SAKAIMINATO TO BUSAN

Sakaiminato is another city tourists never visit.  I never even heard of it until this cruise.  

Not much to say about this city, but:

• Sakaiminato is formed of two kanji characters.  The first means border, and the second is port.
• Has a population of 32,000, but was 38,000 in 1980.
• 466 miles from Tokyo, and even with the bullet train covering a good portion, it takes 8 hours to get here by train.
• At one time it had a sister city, Wonson, North Korea, which was revoked in 2006.
• 
  The most notable person from here is Shigeru Mizuki, manga creator of GeGeGe no Kitaro.  One hundred bronze statues of the characters line Kitaro Road.
• A ferry from this port is the only one which can take you to Russia from Japan.

• 
  Read this vlog describing what to do if you stay a night and day.  And the ideal spot they recommend is the Onyado Nono Sakaiminato Dormy Inn, which has an onsen and is located right by the train station.  Also offers free noodles in the evening, and, of course, a free Japanese breakfast.

Lunch today on the Diamond Princess was fabulous.  Additives in the ramen bar and desserts.

The first day we boarded, I thought I saw our 15 Craigside friend Steve.  Well, here he is again, and he sat next to our table.

My lunch with a bloody mary and beer.

See that tower in the background?  That is where we will go after lunch.  While the above cuisine was outstanding, what was spectacular was the crispy pork skin.  Many places serve this, but this ship is the only one where the crispness is not too tough for my teeth.  

Walked to Yumeminato Tower, which is a complex of shops, restaurants and viewing sites.  First stop, a fish market, where people purchase mostly Matsuba snow crab, many consuming it there with beer.  Provided are the tools you need to prepare the open the crab.

Outside the market was a swarm of local fishermen catching small fish, maybe 4 inches long,

We then paid about $2 each to go up to the top of the tower.

The round pier is where I took the fishing photo.

Every city has a mascot, and Toripi is the one here.

Sakaiminato has a long history of being international, so there is a museum where exhibits are scattered from China, South Korea, Mongolia and Russia.  In fact, many of the signs in and outside of the tower had two languages:  Japanese and Russian.  Many Matryoshka dolls.

We departed at sunset, 5PM local time.

We wondered what that building was, but never found  out.

We now have a pattern.  Start with predinner drinks at Crooner's Bar, followed by dinner.

We went back to The Savoy.

Forgot to take photos, but here is the end of my meal, which was fine.  Sort of a fusion of Japanese and Western.

Dessert was butter toffee ice cream doused with Harvey's Bristol Cream.

I was so sleepy that we immediately went to bed.  Walked a good 6087 steps today,.

Interestingly enough, I yesterday reported that I walked 9508 steps over two days.  Turned out I read the pedometer up-side-down, and I only walked 8056 steps in two days...because I forget to set it to zero in the morning.

We just arrived in Busan, one of our very favorite cities.  We spent some time Busan in 2019.  Photos of buildings and from the executive lounge of the Westin Chosun.

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