August 9, 2025
Our first Port in Japan!
Japan is compromised of 4 main islands, from North to South - Hokkaido, Honshu,Shikoku & Kyushu. We are in Japan for 30+ days and have port stops in all four islands. Today, we started in Hakodate which is on the southern tip of the first island. Below are the first views I had from my balcony coming into the Port. It was rainy most of the day, but we were still able to walk around the town.
The fish markets were right across from the Port - Crabs in all sizes - some huge! Same with the Melons! Vending machines are also everywhere. Fellow resident Laura shared her love for the 7-11 tuna sandwich that uses seaweed in lieu of bread !
We got caught in a down pour while strolling the fish market - so went back to the ship for a change of clothes, before heading out again to go further into town. This time we decided to test out our skills using the public transportation and downloaded a Suica transit card. We followed the crowd and figured out the system. We went a handful of stops on the trolley to the star shaped fort. There we ran into a bunch of other residents.
Group of ship residents at Fort - Ozzie Rina out front - L to R Me, Enoch, Anna ( pianist), Bosco, Paul, Claude & David. After the Fort we took the tram again and headed back past the port, to the restored red brick warehouses along the waterfront, which is now a lively restaurant, bar and shopping area. We then walked back to ship in time to cast off.
