Where in the World are Ric and Anne?

Anne's notes on MS Zuiderdam and our week in China: 1.  The staff on the Zuiderdam could almost all be hired by GHBC.      They are wonderful! 2.  So far my favorite art form that I have tried has been Japanese ink painting. 3.  The lame foot has taken its toll on the other knee. Now using two sticks to balance the weight. 4.  Anne can still zip up her jeans. 5.  The parts of Japan we were in, were incredibly clean! No trash, but no trash cans. Must be a “ take it with you mentality.” 6. I cannot say enough positive about the public restrooms in Japan. All were clean with toilet paper, soap and warm water for hands. Most had toilets with heated seats and built in bidets. Really! 7. I cannot say enough negative about western style Chinese toilets in public spaces. They were generally designated for handicapped and there were at most two and not always one. The better ones had seats.  No toilet paper. Only cold water for hands and rarely soap.  No towels. Will not mention lack of cl

So I, Ric, am finally getting around to writing this blog late three days after our visit, and my aged memory is confusing the two days excursing in and from Kobe. Let me just post some photos here, then append my description plus some Road Scholar text. I'm combining the two days things here. Frankly I think my paragraphs are out of synch.  Vending machines all over Japan are left unguarded all day and night yet are not broken into. Buddhist gardens always involve water. Gorgeous gardens. How is upkeep paid for? Lovely aged limbs. A town below the temple with many women and men in traditional kimonos You can set your watch by the bullet train. Gilded palace. Royalty on top level, samurai on second level, I believe. Across from one temple was shopping and it happened to be catering almost exclusively to dogs. Vas majority of dogs were small, suitable for small apartments. Japanese graveyard snapped from bus. Temple with carefully raked sand. At least half of all bikes had the nice

On this final day in Japan Anne and I opted out of the Road Scholar group tour of yet more temples and shrines—group members are grumbling—and went exploring and shopping on our own. Near the port we visited a shopping center geared to port visitors. Highlight for us was the massively tall aquarium and a class of cute Japanese day care kids. Unable to find more authentic Japanese goods in this shopping center, two kindly clerks suggested we go the Kawabata Shopping Arcade. We took a taxi there and had fun shopping.  Anne purchased nice bowls, chopstick rests, and two beautiful pieces of brocade-like cloth made in the shop seen in lower left photo of panel below. We did not eat in the ramen restaurant nor purchase the $400 kimono. At an expensive "English" tailor shop I purchased an old fashioned crossover (continental) tie that was shown to me when I asked about bow ties. I didn't really know much about it but liked the look of it and the fact that you didn't have to

Guam Today I find it difficult to fathom the magnitude of the US and Japanese forces fighting in the battles from Guam to Saipan to .... Iwo Jima ... to Okinawa, the string of islands marching northward to Okinawa in the Ryuku Island chain leading to Japan proper. When I get back home and plan to watch in full the pair of movies  directed by Clint Eastwood, "Flag of Our Fathers," and "Letters to Home," depicting the Battle of Iwo Jima from the American and Japanese perspectives, respectfully. You can find trailers at          Flag of Our Fathers:   https://youtu.be/zmMygl7Ugs8?si=h08Ldrh8SeJQgSza          Letters to Home:   https://youtu.be/GA-sv7THq00?si=2zdO27O9XLy-RtGT   US Assault Forces. (Movie depiction) View of Japanese bunker as seen—or not—by assaulting US forces. (Movie depiction) American troops entering Japanese command complex?(Movie depiction) Dense troop assault. (Movie depiction) Dense tr

Musings from Anne: Food:    There’s an amazing variety, most of which is quite tasty.  Vegan always available. Specialty dining rooms at added cost that people say are excellent. There are always cookies…..homemade   Avoiding gaining 10 pounds in 4 1/2 months is a challenge. Our Road Scholar group: 21 participants, 7 men, 14 women, 2 couples   Fellow passengers aboard ship: Predominantly English speaking with Brits, Australians,  Canadians & Americans. Many other languages can be heard, however.   There are a number of folks on rollators, canes and wheelchairs. Holland America is wonderful handling all the handicapped passengers. If we can pull up to a dock for port, off come the wheelchairs, no matter how primitive the area might be. The tender ports are not always amenable to rolling aids. The Road Scholar lectures and excursions have been terrific for the  most part. Although Americans clearly  visit these WWll battle sites, it is not via cruise ships. Only about 5 come to Guam