01/14/10

 

 

Asia Cruise and Land Trip:

September 24, 2005:  Our trip begins ...

A group of us is off on a new adventure ... A cruise from Seattle to Japan, via Alaska, Russia and Korea.  Yesterday we boarded the Diamond Princess in Seattle.  At 5 PM after the fire drill we set sail under clear skies and mild weather.  The skyline of this big city was the back drop.

I don't know how to introduce our group? ? ?  It's a mixture of school friends, travel friends, relatives and church friends.  It wasn't until last night at dinner that we all met as a group as we sat at two nearby tables.  Here we are:

TomO, Carl and Ken (good friends and travel mates)
Joel and Elaine (brother)
Levonne and Rick (cousin)
Barbara and Blanche (twins, high school class mates)
Karen and Paula (high school class mate)
Pat and Rod (cousin)
Helen and Chuck (friends)
Tom and Roger (me and my cousin)

Click on the thumbnail to see us leaving Seattle: 

 

September 25, 2005:  At Sea


Today is an "at sea" day.  Tomorrow we arrive in  Ketchikan at 7:00AM.  TomO, Carl, Ken and I are taking a sea plane excursion.  I'll tell you about it if I survive!

Our first stop was Ketchikan, Alaska.  The weather was mild and partly sunny.  TomO, Ken, Carl and I booked a float plane ride.  We assembled on the pier and took a short bus ride to Taquan Air where our plane was waiting.  The plane is called a Beaver and was built by DeHavilland.  It seats 8 passengers plus the pilot.  I sat in the front with the pilot and 4 people sat behind us.
 

We took off in a northerly direction and could see the downtown area of Ketchikan off to our right.  Then the plane turned left and circled back, flying at about 2,000 feet over forested terrain.  We saw many lakes as we flew beside tall mountains and over big lakes.  After about 40 minutes, the pilot descended and we landed on a long secluded lake.  We opened the doors and stepped out on the plane's floats where we took pictures.

This was a great excursions and clearly a highlight of the trip so far.

Click on these thumbnails to see pictures of our seaplane ride: 



After we returned to Ketchikan, we toured the old town, shops and dock area.  There are some old building on Creek Street ... built on piers over the water.  We walked along and watched salmon jumping.  Almost all of the stores are offering 50% off.  I bought a Russian cold weather military hat in preparation for the glacier excursion later on!

This is a thumbnail of some shots of Ketchikan  


 

September 28, 2005:  The Alaskan Glaciers

We don't know how long we will have Internet, but supposedly we lose it for a few days before reaching Asia.  We left Glacier Bay last evening and hit some rough weather.  The main stage show had to be postponed since it was too hazardous for the dancers.  We managed to sleep most of the night after I threw some dirty clothes in front of the closet to keep the door from banging open and shut.  It has calmed down a bit this morning and sun is threatening.  We're hoping to be able to walk the promenade deck this afternoon.

This morning we stopped by Rick and Levonne's table on the way out of breakfast and the people next to them were named Grace.  He had gone to Bearcreek School (near our old home place) and graduated from Molalla in 1945.  Small world.  I had heard their name last nite at dinner so I think someone else had seen them, too. 

Barbara and Blanche are fun to be with.  Blanche usually brings some object to dinner and has everyone, waiters included, try to guess what it is.  The other nite it was a device to stretch the fingers of a lady's leather glove.  I think someone was able to guess it, Karen perhaps.
 

We have heard from our Japanese exchange-teacher friend Tetsuye.  His wife will be our tour guide to Kyoto to visit the palace.  She doesn't speak English, but can help us find our way, I'm sure.
 

Click on these thumbnails to see some pictures of "life at sea"


We're working on pictures, but email has been slow.  Yesterday we toured Glacier Bay and the view was spectacular from our balcony window. Those on the other side came over for pictures and then as the ship turned we could go over to their rooms.  We could look down and see Tom and entourage. They had umbrellas since they didn't have a roof like those of us in the cheap seats do.  It was 39 degrees.  It's in the 50's now.  As Elaine and I were doing our walking on the deck, we saw some sort of whales on both sides of the ship. While we were in the bay, a national park, rangers boarded the ship and gave commentary. We saw the little boat come along side and pick them up.  Later they let the Alaskan pilot off as we headed out to sea.

We have reached as far north as we will go and will straighten out as we go on toward Russia.  We will reach there on Tuesday after having lost Monday to the date line.

I found that I had phone service for a short period yesterday and called cousin Burt.  It only lasted for a minute or so before I lost service.

Adios for now.  Lots of nothing to do this morning, maybe vegetable carving.
Here are some pictures of the glaciers we saw: 

 

October 3, 2005:  Russia

We are now sighting land, the Kamchetka Peninsula, after five restful days at sea.  There are beautiful mountains and a rugged coastline.  This area was a Soviet era submarine base and off limits to anyone for many years.  We will land at the largest city of Patropavlovsk, 200,000, the second largest city in the world with no outside access by road.  There are hundreds of volcanoes and hotsprings and this is beginning to be a popular tourist area particularly for the Japanese.

All these days at sea have been very restful and slow-paced with many activities.  There are classes in bridge and computer use (for a fee), lectures on var ious topics, particularly Russian History, and crafts--making crepe-paper flowers, folding napkins, and needlepoint purses, etc.  Some of us like all the time to read.  There are movies on TV at all times and occasionally in the theater.  At night there are shows with the musicians and dancers, comics, magicians and juggles.  There is always music in the bar areas, piano players, violin-accordian, and various groups with different eras of songs. 

We are having limited success with the computer lab.  There seems to be some problem with the software causing long waits for downloads and much re-booting of machines.  But, if there's nothing else to do, the wait isn't too onerous.  The excuse is always that we are out of satellite signal, but that doesn't particularly hold water since the lap-top wireless connection seems to be good--expensive, too. 

We have tried to be good and exercise each day.  There is a gym on the upper deck, but we have been walking the promenade deck, bundled up.  It's been a constant 49 degrees. I bought a knit cap which works well.  Four and 1/2 times around is about the same time as we walk at home.  The ship is 980 feet long.  To go around the bow, you walk up a flight of stairs.  This morning the wind was so intense that we thought we would be blown away.  Sometimes the bow is closed due to weather.

We had two storms on the crossing, the second last evening.  Some got sick, but other take pills and wear acupressure wrist bands and get along ok.  Yesterday it rained sideways, our side, and water was coming through the sliding door.  We would have the door open more, but it sounds like a freight train when the wind is blowing.  The only problem is that the medication makes you drowsy, but oblivious as you bounce from side to side of the corridor.  The waiters are quite adept at keeping the trays aright at all times.  No one has had anything spilled on them.

We have been going to the same two tables each night for dinner, with our own two waters, Ferdinand and Jose from The Philippines and Mexico.  They are great at learning our likes and dislikes and joining in with all the fun.  We have a hard time getting finished in time to get a seat for the first show.  The English like the fixed-seating in the one dining room that does that, and they like to dress more for dinner we understand. 

From:  Joel, Elaine, Levonne, Rick, Paula, Karen, TomO, TomD, Roger, Carl, Ken, Pat, Rod, Helen, Chuck, Barbara and  Blanche
Here a picture of us at our tables in the Pacific Moon dining room: 
 
October 4, 2005 Petropavlosk, Russia

Rough seas and slower speeds resulted in a late arrival to Petropalosk, Russia, we waited a long time to get off for our tours.  (Petropavlovsk is named for St. Peter and St. Paul).  Instead of boarding tenders to take us ashore, the Captain made an announcement saying he'd decided to not allow any disembarkation.  An exception was for an ill passenger who would be flying to Moscow then Vancouver BC.  The excuse:  we were going to go into the dock by tender and the seas were too high and going to get worse.  Actually, they didn't seem too bad to us; it was a beautiful day and the sea was getting smoother.  Our conclusion:  There wasn't enough time to get people off and back on before we were due to sail. 

We had a beautiful view of the city with volcanoes in the background including what looked like a new, onion-domed church with fresh gilt.  Some of the houses looked very poor, but many had been refurbished with bright red and blue roofs, also many apartment blocks.  The streets were terraced along the hillside and we could see lots of car and buses.  We could see the "Welcome Diamond Princess" sign and buses ready to take us on tours.  Since this was one of the few cruise ships to stop here, we felt bad that we had to turn around without getting off.  The comedian we had last night thought we should just lie and say we had been there, buy some stacking dolls in the gift shop aboard ship and who would know the difference?  I choose to say that I have visited Russia since we were in the harbor and our passports did get stamped.


Russians had boarded early on and had been selling rubles.  We then heard announcements to go back and exchange your new rubles back into dollars.

When the anchor was raise it caught on a fishing net (similar to the recent snagging of  a Russian submarine).  A Russian boat was sent to the anchor and we could see a huge bolt cutter on the deck.  We heard later on that if they hadn't been successful, we'd have sailed into the open ocean and sent Princess boats out to cut us loose.

Here are some pictures of Petropavlosk, Russia: and

 

Oct 7, 2005 - Muroran (Sapporo) Japan

Our first port in Japan is Muroran. This is the port city to Sapporo on the northern island of Hokaido. Before the 1870's this area was inhabited by the Ainu native people. Then the Japanese government decided to develop this area. Teams of engineers (which included American technicians) designed the city. I is a familiar grid system with organized numbering system.
A bunch in our group signed up for a bus trip into Sapporo (about 1-1/2 hours each way). We were dropped off near the TV tower on the Odori Park blocks. From there we walked northerly direction to the Sapporo Railway Station. Here is a vast underground shopped center and large department store. The weather was warm but overcast.

As it was about lunch time, we headed to the "food court", a collection of many restaurants. All of the establishments had rubber facsimiles of the dishes available along with the prices. We split and Roger, Ken, TomO, Carl and I went to a noodle restaurant. A man was rolling out noodle dough. When it was thin enough he folded it up and cut it into narrow strips.

Several of us had plain noodles. What we didn't expect was for them to be chilled! And I think because of that, they didn't taste as they looked in the picture on the menu.

We noticed that gas is 124Y per liter which we calculated to be $4 per gallon.

This is volcano country. The bay near Muroran is ringed by them and called Volcano Bay. The guide told us about a farmer who noticed that his corn field was bulging and steam was venting. He carefully recorded the changes. Today that volcano is 1500 feet tall.

Here are some "postcards" of Sapporo

:

and

and

October 9, 2005 - Pusan, South Korea

After another day crossing the Sea of Japan, we awoke as we sailing into Pusan. It is the second largest city, 3.7 million, and largest port. Some of us took the shuttle into the downtown area and others went on a variety of tours. Once downtown, we waited for the shops to open and spent time in a section with hundreds of shops selling everything. Tom and Joel stepped into a MacDonald's for coffee in order to get a tray liner for Joel's friend who collects them. We hadn't exchanged any money, but most places were happy to take dollars. It was Sunday, but that didn't seem to make much difference. Prices were good though shopping is hampered by a lack of room in the suitcases.

We met up with Tom O, Carl and Ken on their return from a tour to a Buddhist temple just in time to go to the fish market. That was a highlight of the day with the tanks of eels, crabs, flounder and other unnamed species. There were piles of various kinds of dried fish as well.

Since Sunday was Levonne's birthday, she awakened with balloons at the door, and we celebrated at dinner. The waiters came and sang and presented a cake. It will soon be Helen and Chuck's 45th wedding anniversary, so a second cake came out and another round of singing.


Joel, Elaine, TomD, Roger, Levonne, Rick, Pat, Rod, TomO, Carl, Ken, Paula, Karen, Helen, Chuck. Barbara and Blanche.

Here are some pictures of Pusan, South Korea 

and

October 10, 2005 - Nagasaki, Japan

Hello Friends,

Please let me know if you want your name removed for this e-mail list.)

Overnight from Pusan took us further south to the City of Nagasaki (pop. 450,000) on the island of Kyushu. We sailed in under a beautiful new bridge which will soon be ready to open. This is the home of the Mitsubishi ship building factory where the Diamond Princess was built in 2004. This was the first time this ship has returned and the city was ready with a warm welcome. There was a troupe of dancers as well as a large welcoming committee. Later in the day a troop of drummers came aboard for a production preceded by a gift exchange between the captain and officials from the city. On the dock a large high school band played the "Stars and Stripes Forever" as we sailed away. Lots of people had come down to see us off.

Most of us got out to the Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb Museum located near the hypocenter of the Atom Bomb blast in 1945. It was a very moving experience, In the Park are many sculptures donated by various cities and countries.

The Gano's and Daniels' took the trolley back to near the ship and went up two sets of elevators to the top of Glover Garden which was the home of Scotsman, Thomas Blake Glover and built in the 1860's at the time foreigners were first let into Japan. It is the oldest western style building in Japan. Madame Butterfly is thought to have been modeled after Tsuru Glover and there is a statue of Puccini in the Garden. Although Japan was closed to the West until that time, Nagasaki was an exception. There is a large Christian community here with a number of churches. It would be great to have more time in this beautiful city amongst numerous hills and mountains. Some compare it to San Francisco.

After another day at sea, we will be in Osaka for disembarkation. Today we must cram everything in our suitcases and have them out in the hall before we go to dinner. We will get them back tomorrow and then head either to the airport or the hotel.

Joel, Elaine, TomD, Roger, Levonne, Rick, Pat, Rod, TomO, Carl, Ken, Paula, Karen, Helen, Chuck. Barbara and Blanche.

Here are some pictures of Nagasaki, Japan:  


 

This is a picture taken on our last formal night:

 

October 12, 2005 - Osaka, Japan

(Please let me know if you want your name taken off of this e-mailing list!)

On our first full day in Osaka, we were met by Keiko, the wife of Tetsue.  Tetsue
is a high school teacher who lives in Kobe and was an exchange teacher to the United States in 1993.  He stayed for several weeks with Joel and Elaine.

Keiko took us by train to Kyoto.  The day was sunny and warm.  We toured a temple and shrine before ending up at the Imperial Palace in Kyoto.

First we saw the Golden Pavilion (Rokuon-Ji Temple), built in the 1220's.  We walked into a serene, park-like area ending up beside a lake.  In the near distance was the beautiful, three story gilt structure, topped by a Chinese phoenix.  Everyone stopped at the shore of Mirror pond to snap pictures.  We continue walking around the grounds before continuing on to the next temple.

We did a lot of walking today.  Next to a stone works (lanterns and small pagoda shapes), we entered a shrine called the Ryoan-Ji Temple with its Zen garden.  At the top of the steps, we took off our shoes and strolled to an area with a "garden" of raked gravel and flat stones.  It made me very agitated and I wanted to smooth over those rake marks and dig holes and plant chrysanthemums!

We were late and just had time to walk through "forest" ... a grove of redwood planted in a carpet of green moss.

Our main destination was the Imperial Palace.  Prior to leaving the US, Rod had  registered us all to a 2:00 PM tour of this royal property.  Kyoto was the capital of Japan starting in 794 when it was moved from Nara.  It remained the capital until it was moved to Tokyo in 1869.  The palace sturctures have burned a number of times.  The present structure was rebuilt in 1854. 

We joined about 80 other people and were led on 60 minute tour through the grid-like areas, where we saw a water feature (pond, bridge, koi, rock "beach"), pavilions, thrones, gates, walls, gardens, etc.  The buildings are a pleasant combination of many traditional Japanese architectural styles.

Kyoto was not considered a military threat in World War II and was not bombed.

You can see a picture

 

October 13, 2005 - Kyoto, Japan
On our first full day in Osaka, we were met by Keiko, the wife of Tetsuya.  Tetsuya is a high school teacher who lives in Kobe and was an exchange teacher to the United States in 1993.  He stayed for several weeks with Joel and Elaine.

Keiko took us by train to Kyoto.  The day was sunny and warm.  We toured a temple and shrine before ending up at the Imperial Palace in Kyoto.

First we saw the Golden Pavilion (Rokuon-Ji Temple), built in the 1220's.  We walked into a serene, park-like area ending up beside a lake.  In the near distance was the beautiful, three story gilt structure, topped by a Chinese phoenix.  Everyone stopped at the shore of Mirror pond to snap pictures.  We continue walking around the grounds before continuing on to the next temple.

We did a lot of walking today.  Next to a stone works (lanterns and small pagoda shapes), we entered a shrine called the Ryoan-Ji Temple with its Zen garden.  At the top of the steps, we took off our shoes and strolled to an area with a "garden" of raked gravel and flat stones.  It made me very agitated and I wanted to smooth over those rake marks and dig holes and plant chrysanthemums!

We were late and just had time to walk through "forest" ... a grove of redwood planted in a carpet of green moss.

Our main destination was the Imperial Palace.  Prior to leaving the US, Rod had  registered us all to a 2:00 PM tour of this royal property.  Kyoto was the capital of Japan starting in 794 when it was moved from Nara.  It remained the capital until it was moved to Tokyo in 1869.  The palace sturctures have burned a number of times. The present structure was rebuilt in 1854. 

We joined about 80 other people and were led on 60 minute tour through the grid-like areas, where we saw a water feature (pond, bridge, koi, rock "beach"), pavilions, thrones, gates, walls, gardens, etc.  The buildings are a pleasant combination of many traditional Japanese architectural styles.

Kyoto was not considered a military threat in World War II and was not bombed.
 


You can see pictures at:

 

and  



 

October 14, 2005 - Nara, Japan

Tetsuya  had the day off as his students were taking tests!  The was fortunate for us because he was able to take us to the city of Nara.  We are very lucky to have Tetsuya  and his wife Keiko guiding us around Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and later on Kobe!

This city if noted for its temples and "Bambi".  We took the train then a city bus and even before we arrived at our temple destination, we saw deer walking through the city parks.  We started out at a Shinto temple.  When we got there, a service was in progress and we watched for a while.  There was some music from

a pan flute looking instrument and chanting/singing.The priest wore a black, net helmet with a stiff tail.  Other officials less elaborate head wear.  Two women  in white kimonos synchronized their movements including the ringing of bells.

The next temple (Todaiji) was Buddhist and was bjuilt in 700's.  It is home of the Vaiocana Buddha "shines like the sun".  The enormous wooden structure has burned several times. 

Although this current temple is 1/3 the size of the original one, we were told it's the largest wooden structure in the world.  The enormous bronze and gilt Buddha statue was inside.  In the back was a large wooden column with a hole near the bottom.  The diameter was the size of the Buddha's nostril and if you could climb through it, you would have good luck.  There was a group of school children (10 years old) doing that!
 

Tonight, Ken packed his bags and took off for the airport for his return to San Francisco.
 

You can see some pictures at:
   and      and 

 

October 15, 2005 - Kobe, Japan

On our last full day in the Osaka area, we took the train to the Kobe station. where we were met by Tetsuya.  He took us by bus to where he and his wife Keiko are building a new home.  The house was draped in grey tarps.  The framing and outside (stucco) are complete and work was progressing on putting wall-board on the interior walls. It is 2 story with an attic (storage) and Tetsuya thought it would be finished in 2 months.

An unusual feature in the kitchen were wall cabinets where you open the door and the interior storage racks lower to a convenient level.  Keiko served cold tea and coffee to us before we continued on to downtown Kobe.

Tetsuya took us to the City Hall building which was 20 or 30 stories tall.  We took the elevator to the top where there were 2 view restaurants and we had lunch.

Afterwards, we went to the main train station.  TomD spun off to do Internet things and the rest got on another train to go over the mountains to a hot springs spa for som communal bathing.  Now days, the men bathe separately from the women.  Everyone came out feeling 20 years younger!
 

You can see some pictures of Kobe at:
   and  

October 16, 2005 - Mt. Koya (Koyasan), Japan

Most of our group has now returned to the West Coast, USA.  Ken left after 2 days and Joel, Elaine, Rick, Levonne, Roger, Pat and Rod left on Sunday after 4 days.  Now we are three travellers:  TomO, TomD and Carl!

As we left our "security blanket" Tetsuya, and the suburbs of Osaka, our train climbed south steadily into the mountains.  Two trains, an almost vertical cog railway, and a bus brought us to  Koyasan, as the Japanese affectionately call this Shingon Buddhist enclave of more than 115 temples, which was founded in 816 CE.

Koyasan is a beautiful and peaceful retreat 3,000 feet above the mad beehive of  Osaka.  Vegetarian head-shaved monks chanting in the temple at the crack of dawn, the scent of incense, a full moon, mist swirling about the towering cypress trees, exquisite Japanese gardens and temples  ... all part of the atmosphere here.

About 50 of the temples have Japanese ryokan (country inn) style accommodations  for guests.  Part of the fun was encountering the complicated rituals of the various kinds of slippers --- some for the tatami-matted bedrooms, some for the toilets, etc.  the ritual of the Japanese hot tub baths, our, komono-clad, cross-legged vegetarian meals on the floor of our room, the futton laid out on the tatamis for our beds.

We met a lively, young Spanish artist named Paco on the train.  And we spent time with him exploring and taking lots of pictures of the temples and gardens. 

Tomorrow we go off this quiet mountain top to the madding masses of Tokyo.

You can see some pictures at:
  and 
 

We ran into a nice, young Spanish artist named Paco when we were taking the trains to Mt. Koya.  We chatted a lot and then went our separate ways when we got to our destination.  He was in Osaka on a grant and knew someJapanese and helped us get around.

The next day we ran into him again as we were hiking around visiting the Temples in this sacred area.  When wewent insode of a huge, bright orange temple, he noticed the quality of the light that came in through the shogi screens.  We took turns taking pictures of each other and pictures on a timer, and the attached postcard shows you
the results. 



Okay, this is very vain, but it was fun!
 

October 18, 2005 - Tokyo, Japan

Okay, this is going to another long e-mail as I try to catch up!  You may want tostart looking for the delete button on your computer.  TomO, Carl and I left ourneat Shinjuku hotel on Oct 25th.  They have gone on to Sri Lanka and Southern India  to continue their trip.  I am now in Korea, visiting a friend named Louis.  This e-mail will tell you a little about our  week in Tokyo.

(Please let me know if you want your name taken off of the e-mailing list!)

On Oct 16th, we took the Shinkansen (bullet train) from Shin-Osaka station (Shin = new, Shinkansen = "new trunk line")  and arrived at Tokyo Station about 2.5 hours later.  We discovered that we were on a "Nozomi" train and our passes were NO good.  However, since it was their mistake, they let us finish our trip!  We're not sure what a Nozomi is, but it's a little faster than a speeding bullet.

We looked up a friend named Aurelio.  I'd met him in Honolulu in January and again in Southern California in August.  He's originally from Texas and San Diego and has now lived in Tokyo for 13 years.  He teaches English to private students.  Throughoutour stay, he was a great help in getting around and finding the sights to see.

* * * Roppongi * * *


Our first Tokyo hotel was in the Roppongi district.  There are a lot of foreigners here because many embassies and consulates are here.  The hotel was nice and staff friendly.  We each had a very small, modern room there.

We visited the Tokyo Edo Historical Museum.  A volunteer guide took us around the exhibits of what Japan looked like in the 1600's.  The guide had just returned from a trip to Portland where she had attended college years ago (Cascade? or Concordia? or something like that.)  On of the exhibits was a set of wooden buckets, weighted as to be full of night soil.  You could lift them and see what it would have been like.

We found an Internet cafe within one block.  The three of us wanted to go in and only use PC but that wasn't allowed.  We ended up each using one.  A day or so later I returned with my laptop and was able to connect to their network and download a week's worth of e-mail.

One night we went to the Ginza district.  It was a little like Roppongi ... affluent,
but with more westerners, Mercedes and BMW's.  There was a lot of energy ... human and all of the neon lighting.  Like Time Square, there were large screen TVs with ads on them.



* * * Fish Market * * *


A trip to the Tokyo Fish Market is highly rated in the tour books.  Aurelio said he thought the fish market was not allowing tourists to come through anymore.  However, we were able to go into the huge, huge warehouse - wholesale floor.  We could see why it might be dangerous because the activity is frenetic with carts, motorized carriers, buyers, sellers, fish cutters and so on.  At one point I saw a worker using a machete to precisely slice through an 8 foot tuna.  Here is a little movie I made at the fish market.  It is about 800 Kilobytes and I think it should play in your browser (it does on mine):  http://www.tomdaniels.com/2005AsiaCruise/FishMarket.mov

We split up after the fish market and Carl went to see the Meiji Shrine and Old Tokyo.  TomO and I headed out for Electric City (Akihabara).  TomO got his watch band fixed ($2.00) and we started looking at the offerings.  For blocks and blocks, the streets are lined with stores selling computers, software, cameras, cell phones, refrigerators, and so on.  I saw my next laptop computer!  LIGHTWEIGHT and with  a LONG BATTERY LIFE.



* * * Shinjuku * * *

After three days we left our hotel in Roppongi and moved over to Shinjuku.  We had booked a very nice hotel on the Internet but were unable to change the dates whenwe decided to arrive in Tokyo earlier.  It was the Southern Century Tower Hotel, immediately south of the train station.  We were told that the hotel was used in  the movie "Lost in Translation".  The lobby was on the 20th floor and  our room was on the 25th with beautiful views of the city.

We went out for dinner with Aurelio's friends Dominic and Richard Daniels.  (They are each English men who have married Japanese women.  Dominic writes software for teaching English as a second language and Richard teaches English.  I put in Richard's last name because it's the same as mine.  His brother is James, the same as my brother's!! Maybe they belong to our family who stayed in England several centuries ago? ? ?

On night we went to a Karaoke Box.  This is a karaoke place when your "rent" a small room.  Ours had a table, sofa and room for 5 or 6 people.  They charge for each person for each hour and you can drink as much as you want while you are there.

I drank Calpis (pronounced Cow Piss) while the others drank beer and more exotic
drinks.  We had an foreigner's book (English) book of song lists by title and artist.
It was fun. 



A special treat was a Butoh dance performace at a small theater not too far away.  Butoh Dance is a Japanese avant-garde dance originated by HIJIKATA,Tatsumi in 1950s. The program was called Kokuge and there were 2 dancers and one musician!  The dance seemed primal, physical and self-abusive at times (hitting and scratching their  bodies, falling on the floor, etc.).  The musician was fascinating.  He played a bass violin (bass fiddle).  For some movements, he lay it on the floor and used  2 bows on it.  He ran the bow across the strings above and below the bridge.  One time he played a flute as he was playing the violin.  Very  bizarre and fascinating! (You can see more information on Butoh at

http://www.ne.jp/asahi/butoh/itto/butoh-e.htm
 

We took 3 day trips out from Tokyo:   to Kamakura, Hakone and Nikko.

* * * Kamakura* * *



In an effort to get our money's worth  out of our Japan Rail Passes, we took thebullet train south, past Yokahama to Kamakura.  At the station we got a tourist map and directions to several Buddhist temples.  The first (Kotokuin Temple) is the site of a huge, bronze statue.  (The second largest Buddha next to the one we saw in Nara).  At one time, this Buddha was in a temple building but, at the end of the 1400s, a huge tsunami came along and washed everything away except the Buddha. It is said the face has an unusually serene countenance. 

For a few additional yen, we went inside of the statue to inspect the welds.  We also bought bundles of incenseThere was a little flame machine near the selling area to light it.  Once they were lit we walked to a large incense burner and placed them inside.

The temples sell all kinds of good luck charms and Carl bought enough to cover all of the bases (health, luck, good grades in school, longevity and automobile safety.) It was a little rainy and colorful umbrella were open to add to the scene. 
The other temple was the Hasedera Temple complex.  We walked past a koi filled pond and entered a cave to see the Buddha carvings and get claustrophobia. 

Further up the hill was a set of temples.  In one was a huge wheel shaped "thing" lying it's side.  If you took a handle and pushed it around one revolution, you will gain the knowledge of the library it represents.  I don't know about that. I couldn't even remember the name of the temple once I left it.

From this hillside vantabe point, we could see the beautiful bay at Kamakura.

TomO and I decided to get a can of "milk-coffee" out of the vending machine.  Imagine our surprise and pleasure when the can came out almost too hot to hold!

* * * Hakone * * *



We awoke to very clear weather.  In fact we could see Mt. Fuji from our hotel.  We took a set of trains including the bullet train to Odawara, a private railway to Gora which is near Hakone and Lake Ashi.  In fact at various times we were on train, bus, boat and cable-car tram.  At the train station we were fortunate to run into a guy from Singapore named Alfonse.  He'd actually READ the tourist brochure and could show us the recommended route. 

It was a beautiful day and at different points Mt. Fuji made a dramatic backdrop.

A highlight was the Hakone Open Air Museum, a compound which included outdoor sculpture
gardens and indoor art galleries.  They have a collection of art by world famous artists:  Miro, Picasso, Calder, Moore and so on.  I especially like the "Symphonic Sculpture",  This was a round tower with a metal spiral staircase inside.   The walls are stained glass which you don't realize until you are inside with the light shining through.  At the top is an observation deck.

A wading pool of hot, mineral water invites the viewers to take their shoes off and soak their feet!

At this point, Mt. Fuji erupted leaving only a large hole in the ground.  Not really, just checking to see who's made it this far.

* * * Nikko * * *



Aurelio came with us to the town of Nikko, about 2 hours north of Tokyo.  Here we found Toshogu , the most popular shrine in Japan.  It is the where Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616), the first Shogun of Japan, is enshrined.   The complex is vast.  We took pictures of the crimson Shinkyo Sacred Bridge.  It was originally built for the exclusive use of the Shogun and his entourage, and now anyone with 500 yen (about $5.00) can use it.  (Please note that it doesn't go anywhere.  You walk to the other side but have to return.  So if you really want to go to the other side of the river, you might consider another route. )

At the Sacred Stable (Shinkyusha) is the famous carving of the three monkeys in  "see-no-evil, hear-no-evil, speak-no-evil".  We took our shoes off several times.  You might consider wearing slip-ons if you come to this shrine.  By the  way, "Temple" refers to Buddhism and "Shrine" refers to Shintoism.  People seemed more insistant on this distinction than I though was necessary!

 * * * Sayonara Tokyo * * *

Well, I'm at the end and I understand your disappointment that this long rambling. Imagine how I felt, and I WROTE it!

`I arrived at night and stayed at an hotel near the airport. The next day I took the airport van back to the airport where Louis met me at McDonalds. The weather is turning to Fall and can be quite nippy.

In Korea, they drive on the other side of the road from Japan. How confusing! I don't know how they manage! They even pass each other on the street and stand on the escalators on the right side ? ? ?

* * * October 25, 2005:  Wonju, Korea * * *

I met Louis several years ago in Cape Town, South Africa. A year ago he moved to Wonju (1.5 hours east of Seoul) where he teaches English. He lives in an apartment about 10 minutes walk from the school. He has one large room plus a small kitchen and bathroom. His neighbor/co-worker lent him a bed for me to use. Louis moved his little kitchen table to the living room and placed it along side of his desk. We can sit side-by-side ... he on his computer and me on my laptop. He or I act as the "router" ... by unpluging and pluging his network cable back and forth between the computers.

This week he started work at 1:00 PM and quit at 9:00 PM. This gave us time to sight-see in the mornings.

Wonju is a city of 300,000. It feel more "American" than Tokyo because the streets are wide and there's a feeling of open space. Yesterday I walked to the main downtown, several miles away, where there is a market area. Stalls criss-cross a network of alleys and streets. Here you can buy clothes, meat, vegetables and eat at little noodle and soup tables. I'd told Louis I'd be careful to not get lost but I didn anyway. When I came out of the bazaar, I didn't know where I was. After a little bit of walking I found the main street.

We've been eating at a little restaurant about 10 minutes from Louis'. It is mostly vegetarian and we've been through the menu and have started over again. We've had kimbap, a sushi roll. We were able to point to the slices of ham and imitation crab and ask to leave that out. We also ate babimbap (rice with pickled vegetables). We even went there the next night and had dokpokkie, thick rice noodles in a red, hot chili sauce.

You can see a "postcard" of Wonju at


* * * Seoul * * *

On the weekend we went to Seoul and met a friend of Louis' named Mr. Park. He was a great help in getting us all around the city by bus and subway. We took the express bus to Seoul then a subway to meet Park.

Louis was wearing a brand new pair of shoe for which he paid a bargain price of $7.00. Even before we got to Seoul, the sole started coming loose. There was a shoe repair stand at the train station and they glued it back together. (for $4.00). Before we too much further, the second sole failed and came off completely! Luckily he had a second pair of shoes at Park's apartment.

Kimchi is ubiquitous here. It is pickled and/or fermented cabbage and raddish. They even sell big "chest freezers" which is really for making and storing kimchi. The other day I went to a Baskin and Robbins and looked for kimchi ice cream! I had to settle for sweet potato ice cream instead. It started out taking quite nice, but when I started to run into chunks of potato ... hhmmmmmm. They also like pickled Chinese raddish (as do I) and they make sushi rolls everywhere.

In Seoul Louis got his "new" cell phone activated after some aggravations ("come back next week"). From there we went to the electronic shopping area. We entered a building with floor after floor of stalls selling TVs, cell phone and computers. They sell the Korean brands of LG, TG and Samsung brands as well as Japanese and HP and even Dell. I saw a small laptop with 2 GB of RAM that I wanted to buy. I'm reluctant to buy a brand that isn't sold in the US. Here were are in Seoul at a wonderful (mostly) vegetarian buffet! s

That evening we went to a Korean Sauna (hot springs or baths). I think it would be like the one in Kobe, Japan that our group went to. Inside we showered and then sank into hot pools. We could even go outside and sit in a hot pool under the stars. There were a lot of young men there ... teenagers and in their 20s. The evening had turned cold and the hot water felt so good. We sat in the steam room, sauna before ending up sitting on low stools for a final soapy scrub.

Louis and I stayed at Park's for the night. He has a special floor sleeping pad (that I've seen advertised on their TV). It has "Jade" (quartz) wafers and electricity so it heats up. Although I was basically sleeping on the hard floor, I slept like a log!

The next day we took the bus to a Buddhist temple on a mountainside just outside of Seoul. Park is a Buddhist and he showed us how to pray in the temple. There was A LOT of kneeling and bowing and standing and kneeling and bowing and standing! Buddha statutes were carved in the stone outside of the temple and along side of that were many little piles of stones. We added "our" stones to the pile, not quite knowing why. You can see a postcard of Seoul Old Town and the Buddhist temple

We went to the puppy stores when we came back to town. I teased Park and asked if they were delicious. He loudly said "NO, NO". This is the man whose name is pronounced "Bark" and who would not let me kill the mosquito in his apartment! Like many other businesses in Seoul, many, many pet stores are side by side.

Before we left Seoul, we went to a big downtown park. It was filled with old people who come here for the day to meet friends, sing, dance, drink and hang out. This was immediately next to the Palace grounds ... the home of the former kings of Korea. You can see some old people and city scenes in this postcard:

Sorry for the overly-long trip news e-mail. I hope that by now you've found the delete key!

On the way to the Seoul Buddhist temple, we passed a building with a bunch of carved "totems" out front. The shapes looked vaguely familiar. My theory is that since Christianity is such a growing force here and since this was close to a Buddhist temple area, I believe these are Christian symbols that are trying to counteract the forces of this Eastern religion.

At about the same moment we saw a woodpecker working away at the trunk of this tree.

You can see this bird and these sacred art pieces here:

November 4, 2005 - Chengdu, China

I am now in Chengdu, China ... the capital of the Sichuan Province ... the second most populated province of China (Henan is the most populated province.)

(Please let me know if you want your name taken off of this e-mailing list.)

My friend Don is in his third year of teaching English at the Chengdu University of Technology. You can see scenes of the campus at this web link:

 http://www.cdut.edu.cn/cdut/english/Campus%20Scene.html

Don found a hotel for me at the building next to his apartment. It is in a building with many restaurants on the ground and first floor. The hotel "reception" was on the 5h floor and my room is on the 6th. I have a view of the back where it is quiet.

Don and his friend Danny picked me up at the airport. The plane was an hour late and it seemed to take a long time for luggage to arrive on the carousel. I could see Don from the baggage area and we could exchange sign language! we took a taxi to an intersection very near my hotel. We couldn't get closer because they are building an overpass and this blocks traffic.

I'm staying in a large room, polished wood floors, TV, refrigerator, sofa, double bed, a/c, Internet connection plus bath room. It is very inexpensive ... $12 a night. It's in a nice area ... the US Consulate is nearby as well as Ring Road No. 2, hotels, shopping center and restaurants.

I always pictured Don living in a dusty village, but Chengu is a large cosmopolitan city. Chengdu's population is 2 million while the greater Chengdu area is 6 million. There are remnants of a more primitive way of life: pedicabs, street vendors (cooking food, roasting chestnuts, etc.). there are lots of people, cars, motorcycles, buses and bikes. The pedestrian is lowest on the "right-of-way totem pole" and you have to be very careful when crossing the street. Cars go through red lights and plow through crosswalks at a high speed even when we have the green pedestrians light.

On Sunday the 3 of us too a bus and taxi to the Qingsheng Mountains, about 30 miles NW of here. Outside of the city, on the expressway, we passed car dealerships and modern office parks.

Qingsheng is the birthplace of Daoism. It is way up the mountainside and we walked up hundreds of steps. At one point we ferried across a lake and took a cable car to a higher elevation. The temple was handsome and at different places sold red candles and pink incense which we bought and lit. You can see some sights of Qingsheng at

 

If you want to see the way I wanted to get up to the mountain top temple, click on this

Yesterday I went with Don to his campus to meet with his Chinese tutor. We had a good visit and at noon-time, walked just outside the campus to a restaurant along the river. Tonight I will go back to the campus to attend a music competition. Don is one of the judges!

Here are a few more pictures


 

More Chengdu, China Nov 13-18, 2005


* * * Panda Adventure * * *

Saturday was a long, interesting day.  It started out with Don, Danny, Cody (a friend of theirs) and I taking a taxi about 20 km into the north suburbs to Panda Adventure.  This is a preserve for Pandas.  It is very well laid out; we walked into the compound and saw panda after panda.  These animals are solitary.  We never saw more that 2 in each grassy, treed enclosure with a dry moat around it.  We would be about 10 feet away at time.  They were fed bamboo stalks and leaves which were placed in a holder. 

At one point I could have put on booties and gloves and had my picture taken with a Giant Panda for US$ 150.  I opted for photos with a Red Panda for about US$ 6.50.  You can see some of the photos we took at

 

Here's a little move of a giant panda eating.  It is about 4 megabytes in size so you might not want to download because of that. 

 http://www.tomdaniels.com/2005AsiaCruise/Panda.mov

* * * Karaoke* * *

We got back in time to go to the Karaoke Room across the street from my hotel.  This was similar to the one in Tokyo.  The electronic song book and controls were a little different.  Don and I sat at a computer terminal and looked through the list of about 130 songs in English.  We took turns singing English and Chinese songs.  Danny has a beautiful voice.  He sang in a boy band several years ago!  You can see Karaoke pictures here 

 

* * * Badminton * * *

Before the evening was over, we rented space in the gymnasium at nearby Sichuan University.  We had 4 racquets so the idea was to play doubles.  Don was warming with Cody up when he slipped and fell.  So while he was sitting on the bench, I started some warm up volleys with Danny.  After about 1 minute, I tripped and fell on the side of my face!  Another older athlete on the bench.  I was hoping for a black eye, but only wound up with a couple of scrapes.  Later on Don and I returned to the court for some good fun.

* * *  Singing Competition * * *

Don invited me to his campus last Thursday night for an English Singing contest sponsored by the Foreign Language Club and by a local hair dresser.  I started to sit in the row behind the judges when I was asked to BE a judge.  There were 12 contestants and we had sheets of paper to enter scores in the area of Emotion, Choice of Song, Poetic Interpretation, Reaction of Audience, Quality of Voice, etc.  It was fun.  At the end we went on the stage to present awards and to have our pictures taken.  An unusual set was when 2 male hair dressers came on stage with 2 young women.  While the guys were cutting hair, a man and woman sang a duet.

I went to one of Don's English classes last week and that was fun.  I sat in the 5th row.  Don is a great teacher  and the class of 50 or so students was attentive and responsive.  Four students took their turns this week in standing in front of the class and telling a story about themselves.  Another exercise was to look at some "Far Out" cartoons of aliens, describe what's happening and explain why they were funny.  You can see some pictures here



* * * Restaurants * * *

There are many, many restaurants in our neighborhood.  In fact on the ground floor of my hotel are about a dozen.  Many more on the nearby streets.  We've been to some more than once.  I especially like the barbecue restaurant where we get all kinds of vegetables, seasoned and grilled on skewers.  Another is a noodle restaurant where then make noodles and dumpling wrappers out at the front of the small eating space.  We've been there about 4 times.

I told someone I'd been to a "hot pot" restaurant and later realized I haven't.  And from what I understand, I'm not sure I want to.  You  select raw meat and vegetables and then cook it at your table in either pepper oil or some other boiling liquids.  We've passed some of these restaurants on the street and they don't smell appetizing.  Here's what it looks like:

* * * Chun Xi Rd * * *

Don needed to go to the American Consulate to get his signature notarized.  Unfortunately we on Friday 11/11/2005 and realized that it was closed for Veterans Day!  So we went to an upscale shopping area to find the Holiday Inn ???? where we knew there'd be a business center.  They couldn't provide notary services, but get up some information on express shippers.  Anyway, this area had large pedestrian streets.  There were expensive shops and restaurants. We saw an "art show" of posters promoting energy  saving which was interesting.  The art teacher in charge led us around explaining the posters and someone was filming us and taking pictures.  Maybe we'll turn up on TV channel 9 (English) or in the school paper!

* * *Tianfu Square and Renmin Park  * * *

Two other stops that day before we returned to my hotel were Tianfu Square (city center) and Renmin Park.  Tianfu Square noted for the statue of Mao the Liberator.  He is looking across a busy street to a huge plaza being dug up for the subway and an underground shopping center.  Neaby was Renmin Park (People's Park) which was full of chrysanthemums and very photogenic.  Here's some photos of this place: 

Shanghai, China Nov 18-23, 2005

In Chengdu, I got up around 5:00AM so I could finish packing, check out and take a taxi to the airport.  Danny came over to my hotel to get me and we went to Don's apartment for a quick breakfast and coffee before leaving.

My luggage was over weight and I had to pay US$50 for Air China to fly it to Shanghai.  The flight was about 2 hours and when I arrived, I got a Hotel Shuttle Bus which brought me near my hotel.  The driver gestured and pointed m"3 blocks in that direction".  This turned out to be the way and I check in to the Magnificent Plaza Hotel. 

* * * Magnificent Plaza Hotel * * *

Oddly enough, this hotel resembled the hotel where I stayed in 1984 (but is actually a lot newer)  I had 2 large rooms and the biggest bed I think I've ever slept in.The hotel was walking distance to the Shanghai Museum, Peoples Park, the subway, Nanjing Road and the Bund.  But to get there, I walked past about 4 blocks of little shops.  As the day progressed, more vendors came out on this street until in the evening the sidewalk was packed with people cooking food to sell, produce, jewelry, clothes, DVDs, etc.

* * * Shanghai Museum * * *

This is one of the first places I went.  I spent time in the "Minority History", Jade and Ceramic galleries.  At the end I saw the Louis XIV exhibit of paintings, sculpture, tapestry, etc. related to the reign of this French monarch.  The signs for the exhibit were in French and Chinese.

* * * Market * * *

I went to the market which is a large area separated into 2 main areas:  Food and merchandise.  The vendors were very aggressive here.  They met my cab waving pictures of Louis Vitton bags and Rolex watches.  As I walked through the merchandise area, vendors grabbed my arm and poked and pulled me!  I smiled and shook my head.  I loved looking at the scarves, Chinese jackets, leather jackets, jewelry, binoculars, hats, golf clubs, shoes and so on.

The food market was something to see too ... plastic basins "boiling" with swimming eels, crabs, bull frogs, clams, fish, fruit, vegetables and the largest assortment of tofu I've ever seen.  I came to the market 3 times but didn't buy very much.  One time, a guy started talking to me.  He wasn't bothered that I wasn't buying anything.  He wanted to practice his English.  At one point he said he worked in a "hospital".  Did I want to see it?  I thought that would be interesting.  Actually he said "house" and I ended up at his "uncle's" place, down a street, up an alley, through the kitchen, up 2 flights of stairs and into a room lined with designer bags and Rolex watches.

High quality fakes.  President Bush was in Beijing that day and the police were walking through the market in groups of 5 and 6 and I saw signs warning about selling fake goods.  There were other westerners in this room buying and I looked at the bags and watches but didn't buy anything.

You can see some pictures of the market at: 



* * * Ferry to Pudong * * *

The guy at the market and his friend offered to take me across the Huangpu River to the Pudong section of Shanghai.  This used to be farm land and but now the only thing planted there are some of the tallest buildings in Asian.  We took a taxi to the Bund, walked along admiring the views, to the ferry which took us across the river to Pudong.  We walked to the Shangrila Hotel where I stayed with  John and Jill in 2001.  The hotel has built a new tower behind the old one.  I walked through the lobby of the "old" hotel and admired the city views.

* * * Shanghai Pearl Tower * * *

This tower was the next stop.  I bought tickets for the 3 of us to go up to the observation deck.  Unfortunately the sunny clear skies of the prior days were replaced with a mocha haze and I couldn't see all that far, but I saw impressive panoramas anyway. You can see tower pictures at 

 

* * * Bund * * *

I went to the Bund at night.  This is the area along the Huangpu River.  Shanghai is historically an international trading city and the influence of Europe can be seen in the architecture of the old building.  Beautiful at night.

* * * Nanjing Road * * *

From the Bund, I walk along until I came to Nanjing Road.  This is a very upscale commercial area.  At a certain point it is for pedestrian only.  I shopped in a Japanese deparment store called Uni Qlo and had a coke float at an ice cream shop.

* * * Xintiandi area * * *

This is a renovated, tourist area, walking distance, from my Hotel.  I walked around the lake there, saw the location of the first National Congress of the Communist Party of China.  I ate dim sum at a Taiwanese restaurant called Din Tai Fung.  There was plenty of shopping around here (a Shanghai Tang store $$$), Starbucks, McDonalds, etc.  The Coffee Bean is another coffee place that competes with Starbucks.  When I sat there drinking coffee, I was able to connect my PDA to the Internet through their wireless connection!

* * * Old Shanghai Street * * *

I walked to this more structured tourist area.  This was the first time I'd seen so many westerners since I arrived in China!  More aggressive vendors.

* * * Subway * * *

There are 3 subway lines in Shanghai and 2 of them come near my hotel.  If you go a certain station, you can take the Maglev train to the Pudong Airport.  I took a ride to the Science museum which involved changing from one line to another.  The maps were easy to understand (Chinese and English).  I bought one-way tickets for my rides each costing around $US 0.50.

A few more pictures of Shanghai can be seen at 

Today I am on my way to Hong Kong.  TomO will fly in from Australia and meet me the next day.

Hong Kong & Macao Nov 23-28, 2005
* * * Shanghai to Hong Kong  * * *

I took a one hour taxi ride to the Shanghai Airport.  This cost about US$25.00.  The day was trying to be sunny, but was also hazy.  Several Magnetic Levatation (MagLev) trains passed us by.  You can take the Shanghai subway to the MagLev station to get to the airport.  I flew to HK on Dragon Air and they didn't weigh my luggage (luckily!)

* * * Kowloon * * *

A Hong Kong friend, Robert, met my plane and together we took the Express Train to Kowloon.  This train is a special part of the HK subway system that has 4 stations on it.  It only stopped once ... at HK Disneyland, which is in the direction of the new HK airport.  Robert is ethnically Chinese and works for a Japanese cosmetic company (manufacturing and distribution logistics) and speaks Japanese, 3 dialects of Chinese as well as English.  He was a great help in seeing HK.


* * * Thanksgiving in HK * * *


TomO flew in on Thanksgiving, the day after I arrived, and I went to the airport to meet him.  We returned to our Kowloon Hotel (that's the name of it).  We had a room the 17th floor, the "club" floor (we got a lot of extras).  One thing that wasn't included was space!  It was one of the smallest rooms on the whole trip!  The hotel was situated on Nathan Road between the Peninsula Hotel and the YMCA ... a great tourist location ... we could walk to the Star Ferry and lots of nearby shopping. 

We ate Thanksgiving dinner on the 9th floor of a Japanese restaurant facing HK Island.  We expected the nightly firewords at 8PM, but instead the bulidings across the way lit up and there was a laser light show off of about 5 of the tallest buildings.


One view of from Hong Kong:

 

* * * HK Island * * *


We traced and retraces some tourist steps in Hong Kong ... Tram to Victoria Peak, Excalator "Street" up the hill from Central, The Night Market and the Stanley Market.  A highlight was a sea food dinner with 6 of Robert's friends.   One of the dishes was crab ... which had the biggest and fattest claws I've ever seen.  Afterwards we went to a harborside bar for drinks.

Another night we ate as a grilled restaurant where you are served raw food next to a foot square extremely hot, flat stone.  You put your food on the stone and cook it to order.

Near the Stanley Market (lots and lots of stalls), a shop was untying a load of fresh Christmas Trees.  I went over and look at a tag which said they were Douglas fir had come from
Sublimity, Oregon.  Another  "Postcard" from Hong Kong: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


* * * Macao * * *


On Saturday we took the 1 hour fast ferry to Macao.  This island was returned to China from the Portuguese in 1999 and like HK is a Special Administrative Region (SAR).  It is popular because of the casinos.  Las Vegas resorts have casinos here.  The highlight was the Ruins of St. Paul.  This was a Catholic church built originally in the 1600s but had burned 3 times since then.  The last time was in the mid 1800s and now all that is standing is the front wall and the steps leading up to it. 

The Macao was performing an outdoor concert and you could sit of the steps of St. Pauls and listen.  Here are 2 "Postcards" from Macao:




* * * Oakland * * *

TomO and I flew home on Cathay Pacific airlines on Monday, 11/28/05.  It's great to be home!  Season's Greetings:   Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  Click here to see my Digital Christmas Card: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


This site was last updated 01/14/10