August 28, 2025

EXPO 2025 - WORLD'S FAIR OSAKA, JAPAN

Resident Fran  from Australia, a 77 year old former novice nun, school teacher, mom, librarian, assistant director of VVR Players group and All-Around Major Ship Personality, kindly offered me her extra priority ticket as a companion to her Handicap, easy accessibility access, to the World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan on August 19, 2025.  This meant we could go to the front of the lines, for the none reserved Pavilions, in front of the long cues! This was key to us accessing about 6 of the Pavilions shown below.

Singapore Pavillion was first one we went into.

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Next we went atop the massive wood structure that rings the entire EXPO 2025.I thought this was one of most impressive things in the park, as far as interesting architecture.After sweating massively on the upper ring line we made a beeline for Bulgaria purely to find some AC and seats for a bit.

Next we hit a Commons Hall - which housed several smaller countries that didn't have the opportunity or resources for their own stand alone Pavillion & in there we visit Bhutan, Palestine and Cuba. Next we sought out some lunch and a shady spot to sit in the center of the exhibit area in an area called tranquility forest. Here they created a dense tree area for shade and several countries had food trucks and little eateries with common area tables and benches. We had some shrimp, rice and veggie dishes and large waters!

After Lunch we went to Spain's Pavillion which was my favorite interior spaces.

Next was a Japanese cultural exhibit, again just to get out of the heat . And we had to go to Australia, Fran's home, where she was delighted to find properly made Lamington's,at food stall on way out of pavilion, (it's a sponge cake w strawberry jams filling, rolled in chocolate & coconut). It was very tasty.

We then made one final push to see the USA Pavilion. Full of Trump photos and highlighted our space program. By then it was 5:00 pm and we were exhausted, so we called it a day and walked out to find a subway and then an uber out of there and back to our Ship!

KOH CHANG, THAILAND

By Pat Patrick • July 26, 2026
We just relaxed on the Island of Koh Chang, Thailand. It's one of the largest Thai Islands in the Gulf of Thailand and it has a dense, steep jungle & National Park covering the interior of the Island, which extends off shore, to coral reefs. The coast line is dotted with beaches and villages. This was a tender port, so we decided to stay on the Island for 3 nights, to be able to experience the nightlife. Turns out, it is low season, so nightlife was pretty sleepy. However, we did find a new favorite night time activity! Any Guesses?!?

On the way to Koh Chang, Thailand

By Pat Patrick • July 25, 2026
Love Sea Days ! I got a much needed haircut and color. Think I'll be going shorter, but giving this a whirl! Can you see the back in the mirror? The bangs and side volume, is what drives me nuts in the heat and humidity!

WAT BANG KUNG & TRAIN MARKET - Bangkok ,Thailand

By Pat Patrick • July 21, 2026
Wat Bang Kung Temple was a quick stop along the way to the Train Markets . What makes this unique is the Temple is completely enclosed by roots of four giant trees (a banyan, bodhi and others). From the outside, it looks like nature has swallowed the building. Inside the chapel is a golden Buddha image, that locals still visit to pray. It was quite active during our short visit there. The Temple dates back over 250 years and survived the Burmese invasion.