Well, the day for our next adventure has arrived.  We leave on ANA for Tokyo, spend a few days in Yokohama, then board the Diamond Princess. From  Conde Nast : Once again, Japan tops the list of the   world's best countries , according to our   Readers' Choice Awards , which means our readers believe that the best time to visit Japan is simply “always.” It makes sense: With an abundance of trailblazing restaurants, mouthwatering street food spots, unique shopping experiences, rich craft and heritage histories, hikes out in nature, and   hotels   that represent the pinnacle of hospitality, there's a curated escape to Japan for every type of traveler. After all, there are   over 14,000 islands   in this archipelagic country, so you're bound to find one strip of land that will fulfill your travel needs. We do return for our final three days in January to stay at the Tokyo Westin Hotel, which keeps  my bottle of Nikka Yoichi 20 year old ....

We are a few days away from our exciting adventure to the Orient.  One stop will be Taiwan.  However, Japan-China relations just deteriorated. Japan's first female Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on 31October2025.  All went well. But on November 7, Takaichi veered from Japan's policy of " strategic ambiguity " about Taiwan, suggesting that an attack on Taiwan could amount to a "survival-threatening situation" that would permit Japan to exercise collective self-defense. This drew the ire of China, which has maintained that Taiwan is part of China, and that they will someday, by force, if necessary, regain total control,  as was done with Hong Kong.  We also will visit that city, twice on this trip. Takaichi refused to retract her remarks. Usually, most of what happens is just tense talk, but this time, China urged their citizens to hold off on any trip to Japan this year. If the Chinese take this seriously, Japan will be si...

Messed up yesterday, which was nostalgic Tuesday.  Did a science posting, which is what I do on Wednesdays.  So I'll skip nostalgia this week and provide instead the latest news of today.   Blowout wins for Democrats yesterday in the national out-year elections. Said the morning  New York Times . Zohran Mamdani, 34, will be the next mayor of New York City, the youngest in more than a century. The democratic socialist will also be the city’s first Muslim mayor. Abigail Spanberger will be Virginia’s first female governor. In New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill cruised to victory in a governor’s race that polls had projected would be neck and neck .   And in California, voters passed a ballot measure to redraw the state’s maps in Democrats’ favor, which is likely to yield as many as five House seats for the party next year . And that was not all. In Maine, voters rejected a ballot measure that would have   added voting restrictions , and they approved a measu...