I was born on 6September1940.  Am now on the Silversea Silver Whisper, heading towards three Pacific Ocean hurricanes.  Met the captain of this ship last night, Julien Albiel to my right (your left) and hotel director Valentin Trif. He was pleased to hear that we both thought the Silver Whisper was the best cruise ship we have ever been on, all things considered.  Even better that the Ritz-Carlton Luminara.  Here I am with Captain Tom Roth of that luxury yacht.   Read the story of how he personally helped me on Day One of our cruise from Singapore less than a year ago So back to the Silver Whisper, spent some time talking to Captain Albiei, mostly about those three hurricanes.  Twelve hours later, or this morning, the situation has further improved regarding our safety.   Hurricane Karina is now a tropical storm at 60 MPH and continuing to mover westward, sufficiently north of the Hawaiian Islands. Will become a post-tropical gale as she head...

  I've been ignoring Donald Trump and world events, so will start with the  latest poll showing Americans venting disappointment with The Donald on today, his 100th day in office .  Also showing no progress on those wars in the Ukraine and Gaza Strip.  About tariffs and China, here is a graphic from the   New York Times . This is Day 14 of our trip.  Some background about  Hakodate . Was originally populated by the Ainu. Founded in 1454 by Kono Masamichi, but the family was driven out of Hakodate during the Ainu rebellion in 1512. There was another uprising around 1670, led by Ainu warrior Shakushain.  Note that the Ainu look Eurasian. It was on 8July1853 that American Commodore Matthew Perry led his four warships into Tokyo Bay, seeking re-establish for the first time in 200 years, regular trade between Japan and the western world.  The first two ports to open were Hakodate and Shimoda (67 miles south of Tokyo).  Yokohama Port did not o...