Day 2 of our Osaka Expo went well.  Again, we were able to win the lottery for a motor scooter each.  Photos and videos. Sakura? Stopped by to watch a Japanese horse dance. We drove by these pavilions. We got entrance to the United Arab Emirates pavilion Very, very boring pavilion. We caught an escalator to the Grand Ring.  The photo to the left is a night view.  A complete circle would be a 2.6 mile walk. The Grand Ring is the symbol of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan and expresses the concept of “Unity in Diversity.”   It is constructed using a fusion of modern construction methods and traditional   Nuki   joints, such as those used in the construction of Japanese shrines and temples. The mobile scooter enabled us to again drive by all the pavilions.  Even then, we were exhausted, so left the expo in the later afternoon, and stopped by for an early dinner at a soba restaurant in our building called Kasane. An absolutely excellent meal. ...

 We leave this morning for Osaka, Japan: You can vicariously follow our trip through this blog.  I hope to this time have few more videos.  I bought an OSMO Pocket 3 video camera. We will first be staying at the Osaka Marriott Miyako Hotel.  Read about our  previous visit in November of 2023 .  Our hotel is on floors 38 to 57 in the 60 story Abeno Harukas, the tallest building in Osaka. Then, on to the 2025 Osaka Expo: We than Shinkansen from Shin-Osaka Station to Shin-Yokohama Station, a train ride of two hours.  We will need to transfer to Yokohama Station so that we can walk to the  Sheraton Yokohama Bay Hotel , where we have stayed many times.  In Japan, it is traditional to just transfer any large suitcase from one hotel to the next for a reasonable cost.  This hotel sits on top of a very large shopping mall that connects to the train station. Then, 16 days on the Oceania Riviera. We have 5 days to spend in Vancouver.  Our hote...

Again, no Trump.  We're leaving in about a month to the Osaka Expo, then a cruise from Yokohama to Vancouver.  Thus, today, a look at travel, featuring  Condé Nast Traveler 's  Best Places to Go in Asia in 2025 , where Osaka is featured.  First,  Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City, which was known as Saigon during and before their war with the U.S. Has grown into one of the world's fastest growing tourism powerhouse. Have been there a couple of times.  Here are some  tidbits from 2009 . Interesting that I said the population is nearing 10 million, and expected to reach 20 million in 2020.   Well, this is 2025 and the population is 9.8 million. Located 1100 miles south of Hanoi. That population is for the metropolitan area.  For only the city itself. HCMCity  3.5 million Hanoi  1.4 million Da Nang  0.75 million This is surprising, for Vietnam is in the northern hemisphere, but HCMCity is cooler in September than January and Fe...