Monday, August 21, 2017

2017 Summer vacation to USA & the Caribbean Cruise Day 10

It was fine.

After more than 11 hours flight I came back from the USA.

I arrived at the Haneda Airport after 1pm.

I asked the delivery service to deliver my suitcase because I have an American Express Gold Card which allows me to send one suitcase to and from the airport for free. This is one of the greatest services I enjoy about the card.
They have a special campaign now, and the first year they do not charge the annual fee therefore I recommend you to make it a try.

https://www316.americanexpress.com/iFormsSecure/un/iforms.do?cuid=emgmMgmee_ja_JP&evtsrc=link&evttype=0&tkn=48C66DE80BD5EA7B06CD1226E8A29B35D46C74ECFCEB1559E7CA66DB37EF2893&CPID=100276709&SRID=&GENCODE=349992423153376&mgmerSource=mgmerHub&MGMURN=AAAFDxIeGhodDw==

After that I went to the monthly massage to relax.

Then I went to a kimono shop.

It was a wonderful summer vacation.

2017 Summer vacation to USA & the Caribbean Cruise Day 5

Our next destination was Nassau, the Bahama.

This time we arrived at the port.

When I saw our Enchantment of the Sea at Miami.
I felt it was not so big, but when I saw it at Nassau it looked huge.

Nassau looks like a shopping place, there were many fancy jewry shops here and there in a small area. I visited a few of them.
Since I happened to find the Ministry of Tourism, I asked where to visit and visited all the places mentioned. All are locate in the walking distance.

We had late lunch at the boat.

There was a welcome  reception of Dream Trippers in the evening and about a third of the total 92 participants attended.

Then we had dinner.

We enjoyed the night show.

2017 Summer vacation to USA & the Caribbean Cruise Day 9

I got up at 4 am and left before 5 am. This time I used the taxi to the airport which cost $40 including tips. It took less than half an hour from Brooklyn to Laguardia.
Check in was easy.

Since I had plenty of time, I ate breakfast at the airport. Iced tea $3, Bagle $2.50 and cream cheese $2.

I leave here at 8:15 am and arrive at Haneda at 13:45 tomorrow via somewhere.

2017 Summer vacation to USA & the Caribbean Cruise Day 8

It was fine.

We ate brunch and rum cakes.

We tried the Passion Test again. The top was the same, but there were some miner changes after a year and a half.

We headed for West Palm Beach around 1:30 pm.
At the airport I found that I could not check in the baggage up to Haneda because the next flight was tomorrow.

The flight to New York was shorter than expected. I saw the beautiful sceneries.

I headed for the last destination of this trip in New York by bus and subway which only cost $2.75 though I needed to change twice and bring the suitcase at stairs.

I visited friends who just had a baby boy. He is so small and cute.
Last year on this day we met in Tokyo and just a year brought a big change.

We ate dinner and went out for a walk and enjoyed ice cream. The night view of New York Skyline from the park was very beautiful.

2017Summer vacation to USA and the Caribbean Cruise Day 7

We came back to Miami in the morning.

First we ate the last breakfast on the ship.

We landed around 10 am and headed back for Delray Beach.

After coming back I went to the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens to say hello to some ex-colleagues and had lunch with my third host family.
I heard about the special stamp for the total solar eclipse going to happen next Monday. So I went to the post office. It is very unusual because the color of the moon changes according to the temperature.

After that we played golf again.

We had nice shrimp dinner with bloody Mary and Captain Morgan.

2017 Summer vacation to USA & the Caribbean Cruise Day 6

The last destination was Key West, Florida.

This was the third time for me to be there, first in the summer of 1996 by greyhound bus, second in the fall of 2007 by car.

We walked to the places where I wanted to visit again such as 0 mile point, light house, the southernmost point, and some shops.

We came  back to the boat and had late lunch again, took a nap, and ate dinner.

Dream Trippers got together and took a group picture.

There was a farewell flag parade of crews from more than 30 countries. The biggest number was from the Philippines followed by Indian.

We enjoyed the night show again.

2017 Summer vacation to USA & the Caribbean Cruise Day 4

We arrived at our first destination Coco Cay, the Bahama in the morning of Aug.15. It is a private island, and we did not need the passport to land
Since there is no port, we were sent by tender boat to the pier. There were nearly 3000 passengers, therefore it took time for us to be sent.

There were beautiful shallow beaches, and I saw some fish including a shark.I swam a little bit but got sun tun a lot.

After coming back to the boat after a few hours, I took a shower and nap and wore to Japanese summer kimono called Yukata (浴衣) for formal dinner.
 
We enjoyed the night show.

2017 Summer vacation to USA & the Caribbean Cruise Day 3

After waffle breakfast we left for Miami port.
Unfortunately we did not get the precise information about the terminal beforehand, we had to walk to our Terminal G where the Enchantment of the Sea was docked from the parking. Closer to the terminal we knew there was a shuttle bus service.

Check-in was easy. We got the card key called sea pass which has room information and dining table information. We were taken a picture.  Buggage was carried.

After boarding we enjoyed the first lunch. There were a vatiety of foods and so many people, and it was rather difficult to find a table.

We walked around until the room was ready.  The room was a bit smaller than my expectation but it has ocean view.

Before sailing there was an evacuation drill.

It was very hot outside, however everywhere inside was freezing cold.
I regret not to bring long sleeve clothings.

There was introduction of the ship, and tickets of lottery were given but I did not know when to drop and missed the chance.

At dinner table we met a couple from Virginia and a family from Michigan. Every night we ate together. They were also Dream Trippers.

We enjoyed free $5 casino games and the night show.

2017 Summer Vacation to USA & the Catibbean Cruise Day 2

My best friend came to pick me up at the airport and we headed for the west to see the Perseid Meteor Shower.
We saw some beautiful shooting stars and went home around 3 am.

I slept long until noon.

In the afternoon we played golf.

2017 Summer vacation to USA & the Caribbean Cruise Day 1

This summer I decided to take the Caribbean Crise by Dream Trips.

This is the second dream trip by World Ventures. I book the tour early but did not the flight tickets until my summer vacation dates fixed. Therefore all the good and less expensive seats were taken and I had to take longer flights with longer waiting time.

On my way to Florida I flew from Narita to Detroit for 11 hours and 14 minutes or so and waited for more than four hours to the next flight to Atlanta for two hours, and one hour and a half to the next flight to West Palm Beach for one hour and forty minutes or so.

Usually I arrive on the same day but this time I arrived a little bit past midnight.

Saturday, May 6, 2017

2017 Trip to Europe Day 10

I came back from Spain via Istanbul and Beijing finally.

Yesterday I checked in the baggage up to Haneda but could not get the boarding pass from Beijing to Haneda so that I had to get it at Beijing but I did not know where to get it and wasted time. I could manage to get on the plane in time and arrived at Haneda around 9:30 pm.
I was waiting at the turn table but the next flight passengers came and knew my suitcase was lost.
While claiming the baggage, my last train to go to my station was gone. I am now on the train which goes to Kanazawabunko. From there I need to take a taxi. Last time when I experienced the flight delay, I think I had to wait for an hour or so there and it cost more than yen10,000.

I was going to ask the delivery for nothing using the credit card service, but after all I did not have to do that because the lost baggage will be delivered anyway.

This time my destinations were Santorini,Greece and Seville, Spain. Both visits were very nice.
In 10 days I met about 10 old friends and have become friends with some people.
I flew to Beijin, Istanbul, Athens, Santorini, Paris, Malaga, Istanbul, Beijing, and Haneda.
That is four capital cities without staying.
Most of airports besides Santorini were bigger than I thought. There were so many people traveling here and there.

To go to Santorini I used the Dream Trips of World Ventures for the first time. It is really good. I am very looking forward to traveling next time this summer.

Friday, May 5, 2017

2017 Trip to Europe Day 9

It was fine.

Today is a moving day.
I left Estepona before 9 am and flew from Malaga to Istanbul in the afternoon. The flight was delayed.
I had to enter, pick up the baggage, check in again at Istanbul, but my flight is1:25 am and I have more than enough time.

I am now waiting at the lounge. I am glad to have the Priority Pass before starting this trip.

Thursday, May 4, 2017

2017 Trip to Europe Day 8

iIt was cloudy in the morning, but became fine.

Today is another moving day from Seville to Malaga via Granada.

We have mutual friends in Granada whom I met 25 years ago through my best friend.

One is a Spanish hairdresser, and the other was a Japanese photo shop owner.
I asked the former to have my hair cut, and the latter to have my pictures taken.
I hope I can use the picture for the driver's license ID.

We did not visit any touristic place but just visited them.

Before meeting them we ate at the bar where if you order one drink, you can get food for 2.30 euro.
Isn't it nice?

After coming back we went out for dinner at a nice seaside seafood restaurant to celebrate our extended 25th anniversary birthday.  Everything was delicious.

We walked along the beach and came back.

It was a nice day!

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

2017 Trip to Europe Day 7

It was fine and beautiful.

We went out for breakfast. In front of the cafeteria there was a shop selling vegetables. I was surprised to see that some of the vegetables were far much bigger than those sold in Japan.

Today we went to the Expo site.
We walked a lot to find the places. Some were remained as before but othets were cleared soon after Expo.
There was Expo '92 XXV and we enjoyed watching the videos.

After that we had lunch at a restaurant of the city center. We ate typical Spanish dishes. They were tasty.

We enjoyed walking around the city.
One of other friends joined later and we went to the new building "Setas de Sevilla"
and enjoyed the view from the higher place.
We walked around city again.

It was a nice day

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

2017 Trip to Europe Day 6

It was fine and beautiful.

We headed for Seville via Ronda where is a historical touristic site. There is a very famous bridge there. It's been 25 years since I visited there last. I only remembered the bridge but I realized about the river and valley today.

Interesting thing was to use the public toilet it cost 0.60 euro and a 1.5 L  bottle of water cost the same.

We ate lunch at my friend's mother's place and they were so tasty.

We crossed the Dragon bridge which was interesting.

At night we went to Feria and met three co-workers of Japanese pavillion. I met all of them for the first time after Expo, that is 25 years.  They looked the same.  We met another who visited me in Florida in 2007.

Feria lasts for a week and it starts before lunch time and ends early in the morning. There were so many people wearing beautiful costume, so that it was fun to see them too.

I had a nice time.

Monday, May 1, 2017

2017 Trip to Europe Day 5

It was fine.

After having breakfast we went to the airport by taxi which cost 20 euro. After checked in I wrote postcards. Since there is a post outside the airport, I ask to let me go out to post them.

After arriving at Paris I had to move to the west terminal to go to Malaga, Spain. Since we had time, we had tea at Starbucks. I ordered Iced green peach lemon tea which cost 5 euro.
I was amazed by the color of toilet in Paris.

We said good bye and my friend headed for Center of Paris and I took the plane to Malaga.

When I got to Malaga around 19:30, it was still light. It seemed it was light until 21:30 or so.

My best Spanish friend came to pick me up at the airport and we went to the rent-a-car place and we headed for his place via Puerto Banus where is the town for rich people.

After coming to his place, we went out for a walk for dogs and after that we went out for dinner at Arabic fast foods. There my image of mint tea was changed.

It was a long day.

Saturday, April 29, 2017

2017 Trip to Europe Day 4

It was cloudy and windy, but became fine and warm later.

We attended the half day highlight tour in Santorini which was very nice. There are so many picturesque places in Santorini.
With a wonderful English speaking guide we learned many things about Santorini.

Two big problems of Santorini is water and wind. They use the rain water. Tap water is not drinkable and it is salty.

Their main industry is tourism and the high season is June, July, and August.
At that time the population becomes double. Their only export product is wine.

It costs 50 cents to use public toilet
and used paper should not put into the toilet.

In the afternoon we visited Oia which is another touristic place and very beautiful.I took many pictures. We ate lunch at a seafood restaurant and enjoyed shopping. I bought a very beautiful pendant head of blue opal for my birthday present this year.  I liked the color.  It is reversible and I can enjoy two sides. It is rather expensive but will become a good memory of this trip.

At night there was a farewell dinner. We enjoyed talking with Rumanian participants.

I really enjoyed this first Dream Trips.

2017 Trip to Europe Day 3

It was fine.

I saw the beautiful morning sun over the ocean.

We stayed at the hotel in the morning, and  attended the Catamaran sunset cruise in the afternoon.

Just before going, my suit case was finally delivered so that I could bring the bathing suit with me.
However the water was too cold for me to enjoy swimming and I did not go into the water.

We visited the hot spring place first, Red Beach, White Beach, and Black mountain.
We saw dolphins swimming. They say it is very rare. So we were very lucky.

I talked with the participants from Taiwan, China, Romania, USA, France, Kenya, and South Africa. There was no Japanese besides us.
For many people it seemed this was the first Dream Trips.

The most amazing thing was the bus driver's technique of going down the steep slope backwards.

It was a nice day.

Friday, April 28, 2017

2017 Trip to. Europe Day 2

I flew from Haneda to Beijing by Air China. from Beijin to Istanbul and from Istanbul to Athens by Turkish Airline, from Athens to Santorini by Olympic Air. It took about one day to come to the first destination, Santorini where I have wanted to come to as honeymoon for a long time..

I bought a round ticket beteen Haneda and Istanbul, and one way tickets at other route because if I buy from the beginning till the end, it would cost more than yen 500,000.

I thought I can check in the baggage by the route, so that I only checked in the baggage up to Istanbul, to pick it up at Istanbul once, but I could not.
So the bag was left behind at Istanbul. I was advised to report at Santorini Airport to have my suitcase delivered. I hoped to receive it within today but I could not.

The weather in  Greece was very nice snd hot in the day time but cool at night.

My friend and I came to the hotel by taxi with other passengers. The cost was 20 Euro.

We are staying at El Greco Resort which looks very nice.

In the afternoon we enjoyed walking around town of Fira, got on cable car and donkey. There are many souvenir shops.

The best thing of today was to have seated at the business class and ate very nice breakfast.

Thursday, April 27, 2017

2017 Trip to Europe Day 1

From April 29 so-called Golden Week starts in Japan. I take some days off before and after and have a longer vacation to visit Europe, especially Greece and Spain.

First I fly from Haneda to Beijing, then to Istanbul, then to Athens, and finally to Santorini where is the first destination of this whole 10 days trip.

It's  been 20 years since I went to Beijing with my mother, and 15 years since I went to Istanbul and heard the saddest news of my mother's sudden death, and 13 years since I went to Athens to see the Olympic games Athens 2004, and 9 years since I went to Spain last time. Each place must have been changed a lot by such a long time.
I have two destinations but visit five countries, Chia, Turkey, Greece, France, and Spain.

I arrived at Beijing safely.