1504     6556        1242        835     130

Sept     9     1208      6222       1136       1168       82

Oct     21     1225      6849         571        703       85

Nov    25      2304    12025        620        518      118

Dec    30      3880    14748       1224       299      465

Jan     14      4142    15512       1151       189      712              

Feb      3       4005    14265       1209       107      398

          25       2414    10578        1582       119      144

Mar     2        1989      9490        1726       110      194

          31       1115     12301        3950       458       58

April   6          906     11787         4211       631       37

May    4         853     13667         3025     3786       59 

         26         607     12348         2399     3842     101

The New York Times this morning reported:

• New studies suggest that Covid immunity — from either infection or vaccination — lasts at least a year and improves over time.
• Daily Covid deaths in the U.S. have fallen roughly 40 percent since the start of April.

Over the past few years, Japan Railway has introduced three luxury train systems.  While very expensive, they all nevertheless have been popular.  Your Japan Rail Pass cannot be used for these trains.

So let me start with the economical Green Car Japan Rail Pass, which costs $383/7-days, $618/14-days or $803/21-days.  Pretty much takes you everywhere in Japan.  You can reduce your cost by using the Ordinary Car for about a third less.  Even cheaper is a Willer Express Bus pass for half the cost of the ordinary car.  As useful and expeditious as the Bullet Train has been, the price is certainly reasonable.

Yesterday, I reported on various luxury trains throughout the world.  In general, they cost from $500/day to well beyond $1000/day.  In comparison, the expensive Crystal cruise generally goes for around $500/day.  However, you can find other ships with sufficient opulence for $100/day, and less.  My 111-day around the world cruise will cost a little more than $300/day, but includes actually traveling around the world, a beverage package (that will permit up to 15 drinks/day), WiFi, tips and all port charges, including taxes.

The three luxury trains in Japan:

• The ultimate indulgence is the so-called $10,000 suite Shiki-Shima.  Here is a shorter version that says $12,000/ticket.  Read this.  Well, what does it really cost?
• The 3-day/2-night trip in the fanciest cabin, the Shiki-Shima Suite:  $12,400 for two people, or $9000 for two in the cheap rooms.  There are 17 suites.
• Thus, divide by three and the range would be $1500 to more $2000/day per person.

• 
  The 4-day/3-night trip goes up to $12,500/person in the the most expensive rooms.  The trip goes all the way up to Hakodate on Hokkaido for $3125/day.
• Whole train accommodates 34 passengers
• Here is a comment from a private traveler:

It’s a short journey by the Shiki-Shima organized limo from the Palace Hotel in Tokyo, and we get to Ueno station in about 15 minutes and are met kerb-side by the Shiki-Shima staff in their distinctive traditional uniforms. We’re whisked through the station (quite busy on a Monday morning) in minutes, our luggage going separately, being taken to the special Prologue lounge at platform 13, which is reserved for the Train Suite Shiki-Shima only. Here we are served drinks and local delicacies as we’re given train goody bags, special pins to identify us as being Shiki-Shima guests and lots of information as well as iPod style devices which means at various points throughout the trip we can listen to a commentary in English.

• Includes fancy meals.  The sushis, for example, were a work of art:

• There are two cars for views and one each for a bar lounge (where there is live music) and fancy dining.
• 2, 3 and 4 day trips, from Ueno Station in Tokyo to points north, and returning to Ueno.
• Began service in 2017.
• Train only travels at 70 MPH, around one-third that of the Bullet Train.
• Train was designed by Ken Okuyama, who is noted for his work with Ferrari and Maserati.
• Here is a photo of just the bathroom for the two most expensive suites:

• 
  One way to insure for a place on the train is to book with organizations.  For example, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a package of a ten-day tour that includes side-trips on the Shinkansen to Kyoto for special artsy visits and a extravagant meals, with stays at the Peninsula Tokyo and Ritz-Carlton (Kyoto), for anywhere from $30,000 to$50,000/person (so $3000 to $5000/day).

• 

  The Twilight Express Mizukaze operates between Kyoto-Osaka and Shimonoseki, located at the western tip of Honshu in Yamaguchi.
• Designed by Kazuya Ura, who is known for his luxury hotel style.
• There are five different tours available, all either 2-day 1-night or 3-day 2-night trips.  
• 34 passengers in a traveling 5-star hotel with exquisite dining.
• Depending on route, about $2800/day.

• 
  Seven Stars is a sleeper train based on Kyushu now in its 8th year of operation.
• Kyushu has seven prefectures and the train has seven cars.
• Starts and finishes at the JR Hakata Station in Fukuoka.
• The 4-day itinerary includes an onsen visit and goes down to Miyazaki for $5400 or $1350/day.
• The 2-day journey visits Oita, Mount Aso and Arita porcelain for $2550 or $1275/day.

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THE TOP TEN MOST LUXURIOUS TRAINS IN THE WORLD

   From Worldometer (new  COVID-19 deaths yesterday):

        DAY  USA  WORLD   Brazil    India    South Africa

June     9    1093     4732         1185       246       82

July    22     1205     7128        1293      1120     572

Aug    12     1504     6556        1242        835     130

Sept     9     1208      6222       1136       1168       82

Oct     21     1225      6849         571        703       85

Nov    25      2304    12025        620        518      118

Dec    30      3880    14748       1224       299      465

Jan     14      4142    15512       1151       189      712              

Feb      3       4005    14265       1209       107      398

          25       2414    10578        1582       119      144

Mar     2        1989      9490        1726       110      194

          31       1115     12301        3950       458       58

April   6          906     11787         4211       631       37

May    4         853     13667         3025     3786       59 

         26         668     12091         2198     4172     102

Summary:  Slowly improving, except for India.  South Africa?

This is part one of a two-day posting on fabulous trains.  I've traveled around the USA on Amtrak, been on several Eurail Pass trips, took the Eastern and Orient Express from Bangkok to Singapore and been all over Japan on their Rail Pass.  Here is one rating of the most luxurious trains in the world:

• 
  #10  Indian Pacific (Australia):  Beginning in 1970, this train connected Sydney and Perth, a one way journey of 2700 miles.  Takes 65 hours in four classes, cheapest being an advanced purchase of $1819, with Platinum as the premium at $3889, for a suite with shower.
• 
  #9  Palace on Wheels (India):  Relaunched in 2009, there are 23 gorgeous coaches for 104 guests.  Eight days from New Delhi through the country and back for a total cost of from $4000 to $7600 per person depending on type of cabin.  Expensive for singles, as the price doubles.

• 
  #8  Blue Train (South Africa):  Connects Cape Town and Pretoria, a distance of 994 miles. 27 hours, 52-80 guests, for $1300, but includes meals, wine and cigar.
• #7  Pride of Africa:  2000 miles from Pretoria to Zimbagwe, Zambia and Tanzania in nine days.  Takes 72 passengers, and between Capetown and Pretoria costs between $1776 and $3500.
• 
  #6  Rocky Mountaineer (Canada):  Was named the The World's Leading Luxury Train in 2020.  There are four rail routes connecting Alberta, British Columbia and the state of Washington.  The 12-night Grand Rail Circle costs between $8,106 and $12,299/person.

• 
  #5  Eastern and Oriental Express (Southeast Asia):  Four days connecting Singapore to Bangkok for a total cost of $3325 to $7575/person (singles more expensive).  The train is narrow rail, so walking around is a real hazard.  The route also extends from Bangkok to Chiang Mai at a cost from $2231 to $4717/person for two nights.
• 
  #4  Venice Simplon Orient Express (Europe):  Links London to Venice, but several times/year goes on to places like Istanbul via Budapest and other cities, like Rome, Berlin, Stockholm and Copenhagen.  Remember the book and film by Agatha Christie?  Cost of $3360 to $9640 on a London-Paris-Venice route, or $20,000 to $70,000 going between Paris-Bucharest-Istanbul.  Here is what you get for five nights.

• 

  #3  Royal Scotsman (Scotland):  Only 36 passengers, the four night Scotch Malt Whiskey Trail  from Edinburgh costs around $7500/person.  Great if you can find a way to golf at St. Andrews, as I have several times.
• 

  #2  Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian Express (Russia):  6800 miles from Moscow to Vladivostok, with a stop in Ulaan Bataar, takes 15 days at a cost from $20,000 to $46,000.  I remember reading in 2008 a book by Paul Theroux called Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, a particularly grimy and cheap trip, about as opposite as you can get from the luxurious GTT-SE.

• Theroux, who lives in Hawaii, just released his latest book, Under the Wave at Waimea:

• 
  #1 Maharajas Express (India):  Five rail journeys covering 12 destinations, voted The World's Leading Luxury Train five times in a row.  84 passengers starting at $2910 for the Treasures of India, going up to $23,700 for the Heritage of India in the presidential suite.

Another top ten, on You Tube.  A similar list as above, with the Maharajas Express also at #1.  At #3 is the Seven Stars Kyushu, which I will report on tomorrow.

A longer video showing a few other trains:

• There are several Australian trains that take you almost everywhere you might want to go.  Not all that outrageously expensive, so this would be a different way to see the country, although views might be a tad boring.

• 
  An interesting one is a 3-hour ride from Cusco to Machu Picchu on the Hiram Bingham.  The $1000 roundrip cost includes a welcome Pisco cocktail, open bar, music, gourmet lunch and dinner, entrance to Machu Picchu with tour guide.  Also, bus transfer and back to train station.
• This video concludes with Japan's Shika-Shima, which I will expand on tomorrow.

People send me these dancing mash-ups.  Here are a few for your viewing pleasure:

• Lionel Richie's Dancing on the Ceiling.  If you saw him on American Idol, can you believe he is 70 years old?
• Dancing in the Movies with Wham.
• Flashdancing at the Movies.

• 
  But about dancing, many, me included, say that the tap dancing performance of Eleanor Powell and Fred Astaire to Artie Shaw's Begin the Beguine was the best ever on the screen.  Few remember that they danced three times in Broadway Melody of 1940 (Rotten Tomatoes:  80/81).  The third star in that production was George Murphy, who went on to become a U.S. Senator.  The story is that Powell/Astaire never were filmed dancing together again because they were intimidated of each other.  Probably true, but they actually remained friends.  Here is Eleanor in tribute to Astaire in 1981.  She passed away the following year, but if alive today, would have been 109 years old.  Fred?  Went in 1987 at the age of 88 and would have just made 121 a few days ago if still around.

I slept right through the lunar eclipse last night, but here is a photo of the event sent to me by a friend using her iPhone (it was a cloudy night in Honolulu):

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SUPER FLOWER BLOOD MOON LUNAR ECLIPSE

More than a decade ago I posted on the coming of a lunar eclipse to be viewable from Hawaii.   Then on 21 January 2019 I reported on my adventure trying to photograph this event from Waikiki.  For the first time in my life I actually succeeded with what was called the Super Blood Wolf Lunar Eclipse:

Tonight in Hawaii, meaning early Thursday morning in much of the western portion of the USA, Canada and Mexico, there will be a lunar trifecta.  Also in prime location are Australia, New Zealand and islands of the Pacific.  The big difference compared to a solar eclipse is that you don't need special viewing glasses for this Super Flower Blood Moon lunar eclipse.

Skywatchers are in for a treat this week when a full moon, a supermoon and a total lunar eclipse occur on the same day — a rare lunar trifecta, according to NASA.

The celestial spectacle will take place before dawn Wednesday, when the biggest and brightest full moon of the year turns rusty red as it slips completely into Earth's shadow.

Weather permitting, the total lunar eclipse will be visible across the Western United States, western Canada, Mexico, much of Central America, parts of South America and Asia along the Pacific Rim.

"Folks in Hawaii and the Aleutian Islands will get to see the entirety of this eclipse — it will be quite a show for them," Bill Cooke, who leads NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office in Huntsville, Alabama, said in a statement.

This is the first total lunar eclipse to occur with a supermoon (when the moon is closest to Earth) in six years, and the next one will occur in the U.S. on 16 May 2022 (left).

From Hawaii (just add three hours if you're on Pacific Daylight Time):

• 

  The eclipse will begin at 10:46PM.
• Totality, when Earth's shadow covers the moon, will be from 1:11AM to 1:26AM.
• Thus, totality will last for around 15 minutes.

Note that if you live in Australia, this event will begin tonight at 5:45 PM in Western Australia.  For Sydney, it will be at 7:45 PM.  Totality for this city will be from 9:11 PM to 9:26PM.  If I lived in Australia, I'd almost certainly photograph this eclipse.  However, I'm not too excited about doing this after midnight in Honolulu.  To the left is what the lunar eclipse looked like over Perth in 2018. 

The longest total lunar eclipse in the past century lasted one hour and 43 minutes the night of July 27-28 in 2018.  If you got 5 hours to spare, here is that entire lunar eclipse.  As the graphic to the right shows, Hawaii totally missed this lunar eclipse. The shortest occurred on 4 April 2015 at 4 minutes 48 seconds.  Solar eclipses, however, seldom persist beyond 3 minutes, and can last no more than 7 minutes 31 seconds.

Here is something you probably did not know.  There are usually two lunar eclipses/year, but sometimes none, and in some  years, three.  Solar eclipses occur two to five times/year, although five is rare, the last one in 1935, and next will occur in 2206.  But actually seeing any one of them depends on where you live.

In history, the first mention of a lunar eclipse was on 29 January 1137 BC, in the Chinese book Zhou-Shu.  Then, of course, you probably remember Christopher Columbus using this bit of scientific information to gain influence over the indigenous people of Jamaica.  My memory was that this was a solar eclipse, but, turns out, it was a lunar eclipse:

Columbus had on board an almanac authored by Regiomontanus of astronomical tables covering the years 1475–1506; upon consulting the book, he noticed the date and the time of an upcoming lunar eclipse. He was able to use this information to his advantage. He requested a meeting for that day with the Cacique, and told him that his god was angry with the local people's treatment of Columbus and his men. Columbus said his god would provide a clear sign of his displeasure by making the rising full moon appear "inflamed with wrath".

The lunar eclipse and the red moon appeared on schedule, and the indigenous people were impressed and frightened. The son of Columbus, Ferdinand, wrote that the people:

with great howling and lamentation came running from every direction to the ships laden with provisions, praying to the Admiral to intercede with his god on their behalf...

Columbus timed the eclipse with his hourglass, and shortly before the totality ended after 48 minutes, he told the frightened indigenous people that they were going to be forgiven.^[8] When the Moon started to reappear from the shadow of the Earth, he told them that his god had pardoned them.^[9]

The first eclipse film is French, by Georges Melies in 1907, The Eclipse, the Courtship of the Sun and Moon.  This is the whole film, around 9 minutes long.

To quote the Guardian:

Hawaii will have the best view of May’s full supermoon, followed by California, the Pacific north-west, New Zealand and Australia.

It was earlier this month that Cyclone Tauktae struck India's west coast and killed more than 150 people.  Well, during the next 24 hours Cyclone Yaas will at 110 MPH make landfall over India's East coast, between Dhamra and Balasore.

Three days ago, the first cyclonic storm Ana formed in the Atlantic.  NOAA is considering moving the start of the hurricane season from June 1 to May 15 in the Atlantic.  However Tropical Storm Andres appeared in the East Pacific on May 6, so perhaps the Pacific will need to advance that date to May 1.

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NOMADLAND

 About who gets vaccinated in the USA, the signs are clarifying:  Republicans and the less-educated working class (including Republicans, but, mostly meaning Blacks and Hispanics) are showing reluctance.  From the New York Times this morning:

The two groups seem to have different motivations. For Republicans, the attitude is connected to a general skepticism of government and science. For Black and Hispanic Americans, it appears to stem from the country’s legacy of providing substandard medical treatment, and sometimes doing outright harm, to minorities. This poll did not break out Asian-Americans, but other Kaiser surveys have, and it’s consistent: Asian-Americans have a higher median income than Black, Hispanic or white Americans and also a higher vaccination rate.

One more bit of info from the NYT:

About 25 percent of unvaccinated people remain unsure whether somebody who previously had Covid should still get the vaccine, according to Kaiser. The answer is yes: Almost everybody 12 and older should.

You would think that if you've contracted this virus, you would be both immune and, as you're cured, you cannot transmit the disease.  Frankly, I don't quite understand why this group needs to be vaccinated.  But the positive side to all this is that if only those who indicated they would get the necessary shots, do, then the nation might get into herd immunity because there will be a whole lot of this group, plus all those asymptomatics, who are largely "safe."

On the other hand, from National Public Radio:

It's Time For America's Fixation On Herd Immunity To End, Scientists Say

I got too sleepy to finish watching the 3-hour American Idol final last night, but the winner was Chayce Beckham.

Not a nice thing to say, but I wonder if the excess weight of the other two in the finals was their undoing.  Click on that link to view their photos. And it's not really their fault, for in the viewing of their reunion with their respective families, virtually every adult was morbidly obese.  We do have a national problem with obesity, for this group increased by 70% during the past decade.

Oh well, thought I'd review Nomadland, the film that won the Oscar for Best Picture this year.  Also gained Academy Award wins for Best Director and Best Actress.  Perhaps it is the Pandemic, but never got to earlier watch it, and might never have bothered were it not for two steering events.  First, TCM played Fargo during their month of Oscar films, so, for the first time I saw this 1996 film, where Frances McDormand won the Best Actress award.  The movie also got nominated for Best Picture and Best Director, paralleling in many ways Nomadland, including being filmed in Cold Country, evoking snow and cold, plus the agony of a boring life.

I primarily didn't bother much with Nomadland because the thought of spending two hours on a wandering effort in the freeze with no real purpose left me cold.  Then it won the Oscar.  So I checked Amazon Prime, and it was there, but for $5.99.  So I skipped.  Then this weekend the 15 Craigside channel paid for that cost, which was enough for me to turn it on.  It was also intriguing that Frances McDormand now had two Best Actress awards.  Actually she also won for the 2017 Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri, and a fourth, for she was one of the producers of Nomadland, which won for Best Picture.  The most startling thing of all, though, is that she hasn't physically changed in the past quarter century.  She looked old in the 1996 Fargo (when she was 39), and still looks old (to be 64 next month), but closely similar, in Nomadland.

Another couple of things about McDormand are that she graduated from Yale and now has been married to Joel Coen (director of Fargo, with his brother) for 37 years.  Another is that Chloe Zhao (right) won for Best Director, the first Asian female.  She was born in Beijing 39 years ago, but this film and mention of her Oscars are banned in China for some choice political comments (a place where are lies everywhere) she made about that country.  Her film professor was Spike Lee when she studied at New York University's Tisch School of Arts.  She has several productions in the pipeline, and in one of them, she will be the writer, producer and director of Dracula, but this one being a futuristic sci-fi western.

Nomadland gained 94/82 ratings from Rotten Tomatoes.  Fargo got similar scores from RT:  93/84.  Nomadland was as expected: 

drawn out, slow-moving, depressing...the kind of film you might want to watch if you want to compare your life to something so trying that yours got to be better.  The stars of the movie had to be those real life houseless (they lived in vans, moving about into another part-time job), more elderly nomads, who nevertheless have the freedom to do this. 

Not something for me, but people are different because of their life circumstances.  

One interesting feature is that the real stars were actual nomads who played themselves:  Linda May, Swankie and Bob Wells.  Their goodbyes are not final, for they sometimes meet again somewhere else, and perhaps will again in Heaven.  There was no finality to the film.  I liked the soundtrack (full 48 minutes version--original score by Ludovico Einaudi, but snippets of NK Cole's Answer Me My Love, Willie Nelson's On the Road Again, etc.).

My meals this weekend, featuring tacos, wagyu and chu-toro, showing only my special tacos where the beef mix is first fried in wagyu fat:

Finally, a nice double- rainbow:

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