The Panama Canal

We went through the Panama Canal on Sunday, it was nothing like I expected. It took a total of nine hours of going through locks where water levels would raise and then decrease. It was a fun day of relaxing outside by the pool and celebrating being done with finals!!

JAPAN: Kobe, Osaka, Tokyo, & Yokohama

origami

Tsukiji Fish Market

Baseball game in Tokyo

Cherry Blossoms

Harajuku girl!

saki

Shinto shrine; Tokyo

prayer blocks @ the shrine

prayers

all the Japanese girls were completely put together head to toe

Tokyo Japan

castle in Osaka surrounded by cherry blossoms

First night in Osaka

Sushi dinner!

Flower Rd. Kobe, Japan

In Japanese culture when the lucky cat waves at you, you are showered with good fortune.

Cherry Blossom season! SOO beautiful!

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page -- St Augustine

I can’t believe I made it through Asia, four ports back to back just about killed me. Japan was the cleanest country I’ve ever seen, and oddly enough it was impossible to find a garbage can to throw anything away. We first ported in Kobe where we just spent the day walking around the city exploring. We came across the Oho Hachimano Shinto shrine, which was pretty neat because I had just been learning about them in my Asian philosophy class. The shrine was surrounded with small strips of paper with people’s prayers written on them and then tied onto trees; it was beautiful to see.

We went to a sushi lunch since everyone was craving it, and anything sounded better than noodles, just having come from China! After lunch we walked around the outdoor mall that was basically lots of “sparkle shops”, one store after another selling everything imaginable bedazzled, it was insane; pretty hilarious. The Japanese girls were some of the most adorable girls I’ve ever seen, they were covered in bows and glitter head to toe, they looked like little dolls.

Later that day we took a train to Osaka because it was supposedly the best night life in Japan. Osaka was a ton of fun, we were there less than 24 hours, literally got there, went to a sushi dinner, went out, woke up, and left for Tokyo after lunch and a little walking around.

We met some Canadians at our hotel who told us about some places we should see before we left, and even gave us their subway passes to get around. We spent the morning wondering around the streets; saw a few shrines and a really beautiful castle surrounded by cherry blossoms. Then we were off to Tokyo!

The train to Tokyo was about 3 hours, but we all immediately fell asleep once we got on the train so it wasn’t too bad. Tokyo was SO different from Osaka and Kobe, it was a really big busy city, kind of reminded me on Hong Kong a little bit. Our hotel was in the Roppongi district, which ended up being a good location to walk around.

That night we were SO exhausted and didn’t even want to think about staying out all night like the previous night, so we decided to go see a movie. We walked around the mall for an hour or so and then headed to the theatre to see Marley and Me! We all loved it, and it was a nice to get to sleep early and get some rest before out first real day in Tokyo.

The next morning we got an early start and walked around what seemed like most of Tokyo. We went to the Shibuya district to see the busiest crosswalk in the world (WOW!) tons and tons of people crossing on their way to work- it was pretty cool to see. We went into a few malls around there; similar to Osaka they had lots of “sparkle shops”. After leaving Shibuya, we went to the Harajuku district, where we visited Meiji Jingu Shinto shrine. It was so beautiful. It was tucked away in the woods and you had to walk a long rock path to get to the actual shrine. People were everywhere writing on prayer blocks and washing their selves as a sign of purity. Around Harajuku there was lots to do, we went down to a strip of markets we had read about in a travel brochure where we were promised that we would see Harajuku girls that we had all been waiting to see. Harajuku fashion recently become well known in America because of singer Gwen Stefani, but is basically just a type of fashion popular with Japanese teens who mix and match things to look very unique. These teens usually group together on Sundays around this shopping district, but we were lucky enough to see a few while we were there.

We were all pretty exhausted from walking around, and stopped at a sushi place for lunch. After lunch we made our way to Yoyogi Park to see the cherry blossoms. We couldn’t have chosen a better time to be in Japan. The weather was absolutely perfect and we happened to be there for cherry blossom season, which only lasts about a week. I never knew a tree could be so pretty. Everywhere we walked they stood out from afar. We got really lucky. Once inside the park, the cherry blossoms were everywhere we turned. There were tarps laid out with hundreds of people having lunch picnics. There were people of all ages, and they all seemed to love us! We found a space to sit and passed around a bottle of saki while enjoying our beautiful surroundings. When the wind would blow all the petals fall down and it looked like it's snowing. A group of Japanese college kids thought it was funny we were sitting there in a circle drinking saki like all the Japanese people around, and came and introduced themselves. We ended up staying a couple hours talking to them and learning about Japanese culture. They laughed at just about everything we said, especially when we’d ask them questions about karaoke, they thought it was hilarious!

We finally said goodbye to our new friends and ran back to the hotel to drop some things off and change and we were off to the baseball game. In Japan baseball is a HUGE deal, there are even special cheering teams that meet year round to practice their songs. It was pretty hilarious to be the only Americans there surrounded by reeeallly intense Japanese fans yelling their heads off. It was SO much fun! After the game, we met up with lots of Semester at Sea kids to go out on the town. We chose to go back to the Shibuya district and had a great time. That next morning we woke up at FOUR am to make it to the fish auction at the Tsukuji fish market where 30% of the world’s fish is bought. We made it there just as the auction was getting started, it was insane! We watched the tuna action- I never knew how huge tuna were, they were bigger than me!! We walked around the market after the action and saw just about every kind of aquatic creature being sold! We then ate a sushi breakfast because apparently it’s the thing to do, and it was WELL worth it! The last day, we took a train from Tokyo to Yokohama and went back to the ship for a couple hours. We ran into some friends who also got back to the ship early and decided to all go out and do something together. We started walking and found a bowling alley, and basically just spent the rest of our night there. Our last day we walked around the city and saw the beautiful gardens, harbor, and streets of Yokohama. We found a grocery store and stocked up on snacks since we knew it’d be a looong 9 days on the ship until Hawaii. We also found an amusement park and couldn’t resist going on the rollercoaster!

I was very sad to leave Japan, I had such a great time, and wish I could have stayed another week, DEFINITELY a favorite port!

Hong Kong & Shanghai China

Chinese medicine

Fish Market: Shanghai, China

Shanghai @ night

Rugby Sevens party in Hong Kong

Hong Kong @ night

Hong Kong

YUM!

rugby flags

Wet Market

shrine in Hong Kong @ Stanley Market

Stanley Market Harbor

light show

at the market, crazyyy!

fish market

"Seeing once is superior to hearing one hundred times" -Chinese proverb

China was everything I thought it would me; way too many people, way too many shops, and way too many weird things to eat. When I first walked off the boat in Hong Kong, it felt like I was in San Francisco. The harbor was in the most industrialized part of the city and the streets were filled with one designer store after the next. There was a Starbucks on every single corner- it was very westernized; there was even a California Pizza Kitchen. After lunch we met up with one of Kyle’s friends from Colorado who happened to be studying in Hong Kong, he took us all around the city. If it weren’t for him, I’m not sure we would have been able to manage getting anywhere! We learned to use the subway, which was great. We walked around the city and went to a few of the famous markets; the “ladies market” and the fish market. The ladies market was nothing different from the past 10 cities I was in, but the fish market was pretty new to me. I assumed it was going to be a market where people came to buy fish to eat; however, it was an ENTIRE street of pet stores!! I’ve never seen (or smelt) anything thing like it, one shop after the next filled with tons and tons of animals, and more people than I’ve ever seen on one street, I guess everyone was in the market for a pet.

The night was SO much fun, rugby sevens were in town and there a street completely lined by pubs, and FILLED with rugby fans from ALL over the world, I don’t think I saw one Chinese person all night, how weird. It was probably my favorite night out of the entire trip. It was so much fun meeting people from all over while still spending time with my friends from the ship. Everyone looked like they were having the time of their life, it was such a good time, and everyone was dressed up in strange costumes which just added to the entertainment.

The next morning I woke up early and walked around Hong Kong for the day, exploring the streets. We went to a great Dim Sum restaurant, Superstar Seafood, which like most things took us FOREVER to find because none of the taxi drivers spoke a word of English! Once we found it we ate our meal like most other meals in Asian countries, family style, sharing many dishes so we were able to try a little bit of everything. We were al pretty exhausted from the night before so after lunch and more walking around the city, we went back to the hotel to relax by the pool for a couple hours before going out to dinner. For dinner we took a taxi to “the peak”, which is the highest point in Hong Kong where you can look over the entire city and it’s beautiful skyline. We ate at a fabulous restaurant called Pearl that had an incredible panoramic view overlooking the city; it was such a beautiful sight with all the lights.

My last day in Hong Kong I went to a few more markets, a “wet market” that actually sold fish for eating not for pets. Besides the smell, it was really cool. There were hundreds of different types of fish and other marine life for sale, and TONS of people purchasing them. It was weird to see because they were all alive and flopping around in tiny tins with just a little water in them. We also made our way to Stanley market, one of the most popular markets in downtown Hong Kong, known for selling mostly tourist souvenirs. It was nice, but very overpriced for what was being sold. The market was along a waterfront lined with lots of great restaurants and a pretty view of the water. Also around the market were a few small temples, but nothing extravagant compared to the other countries I’ve visited, because most people in Hong Kong are atheist. Hong Kong was a fun experience, a bit overwhelming at time, especially struggling to get around and finding something to do besides the markets, thankfully we flew to Shanghai the next morning.

Shanghai, like Hong Kong, was a big industrialized city, but had a little bit more to offer as far as sight seeing. There were many large temples around our hotel we went to see. The first was the Temple of the Jade Buddha, which we happened to visit on the day of a festival celebrating those who have died. The temple grounds were filled with hundreds of monks dressed in their brightly colored orange robes chanting prayers that echoed throughout the temple walls. There were lots and lots of Buddhists there to celebrate and pay their respects to Buddha and His Teachings by lighting incense and walking around the various sites. It was so interesting to be able to see this and being able to compare it to the Hindu celebration I saw on my visit to the Kanchipuram and Mamallapuram temples in India. The Temple had many things to see, including a jade Buddha similar to the one I saw in Thailand at the Grand Palace. There was a little tearoom with a well-known Chinese artist was doing calligraphy.

We also went to an area known for their art galleries. It was pretty interesting to see some famous Chinese art; it was nothing like I’d ever seen, lots of bold shapes and colors. That night we went to a restaurant/bar walking distance from our hotel, it was a real fun atmosphere, and great food. The next couple days in Shanghai I did nothing but wonder around. Walking through the streets of downtown we were approached about every block by a new person asking us “handbag? Watch?” and once we nodded we’d be lead down a few streets and basically ended up in some basement or back room. Behind the walls of the real store we were lead to was like a candy shop for a girl. It was every single designer handbag, wallet, belt, or any clothing item; basically anything you could imagine, they had. I would say it was the most overwhelming shopping experience I’ve ever had in my life. We all agreed after about three hours, it was time to get away from the hectic market area so we walked over to the Huangpu District where the harbor is. By that time our ship had just got in from Hong Kong and we were able to see it across the water. The skyline, like Hong Kong, was so pretty!! The craziest shaped buildings I’ve ever seen, and very colorful too! We wanted to make the best of our time before getting back on the ship so we went on a hunt for basically a roadside stand we had read about in a New York Times article. We literally went through THREE taxi drivers and more blocks of walking than I can count, before we found our destination- Wujang Road where Yang’s Fried Dumplings, like we had heard, had a line of people down the street. This is DEFINIELY my favorite meal in all of China, we stood in line and paid 75 CENTS for four of the largest most delicious dumplings I’ve ever had; SO worth the wait!! China was an extremely interesting country I’m not sure I have a desire to ever return to, maybe I’ll come back one day to see the Great Wall, but no plans of a return anytime soon.