Medary.com

The Grand Asia & Australia Voyage - Holland America Amsterdam, September 19-November 23, 2008

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Eight

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September 30 (Tuesday, Day 14, Aomori, Japan) -

Aomori was added to the itinerary when Russia was removed. We docked around 8 AM and it was cloudy and even rained for a few minutes but ended up sunny and nice. We decided to stay onboard until around 10 or so shops wouldn't open until then anyway. For about an hour after docking there was a Taiko drum group welcoming us which was very nice and we could easily see and hear it from our balcony. There was also a tent at the base of the gangway staffed by English-speaking Japanese to help answer questions.

YouTube of Taiko drum group:

The Aomori greeting celebration

 

The Grand Asia & Australia Voyage - Holland America Amsterdam, September 19-November 23, 2008

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Seven

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September 29 (Monday, Day 13, Hakodate, Japan) - Continued

We had decided to go ashore with Gary and Charlotte. Hakodate had a free shuttle bus running from the port (which seemed to be in the middle of nowhere) to the city about 15 minutes away. When we got off the shuttle bus we were greeted by a bunch of high school girls in their nautical-inspired school uniforms. They were the welcome committee and were also there to help the tourists with questions and stuff. Snookums asked one of them where the Morning Market was and she (and a friend) told us they would take us there. We followed them and after about 1 mile got to what looked like a grocery store. We thanked them profusely and started wandering around.

The Hakodate Morning Market?

The Grand Asia & Australia Voyage - Holland America Amsterdam, September 19-November 23, 2008

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Six

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So, here we are, less than 200 miles out of Shanghai, China, and I'm finally getting back to posting. We had a whirlwind tour of four Japanese cities, walked a lot, and didn't have much chance for Snookums to write up the journal or Filbert to add the photos and upload them.

We've gotten all that done for the Japan portion of our trip, and wouldn't you know, the ship's Internet is down "because of the position of the ship." Sigh.

So, instead of this getting posted at about 2 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 6, it's getting posted . . . later. What the heck, we're only ten days or so behind! We'll catch up---eventually.

OK, here we go . . .

September 26 (Friday, Day 10, At sea) -

We spent the night being tossed and turned by the high waves (very rough - 12 to 18 feet per the Navigation channel). Nothing fell but it was difficult to walk around the cabin. Snookums claimed that she was airborne for an instant around 2 AM. We decided to get up around 5:30, shower and be first in line for Lido breakfast at 6:30. Well, there was a bunch of other people already there but we managed to get a table by the window. The ship was rocking and rolling but neither of us was sick. We hope it stays that way. We ended up talking with Gary, one of our dinner tablemates, until 9 AM.

Rough seas

The Grand Asia & Australia Voyage - Holland America Amsterdam, September 19-November 23, 2008

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Three

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September 23 (Tuesday, Day 8, At sea) -

Snookums woke up early and decided to work out for the first time. She returned totally sweaty after an intense session on the elliptical as well as after doing some floor work and free weights.

We were supposed to cruise through the Aleutian Islands today but since the Russian port was cancelled our course is more diagonal down towards Japan and we were just “at sea” today.

In the middle of the ship, the main atrium contains a big map that shows our cruise progress.

The Big Map in the atrium

 

Do you want to know who's responsible for today's financial crisis?

Victor Davis Hanson:

We created the cultural climate for this shared madness. Television shows advised how to “flip” a house after putting in cosmetic improvements. Real-estate seminars and popular videos convinced us that homes were not places to live in and raise a family but rather no different from piles of chips on a Vegas table.

We created the phony populist creed that everyone deserved to own a house. So lawmakers got the message to relax lending standards in service to “fairness.” But Americans forgot that historically nearly four in 10 of us aren’t ever ready, or able, to sacrifice for a down payment, monthly mortgage bills, home maintenance and yearly taxes — and so should stick to renting.

Do you really want to know who's responsible?

Go look in a mirror.

And then quit using so much G-Damned credit, and stop wanting something for nothing (or even worse, wanting "the government" to pay for stuff you can't afford on your own--like housing or medical coverage).  "Oh, it's not for me, it's for those poor souls over there," you exclaim, thinking it gives you the moral high ground, and somehow makes it right and proper.

It doesn't.  If you think that way you're simply a thief, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Go look in a mirror.  All of us.  This is our crisis.  Unless we all admit it--to ourselves, to everyone, it will just get worse.  And the pinheads in Washington can only make things worse, not better.  This is the warning bell.  If you elect pinheads in November, this will be like a sunny day in the park.  You have been warned.

The Grand Asia & Australia Voyage - Holland America Amsterdam, September 19-November 23, 2008

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Three

(Remember to click "read more" if you're looking at this from the main medary.com page to get the whole article!)

September 21 (Sunday, Day 6, At sea) -

Filbert’s fancy watch was dead and needed a new battery so today we went to the store to see if they had a battery. When the guy returned the working watch and didn’t ask for our cabin number, we asked “How much?” and the man said there was no charge since he took a battery out of a watch that was broken (probably one of the $10 watches). What service!!! We haven’t had a single complaint so far and don’t plan on having any.

The Watch

 

Yes, the self-imposed ban on political posts does, kinda, still hold.

But criminitdilly (pron. crim-in-it-dilly, meaning roughly "Jesus Christ on an f'ing popsicle stick" but without the scatalogical or blasphemous overtones and hence preferable for use in more polite company) . . . 

Criminitdilly, people, it's utterly obvious that the reason we collectively drove our economy into the ditch is that we somehow got the idea, in the late 1990's, that it was a good idea to give mortgage loans to people who had no way to pay them back.

This is world-class stupid. Lots of people need to lose their jobs over this. Lots of those people are currently in Congress. Lots of those people are Democrats. And yeah, the Republicans who went along with this madness need to have their asses tossed out onto the street, too.

And, it's world-class stupid to send good money after bad (well, tax money after bad, but you get my meaning) and tie that to some ridiculous assertion that the Executive Branch knows best and can't be hauled up in court if they f*** it up further. Now, granted, Congress does a pretty good job of f***ing up things without Executive help, but nobody, NOBODY with an ounce of sense thinks giving the Secretary of the Treasury and the President a blank check to do whatever the hell they want to do is a good idea. Do they?

Eric, at Classical Values posts more rationally and less emotionally than I do on the topic. Go. Read. Learn. And try not to advocate really stupid things (like socialism) in the future. OK?

Taber Spani, from Medary's adopted hometown of Lee's Summit, MO, has orally committed to play for Pat Summitt's Tennessee Lady Vols.

Posted mainly so Snookums will see it and be happy.

The Grand Asia & Australia Voyage - Holland America Amsterdam, September 19-November 23, 2008

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Three

September 20 (Saturday, Day 5, At sea) -

Snookums' cold is in full force but she did manage to attend the 10 AM cruisecritic.com get-together. cruisecritic.com is a website and it has a place for people that are going to be on the same cruise to trade information. Anyway, a get-together for the ~60 people was arranged so we went. Filbert purchased a polo shirt since Snookums felt sorry for the guy that organized the shirt purchase since he had several extras to sell.

At the CruiseCritic.com Meet-&-Greet

 

The Grand Asia & Australia Voyage - Holland America Amsterdam, September 19-November 23, 2008

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Two

September 19 (Friday, Day 4, Boarding ms Amsterdam, Seattle, WA) -

We woke up at 6 AM in order to see our ship come into port at 7 AM. But, it came in early so we got up for nothing. Oh well. Another excuse to be tired and grumpy later.

We walked to Pike Place Market for breakfast with a view of the waterfront and on the way back to the hotel. Snookums stopped to get a pedicure. The day was cool and overcast, like yesterday, but we didn't care since we would be getting on our ship today.

Filbert suggested that we take the public bus to the ship and Snookums readily agreed. This meant that we walked about 1/2 mile to get the bus and then about 1 mile after getting off with our two rolling suitcases. It cost a total of $3 and we're sure that we were the only people that took public transportation to the 65-day cruise!

We walked from the nearer stadium (the darker arches) to the near end of the Terminal building in the foreground.

The Amsterdam in port at Seattle