It’s another quiet day on the ship. We docked in Otaru this morning and there were 16 buses lined up at the dock waiting for our passengers. Again, Marilyn and I are not having a shore excursion. These little towns are charming in their own way but they’re not set up for tourism and it seems pointless to drive for an hour to look at a lake. It’s better to wait until we get to Vladivostock where we can see the house where Yul Brynner’s family lived (that’s being sarcastic, by the way. Only the Americans would want to see the house of someone related to a celebrity.)
We did get off the ship for a walk. We’re docked in the town and it’s not far, through an industrial area, to the local Mall. Japanese malls are no different from any others. Unlike Osaka, or other cities who get lots of tourists, the one here had no signs in English. Still, we had a very short shopping list: black socks for me. Somehow, I had only packed one pair even though I wear dark trousers to dinner every night. We had a bit of small change left over from the currency I had brought from Tasmania and it seemed a good idea to spend it. In fact, we had ¥756, about $9.40, so were pleased that we were able to buy 2pairs of pretty good socks, a box of bandaids, three bananas and a small packet of sembai biscuits (I think that’s how you spell it; they’re made of rice and there are hundreds of varieties).
It’s disappointing that we have to buy bananas. We had breakfast in the dining room this morning and were handed a big menu which included bananas, grapefruit and prunes, none of which were available. Perhaps the menu has been amended to cater for Asian tastes but I would have thought that fruit would be a priority. All we seem to get is melon and pineapple, with tinned peaches and pears, swimming in syrup.
We were talking to a German fellow after breakfast who told us that he and his wife are being off-loaded in Busan because they don’t have a Chinese visa. There are a dozen others in the same boat (or in fact, being off-loaded from the same boat.) He’s livid because his travel agent in Bowral told him he didn’t need one and he took her word for it. He’s tried to ring her but she’s in Ireland getting married and couldn’t care less. It’s certainly a trap and getting proper advice can be very expensive. The moral of the story: don’t believe someone who is only interested in the commission she is getting.
There’s nothing much happening today: the dining room is closed and so is the Latte-tudes coffee shop. Marilyn’s having a snooze and I’m bored. Not a good way to feel on a cruise.
We did get off the ship for a walk. We’re docked in the town and it’s not far, through an industrial area, to the local Mall. Japanese malls are no different from any others. Unlike Osaka, or other cities who get lots of tourists, the one here had no signs in English. Still, we had a very short shopping list: black socks for me. Somehow, I had only packed one pair even though I wear dark trousers to dinner every night. We had a bit of small change left over from the currency I had brought from Tasmania and it seemed a good idea to spend it. In fact, we had ¥756, about $9.40, so were pleased that we were able to buy 2pairs of pretty good socks, a box of bandaids, three bananas and a small packet of sembai biscuits (I think that’s how you spell it; they’re made of rice and there are hundreds of varieties).
It’s disappointing that we have to buy bananas. We had breakfast in the dining room this morning and were handed a big menu which included bananas, grapefruit and prunes, none of which were available. Perhaps the menu has been amended to cater for Asian tastes but I would have thought that fruit would be a priority. All we seem to get is melon and pineapple, with tinned peaches and pears, swimming in syrup.
We were talking to a German fellow after breakfast who told us that he and his wife are being off-loaded in Busan because they don’t have a Chinese visa. There are a dozen others in the same boat (or in fact, being off-loaded from the same boat.) He’s livid because his travel agent in Bowral told him he didn’t need one and he took her word for it. He’s tried to ring her but she’s in Ireland getting married and couldn’t care less. It’s certainly a trap and getting proper advice can be very expensive. The moral of the story: don’t believe someone who is only interested in the commission she is getting.
There’s nothing much happening today: the dining room is closed and so is the Latte-tudes coffee shop. Marilyn’s having a snooze and I’m bored. Not a good way to feel on a cruise.
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