After an excellent buffet breakfast we traveled to the royal palace, named Gyeongbokgung. Four times a day they have a changing of the guard, with the "guards" dressed in traditional costume. And many of the onlookers follow suit. I hesitate to "dress up" in local, cultural dress. A people's national identity is not my Halloween … Continue reading Seoul Second Day

Lunch time. From the temple we went to the Lotte World Tower and zipped up to the 81st floor for the STAY modern French restaurant. We will be going higher up the tower afterwards. I enjoyed the appetizer. First, it was served on a bed of crushed nuts - which I found visually interesting. But … Continue reading Seoul First Day – 2

We docked in Incheon, South Korea - famous in the US for Operation Chromite during the Korean War. However, I was not touring here. Myself and ten other cruise guests signed up for an over-night stay in Seoul, leaving the pier after the other tours departed and traveled north-east. And immediately ran into traffic jams. … Continue reading Seoul First Day – 1

Our last port in Japan is Kobe. However, rather than taking the opportunity to deeply explore the city, I went for one, last teppenyaki experience. What can I say? I'm a sucker for teppenyaki. But first, we visited Hamafukutsuru Sake brewery. In the parking lot there is a large former sake barrel and the same … Continue reading Kobe

After some retail therapy at the Osu shopping district we traveled to Nagoya Castle. This was going to be a big deal. Other castles we've visited were built by and for the regional samurai feudal lords ("daimyo"). Nagoya Castle was made by order of the shogun, so my expectations were higher. And they were met. … Continue reading Nagoya Castle