Forgot to mention the Block Party last night - this is a tradition on Regent ships and when the bell rings at 6 pm everyone is invited to step out into their corridor with an empty glass. Servers are there with wine and canapés and it’s an opportunity to meet the neighbours! Funny, our actual neighbours next door are from Melbourne but the idea obviously didn’t appeal to them! The Captain and the Cruise Director swung by every corridor and shook hands with all the guests.
Today we will be in Sasebo, a city in the Nagasaki Prefecture, Kyushu Island, Japan. Tours will depart after we arrive at 1 pm. We are surrounded by beautiful mountains as we head toward our destination - it looks so peaceful out there with small fishing boats dotted around. Sasebo has a population of around 260,000. Originally it was a small fishing village under the control of Hirado Domain until shortly after the start of the Meiji period. Then the Imperial Japanese Admiral of the time decided this area was a great location for a navy base based on its protected deep-water harbour, it’s proximity to China and to Korea and with the presence of nearby coal fields. As a result Sasebo Naval District became the major port for the Japanese Navy in operations such as the Sino-Japanese War and Russo-Japanese War and remained a major base until the end of WW2. The city suffered severe damage by bombing in June 1945 and was destroyed by 48%. It was one of the original 17 targets selected by the dropping of the atomic bomb. After the War ended part of the base facilities were taken over by the US Navy, forming US Fleet Activities Sasebo. There is a ship building facility here and many US Navy boats in the harbour.
Arrived at the port on time and we had face-to-face movement through immigration. They also had a temperature machine which apparently detected if anyone was suffering with a temperature!!!! We did finger prints as well, took a while for my index fingers as one goes one way and the other is straight LOL! Then I was asked if my bracelet was gold, I said ‘silver’ and was waved through. Not sure what all that was about. On to bus 15 (G on another tour) en route to ‘Panoramas and Mikawachi Ware’. Our guide was Yoko, very nice except she kept repeating herself. We drove to the Observatory for a photo stop, great views of Sasebo and surrounding islands (there are 204 in the region) and then on to the Mikawachi Porcelain Museum. They had some amazing exhibits and a shop but as no one had Yen and they didn’t take foreign money or credit cards it was a non-event for the museum shop!
Back at the ship we decided to order spaghetti bolognese in our room (with a glass of red)! I’m now dressed to go to the show, G will hit the bed and my friend Sue will meet me shortly as her husband is boring when it comes to shows, too LOL!!!
Had a drink at the bar, joined another couple we knew then went to the theatre. The Australian, Danny Elliott was the performer again tonight and I’d have to say he is as good as it gets! Absolutely fantastic!
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