We always say every day cannot get better – if it did the previous ones would depreciate in value, and by the end of a holiday we would simply explode with an overload of superlatives.
So it’s fine that today isn’t laden with royal gardens, castles and impressive buildings. Instead we make a different kind of day.
Starting with a bus – we cannot walk off the jetty, it’s over 1km and no pedestrian traffic is allowed. Once set free, we go to a nearby shrine, just because it’s next to the cruise terminal, we then head along the coastal road towards the area where new hotels are being developed. Currently only Hilton is here, there’s a broad expanse of beach, and a fabulous 3.2 km (2 mile) toll-free bridge to a nearby island.
After this we backtrack a way and then veer off towards our next destination. As we pass a an impressive looking set of steps there’s only one course of action possible – find out what the building is at the top. It’s a bit curious, mostly a picnic area, but we cannot find an explanation for why. The views are good.
At the end of this park is a lovely “Monument to Love and Peace” sculpture with a story some world leaders could do with reading.
We slowly cross town, visit what turns out to be the ONLY Family Mart we pass all day, and then pass a church which we cannot visit because it seems to be holding a funeral (there’s a theme here!)
We witness a nice police moment – we’ve read about these plastic policemen before, but capturing a live one at the same time is a bonus!
Our journey turns out to be part of the beauty of the day, as we really enjoy walking through the countryside, predominantly sugar cane, until we reach the city’s botanical gardens and craft village.
The crafty part is a mixed bag, quite a few are closed and others just shops, but we catch a young couple making pot lions under tutelage.
The garden is perfectly pleasant and we pet the two Miyako horses, ignoring the warning of course.
After another turn around we are about to leave when a lady engages us in conversation, explaining about the flower art we had just passed, it is to signify the Jûnishi year of the snake, the same calendar as Chinese, although not always the same character names.
Our return route takes us though even more gorgeous countryside, once again we could be in Yorkshire, except it’s too flat, too humid and too clean. And so it is a special day after all, with a very delightful countryside walk.
Before too long we are back at the port where we have to go through Japanese “reverse immigration.” This feels very eccentric to us, given that Japan is the world leader in electronics and technological ideology, that they insist on checking us out today simply because we’re going to Taiwan tomorrow. We had the same palaver two weeks ago For our day in South Korea. They have already insisted that we carry passports everywhere, quite unlike most cruise customers elsewhere in the world, and in two days they will issue new visas, in our case for the third time, when we re-enter. It’s all quite bemusing.
Anyway, we plan appropriately and arrive back from our walk with precision timing so as to be amongst the first people to be cancelled. 95% of the customers will have to take the shuttle bus from the ship, queue through immigration and then catch the bus back. When we get to Quest there are queues on the dock, on the gangway and inside the ship along the corridor to the exit. We have missed all this frustration, and can head up to eight to order a late lunch, with no-one-else in sight.
After lunch our afternoon is on nine, where we enjoy computer time, shuffling photos, catching up with my blog, chatting a little with friends, and finally as we sail away – some jacuzzi time.
We’ve decided to dine in MDR as usual, so after our champagne at the Patio Bar, where we chat with a lovely Aussie lady, we descend to find the dining room half empty. E&O, the Patio Grill, was defiantly packed, we gather that Colonnade is also rammed, so downstairs is nice and calm.
We both enjoy Coquille St Jaqués and potage Parmentier, the Husband has chicken and I have a Sirloin which I found less tender that I would have hoped, and we finish we hazelnut pyramid and coffee soufflé respectively. Tonight’s pudding choice a little challenging if one doesn’t like coffee!
It’s the second show by MagicIan Blake Vogt, again he makes each trick stretch out, but he is quite impressive. I’m roped into being onstage, totally trivial, he just needed someone wearing glasses, but it is a great trick. Later he engages Ansel, the token child on board this week, and finally finishes with a seriously impressive triple mind-read. Except of course, if that we’re true he wouldn’t have needed to ask the three victims to write down their thoughts – I guess there’s a clue in this sentence? Nevertheless it is a fantastic bit of showmanship.
