DAY 9 and 10 on the DIAMOND PRINCESS

Well the most important thing to report has to do with that typhoon that formed the day we originally departed Yokohama.  According to Wikipedia:

Typhoon Koto, known in the Philippines as  Typhoon Verbena, was a fairly strong and erratic tropical cyclone that impacted much of the Visayas and portions of Luzonand Mindanao in the Philippines. The twenty-seventh named storm and fourteenth typhoon of the annual typhoon season, Koto developed off the eastern coast of Mindanao on November 23, then tracked westward across the country, making seven landfalls before emerging over the South China Sea, where it strengthened into a typhoon. However, the system gradually weakened and became virtually stationary off the coast of Vietnam before dissipating altogether.

Let me begin with Day 9 on the Diamond Princess.  Did not do much except eat and sleep.  Lunch came in two parts.  First, ramen and meats with a Bloody Mary.

Then pizza with beer.

For dinner we went to Sabbatini's, where I abandoned the menu and asked them to just give me an Italian salad and soup combo, ending with a Spaghetti Bolognese meal.  The wine was a Silverado Cabernet Sauvignon.

Actually, the pasta was not at all traditional.  It was brown, not red, and did not taste like the SBs I've had throughout the world. It was, though, while not what I was expecting, still tasty and worthwhile.

Then off to Princess Theater for Mikey Vortano.

 Only 2530 steps today.  Plan to begin my exercise program on Day 10

Then came this awesome Day 10, an unexpected episode that makes life truly worthwhile.  Lunch, for example, came in three phases.  

• First, there was an announced emergency from the Captain at 10:30ish in the morning.  

• 
  One of us us was still sleeping.  
• Essentially a crew member had a medical problem, we think it was one of the main chefs.  
• The ship had turned back to Hong Kong, and a helicopter was to arrive within half an hour to pick him up.  
• Passengers had to drop down to the 7th floor or lower as a safety precaution.  Our stateroom is on the 11th floor. They kept pounding on our door to please leave, and we finally did.
• 
  Walked around to perhaps get an early drink.
• Went into our muster station, the Wayfarers Bar.  Was packed, no seats, but for some reason the bar was available.

• 
  So we sat and I ordered a Bloody Mary, she a beer.
• We then saw the Japanese gin we liked, Roku, and asked if there was a Japanese vodka. Yes, Haku.  So she ordered a Bloody Mary with Haku Vodka.  I thought, why not, and had a Haku on rocks.
• Then I noticed a Macallan Terra, which cost $23/shot.  Premium members can only order up to $20 liquors.  But the bartender said heck, this is an emergency, and I had a jigger up for free.
• So for the first phased of lunch a scotch, vodka and Bloody Mary.  First time in my life doing this.
• Oh, the Terra costs around $400/bottle if you can find it.

Lunch was my almost daily ramen and meats, with a Margarita and Kirin beer.  So I'm up to 5 drinks so far.

On my way back to my room for a nap, saw an ice cream bar, so got a macha cone.

Then, walking to the elevator, I passed the Jaame's Band playing music of ABBA by the pool, and luckily found an empty table.  So I reserved it and went to the bar.  Got a Chivas 18 over ice.  That's six.

I was seated next to a pizza place, so for phase 3 of my lunch, totally unexpected, ordered a hot pepperoni pizza slice with a Stella Artois.  #7.

I then took a two-hour nap.

Went to the 5th floor Good Times at Sea bar, and listened to some music,

In anticipation of the Escargots, got a glass of Flower Chardonnay to take to dinner which turned out to be a serendipitous miracle.  Probably the best meal we have had on this trip.  This Sonoma wine, incidentally got a 94 rating from James Suckling in 2022.  Costs $50/bottle in your liquor shop.

• We went down for our 7PM International Dining Room reservation, but all I wanted was their special of the night, Escargots Bourgogne, and maybe a salad, for I was still somewhat satiated from what I had earlier, like those drinks, cone and pizza.   But they said they were still cleaning up and could not takes anyone until 7:15.  

• 
  Drinks in hand we had to find a place to sit and wait.  This turned out to be just outside of Sushi Kai.  It was not crowded at all inside.  
• The Maitre D' came up to chat with us.  We explained why we were sitting there.  I also mentioned that all I wanted that night was the Escargots.  So he said why not dine in Sushi Kai, and would personally rush down to the Internationally Dining Room and pick up for us two orders of the Escargots Bourgogne.  Why not have sashimi with that?

• 
  Great idea, so I also ordered a sake and sochu.  What am I up to today?  Doesn't matter, our Premium Package features an unlimited number of free alcoholic drinks.
• Escargots came, but withour breads, so our guy went next door to Sabbatini's and came back with a plateful.

• Then like the after-lunch pizza, I went ahead and had a wagyu ramen, which normally would have cost at least $20, but the top guy here gave it to us for free.  Added other seafood.

And the evening was just beginning, for we went to Club Fusion for Karaoke.

There is a couple from Australia which we have befriended.  Here a duet of Sweet Carolina, with considerable audience participation,

I sang a couple of songs too, but will spare you from them.  2497 steps.  Clearly I have yet to start my walking in the hallway routine.  I want to get up to at least 6000 steps/day.

If you were wondering why my pedometer has the background of the next day, it is because they deliver the newsletter  of tomorrow to our room when they finish cleaning up for the night.  Tomorrow, Port of Phu My, the point of departure point for Saigon, which is now called Ho Chi Minh City, 41 miles away.

So what a great Day 10.  Was particularly enhanced by Typhoon Koto suddenly dissipating just ouside of Phu My.  Never even made landfall.

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AT SEA: Taipei to Hong Kong to Ho Chi Minh City

Today, more doings on the Diamond Princess as we now head towards Tropical Storm Koto and Ho Chi Minh City.  Another evening, and it seems we've done this before.

First, drinks in the Crooner's Bar.

A quick pre-show dinner in the International Dining Room.

Then to Princess Theater for a performance by the 60s Four, an Australian group, singing hit songs of the 70s.  They specialize in 60s songs, so another show will no doubt be coming.  The theater was fully packed.

Okay show, but I only recognized half of their songs.  I think this was because there were many hits in Australia that never became popular in the USA.  Next to the Explorers for karaoke.

Explorers for a Liars Club show, followed by karaoke.

To Club Fusion for disco dancing,

Mascot of ship is Stanley the Bear.

  Walked 3535 steps on Day 8.

Next day, we are in Hong Kong.

Lunch of two noodles with sake and beer.

Night came, and had drinks watching the lights of Hong Kong,

The weather was comfortable, so we walked outside to get a closer look.

Next, dinner in the International Dining Room.  I started with two soups, a hot Japanese soup and a cold Gazpacho.  In my cuisine, I like to combine hot/cold, sweet/sour/salty, etc.  I'm actually using two spoons for the soups, not recommended in any dining etiquette course.

Also tonight, quite an assortment drinks to accompany fish and chips.  An excellent red. 

Made my special sauce.

Malt vinegar.

Fish and chips meal with drinks.

Tonight was karaoke, again,  Our drinks,

Went back to the Crooners Bar for a nightcap, and the staff sang Tiny Bubbles.

My intent was to walk the ship hallways for exercise.  Haven't don't that yet.  So only 2521 steps

Can't seem to find much about once typhoon Koto, for it was downgraded to a tropical depression on December 1.  Google AI tells me that:

As of Tuesday, December 2, 2025, the weather system formerly known as Tropical Depression Koto has weakened into a low-pressure area (LPA) far offshore and is no longer a significant wind threat to Ho Chi Minh City. 

Which means the storm is still hanging around in the ocean in the vicinity of the city.  The remnants are expected to bring heavy rain to Gia Lai, Khanh Hoa, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, and Phu Yen for the coming days.

The ocean has been bumpy the past couple of days.  However, hope all this fear of typhoons and such was  not justified.

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DAY 7 and 8 on the DIAMOND PRINCESS: Taipei and Hong Kong

About Taipei, we did not do a tour because we were on this ship six years ago, and I will today get into what we saw in 2019, plus bring you up to date on what is happening today.

I thus start with some nostalgia, as on 4December2019 I posted on our Diamond Princess stop in Taipei.

• To begin, I went back to a 20November2008 posting reporting on a project I had in 1988 working with the Taiwanese government.

One final anecdote is that PICHTR, exactly 20 years ago, worked with ITRI to produce an $80 million multiple product OTEC study for Taiwan, led by Paul Yuen and my engineering team (same group as mentioned above). In our small way, then, we like to think we stimulated some interest in what could someday be the most important renewable energy resource for Hawaii and World. Maybe The Blue Revolution (see Chapter 4 of SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Planet Earth) has finally started.

• Plus, I made visits to their second largest city, Kaohshiung, today with a population of 2.7 million.  To quote:
• 
  I also had a project with Sun Yat Sen University in Kaohshung to study the potential of the whale shark replacing cattle for protein.  My visit to Churaumi Aquarium was helpful, for they showed some graphics with photos of 300 babies in a female whale shark.  Considering that a cow mostly produces one calf, the economics of a whale shark industry seems intriguing.

• 
  One more aside, Sun Yat-sen is known to be the individual who founded the Republic of China in 1912 and today is particularly revered in Taiwan as the Father of the Nation,
• Was born in 1855  in what is now Guangdong of Hakka and Cantonese descent.
• He came to Hawaii at the age of 13 and went to Iolani School and Oahu College, which later became Punahou School.  It was in Hawaii that he first learned about Western ways and democracy.

• 
  There are seven statues of him in Hawaii, with a popular one located at the Chinese Cultural Plaza in Honolulu Chinatown, donated by the Kaohsiung City Government in 1984 to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the establishment of the Revive China Society.

• 
  He went on to get a medical degree in 1892 in Hong Kong.
• Of course he did a lot more and passed  away in 1925 at the age of 59.
• So Honolulu has produced two presidents, Barack Obama and Sun Yat-sen.

• 
• Well, all the above to indicate that I've traveled to Taiwan more than a dozen times.  Some changes since my last visit six years ago,
• The population of Taipei depends on who you ask.
• This is because the city has undergone a metamorphosis.
• One source gives these data:
• Taipei 2.779 million
• New Taipei 4,071 million,
• Kaohsiung 2.722 million.
• Below, the white part is Taipei City.

• But more important than the above, the population of Taiwan was 23.6 million in 2019.  Today?  Only 23.3 million.
• 
  You might think that the threat of China was why some moved away.  Turns out that net-migration is a plus, not a minus.
• The primary reason is that for the 22nd consecutive month, there were more deaths than births.  

• 
  That is, like several economically well developed countries in Asia, birth rates are dramatically falling.
• In 1976, Taiwan had 425,125 births, increasing the national population by 348,090 people.
• In 2024, there were only 134,850 births, dropping the population by 67,251 that year.

• 
  South Korea has an annual crude birth rate of 4.78/1000 people, the lowest in the world.  Taiwan is approaching that rate.
• Another reason why the population is declining is that people are getting older, with 19.9% of the population now 65 and older, joining Japan and South Korea as super-aged nations.  Taipei  was even higher at 24%!
• Taiwan today has a population of 23.4 million.  This number is predicted to drop to 20.7 million by 2045, with 35% 65 and older.
• 
  You ask, why are their birth rates so low?  Google AI indicates that much of Asia is in this transition because of a combination of economic and social factors.  The high cost of raising children, increased opportunities for women, and the challenges in balancing work and family life.  There is now greater access to contraception and a shift from traditional family mores to economic stability.

• 
  Of course the larger question is, how has Taiwan's relation to China changed?  Google AI provided this feedback.

Over the past six years (roughly 2018–2024), Taiwan's relationship with China has shifted from a tense but stable status quo to a period of increased coercion and confrontation, marked by intensified Chinese military pressure and the near-collapse of official dialogue channels. This is largely driven by a more aggressive Chinese posture under President Xi Jinping and Taiwan's continued consolidation of its democratic identity and closer alignment with the US. 

• 
  I asked Google AI the key question:

The current official policy of the Trump administration is complex and appears to be a combination of transactionalism, strategic ambiguity, and a focus on defense burden sharing

. While the administration has historically supported Taiwan through arms sales and deepened security ties, recent actions and statements suggest a shift towards using Taiwan as a bargaining chip in broader negotiations with China. The administration also emphasizes a "burden-sharing" approach with allies and partners and has shown a willingness to impose tariffs on China if it attacks Taiwan. 

• 
  But back to our present cruise.
• Keelung Port is 16 miles from Taipei.
• Their tallest building, Taipei 101, has 101 floors, and was the highest in the world from 2003 until 2008.
• At 1667 feet, it is now #11.
• One World Center in New York City at 1776 feet is #7, and Burj Khalifa at 2727 feet is #1.
• Any visit to Taipei should incorporate a tour of the National Palace Museum.  Why?  According to Google AI:

• 
  Evacuation from Beijing: In the 1930s, facing the imminent Japanese invasion, authorities at the Palace Museum (located within the Forbidden City) packed a large portion of the imperial collection—nearly 20,000 crates of artifacts—and shipped them south to be stored in various locations across China.

• 
  Civil War and Relocation to Taiwan: After World War II, as Mao Zedong's Communist forces gained the upper hand in the Chinese Civil War, Chiang Kai-shek and his Nationalist government (Kuomintang, or KMT) decided to relocate some of the most important and irreplaceable pieces to Taiwan.
• The Move: Between 1948 and 1949, in three separate shipments, around 600,000 items (roughly a quarter of the total artifacts moved south from Beijing) were transported by ship to Taiwan, along with the nation's gold and foreign exchange reserves. The remaining items fell into Communist hands and were returned to the Palace Museum in Beijing. 

• 
  The first stop of the Taipei tour I took in 2019 was to the National Palace Museum.  I said in my subsequent posting, how can I show 600,000 photos?  So I limited mine to just jade.
• Jade is not all green.  This gem can also be white, black, yellow, lavender, red, orange, blue and mulitple colors.
• I took a photo of this huge piece of gold jade, and note the handle of my walking cane.

• 
  I regret my decision not to purchase a dragon made of blue jade for $200 in Shanghai.  I was born in the year of the dragon.
• One of the stops was to the Grand Hotel for an incredible Chinese buffet.

• 
  The final tour stop was to Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall.

Chiang's reputation spans the full gap from revile to revere.  His respect in Taiwan has steadily declined because he executed many of the local educated and elite.  Interestingly, China is more and more portraying him as a hero for his anti-Japanese resistance during World War II.  Similarly, the U.S. twice tried to assassinate him, but now seems to look at him more favorably.

In any case, he ruled Taiwan from 1949 to 1985, passing away at the age of 87.  Madame Chiang Kai-Shek lived on for almost two decades till the age of 105.  She, Mei-ling, is one of the three famous Soong sisters, for older sister Ai-ling married China's richest man, H.H. Kung, while #2, Ching-ling, married Sun Yai-sen, Father of Modern China.  She went on to became the only Communist of the three, and became honorary President of China in 1981 just before her death.

I was planning to repeat this nostalgic gaze for Hong Kong, but I will instead give you a first-hand look when we get there on January 13, the end of our Ritz Carlton Yacht cruise from Singapore to Hong Kong.  We will stay 3 days in Hong Kong.

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