March 6, 2009
Busan, South Korea
It had been a long time since Queen Victoria spent two consecutive days in port; in fact, it was even a rarity to transit from one port to another spending just one day at sea in the interim, but after spending March 5 berthed in Nagasaki, the ship docked the following day in Busan, South Korea. I had no idea what to expect as I was very unfamiliar with Korean history and culture (despite living with a South Korean violinist for nearly two years prior to joining the ship), so I decided to do a tour and just go with the flow.I wanted to see all I could of Korea and not get lost, so I chose to do a full-day tour that actually took me outside of Busan to the city of Gweong-Ju. Located about an hour and a half away from Busan, Gweong-Ju was the capital city during the Silla dynasty, a major ruling force in Korea from circa 57 B.C. until circa 935 A.D. It was filled with historical landmarks, but our first stop on the tour was a museum.The National Museum in Gweong-Ju was filled with different artifacts dating back to before Christ and all the way through the Silla rule in Korea, but the first thing we were taken to was the Divine Bell of King Songdok, a massive bronze bell cast in the late 9th Century A.D. that weighs nearly 19 tons. It was one of a select few items that had been placed outside to grace the grassy area surrounding the two museum buildings, and was beautifully designed. From the bell, we made our way into the first building which contained many different artifacts including crafts and utensils were found. There were some spearheads and arrowheads dating back to the Bronze Age as well as cups, bowls, plates, and other forms of pottery. Everything seemed to be quite well-preserved, and they also had some ancient jewelry on display.
I found the second building I entered to be much more interesting as it was filled with rooms dedicated to Buddhist sculptures and statues. I continued to explore my fascination with Buddhism and enjoyed looking around. Inside, I also found a scale model of what Gweong-Ju used to look like before invaders destroyed it centuries ago. It was a massive empire! After spending time at the museum, we made our way to Tumuli Park, home to many royal tombs. The “gravesite” was nothing like anything I had ever encountered in that each tomb consisted of a large mound of grass standing approximately 20-30 feet high. While it did not look like much to me, one guest suggested that this was the equivalent to visiting the pyramids in Egypt. I have been to the pyramids in Egypt, and these mounds of grass were NOT the pyramids. We were able to go inside one of the tombs and have a look at what it would look like inside (all original items were in a museum and were replaced by replicas). It was interesting to get inside, but once again, I’ve been inside a pyramid, and this is NOT the same.
At this point, it was time to head to a nearby hotel for a large buffet luncheon. The meal consisted of a mix of Western and Asian cuisine, and it was a great meal. There was a Korean dance performance going on whilst we ate; I consumed a few plates and then it was time to head for our last stop before returning to Busan: Bulguksa Temple.
Though it has been rebuilt in the late 20th Century, the original Bulguksa temple was constructed in the middle of the 8th Century. This was my second visit to a Buddhist temple and I enjoyed the opportunity to walk around inside some of the various buildings. It was here that for the first time in my life, I saw a swastika painted on the side of a building, and it was not there to represent the Nazi regime. My tour guide told me that the swastika signifies the continuous teachings of Buddha and was a symbol of peace. I was hesitant at first to photograph the image, but decided it would be okay
Photography was prohibited inside all buildings, but I was able to snap a few quick shots unbeknownst to those inside. The most interesting building I visited was the Moo-sol-jon, or “No-Word Hall”. Ironically, the Moo-sol-jon was not a hall for silence, but conversely, a lecture hall. It is dubbed a no-word hall because the true essence of Buddha’s teachings or the “depth of Truth” is not expressible through spoken language. I visited some more of the halls before heading back to the bus and returning to the ship.
My visit to Korea was filled with many pleasant surprises, but I would not be surprised if I never returned. It was a great day, but I enjoyed Japan loads more and I was more excited about seeing the other ports on Queen Victoria’s itinerary including Bangkok, Phuket, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Nagasaki
March 5, 2009
Nagasaki, Japan
After spending nearly six months aboard Queen Victoria, I finally reached Southeast Asia on March 5 when the ship docked in Nagasaki, Japan. I decided against waking up early to watch the ship’s sail-in (these can be very beautiful at times, and Sydney’s sail-in and sail-away were the best yet), so when I stepped off the gangway at 8:30am, it was amazing to finally set foot in Japan for the first time in my life. I had been looking forward to this port for quite a while, and had no doubt in my mind that I would not be disappointed.
I decided against doing a tour here and instead chose to spend the day with a friend since we were both looking to see and do the same things. Immediately after getting off the ship, we purchased all-day tram passes so that we could get around to the various places and then headed to the closest tram station. Riding on the Nagasaki tram exposed me first-hand to Japanese culture, as I was surrounded by locals who did not speak a word of English. Most of the people on the tram, including the driver, wore surgical masks to help prevent them from being exposed to the massive amounts of pollution. The tram was also covered with advertisements promoting everything from skin care to baseball. It was a fun way to get around the city though.
Our first stop of the day was the Peace Park, established in 1955 to commemorate the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. It is located near the bomb hypocenter and is filled with statues donated from different countries including the United States, Brazil, Italy, New Zealand, and Argentina (among others).
The two main attractions at the Peace Park were the Peace Statue and the Fountain of Peace. At over 30 feet tall, the statue was located at the northern end of the park and towered over everything. The statue depicted a man with one leg folded and the other stretched below which was intended to symbolize both meditation and the need to stand up and rescue the people of the world. The man also had one hand stretched out to his left to symbolize eternal peace and the other pointing to the sky and to the threat of nuclear weapons. The Fountain of Peace was located at the southern end of the park opposite the Peace Statue and was intended to represent the water for the bomb victims who died in a desperate search for fluids and also represented two wings of an angel. As we walked up the stairs and entered the peace park, we were greeted by the fountain and between its two wings we saw the Peace Statue in the distance. It was a spectacular sight and it was from here that we began our walk through the park almost entirely silent. In fact, I spent a lot of the morning taking everything in and not speaking much at all.
After spending quite some time walking around the Peace Park, we made our way to the bomb hypocenter, the location over which the bomb exploded (the bomb actually exploded 500 meters above the ground). The hypocenter was marked by a large piece of marble, probably fifteen or twenty feet tall, surrounded by pieces of pavement encircling the marble slab and getting higher as they moved outwards, probably for about thirty feet or so before reaching the pavement of the open square at the hypocenter. I spent a few moments in silence at the hypocenter before heading towards the Atomic Bomb Museum, located just a short walk from the hypocenter.
The Atomic Bomb museum was the first museum of its kind that I had ever visited, in that I had never encountered a full museum dedicated to a tragic event. I was disappointed inside when I learned I would not be able to take pictures, as I knew that I would want to share what I saw with friends and family. Everything from large metal structures bent and disfigured by the blast to pictures of people with radiation poisoning and burns were on display and it was interesting to walk through the different rooms and see the effects of the bomb on both people and objects. There were a few items I was able to touch including a small cider bottle that looked more like a piece of abstract art than a glass bottle, and while I found all of these things interesting, I was constantly reminded by my surroundings that I was surrounded by artifacts from a nuclear bombing. There were pictures of charred corpses, and even a military helmet with skull fragments embedded into the lining. That was horrifying. Visiting this museum was an incredibly moving experience, and I am glad that I was able to make it here.
From the museum, my friend and I walked back to the tram station and ended up riding all the way across town, though this time the tram was more crowded and I was surrounded by mask-wearing Nagasaki locals both young and old. We ended up all the way at the last stop on one the tram’s route and after walking a short distance we reached our intended destination: Sofuku-ji Temple.
My visit to Sofuku-ji Temple in Nagasaki marked another first for me. While I visited many churches and mosques during my recent travels in the Mediterranean and its surroundings, I had never been to a Buddhist temple. This was more than just a Buddhist temple though, in that Sofuku-ji, dating back to the mid-16th century, was the oldest structure in Nagasaki still standing after the atomic bombing. The site itself contained a few different buildings, including one housing a bell and two temple buildings with different Buddha statues inside. In addition, incense burned outside each building and the pleasing aroma contributed to a near-perfect ambience. As I walked around a bit more, I discovered a couple of tombstones that led me to a beautiful cemetery that extended up a hill as far as I could see. The tombstones were in abundance but not in overabundance, and each one looked beautiful. I spent a few more minutes at the temple before heading with my friend to one of the things I looked forward to for a long time: a real Japanese lunch.
We left the temple and headed down the road, passing the entrance to either another temple or possibly the cemetery I saw earlier (either way, it was beautiful and something I am sure that the locals take for granted) until we found a place to eat. The restaurant, called “Nagasaki sippoku Hamakatsu” (I only found this out as I took their business card on my way out) had a beautiful entrance and I had no idea what to expect as I entered. When I walked into the restaurant, everything was more or less no different to a western restaurant in that there was a lobby and waiting area, but when I was led to the dining room, the Japanese dining experience began. For the first time ever, I took not only my shoes off before entering a restaurant dining area but also sat down to eat. I figured in advance I would have to do all of these things, but it was an amazing experience nevertheless. The woman who sat us and took our order did not speak a word of English and the menu had no American translations, but thankfully, it had pictures of the food so I picked a lunch special that looked good, pointed to it, and sat [on the floor in a room with six-foot ceilings] taking in the atmosphere while waiting for food to arrive.
When our server finally returned with our lunch, I rediscovered that Japanese cuisine is more about quality and presentation than it is about quantity, for my meal consisted of many small things arranged beautifully on an elegant tray. Our server left for a minute after delivering our trays and shortly returned with a lighter and some boiling water in which we cooked our udon noodles on our plate. There was also some sashimi, tempura, and teriyaki (among other things) and everything tasted great. As I was wrapping up, the server returned with a small cup with some hot liquid inside and two small spheres inside. I tasted it and it was like drinking warm honey. I did not taste the spheres but the dessert was like nothing I had ever tasted. I got the bill and left, greatly satisfied with the Japanese dining experience.
From the restaurant, we ended up walking around the streets until we found ourselves in a massive shopping arcade and it was here that I realized how easy it was for me to see “eye to eye” with many of the Japanese. The majority of the people I encountered in the arcade were no taller than me and it was a different experience being one of the taller people in an environment where I was not surrounded by young children. Ahhhhh… the joys of being five foot five.
We made our way back to the ship after walking through the overcrowded arcade and I stopped by the spa to relax in the hot tub, sauna, and steam room before changing and heading to a rehearsal; it was a great way to end a spectacular day. My visit to Nagasaki was filled with cultural enlightenment, exquisite local cuisine, and a reminder of the horrors that exist in the world. The port was, without a doubt, one of the top five stops I have made since joining Queen Victoria.
Nagasaki, Japan
After spending nearly six months aboard Queen Victoria, I finally reached Southeast Asia on March 5 when the ship docked in Nagasaki, Japan. I decided against waking up early to watch the ship’s sail-in (these can be very beautiful at times, and Sydney’s sail-in and sail-away were the best yet), so when I stepped off the gangway at 8:30am, it was amazing to finally set foot in Japan for the first time in my life. I had been looking forward to this port for quite a while, and had no doubt in my mind that I would not be disappointed.
I decided against doing a tour here and instead chose to spend the day with a friend since we were both looking to see and do the same things. Immediately after getting off the ship, we purchased all-day tram passes so that we could get around to the various places and then headed to the closest tram station. Riding on the Nagasaki tram exposed me first-hand to Japanese culture, as I was surrounded by locals who did not speak a word of English. Most of the people on the tram, including the driver, wore surgical masks to help prevent them from being exposed to the massive amounts of pollution. The tram was also covered with advertisements promoting everything from skin care to baseball. It was a fun way to get around the city though.
Our first stop of the day was the Peace Park, established in 1955 to commemorate the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. It is located near the bomb hypocenter and is filled with statues donated from different countries including the United States, Brazil, Italy, New Zealand, and Argentina (among others).
The two main attractions at the Peace Park were the Peace Statue and the Fountain of Peace. At over 30 feet tall, the statue was located at the northern end of the park and towered over everything. The statue depicted a man with one leg folded and the other stretched below which was intended to symbolize both meditation and the need to stand up and rescue the people of the world. The man also had one hand stretched out to his left to symbolize eternal peace and the other pointing to the sky and to the threat of nuclear weapons. The Fountain of Peace was located at the southern end of the park opposite the Peace Statue and was intended to represent the water for the bomb victims who died in a desperate search for fluids and also represented two wings of an angel. As we walked up the stairs and entered the peace park, we were greeted by the fountain and between its two wings we saw the Peace Statue in the distance. It was a spectacular sight and it was from here that we began our walk through the park almost entirely silent. In fact, I spent a lot of the morning taking everything in and not speaking much at all.
After spending quite some time walking around the Peace Park, we made our way to the bomb hypocenter, the location over which the bomb exploded (the bomb actually exploded 500 meters above the ground). The hypocenter was marked by a large piece of marble, probably fifteen or twenty feet tall, surrounded by pieces of pavement encircling the marble slab and getting higher as they moved outwards, probably for about thirty feet or so before reaching the pavement of the open square at the hypocenter. I spent a few moments in silence at the hypocenter before heading towards the Atomic Bomb Museum, located just a short walk from the hypocenter.
The Atomic Bomb museum was the first museum of its kind that I had ever visited, in that I had never encountered a full museum dedicated to a tragic event. I was disappointed inside when I learned I would not be able to take pictures, as I knew that I would want to share what I saw with friends and family. Everything from large metal structures bent and disfigured by the blast to pictures of people with radiation poisoning and burns were on display and it was interesting to walk through the different rooms and see the effects of the bomb on both people and objects. There were a few items I was able to touch including a small cider bottle that looked more like a piece of abstract art than a glass bottle, and while I found all of these things interesting, I was constantly reminded by my surroundings that I was surrounded by artifacts from a nuclear bombing. There were pictures of charred corpses, and even a military helmet with skull fragments embedded into the lining. That was horrifying. Visiting this museum was an incredibly moving experience, and I am glad that I was able to make it here.
From the museum, my friend and I walked back to the tram station and ended up riding all the way across town, though this time the tram was more crowded and I was surrounded by mask-wearing Nagasaki locals both young and old. We ended up all the way at the last stop on one the tram’s route and after walking a short distance we reached our intended destination: Sofuku-ji Temple.
My visit to Sofuku-ji Temple in Nagasaki marked another first for me. While I visited many churches and mosques during my recent travels in the Mediterranean and its surroundings, I had never been to a Buddhist temple. This was more than just a Buddhist temple though, in that Sofuku-ji, dating back to the mid-16th century, was the oldest structure in Nagasaki still standing after the atomic bombing. The site itself contained a few different buildings, including one housing a bell and two temple buildings with different Buddha statues inside. In addition, incense burned outside each building and the pleasing aroma contributed to a near-perfect ambience. As I walked around a bit more, I discovered a couple of tombstones that led me to a beautiful cemetery that extended up a hill as far as I could see. The tombstones were in abundance but not in overabundance, and each one looked beautiful. I spent a few more minutes at the temple before heading with my friend to one of the things I looked forward to for a long time: a real Japanese lunch.
We left the temple and headed down the road, passing the entrance to either another temple or possibly the cemetery I saw earlier (either way, it was beautiful and something I am sure that the locals take for granted) until we found a place to eat. The restaurant, called “Nagasaki sippoku Hamakatsu” (I only found this out as I took their business card on my way out) had a beautiful entrance and I had no idea what to expect as I entered. When I walked into the restaurant, everything was more or less no different to a western restaurant in that there was a lobby and waiting area, but when I was led to the dining room, the Japanese dining experience began. For the first time ever, I took not only my shoes off before entering a restaurant dining area but also sat down to eat. I figured in advance I would have to do all of these things, but it was an amazing experience nevertheless. The woman who sat us and took our order did not speak a word of English and the menu had no American translations, but thankfully, it had pictures of the food so I picked a lunch special that looked good, pointed to it, and sat [on the floor in a room with six-foot ceilings] taking in the atmosphere while waiting for food to arrive.
When our server finally returned with our lunch, I rediscovered that Japanese cuisine is more about quality and presentation than it is about quantity, for my meal consisted of many small things arranged beautifully on an elegant tray. Our server left for a minute after delivering our trays and shortly returned with a lighter and some boiling water in which we cooked our udon noodles on our plate. There was also some sashimi, tempura, and teriyaki (among other things) and everything tasted great. As I was wrapping up, the server returned with a small cup with some hot liquid inside and two small spheres inside. I tasted it and it was like drinking warm honey. I did not taste the spheres but the dessert was like nothing I had ever tasted. I got the bill and left, greatly satisfied with the Japanese dining experience.
From the restaurant, we ended up walking around the streets until we found ourselves in a massive shopping arcade and it was here that I realized how easy it was for me to see “eye to eye” with many of the Japanese. The majority of the people I encountered in the arcade were no taller than me and it was a different experience being one of the taller people in an environment where I was not surrounded by young children. Ahhhhh… the joys of being five foot five.
We made our way back to the ship after walking through the overcrowded arcade and I stopped by the spa to relax in the hot tub, sauna, and steam room before changing and heading to a rehearsal; it was a great way to end a spectacular day. My visit to Nagasaki was filled with cultural enlightenment, exquisite local cuisine, and a reminder of the horrors that exist in the world. The port was, without a doubt, one of the top five stops I have made since joining Queen Victoria.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Rabaul and Saipan
Greetings once again. Queen Victoria is currently en route to Aqaba, Jordan, but this post is about a month late. Enjoy...
February 26, 2009
Rabaul, Papua New Guinea
When Queen Victoria docked mid-morning on February 26 in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, it was greeted with a healthy dose of ash coming from a nearby active volcano. I had no idea what to expect from my visit to this port. All I heard about Papua New Guinea is that it was an island full of cannibals at one point in time, so I spent my entire day hoping that I would not get eaten. My musical director jokingly warned all the musicians that if the drums started beating louder and louder to run away from the noise… needless to say, I experienced no such thing and spent the entire day in culture shock, not fear. I only got off the ship for about four hours to do a tour called “Pacific Memories”. The tour took me to a couple locations significant to World War II including a tunnel built by the Japanese to store their landing barges, a memorial cemetery, and a war museum (which mostly consisted of plane wreckage, old anti-aircraft guns, and a couple of vehicles), but driving around the island was the most interesting part of the tour. I got to see a different side of the world that most people never see and other people are forced to live in on a daily, weekly, and yearly basis, and I am grateful that I got to see it. Houses were built with whatever people could manage to find, there are no two-story buildings, and very few people, if any, seem to live past the age of 70. When the people of Rabaul finally built themselves a decent village, it was destroyed by a volcanic eruption and they had to build on the rubble. In the reconstructed village, there are two washers and dryers for everyone to use and very few public toilets as well.
Again, the trip to Rabaul was a major eye-opener for me and I am glad I got to experience what I did. Everyone needs to see this type of civilization once in a lifetime. However, I hope I never return.March 1, 2009
Saipan, Mariana Islands
It was interesting to travel nearly halfway around the world from my home and reach a commonwealth of the United States. Seeing the occasional American flag brought back happy thoughts of home, especially after spending all but four days in as many months anywhere but the USA. Nonetheless, Saipan was not very American and had obviously been heavily influenced by Southeast Asia.
I chose to do the only tour offered by the excursions office for this port, niftily dubbed “Discover Saipan”. It was a short (four-hour) tour that took me to four different spots on the island, three of which dealt with World War II. Our drive along the coast first took us to the Banzai cliffs, which, in addition to being a beautiful spot for a seaside panoramic view, is the location that several hundred Japanese civilians chose death by cliff-jumping suicide over surrender to the Americans. They were led to believe thanks to Japanese war propaganda that if they surrendered they would be brutally tortured and killed so chose to take their own lives by jumping down to the rocky waters. The cliffs were scattered with memorials from different foundations and countries and I enjoyed viewing and photographing many of the memorials prior to boarding the bus for our next stops. En route to our next stop, the American Memorial Park, we stopped briefly at a panoramic viewpoint called Bird Island, which was very much worth the brief stop there before continuing on to the park. It was just a small island maybe 50 yards off the coast, but the color of the water and the waves crashing against the island and the coastline were like nothing I had ever seen.Shortly after leaving Bird Island, we arrived at the American Memorial Park, a beautiful park sitting on more than 100 acres of land with a memorial that lists all the US Armed Forces members who perished while fighting for Saipan, and I enjoyed walking around the park and visiting the museum located there which talked about the battles that took place. It was nice to visit somewhere that discussed the historical significance of the location to World War II again, especially after visiting Pearl Harbor a month earlier.Our last stop on the tour was one of the beaches that US Marines came ashore on during the invasion of Saipan in 1944. It was like no beach I had ever been to, in that not only was the water crystal clear, but the gun turrets from some WWII Sherman Tanks were visible peaking out of the water. I do not know where else in the world it is possible to see such things.
Following the tour, I capped my day off by finding a nice restaurant and eating some great sushi before walking around a small shopping center and then heading back to the ship.
In the end, my visit to Saipan turned out to be a lot more interesting than I had anticipated and I am glad that I decided to do the tour and got to visit the places I went to.
February 26, 2009
Rabaul, Papua New Guinea
When Queen Victoria docked mid-morning on February 26 in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, it was greeted with a healthy dose of ash coming from a nearby active volcano. I had no idea what to expect from my visit to this port. All I heard about Papua New Guinea is that it was an island full of cannibals at one point in time, so I spent my entire day hoping that I would not get eaten. My musical director jokingly warned all the musicians that if the drums started beating louder and louder to run away from the noise… needless to say, I experienced no such thing and spent the entire day in culture shock, not fear. I only got off the ship for about four hours to do a tour called “Pacific Memories”. The tour took me to a couple locations significant to World War II including a tunnel built by the Japanese to store their landing barges, a memorial cemetery, and a war museum (which mostly consisted of plane wreckage, old anti-aircraft guns, and a couple of vehicles), but driving around the island was the most interesting part of the tour. I got to see a different side of the world that most people never see and other people are forced to live in on a daily, weekly, and yearly basis, and I am grateful that I got to see it. Houses were built with whatever people could manage to find, there are no two-story buildings, and very few people, if any, seem to live past the age of 70. When the people of Rabaul finally built themselves a decent village, it was destroyed by a volcanic eruption and they had to build on the rubble. In the reconstructed village, there are two washers and dryers for everyone to use and very few public toilets as well.
Again, the trip to Rabaul was a major eye-opener for me and I am glad I got to experience what I did. Everyone needs to see this type of civilization once in a lifetime. However, I hope I never return.March 1, 2009
Saipan, Mariana Islands
It was interesting to travel nearly halfway around the world from my home and reach a commonwealth of the United States. Seeing the occasional American flag brought back happy thoughts of home, especially after spending all but four days in as many months anywhere but the USA. Nonetheless, Saipan was not very American and had obviously been heavily influenced by Southeast Asia.
I chose to do the only tour offered by the excursions office for this port, niftily dubbed “Discover Saipan”. It was a short (four-hour) tour that took me to four different spots on the island, three of which dealt with World War II. Our drive along the coast first took us to the Banzai cliffs, which, in addition to being a beautiful spot for a seaside panoramic view, is the location that several hundred Japanese civilians chose death by cliff-jumping suicide over surrender to the Americans. They were led to believe thanks to Japanese war propaganda that if they surrendered they would be brutally tortured and killed so chose to take their own lives by jumping down to the rocky waters. The cliffs were scattered with memorials from different foundations and countries and I enjoyed viewing and photographing many of the memorials prior to boarding the bus for our next stops. En route to our next stop, the American Memorial Park, we stopped briefly at a panoramic viewpoint called Bird Island, which was very much worth the brief stop there before continuing on to the park. It was just a small island maybe 50 yards off the coast, but the color of the water and the waves crashing against the island and the coastline were like nothing I had ever seen.Shortly after leaving Bird Island, we arrived at the American Memorial Park, a beautiful park sitting on more than 100 acres of land with a memorial that lists all the US Armed Forces members who perished while fighting for Saipan, and I enjoyed walking around the park and visiting the museum located there which talked about the battles that took place. It was nice to visit somewhere that discussed the historical significance of the location to World War II again, especially after visiting Pearl Harbor a month earlier.Our last stop on the tour was one of the beaches that US Marines came ashore on during the invasion of Saipan in 1944. It was like no beach I had ever been to, in that not only was the water crystal clear, but the gun turrets from some WWII Sherman Tanks were visible peaking out of the water. I do not know where else in the world it is possible to see such things.
Following the tour, I capped my day off by finding a nice restaurant and eating some great sushi before walking around a small shopping center and then heading back to the ship.
In the end, my visit to Saipan turned out to be a lot more interesting than I had anticipated and I am glad that I decided to do the tour and got to visit the places I went to.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
