A POSSIBLY FINAL GLOBAL OPPORTUNITY

Well, Jeff Bezos and his Blue Origin crew safely returned. However, they only went up, then back, and did not make a global tour.

Dr. Anthony Fauci and Senator Rand Paul sparred again today. Never seen Fauci so authoritative.

Senator Paul is an ophthalmologist, but he keeps pushing the Republican party line with no real proof.

Still scheduled to board the Island Princess next year on January 19 for a penultimate 111-day global cruise. This would be my first ship-only around the world adventure.

My travel partner and I need to be in Okinawa next Fall for an important gathering, so we thought, what about a final and ultimate world journey beginning in October of 2022? We could then work in another stop in Dubai to better see that country, a Christmas River Cruise in Europe, the Expo 2023 in Buenos Aires, and back home through North America.

Here is a first draft that will be adjusted, for Buenos Aires is not yet included, I've always wanted to return to Mauritius, and there will be other sites to consider. We plan to include more than a few 3-Star Michelin and Best 100 Pellegrino restaurants, If we pay for the Tokyo-Okinawa roundtrip, that would mean two more stops around the world. Some of these locations are here because long journeys only land in certain airports. These all fly during the daytime to enjoy the party. We hate overnight flights. The Crystal river cruise departs from Basel.

Finally, home....

I ate two food items yesterday I have been avoiding for a year and a half. I stayed away from desserts and many carbohydrates during my campaign to lose weight. Well, I'm low enough now, so had both ice cream and musubi:

I picked up a Haagen Dazs. In case you missed it, this was an ume musubi located on the right side of this photo just above.

I also had a big celebration, and might someday tell you why:

IN CASE YOU FORGOT, THE FIRST TOKYO SUMMER OLYMPICS EVENT WILL BE SHOWN ON NBCSC (210/1210 on Spectrum in Hawaii) at 8PM EDT (2PM in Hawaii), with Japan against Australia in softball, followed by the USA vs Italy in this same game. The last champion was Japan in 2008, and they beat the favored USA. Softball games continue, then into soccer, where, eventually, the USA women's soccer team plays Sweden at 8:30 AM EDT (2:30AM in Hawaii) Wednesday morning!!!!

DAY 1 on the DIAMOND PRINCESS

But first, Sheraton Yokohama Bay highlights of our Sheraton Club eats/drinks and breakfasts. Breakfast stations. Then taxi off to the Diamond Princess. Fall colors. Approaching from the rear of the Diamond Princess. Departure of Diamond Princess from Yokohama, Departure snack of lamb, beef, penne pasta, Johnny Walker Gold and champagne. Leaving Yokohama. We then went to Kai Sushi for dinner, Sushi and sake dinner, Then, off to Fun Dance Class. That followed by karaoke. The night continued into some old time disco. Finally, after midnight, back to our stateroom. Walked 4127 steps today. -

DAY 4 IN SEOUL: Most popular Korean Songs from the 1950's to the Present

Korean music was almost totally missing, growing up in Hawaii. The exception was Arirang . Today, BTS and BLACKPINK resonate around the world. In addition to the 600 year-old Arirang, what is the all-time #1? My favorites are: Baby Shark , released by Pinkfong in 2016. For one, it is the most-viewed You Tube video ever, hitting 7 billion views and surpassing Despacito in 2022. Is now up to 16.47 billion views, with Despacito at 9 billion. Top 10 music videos, based on data from Kworb and Wikipedia : Note that most are nursery songs. "Baby Shark Dance" – Pinkfong Kids' Songs & Stories (16.47 billion) "Despacito" – Luis Fonsi ft. Daddy Yankee (8.91 billion) "Wheels on the Bus" – Cocomelon Nursery Rhymes (8.29 billion) "Bath Song" – Cocomelon Nursery Rhymes (7.31 billion) "Johny Johny Yes Papa" – LooLoo Kids (7.13 billion) "See You Again" –...

THE VERY BEST MOVIE MUSICALS

Two weeks ago I featured the best dance films. Many of them are repeated here because where there is dance, there is also music. An excellent best musical list from IndieWire : #1 Singin' in the Rain (1954) #2 All that Jazz (Bob Fosse, 1979) #3 West Side Story (1961) #4 Dancer in the Dark (2000), featuring Björk #5 Mary Poppins (1964), nominated for 13 Oscars #6 The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) #7 The Wizard of Oz (1939) #8 Nashville (1975) #9 Cabaret (1972) #10 Moulin Rouge (2001) #11 The Sound of Music (1965) #12 La La Land (2016) #13 Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) #14 My Fair Lady (1964) #15 Fiddler on the Roof (1971) #16 The Red Shoes (1948) #17 A Star is Born (1954), there was another in 1937, then 1976, and finally 2018. The 1954 version starred Judy Garland and James Mason. #18 The...

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