Drive to Brett’s
Set off down to Ascot to stay at Bretts overnight.
Only an 8 minute delay, no real hold up. Have I been teleported into some alternate parallel universe? Am I still in Britain?
I suffered with the squitters and was shouting for Huey and Ruth last night, but bizarrely saw no diced carrots. Today is 24 hours starvation. This is what happen when you have little grandchildren milling around. They’re just walking germ factories. Mind you 3 days with no alcohol is probably also a major factor.

Oh yes please. Let’s have a grand clear out. Guy Fawkes had the right idea.
Heathrow off to the Land of the Rising Sun
After a good nights sleep I’m feeling better, but still going to keep off food and alcohol for another 24 hours.
Brett runs us to the airport.
We’re flying from Heathrow terminal 5 and I have to say the check in and security screening is some of the slickest I’ve experienced, even though they had to pat me down.
BA flight in Premium Economy is pretty comfortable but 11 hours with no food or booze is purgatory. To make it even more dire the choice of films has obviously been made by an escaped Chinese paedophile. Fortunately manage to get some sleep.

Stupidity Today – I decide to be a paragon of high tech devotion by checking in online, even using the boarding card via my iPhone and thereby do my bit for the planet, saving a whole oak tree. Guess what the idiot machine doesn’t work. Common problem says the very helpful assistant “you just have to enlarge the bar code”.
I’m sure by now you know my retort “well why don’t they send it ready enlarged one the email?”.
Yokohama

I’m ashamed. All this awesome looking food and I resort to this. Not my usual approach to foreign travel.
I’ll try anything once, but my head in a toilet bowl has temporarily limited my horizons.

Our hotel. It’s the tallest one.

Daytime view from our 62nd floor bedroom.
Bus arrives at the hotel ahead of time. It’s the Yokohama Royal park hotel 5 star, the tallest building in Yokohama. Fastest lift in the world.

More bedroom views.
Not exactly a recommended light meal to recover from a failed attempt by Wendy to poison me, but it’s what I want.

Old dry dock in front of the hotel- now a feature.

Night time view of the hotel. Bugger me we’ve left our bedroom light on!
Have a well deserved 3 hour nap – I know a violation of my 3rd law of retirement.
Impressions of Japan

Light flower display, constant changing colours.
Pictures give the awesome views day and night from our room. It’s the tallest tower in Yokohama and we’re on the 62nd floor. Needless to say Wendy overcame her fear of lifts. Fastest lift in the World apparently.
No litter, graffiti or dog muck, mind you not seen any dogs yet.

Laser light, music and public frolicking in the park.

Night time view from our bedroom window.
Oh so civilised just need to sort language, mind you to be fair most speak English, even in MacD’s.


Yokohama to board cruise

Oh no not another shopping mall and all ready for Christmas, don’t you know.
Hotel Wi-fi was a blistering 90mb. I think I must have died and gone to Flying Spaghetti Monster

Old sail boat outside our hotel. Thank the FSM we’re not travelling on it.
Champagne to greet us. How am I going to cope with 24*7 free drinks?
Lazy afternoon.

Finally on board.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moTkJOXgexY
Shimizu for Mount Fuji and Mount Hakone

Mount Fuji from top of Mount Hanoken.
After a great breakfast we dash off on our first Wallace Arnold tour for geraitrics, mentally infirm and weak bladdered moaners. Our tour guide is a giggly, squeaky and singing Japanese lady who is chronically suffering from a severe dose of verbal diarrhoea. Absolute nightmare would be waking up with her screeching away on your pillow. But to be fair she did keep us entertained and she did epitomise my expectations of Japanese womanhood.

Mount Fuji backdrop. Yes, it is the real Mount Fuji in the background.
Wendy was quite disappointed on today’s tour, she thought we were going to the top of Mount Fuji and not the top of Mount Hakone to take a photo of Fuji.
Met an interesting American couple. Must be the only Republicans in Los Angeles, good to know there are at least two.
Greeted at the port by a Japanese drum band, big, big drums, followed by a brass band.
Back on board we have speciality afternoon tea in one of the lounges, serenaded by guitars and a singer.
Dinner is again on a table for 6. Not a really exciting menu but food was good. Company left a bit to be desired, spoilt by southern softie snobs from oxford – majestic centre of the known universe, don’t you know. Really do prefer avoiding Brits at dinner, American’s or Canadian’s are much better dinner companions. Sad isn’t it.


Equity has passed a motion that the phrase ‘Ladies & Gentlemen ‘ should not be used in theatres so as not to offend those who do not see themselves as either.
Perhaps we should adopt another activity recommended by the students at Oxford University, just a bunch of PC snowflakes, and greet the end of a theatre performance with ‘Jazz Hands’. I wonder how the praise-needy egos of the average bunch of luvvies would cope with complete (non threatening) silence.