A Quick Stop In Shimizu!

     What a difference an overnight sleep makes! After a day of looking and acting like zombies, a good night's rest was all we needed although by the end of the day we began to drag again. As we came alongside, Mt Fuji was very visible but still a long was off. Finally we could get a photo of it!

Mt Fuji

    We had breakfast with some world travellers (Britain and New Zealand) . We also ran into a couple that we met in the airport. They are still waiting for their luggage which ended up in Hawaii! His name is Richard Alan same as mine. The only difference is that I had on fresh cloths! They hope to get their luggage today. The day was warm and sunny so shorts and light clothing was in order.   

Game Museum

Shimizu turned out to be an interesting little port. Since we had an early afternoon sailing, we decided to walk around the area. Along the dock were the usual shops found in every port. We headed to the local fish market which had the usual unusual items. However, little in the market was fresh. All had already been put into wrapped packages unlike what we will see in Busan. There were very few shops in the “downtown” area. The S Pulse mall seemed to be the key game in town. It was not the usual type of mall, having souvenir type shops. The eateries were a bit different. They have a vending machine where you order and pay, then take the printed slip to the counter where they serve the foods. We had never seen that before. I guess it makes ordering and handling money a lot easier. The mall also had a large play zone called a Game Museum filled with “vending” vs action type games. A high school band was also giving a concert along the waterfront. In all a pleasant few hours on a warm sunny day.

Food machine

Mt Fuji

One of the highlights had to be seeing Mt Fuji. It was only visible 5 days this month. It was covered in clouds the last time we were here. The downer of the day is that I “lost” my camera case. I lost one on an earlier cruise while in Shanghai a few years back. It must have something to do with being in Asia! I guess that I left it at security when we came back because it was in the lost and found.

    After the sailaway, we had a quiet afternoon. We seem to still be feeling the effects of jet lag. In addition Judy has come down with a sore throat. I hope that it is a passing thing. There was little of interest on the programme. They have the usual offerings – a movie, art talks, detox talk, diamond sales etc. I did go to the port lecture but it was probably the worse of any we have attended. He seemed to promote the ship tours, rambled on but never got to the things that independent travelers needed to know – like where is the subway station, downtown, etc.

Now that the mini bar is set up, we can enjoy a drink or glass of wine in our cabin when Judy feels a bit better. The Elite lounge specialty tonight was beef steak tartar in Skywalkers – the deck 17 lounge at the aft of the ship. Someone remarked that it makes the ship look like a big shopping cart because of the way it extends out the aft!

The Australian comedian was very entertaining with an off beat show. He used slides and video to make the point. We finished dinner and decided on an early night. Tomorrow we are in Osaka!