Hola!

Updated: Ok so we haven’t been able to blog because the ships satellite wifi is a little dodgy.

So we are over halfway through the cruise around the land of the taco. 

The first first sea day was awesome with the ‘Carnival Live’ concerts of Carly Rae Jepsen. Brilliant young performer and made us feel like teenagers singing into our hairbrushes. The evening was helped by our very good oral hygiene!

We weren’t the oldest there not the youngest, and there was a big turnout. Many passengers didn’t make it and were either asleep, smoking their lungs out in the casino or stuck at the buffet (aka Pig Pit).

Ok so explain.. the ship has two buffets. Many of the attendees appear (not by their shear size, but behaviour) to have never eaten during their entire existence on the planet, or are simply getting bang for their buck with how many waffles they can stuff into their mouths during the feeding times. It is best to step aside and let them pass or risk being trodden into the carpet like the food that does not quite make the journey from their oversized plates to their equally sized mouths. I do not need to then explain the experience with the free ice cream machines or the 24 hour pizza joint! Two words - Fucking. Horrific.

Anyway, back to Mexico. We pulled into Cabo for two days, however had to return to the ship overnight and weren’t able to stay ashore... the ship sailed out from it’s anchor point and returned the next morning. Something to do with duty free and being able to open the casino. The Pig Pit food must be tax free I reckon! Clyde enjoyed his time ashore too.

As the crew were setting up for the tendering, we were joined in port by the rather familiar “Roobs”, the Ruby Princess.

She stayed in port throughout the night.

It’s quite an experience getting off the ship which in anchored and jumping on a little tender boat go ashore. They squeeze about 55 people on each boat.

During our Cabo days we met up with an old high school friend. Ash has lived in Cabo for some time now with his lovely wife and two adorable boys. Quite an awesome view from his house.

It was great to spend time with him and to experience the real (non-tourist) Cabo. We tried our hand at the local golf driving range as one of the kids was at golfing lessons. The next day we got a little touristy with Ash organising an ATV tour. Ok so it looked like the 3 amigos were going to rob a bank, but instead we drove around the sandy dunes and cactus filled land, complemented by a tequila tasting afterwards! 

We learned a lot about this drink.. and have a new appreciation for how the really good stuff tastes!

We also got a good dose of the local food, filling our bellies with a lot of Mexican fare before returning to the ship to sail away. 

This is our second time in Cabo and we are very much looking forward to going back to Cabo.

Once they located one dickhead who was almost left behind we set sail for our next destination, Puerto Vallarta.

Later that night, disaster struck (for some)... this is the scene that we stumbled across...

More come when the wifi is a little better as I keep losing my post entries.  

Time to set sail...

Ok so picking up from the last post, and after a solid sleep (which was induced by some magic tablets we found at Costco).... we had an awesome evening with Kellie (Ryan’s cuzzie) and her lovely wife Liz. Yep the gay-fab-gene runs in the family!

Our escorted tour of Costco was eye opening, we are no longer virgins of bulk buying. Picked up a new suitcase due to the shopping and other bits and pieces. We saw Grey Goose 2 litre bottles for $30..... almost worth buying another suitcase for that.

After the Costco experience we found ourselves pigging out at Cheesecake Factory, always a winner food-wise there and a few pounds heavier!

So today is sail-away day on the ship. We first went to Walmart to pick up something to hide vodka in... I think we are on a winner and will see if ithe contraband is still in our checked luggage....as the cruise is not really BYO VODKA!

Before... (note the seals expertly removed)

And after.... and bingo just add lime and you have a ready-made Mojito!!

We are now on board awaiting access to our cabin. 

Not a bad view of this old girl as we wait!

The decor on the Carnival Splendor is rather PINK! Interesting choice! Probably a good calming colour if this bucket sinks (after all it is [was] actually the sister ship to the Costa Concordia). I think we will be ok as we haven’t booked the submarine excursion.

The people watching is ummm yeah well let’s say fascinating to say the least... certainly not feeling too ashamed of one’s body (in comparison).

Clyde is ready to go and is excited about the pop concert tomorrow night, I think Ryan is a bit giddy about seeing Carly Rae Jepsen too. Yawn.... I mean oh my I can’t wait (to do the laundry around the same  time). Yeah yeah #imchooseingmyownpharkingfun.

Well sailors, it is time to find our cabin and read ourselves for the muster station ‘rehearsal’. Clyde is happy with the cabin and the view from the balcony!

Caio for now!

IMPORTANT UPDATE: we’ve decided the paintwork is actually salmon. Pink is just a little pedestrian!

Oh and look what arrived safely to the cabin.... yes, “mouthwash”. Two of these are not like the other.... Ryan is trying to work it out!

Clyde has already started as we do our Muster Station Emergency Briefing.

What day is it?

Ok so after a little bit of a disjointed sleep due to the jet lag monster, and suffering a mild cranial rectal inversion (where one’s head is firmly up one’s arse) we managed to get some more sunshine to help get the body functioning as it should. 

Not a bad view down at the Long Beach waterfront, with the iconic Queen Mary proudly floating in the background.

This was what one may consider to be the calm before the storm, a storm that Ryan weathered with the utmost of grace. It’s called shopping, outlet shopping!

It’s only day one, and another suitcase has been bought.

Well it is getting late, sleep is needed as tomorrow (actually today) we hit the high seas for our cruise to Mexico.

More soon!

Hello America, it’s been a while!

Well here we are, we jetted into LAX yesterday on this big bird ‘Noosa Heads’. 

We were both lucky enough to have our seats upgraded to the pointy end of the 777. We were very appreciative as our tickets were awarded for working for VA for 10 years, a great and humbling achievement and the icing on the cake for what has been an awesome long service leave break from work.

Ryan enjoyed the sparkling...water... from his seat pod too.

And Clyde, well he found the Business Class bar!By the end of it, and although having a pretty good sleep in a bed, we were keen to get some sunshine and fresh air.

We had a great view of things as we overflow Hollywood, Bev Hills and downtown LA. If you look closely you can see the Hollywood sign!

We had the usual bollocks to endure upon landing and dealing with the authorities, amidst peak hour traffic it was a 90 minute drive to our hotel in Long Beach.

Today, the last full day in Japan....

After a lazy morning we ended up heading to Harajuku....a very colourful part of Tokyo.

The shopping bug hit and we scored some good tax free bargains - "normal" attire, not the stuff you would expect from this district - typically mini shirts, long socks, doll-like makeup and a lotta Hello Kitty crap. Even the clocks are weird...

Not sure this is the typical ACDC attire either...

And I think this shop would be busy for Mardi Gras!... No we did not do any shopping here...

But this is all pretty normal for Harajuku.

Speaking of normality.... Another genuine Japanese lunch...

After a bit more of a walk we found more plastic food. Yep, most restaurants either have really bad and uninspiring photos of their food, or in many instances the plastic version...

We visited, and may have made a purchase at the Apple Store.  Some of the things they have for sale are awesome... But we will save that for the next trip.

Well, it is time to have some dinner.  This time we are going traditional-shoes off-sit on the floor and eat your dinner at a Teppen place next door.  The photos of their food looked good.  Might see how the saki goes too as we are all packed have a few hours to just trot around the neighbourhood tomorrow before the 2 hour trek to Narita.

We have loved every second of being here.  Tokyo is a place we will come back to again, probably many times.  The locals are polite and respectful and always happy to help.

The Mighty Mount Fuji....And the Rollercoasters.

Thursday was the day we escaped out of Tokyo.  Two trains, 2 hours travelling through the countryside and we made it to the Fujiku Highland.

We felt quite privileged to see Mt Fuji in all of his glory as the majority of time he is shrouded in cloud.  

Useless fact: I did read that Mt Fuji is considered genderless however some mythology depicts the mountain as male.

The main reason for us heading out there was to visit the Fuji Q Amuzement Park.

This park leaves the one's in Oz in its dust!  There are a number of records held for the rides and we can now certainly understand why.... It is quite difficult to get a photo that explains what we mean, but it was a safe bet not to eat before going on the biggest ride - a 4th dimension coaster - where you are sitting backwards and then inverted to be facing forward (3 times over the 1km track)....at a speed of 127kph.  Google: Eejanaika.

A good tip:

Not sure a green dress and red heels are the most suitable for this amusement park...but we did see a whole lot worse.

The more tame ride (in comparison) took us up 79m, no upside down backward bits but enough to frighten the shit out of you while you try to enjoy the view of the mountain. Google: Fujiyama.  (Fun Fact: Tower of Terror pushed this ride into the worlds 2nd fastest ride spot).

Then the other one that was the most surprising was simply nuts. Starting in the dark, dipping and diving and then taking you up 90 degrees vertical and a record breaking 121 degree drop.... That was actually the tame part considering what the lead up to the drop had done to us.

Google: Takabisha (I think that is Japanse for holy shit I just crapped my pants).

Ryan then convinced me that we should go into the the Haunted House.... It turned out to be a blood covered, psycho hospital with mad doctors and zombie shit chasing us around.  OK so we all screamed like little girls as we had to walk (and at times run bloody fast) around this derelict and deadly looking dark hospital with only a torch in hand getting a glimpse of patients who had been hacked to bits and body parts dangling from the ceiling.... Not much different from a typical work day really. The things you do for love.

After a really fun 6 hours we headed next door to the Fujiku Onsen where we took a traditional Japanese bath.  A complete contrast to the previous hours as we relaxed in the buff win the company of Japanese men. There were a number of  hot springs to enjoy - tepid, rosemary scented, carbonated, hot, outdoor and really bloody hot. It was very relaxing to take it easy while enjoying the view of Mt Fuji as the sun set before catching a few zzzzzz on the trains to get back to Tokyo.

We slept well last night.

Anyhow.... Things have been busy and no time for blogging...

It is our last night here in Tokyotown and we are heading out soon for a Japanese dinner down the road, then we might head out for some saki...some.... Yeah right. So to catch up on the past few days...

Anyhow - as I was saying, things have been busy, last reports had us looking through one of the first markets in Toyko, packed with people (as most parts of this town are).

The markets had everyhing from plastic food to waving cat's - yep we now have one to add to our ever growing pile of trinkets from our trips.

We have been using the trusty Lonely Planet Pocket Guide and saw there was a Drum Museum near to where we were.  So after refuelling on traditional Japanese food at Denny's, we headed to the museum.  I think we have found some hidden talents, and a good way to unwind.. YES, we were allowed to play some of them.  The collection is from around the globe and boy did we make the most of it.

From there we headed back to the hotel before having a very traditional Nippon dinner...which turned out to be #@%^ing expensive for what turned out to be fancy-^#%#ing soup....that we cooked ourselves. Well, we ticked the box for getting all Japanese on ourselves.

See how impressed Ryan was when he did the currency conversion...

An early night it was after this as we have a HUGE day planned the next day.

Busy Busy Busy Day 2/3

OK, so day two was a 'day off'....aka a little bit of a post karaoke hangover.

Let's move on to day three.

We made up for day two and haven't had much time to sit down and write about it. First up was to take a trot around the outside of the Imperial Palace. WE couldn't go in as we needed to pre-book and we were not that organised.  It was a lovely walk around what you might consider to be the central business district of Tokyo.... Big buildings, lots of suits and people being busy in the Marunouchi district. 

Much of the palace did not survive the WWII activities and was rebuilt, some parts did indeed make it out OK but we didn't see them all but had a quick glimpse from the outside.

From there we jumped on the subway and headed for the Roppongi area where the Tokyo Tower is located.  It is a bit like the old and the older...the tower is located right next to the Zojo-Ji Buddhist Temple.  The serenity was quite remarkable considering the location. There is a rather large bell out the front, not sure if a 15T bell is really needed to let you know people are at the front door...

From there we jumped on the subway....and headed to Rappongi Hills, a shopping centre with an observation floor....on the 52nd floor.  The floor also houses a gallery which was displaying a Marvel Comics exhibition.  It was interesting to see and not a bad view at all. Note to self - lunchtime trains are busy...

From there we had a quick rest back at the hotel and headed to Shibuya, where the worlds busiest pedestrian crossing is.  Yep it was busy and we saw many other interesting things.... Not sure what this is, but it was worth taking a photo.

We then ordered dinner at a ticket machine on the footpath and then sat down and had dinner delivered to us...  Good tucker it was!

Totally shattered we headed back to the hotel for a good sleep.

Time for bed as we have an early day tomorrow - heading to Fujiku Amusement Park out by that little hill - Mt Fuji.

WIll write about today's temple, drum museum, waving cats, shopping mall and other antics and tomorrow's adventure when we return. In the meantime, have a random photo from today...