drron29

Much less crowded today and the restaurants have seats available.

The second mound closed.

These weren't Takoyaki as I had had my fill when entering the gardens. These were Number 7 from one of the older restaurants in the garden A bit of the garden I didn't go to the day before.

We have found our usual trivia table occupied on occasions by bingo players lingering with a few drinks. We just find another table. So far when we have we have not been told we have taken another teams table.

Our best was the first time in Kanazawa. We were on a Noble Caledonian ship. It was a long show with traditional Japanese music and dancing and ended with the Japanese song that made the music charts in the west. Released in the west under the name Sukiyaki which is not in the lyrics so in Japan they changed the anglicised name to Sayonara. All the performers plus a lot of the locals sang it and kept going until we could no longer hear. I doubt that there was a dry eye on the ship.

We joined the Muse in Bali on 18 th March. My sister and her husband joined us in Yokohama on 3rd April and they had a GTY vista booking and were told by Silversea UK that they would find out when they checked in. So we went down to Reception as we obviously had their names but also their booking number. Possibly helped as my sister has kept her maiden name. As that segment from Yokohama was fully booked they said that there was no chance of their allotted suite being changed so they gave us the suite number. They were allocated a superior veranda suite just down the hall from us. Moral of the story is that you need to know someone on the ship now. But stop stressing as it could be on check in that you get to know. Until then it is still possible they could sell more suites.

Lovely fried oysters in Miyako. Been there a few times and always enjoyed them.

Back to the Muse. The Diamond Princess is leaving. Dinner again in Atlantide. I had the Octopus and the filet. Enjoyable. And Rojaan had a different desert. A chocolate brownie. The next morning I took a ship's excursion for Japanese sweet making, Kenrokuen gardens and the Omicho markets. I did my own thing at the gardens and the market. One interesting view on the way. Some liked the sweet making but there were over 80 there. I found it just average though maybe because my sweets were probably the worst. The set up. Our ingredients. And what it should look like. As far as I am aware all evidence of my efforts have been destroyed. I took off to the gardens early as I didn't need time to shop for souvenirs. Today I walked up the road between the Gardens and the castle. A great display.

I had walked the grounds on top of the hill of Kanazawa castle and walked down to Hirosaka park and the Museum of Contemporary art before but never the lower gardens on this side of the castle. A pretty picture at this time of year. I was coming back the next day and would visit the Omicho market so walked straight back to the station and the shuttle bus. I had about a 20 minute wait for the shuttle bus. In That time there were 3 shuttles for the Diamond Princess. All full to the max. Staff going back had to stand. Lots of complaints from them that there were no signs up although 3 people had signs up saying Diamond Princess shuttle. Queuing was a foreign concept to most of the passengers and they had to have a ticket to get on the shuttle. several tried to get on our shuttle when it arrived. Sorry but I am not going on a Princess cruise.

Black kites were circling in numbers. A fellow was feeding them something.

The blossoms in the upper gardens were stunning.

I thought you might arrive in Hakodate for peak cherry blossom viewing and it looks like you certainly did. That view from the tower must be so beautiful. And at the Convent you would have had a lot more colour than we did 15 days ago when maybe just the first cherry blossom bud had appeared.

That NGO is indeed still going @machotspur. They were who we donated through. They now build their own schools.

Then I came to the food stalls. I had a stick of scallops (the middle stick). They were very tasty. But then I came to this. Looks messy but probably the best takoyaki I have ever had. Nice big tender pieces of octopus and a delicious sauce, I now set off back to Kanazawa station. first walking through the castle grounds.

This is the last of the flowering plums which come earlier than the cherries.

Now the camera. This is one of 2 elevated areas in the gardens that I hoped would allow me to get an overview. Both were closed. The official story is because they are unstable after the December earthquake.

Now comparing shots from my iPhone in this post and camera in the next -a simple Sony RX100.

Entrance was free for everyone today and the crowds were thick. A lot were off the Diamond Princess. Now I earnt a few karma points here. There was a very old Japanese gentleman wanting to take a picture of that magnificent old pine. He walked using 2 sticks and was bent over plus had a terrible tremor. The young Japanese folk just walked by. so I went over and remembered my lines from my days of kidnapping Japanese tourists on the Gold Coast -shashin o totte mo idesu ka. He beamed and I took several photos of him with the pine in the background. With the aid of google translate I found that he was 93 and that his wife had died about 3 years ago. I continued on. The Flying Goose bridge.The first time we came here you could still walk over it. Not now.

So caught the 11am shuttle and as I feared huge queues for the loop bus which goes past Kenrokuen gardens. Would have taken an hour or 2 to get there so would be better to just walk. But having been to Kanazawa a few times i knew to catch the local bus from the next stand 6 which has a stop no more than 100 metres from where the loop bus stops for the garden. It left in 5 minutes and I was able to get on and get a seat. Same fare as the loop bus. But on Kanazawa busses IC cards are not accepted. Correct cash fare but they do have a machine to change your notes to coins. So the walk from the bus to the loop bus stop. I took the lomg way up to the garden entrance from there. @mysty these are pictures from April11th. A big difference in 17 days.

Mrsdrron was still feeling below par so we just went for a stroll around the little park at the terminal. The Silver Muse was getting an official welcome. I was going to get the 10am shuttle bus but missed it. The next one was at 11 so I had 45 minutes to wander around the Industrial area. Just across the road from the terminal was a park with several older Japanese playing a variation of golf. fascinating. You tee of with an oversize putter and a plastic ball. So a few pics of the progress. Now in this shot you see a fellow at the side leaning on his club. He couldn't stand straight,could hardly walk and looked the oldest player. But he was by far the best. The second picture shows where his shot reached. His is the white ball. On the next hole he had a hole in 1. A statue marking 30 years since the start of the Maritime Workers union. A duck hiding.

The next morning was Kanazawa where we were to overnight. I was looking forward to this even though we were here in 2016 at peak bloom but it was a few days earlier. Was encouraged when the morning report was that peak blooming had been declared the day before we arrived. Can't believe our luck on this cruise. Just a crow but it looked like a flying stingray. A lot of snow still on the mountains. But a sign that things would not be perfect today as the Diamond Princess arrives.

The next day was a sea day. Pretty cold and a bit of a swell meaning the pool wasn't that popular. Lunch at Kaiseki. Not that far from the coast. That night was the Venetian Society party. First our Polish Captain and then the Future cruise Consultant aka Venetian society host. Announcing some of the achievements. We were 4th in the number of nights. And the night ended with a couple of numbers from the lead singer. There was a very long queue for Atlantide that night so we went to Indochine again. First the cocktail. I had the prime rib which was excellent and all I can tell you about Rojaan's meal was that it wasn't spicy. Might have been sweet and sour snapper as I can remember that being on one of Indochines menus.