Japan Journeys: Yokohama

Disclaimer: There is a currently a travel advisory issued against all non-essential travel due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Government of Canada and the State Department have advised all Canadians and Americans to avoid all non-essential travel due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, all major cruise lines have suspended operations around the world until the end of October. I am not promoting any travel during this time. I am just sharing my past travels and continuing to work on my blog while we are all staying at home, practicing social distancing. If you are reading this, stay safe and healthy out there. Take care of yourself and each other. 

Yokohama was our last port. While we knew that Tokyo was just a short bullet train ride away, we decided against going into the city for a number of reasons. First, we just wanted a slow, relaxing day. Secondly, it is always a risk to take the train into the city on your own so we decided to play it safe. Lastly, it was also my birthday and I just wanted to eat food I love and go to a cat cafe!

We awoke to a cloudy day in Yokohama. Our plan was to visit the Yokohama Cup Noodle Museum first. It wasn't too far from the port, but sadly, we arrived to find it closed! We should have checked online before going there because it turns out it's closed on Thursdays. It started to sprinkle, so we headed to a nearby mall complex for some cover. I did some light shopping and decided to have lunch at a sushi restaurant in the mall. It had exceptional reviews and we were very pleased with the sushi (some pictured below!). It was also early so we were the only customers in the restaurant. I also treated myself to a mango soft serve.

Afterwards, we walked to the Chinatown area in search of the cat cafe I had found online. It started raining again, so we ducked in and out of the stores along the main strip. The cat cafe was just a 5 minute walk outside of the Chinatown area, tucked away on above a Familymart of an unassuming residential area. We were there for an hour petting kitties (and missing our own who was back at home).

Since we had lunch early, we were hungry again. We found a chain yakitori restaurant, Torikizoku, for happy hour. This restaurant was the first smoking restaurant we came upon in Japan. The food was great, but the experience wasn't so pleasant.

When we left the restaurant, it was dark, but we wanted to do a little more shopping. We shopped at a local grocery store, and at Donquijote a little further away from the area. There was also a few restaurants at the strip mall, so I decided to get myself a little fluffy pancake dessert as a birthday cake to celebrate.

It was time to leave and it was starting to sprinkle again so we took the taxi back to the port as it was getting late and rainy. What a day!

Sadly, our journey to Japan was over. Little did we know this taste of Japan would bring us back a few months later... but let's stay in the moment! Our cruise was not over yet, we still had two more sea days before we returned to Shanghai. Stay tuned!

Japan Journeys: Kobe

Disclaimer: There is a currently a travel advisory issued against all non-essential travel due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Government of Canada and the State Department have advised all Canadians and Americans to avoid all non-essential travel due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, all major cruise lines have suspended operations around the world until September. I am not promoting any travel during this time. Please do not travel. I am just sharing my past travels and continuing to work on my blog while we are all staying at home, practicing social distancing. If you are reading this, stay safe and healthy out there. Take care of yourself and each other. 

In comparison to Osaka and Kyoto, Kobe is a quieter and slower-paced city. We were still tired from the day before, so we decided to take it slow in Kobe. The ship provided a free shuttle from the port to the Chinatown area, so we took advantage of it. Once we were dropped off in Chinatown, we wandered the area. It was still early so most of the area was not opened yet. We grabbed some snacks from FamilyMart and melonpans from a local bakery. We made our way to Motomachidori, a "namesake" shopping street; then Sannomiyacho shopping street.

It was almost lunchtime, and we wanted to beat the lunch rush so we found a nearby Kobe beef restaurant, Steakland. Even though we were early, there was a short line. Kobe beef is Wagyu beef from Japanese Black cattle. It is valued for its flavour, tenderness and marbled texture. I didn't end up ordering Kobe beef but my husband did. The chef cooked our meals in front of us teppanyaki style. The Kobe beef is certainly very tender, but in comparison to my normal steak order, I didn't think it was a huge difference! It was a nice treat though.

While we're on the topic of food, I want to talk about food allergies. I have an anaphylactic allergy to soy and bean sprouts are included. I told our server, and asked for the chef to not serve the bean sprouts, and she fully understood but somehow, the bean sprouts still ended up on my plate. It was not mixed with my meat, so I was able to eat the beef without any issues but I wasn't happy that it was still served. After this incident, I began to notice a pattern. I personally think that food allergies are uncommon in Japan, so it's often forgotten or dismissed. So if you do have a food allergy, you may have to reiterate it several times; and if it's severe, you might have to send the plate back.

After lunch, we continued to walk around the area and stumbled upon Ikuta shrine. This Shinto shrine is believed to be one of the oldest shrines in Japan.

We walked back to Motomachidori to do some shopping, stopped to get katsu for the husband and soft serve for me. There was not much more to do around the area, so we decided to call it a day and hop back on the shuttle to port. By this time, we've fallen in love with the vending machines, and stopped to get a drink before heading back on the ship.

Our last port is coming up! Stay tuned for my milestone birthday in Yokohama...

Japan Journeys: Osaka

Disclaimer: There is a currently a travel advisory issued against all non-essential travel due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Government of Canada and the State Department have advised all Canadians and Americans to avoid all non-essential travel due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, all major cruise lines have suspended operations around the world until mid-May. I am not promoting any travel during this time. Please do not travel. I am just sharing my past travels and continuing to work on my blog while we are all staying at home, practicing social distancing. If you are reading this, stay safe and healthy out there. Take care of yourself and each other. 

Aside from the low price of this sailing, the itinerary was the other reason why we chose this cruise. Japan was on my wish list for a long time, so this cruise would give me a taste of Japan. Our three ports of call were Osaka, Kobe and Yokohama.

Our first stop was Osaka. We had over twelve hours in Osaka but we also wanted to see Fushimi Inari-taisha in Kyoto, so we booked a tour with Royal Caribbean. When you're travelling to an area that's far away from the port, we always recommend booking an excursion with the ship. By doing so, it is guaranteed that the ship will wait for you should the excursion run late. Our excursion left first thing upon arrival, which was around mid-morning. It took over three hours to get to Kyoto by bus.

Upon arrival in Kyoto, our tour group went straight to Fushimi Inari-taisha, Kyoto's most important Shinto shrine. It is best known for its thousands of vermilion torii shrine gates. The gates lead into Mount Inari, which is 233 metres above sea level. The challenging hike up the mountain takes about two hours. Fushimi Inari is dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. There are also many fox statues across the shrine grounds, as they were thought to be Inari's messengers.

It was a particularly hot day in Kyoto (over 30°C), and it was extremely crowded. There were a lot of people at the shrine. The combination of crowds and heat didn't exactly make it a pleasant visit. The best time to visit would be first thing in the morning when the crowds are still light and the temperature is still mild. Of course, due to our constraints, we didn't have a choice in the matter. (Note: Fushimi Inari is opened 24 hours, and has no admission fee. It is lit up at night so visitors can see the trails.) My husband was a saint, and had a ton of patience taking photos of me in front of the torii gates. It was a difficult shot because there are always tourists walking by. We didn't have a lot of time at Fushimi Inari. Before we knew it, it was time to go. As with any excursions, there is a sell before you get back to the ship. In our case, we stopped at a high end Japanese craft shop. We were given some free time, but we weren't interested in purchasing any art. Instead, we walked down the block and stumbled upon a pharmacy, and stopped to buy some snacks.

Our excursion ended with a drop off back at our ship. Since we had such a long stop in Osaka, we decided to head back out to Dotonbori for dinner. From the port, we took a taxi to Dotonbori. Japanese taxis have a high rate. We paid a fairly expensive fare for a twenty minute ride. Dotonbori is a tourist area that runs along the Dotonbori canal in the Namba district. It is a popular area for shopping and eating. The area is lit up brightly at night, with prominent billboards that illuminate the streets. The best known billboard is the Glico display of a runner crossing a finishing line.

We went on our own mini food tour in Dotonburi, eating as much food as we possibly could within three hours. We stopped by the food stands along the canal and had freshly grilled scallops, takoyaki (not pictured), and melonpan. We also stopped in a ramen shop for a bowl of ramen. By then, we were stuffed. Getting around in Osaka was easy, and we felt safe in the area even though it was late at night. Our ship left at 1 in the morning, but we were back onboard well before midnight. We had a long day, and another one ahead of us! Next up: Kobe, Japan.

A la Prochaine, Paris

The next day, we visited the Louvre. The Louvre Museum is considered the world's greatest art museum, and one of the most iconic monuments in Paris. You probably need more than a day to explore the museum, and we only had three hours. We went mid-morning and were met with an average queue through security. We did not purchase tickets in advance, but found that the queue for tickets was much less daunting than others had warned us about. There were about 5-7 people in the line with us, and it moved quickly. The Louvre was intense. We didn't know where to start, and wandered in an area.

We made it though all of the Main floor, through the Roman, Italic and Etruscan, and Greek Antiquities. We also walked through the rooms with paintings from Great Britain, USA, Spain, Italy, France and Decorative Arts of Europe. 

We eventually made it to the Mona Lisa, the main attraction of the museum, in between the paintings of France and decorative arts of Europe. It was not easy to find. By that time, our three hours were up and we were tired. The air flow and circulation was difficult to withstand inside the museum. I fully understand the climate had to be regulated to conserve and house the artwork. However, but with the crowds, it was very uncomfortable for us in the museum. It was hot, dry and stuffy so it was time to leave.

We had a few more "must-see" places on our list, so we jumped back on the HOHO bus to Sacré-Coeur Basilica. On the way, we passed by the Moulin Rouge, a cabaret. The bus stop (or even subway stop) is nowhere near the basilica. Sacré-Coeur is located at the summit of Montmartre, which is the highest point in Paris. It was a 15 minute uphill walk to the foot of the basilica, and another 10 minutes to the entrance. Quite the workout!

We ran into the annual Grape Harvest Festival in Montmartre taking place just outside of Sacré-Coeur during our visit. Northern Paris is the only place in the city where vineyards are still grown. It was very lively, and locals were enjoying the food and drink. However, the crowds made it difficult to move around, so after trying a couple of local foods, we made our way back down to the bus.

Our bus ride was short as we headed back to our neighbourhood, the Marais, to shop for a little while before dinner. It was our last night in Paris and we had our eye on a restaurant we wanted to try. We had lost track of the dates, but it just so happened to be our dating anniversary.

We ended our last night in Paris on the perfect note, with memories of the best French food and a delicious scoop of gelato. We had lost track of the dates at that time, but it just so happened to be our anniversary date.

We had a magical time in Paris, and three days was not enough! We hope to visit again in the future, there are still so many places we didn't get to visit: Mont-St-Michel, Normandy, and Disneyland Paris. Here's to hoping it won't take me another twenty-seven years to go back... Until next time, Paris!

Paris: City of Lights I

Our cruise was a Southampton to Southampton round-trip, however, we decided to disembark (downline) early in Le Havre to finish our trip in Paris. Paris has been a dream destination for my entire life; so I was ecstatic about our stay.

This was our first time disembarking early on a cruise. From what I've been told, downlining is not permitted on Caribbean cruises but common on Asian and European cruises.

Le Havre is a port city in Northern France; it is a three hour train ride from Paris. As soon as we left the ship, we took a taxi to the train station, and boarded the train with our pre-purchased train tickets. The trains were not meant to take luggage, as there was absolutely no room to store luggage. We felt terrible, but we had no choice but to leave our luggage in the aisles.

We arrived in the city centre and booked an Uber to our Airbnb in Marais. We got settled in our lovely two bedroom apartment. It was siesta time, so not many restaurants were opened, so we grabbed lunch at the only restaurant opened within a two block radius: a kosher Jewish restaurant. We decided to explore the area after lunch, and made our way to Place des Vosges, the oldest square in Paris. It was nice to walk around and people watch. Parisians were lunching, reading, and resting at the park.

We took a look at the map and discovered we weren't too far from the Louvre, so we decided to take a walk there. On our way to the Louvre, we caught the Eiffel Tower in the sunset.

The Louvre was quite quiet that evening. We were able to get some good shots in without many people around.

After the sunset, we headed back to Marais for dinner. We choses a French restaurant that happened to be quite popular, and ended up having to wait a little for a late dinner. There were many ice cream shops on the block, so we decided tried one from each shop, and called it a night. Hey, who says you can't have two ice creams in one night?