Feb 29th, 2024 Tokyo, Japan Day 2 of 28

It has been a whirlwind of a 24 hours since my last post. We arrived at the ship around noon and proceeded to run into many friends, both passengers and crew members. Many knew we were already coming and some were surprised to see us. Throughout the day it was filled with hugs, smiles and catching up. We arrived in our cabin long enough to empty out one of our backpacks so we could take it off the ship with us. We caught the ships provided shuttle bus to the local mall to do some retail therapy. We had the most fun at the Disney store. We don’t have the luxury of brick and mortar Disney stores any more in California, unless we are at the park in Anaheim. They had so many different items we had never seen before. We purchased a Mickey and Minnie wearing traditional Japanese costumes and they are embroidered with Tokyo on the foot. A lovely first souvenir of our trip. We bought some gifts for friends and crew members as well. We walked through many shops and were surprised by the prices which seem much lower to us due to strong exchange rate. While at the mall we ran into our dearest friends Gail and Marty. The odds of winding up at the same place at the same time was a wonderful surprise to all of us. Megan and I were dragging our wagon at this point so we headed back to the ship so we could unpack our suitcases, get settled into our cabin, decorate our door (a lovely tradition) and get ready to join Gail and Marty for dinner in the Main dining room. We have so many specialty dining reservations and reservations with friends I don’t anticipate eating much in the Main Dining room this trip. We realized we had not eaten anything all day. I was running on two cups of coffee and some water and Megan about the same. But not once today did I feel hungry or have a desire to eat. By the end of dinner, I was done and ready for bed. We headed home and I was asleep especially fast. Unfortunately, my body is still on California time and I was awake by about 2 am and ready to start my day. I have had about 10 hours of sleep over the last three days and I am most definitely feeling it. The gym opened at 6:00am and I was there to tackle my workout and give myself the endorphins I needed for the day. Then back to the room to get ready to meet Gail and Marty in the Pinnacle Grill for breakfast at 8:00 am. We are having the best time catching up with them and spending time with them. After breakfast we all decided to take the shuttle bus to the train station where we caught the train to Shibuya. Here in Shibuya is the world busiest pedestrian crossing. As many as 3,000 people cross at a time where these five streets intersect. After taking lots of pictures and in fact crossing the street ourselves we walked around the shops. We saw many familiar eateries including, Mc Donalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, Denny’s and Subway. We walked through lots of shops and Megan found some skin care products she regularly purchases in the states that are made here in Tokyo. By then it was lunch time and Marty suggested we find a pancake house. These are not your ordinary pancakes. There are a mix of batter and whipped eggs whites. They are beyond fluffy and they were delicious. Luckily I’ve walked almost 18,000 steps today so no guilt here. We made our way back to the train station and then back to the ship. The train was much busier as we ventured back this afternoon. The train is immaculately clean, all the men are dressed own suits and ties, and it is chillingly quiet. There is sign that says to refrain from talking on your phone and no one is even talking to the each other. Everyone is so polite, keeps a distance between others and hardly ever jay walk as they wait patiently for the light to grant them permission to cross the streets. It is such a different place from anywhere else I have ever visited. The weather has definitely changed as we made it through the day. It is 3pm here now. It is 54 degrees and overcast. Rain is expected around 6pm this evening. All aboard is 6:30pm and we will leave Tokyo and head to Omaezaki, Japan this evening. We are going to the Pinnacle Grill for dinner for a Mediterranean themed multi course dinner tonight that we are having with…you guessed it, Gail and Marty. We have so much to catch up on and we are having the best time with them. It’s been too long. We have an excursion booked for tomorrow and you will have to wait till then to hear all about it. I don’t anticipate staying up any longer than necessary to enjoy our meal and then hopefully I will get a good nights rest tonight. It’s been difficult keeping in touch with loved ones with the immense time difference. I hope they all know I love them, I am thinking of them and I am bring them and all of you along on my journey through these 24 days aboard the Zuiderdam. Enjoy the photos from the last 24 hours below.

It was wonderful to see the Zuiderdam there waiting to welcome us home.

Starbucks was greatly needed.

The rainbow bridge, a miniature Statue of Liberty and a beautiful sign to welcome visitors.

These vending machine store are everywhere and hugely popular.

The train is immaculate and empty as we traveled this morning. It was packed and we had to stand on the way back.

Train Selfie.

The infamous intersection before the light turned to allow everyone to cross.

The intersection after the crossing light permitted pedestrians to cross. It was a relatively quiet day.

Two orders of yummy, fluffy, meringue style pancakes. Yummy!!!