(attempt at!) Live/semi-Live - 1st time HAL cruiser - Westerdam Hong Kong to Tokyo

[Tigerlily75]

Fukuoka (Hakata) Japan 

 

I had written down a few things to do here, and so we decided at the last minute to go to Nanzoin to see the rather huge reclining Buddha. It was a nice little trip to the country side!
 

We got the ships paid shuttle to the train station and promptly got very lost within Hakata station. A very nice man noticed us looking lost and not only offered to help but then escorted us (a good ten minutes) (we were really really lost) to the right place. Not only did he escort us, he did so in a manual wheelchair, all the way to the right gate. People are so kind! 
 

Nanzoin and the reclining Buddha:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Green tea ice cream. We’ve eaten a lot of ice cream in Japan! It’s on every corner and very good. 
 

 

On our way back to the station, just look at this guy: 

 

 

The train station:

 

Back at Hakata Station, where there was a farmers market going on. Lucky, because I had nearly forgotten to buy the most prized strawberries in Japan, grown in Fukuoka! 
 

 

More cuties: 

 

 

The view from the Westerdam! 
 

[Tigerlily75]

Do you want to know what I did this morning? I shipped 5.93 kilograms of clothes home by sea to make room for more shopping 👀. It cost 5500 yen. I’ll see them in a few months! (I hope). 

[LuvsACruise]

Thank you so much for taking your time to answer questions...you have been so helpful already!

So far, for our Sept Majestic Japan cruise on the Westerdam, there are almost no HAL Shore Ex, which I find very strange.

I see that you do independent touring, but did you notice if HAL offered any Shore Ex in Japan? Thanks again!

[Riversedge]

50 minutes ago, LuvsACruise said:

Thank you so much for taking your time to answer questions...you have been so helpful already!

So far, for our Sept Majestic Japan cruise on the Westerdam, there are almost no HAL Shore Ex, which I find very strange.

I see that you do independent touring, but did you notice if HAL offered any Shore Ex in Japan? Thanks again!

I’m not Tigerlily and she may still respond,  but I can assure you there were several tour choices in all of the Japan ports.   We were able to see the tours before we had to cancel but there was a whole brochure of them that I printed off.  Yours should show up soon.  

[Kristal Blade]

1 hour ago, LuvsACruise said:

Thank you so much for taking your time to answer questions...you have been so helpful already!

So far, for our Sept Majestic Japan cruise on the Westerdam, there are almost no HAL Shore Ex, which I find very strange.

I see that you do independent touring, but did you notice if HAL offered any Shore Ex in Japan? Thanks again!

We cruise on Westerdam on 16 March this year and there were and still are lots of HAL excursions available, just keep checking, they will appear!

[OlsSalt]

RE: your shrine photos. Reminded me of American spoof website that recently did a funny take on the now ubiquitous "Waving Kitty".

 

We even carry one for our cabin - a small solar power model picked up on a prior Japan cruise.  https://babylonbee.com/news/chinese-restaurants-authenticity-questioned-after-customer-notices-it-doesnt-have-one-of-those-weird-lucky-waving-cat-statues

 

I swear I can hear it meowing in Japanese: Fair winds and following seas.

[Kristal Blade]

23 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

RE: your shrine photos. Reminded me of American spoof website that recently did a funny take on the now ubiquitous "Waving Kitty".

 

We even carry one for our cabin - a small solar power model picked up on a prior Japan cruise.  https://babylonbee.com/news/chinese-restaurants-authenticity-questioned-after-customer-notices-it-doesnt-have-one-of-those-weird-lucky-waving-cat-statues

 

I swear I can hear it meowing in Japanese: Fair winds and following seas.

Well I hope you bringing this on board isn’t going to turn into the great kettle debate that we are involved in on another thread! 🤭