Japan & Cruise Trip Report - Aug. 24 - Sept. 11, 2025

This was my and my son's annual trip together (I'm 60 & he 35) to one of his dream destinations.  He is deeply intrigued with Japanese culture, anime, gaming and food.  We love our "Ramen" and are lucky as we have excellent authentic Japanese dining establishments here in Vancouver; I think we have tried most of the ramen available, not all, but most here...  I did tons of research of where we were going to eat at each stop on our trip.  Anyway, we were both eager though I found the research utterly exhausting - the trains and maps of each city were overwhelming and stressful to me.  I really spent most of my time looking at food as that's what I like and it was so much fun deciding what to try.  I had a full page listed of food items. When we booked, the Canadian dollar was strong against the yen—sadly, by the time we left, not so much. The Canadian dollar sucks big time ⬇️, even more now with the global economy uncertainties/tariffs... All my prices in this trip will be in Canadian dollars, sad, sad Canadian dollars...😞💰

Caribbean Cruise Trip Report - Feb. 21 - March 2, 2025

It's been 6 years since I was last in the Caribbean (It ended up being my last trip for a long while as covid broke out in 2020).  Anyway, the lady I hung out with on our Italy cruise (I'll call her Ms. Ohio hereon in) and I decided to escape the gloomy winter and get some sunshine.  We booked 51 days before departure date which to me is like last minute, haha.  I was very excited about a NEW ship.  The NCL Viva's maiden voyage was Aug. 2023.