Osaka
Lazy start to the day as we don’t dock until 11:00. Mind you still up at the crack of sparrows in time for breakfast at 07:00. Still sleeping fitfully due to the jet lag.

First of many castles.
Then it’s coffee on our balcony and blog time. My data SIM seems to work pretty well as we follow the coastline I have pretty good speed even on board at sea. Mind you as we approach Kobe and I could do with it, we loose connection.

Stairs inside were steep and high, don’t know how the little Japs managed them.
Today we’re sampling the highlights of Osaka. First of many castles and shrines. I’m sure by the end of this trip we’ll be shrined out.

And now a shrine.
Manage time for a rushed coffee and sandwich for Wendy, then it’s back on the coach off to a shrine.

These kids seemed to be Christened or whatever passes for it in Shinto.

And some boys also.
To finish a busy day it’s afternoon tea in the lounge, entertained by a mini chamber orchestra. For me it’s a dirty chai, all convered by the drinks package.
Table for 6 tonight with two other geriatric couples. Wine flows and after dinner I try one of the Bourbons, not bad.
Talk about boring and confusing dinner guests. Couple A are talking about their trip to yet another castle whilst couple B were talking about there trip up a mountain. Nothing wrong with that other than each thought they were talking about the same thing. Confusing, but hilarious, after about 5 minutes they finally realise they’re both talking about different things. Get me out of here, beam me up, I’m too young, mind off a 16 year old it’s just that my bodies decomposing.

Japanese bridge with style.
Then we’re off to the evening show, yes even me, in fact I’m quite keen. it’s a performance by the World famous Kobe Taiko Drummers – see video. We’re sat on a front balcony row. 9 people in all but can you believe it that 5 of them are asleep, even through all that drumming. For once I manage to stay awake.
More things to like in Japan:
All our tour guides (female) like to sing to us, it must be the karaoke in them. Whilst their voices are not necessarily going to win them a place on X Factor, you have to respect them for trying to entertain us.
I just love the way they hand anything over to you Double Handed. It just oozes respect and seems filled with a happy politeness.
Even though they have awesome dexterity with chop sticks, able to pick up a single grain of rice, they’re also capable of using knife and fork simultaneously.
Again so clean, orderly and civilised nobody would even dream of jaywalking. Apart that is from a half-witted American couple who nearly get themselves impaled on a shiny Toyota symbol in a place where the sun doesn’t shine.
You don’t see any blobby Japanese, must be all that raw fish. The only blobbies are foreigners.

Is this the idea of a pillow in Japan, slightly more comfortable than a brick.

Another day another castle.

And there’s more.
At a meeting of Bath University’s equality and diversity network, members were warned it might cause some students to feel dimmer than others if they did not realise what was being referred to.
Kobe

Family portrait. Note my smile.
Another Wallace Arnold tour. What the he’ll are we doing on this Wallace Arnold tour for geriatrics, treated like a simpering simpleton; I’m too young; I can’t cope; let me out.
This time we set off for a ride on a funicular up to the observatory overlooking Kobe. Well they keep calling it an observatory but it’s more like an observation platform. Great views over Kobe and the sea though.

Overlooking the sea.
Then we’re off down to a Sake museum. Interesting video on Sake making on days gone by. My was it labour intensive. Enough to put you off drinking for life. Lots of interesting exhibits and of course a shop at the end of it all. Although to be fair to them you could escape without being forced through the shop. Wendy couldn’t resist buying the plum Liquid sugar.
The first process in Sake making is to polish the rice. Now I know the Japanese are small but where the hell do they get people small enough to polish rice?
Then it’s back to the ship for Wendy’s lunch.

Just resting a the observatory.
In the evening we meet up with our new found American friends, the only Republican’s in LA, well I assume they’re of that inclination from our conversations.

Sake museum. Of course Wendy had to buy some Plum Sake.
At last I find a bottle of Carmenera, pretty good it is too and they keep it flowing.
Then it’s to the Yes / No game, where Kim chances her luck. Finally down to the theatre for an illusionists show, which in time honoured fashion I nod off through.
A great evening with our new found friends Phil and Kim.

Is this what your kids do with you?

Waving us goodbye.
The problem with socialism is that you always run out of other people’s money.
Kochi

Our first and I’m sure not our last Budhist temple.
Wendy starts taking her shoes off to go into one of the inner sanctums, within a second, and out of nowhere, a women descends on her shouting ticket, ticket. That’s what happens when your signs are only in Japanese.

A lantern. There are millions of them.
Oh just up Wendy’s street we go to an indoor market for a browse around and a lunch opportunity. Wendy tries the save option when it comes to food, pork noodles but then again was it pork, after all there was a picture of a cat on the front!

Wendy trying to get in the Temple. They’re having none of it.
Toilets are a major trek away, hidden down the bottom of a hill. At least they don’t call them conveniences. I bet the gift shop more easy to get to.

Wendy tries chop sticks. Not very successful, she’ll probably starve over the last two weeks.
By the time we get back to the ship we’ve done 5 miles and over my magic 640 calorie limit – so that’s enough for a whole bottle of red wine tonight.

Yet another bridge.
Amazing isn’t it, I buy a 30 day unlimited data SIM for japan and it even works out at sea as we’re relatively close to the shoreline. My Photo Library gets corrupted so I have to rebuild it from iCloud. 10 gigabytes later and it’s rebuilt, sadly without the album structure, but worse still I’ve now been throttled back on speed to a blistering dial up modem speed of 256K.
So it’s a series of emails to Sakura pointing out that their web site says “No limitation whatsoever”.
Oh it’s probably because the telecom company have detected runaway usage. Normal service should be resumed Saturday. Needless to say they haven’t heard the last of this. Every dog has his day when it comes to review time.
Politically incorrect 1970s TV series such as Love Thy Neighbour and Till Death Us Do Part have been left off the new BBC-ITV rival to Netflix because they are deemed unsuitable for modern audiences.
Hiroshima

The famous gate shrouded in plastic and scaffolding.

Shrine.
Then it’s back to ferry and bus to head to the restaurant for a Western (sadly) lunch in a 5 star hotel. Ideally we wouldn’t want to eat on one of these meals for the masses, but again it was this the only way to do these places.
Meal was very good and not too big.

Bridge to shrine.

Guardian of the shrine.
Try the show. It’s a Motown singer so Wendy should enjoy it. I put myself to sleep to avoid the agony. Even Wendy gives up after 10 minutes and wants to go to bed rather than listen to this.
“We are all born ignorant, but one must
work hard to remain stupid” Ben Franklin

Pagoda.
Firstly have to log in and can I find this revised estimate.
They send a confirmation code to my phone see below:
60886
Your Government Gateway access code is 999545. Your code expires in 15 minutes.
I wonder how many people use 60886. What is the point of it, just begs for confusion.

Wendy rings the bell.
Finally find the estimate summary. My tax codes not changed so my payment won’t change. And to top it all there’s no estimate anyway. Beggars believe.
If I thought there was anyone with a skerrick of common sense I’d complain.

Hiroshima.

Hiroshima.

Hiroshima

Shadow of a women burnt into stone by the blast.