Wonderful, wonderful Osaka! We went to Nara and had a great day in spite of light snow flakes in the air and a temperature in the forties. The second day we visited the Aquarium, which, in my opinion, far surpassed that on Monterey Bay, California. An escalator is taken up about three stories and you then walk down a gently winding floor with displays on each side. It was entitled "Ring of Fire" and the displays carried you around the ring of fire. It was stunning. An additional bonus was the presence of hoards of Japanese school children in about first or second grade each identified by the color of their little caps. They were all so excited and chattering but very well behaved. Each one was holding the hand of his partner and never let loose.

We have another Japanese port today, Kagoshima. We are arriving late and will leave about seven this evening. The weather is very overcast and we will probably have rain.

Shanghai is next with lots of excitement building for all that is there.

Ardis

Ardis, glad that you are enjoying Japan. I think you are seeing the end of our very cold weather.

Beyond Shanghai, I am awaiting your reports from Rangoon. What are your plans there?

We hope you and Stan continue to have a wonderful journey.

The Kaiyuukan or the Osaka Ring of Fire Aquarium is still one of my favorite aquariums to visit. I have to agree that I like it better than Monterey. I hear though that the Georgia Aquarium may have it beat so I will have to reserve judgement until I go visit it some day!

Glad to hear that you and Stan had a nice visit to Japan!

Marc:

In Rangoon we are taking a two- night overnight to Bagan which is one of the main reasons for booking this WC. We love the Orient much better than other parts of the world and are already planning the Ring of Fire 2009 and following that with Grand Asia Pacific 2009, both on Mariner our favorite ship. We decided to cancel the Navigator Discovery Collection because of the long flight to Athens. It will be so great to be back on Mariner. As a friend said last year, "The Mariner has a SOUL that the Voyager lacks."

Ardis