Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Singapore Airline

　　I might have been able to apply the tour directly to the cruise company (LINK), but I joined the JTB's plan. JTB is one of the principal Japanese travel agents derived from the Japan Travel Bureau Foundation. I supposed that it would be easier and more reliable to join it than my private application. They booked not only the ship, but also our flights between Singapore and Japan. The ship passengers are supposed to apply for optional tours on board if they want, but JTB offered their original tour plans with Japanese speaking tour guides at every port of call in advance. Additionally they would publish the Japanese translation of the ship's bulletin every day. I'll show you some of them later, and actually, their Japanese versions were a bit disappointing to me.
　　We gathered at Haneda International Airport. We were 34 of us and a tour guide. My wife and I made friends with some of them during the cruising. I flew Singapore Airlines, whose CAs were all stylish and pretty. That's not the case in airlines in the USA. Its in-flight entertainment system was not kind to Japanese, but it was ok because I had to sleep all the way on flight. The plane left Japan at 22:50 hours and arrived in Singapore at 05:30 hours. I didn't have time for movies. The time difference between Japan and Singapore is only an hour. The picture shows the breakfast, which was so-so.

(Vocabulary)
port of call 寄港地

マラッカ海峡クルージング記：　羽田からシンガポールへ

ダイヤモンド・プリンセスに乗船するにあたり、直接予約する方法があったかもしれないが、旅行社を通す方が何かと楽だろうと考えＪＴＢを通じて予約した。航空券の予約もお任せできるし船内新聞が日本語に翻訳されるというのも助かる。そして寄港地でのツアーに日本語を話すガイドが付いてくれるのも有り難かった。
　
ツアーの参加者は羽田空港に集合した。３４名の参加者に添乗員が一人。このうち一部の人たちとは航海中にすっかり仲良くなった。利用した航空会社はシンガポール航空。ＣＡが皆スタイルが良くて美しいのに感激。アメリカの航空会社だとこうはいかない。(^_^;)いつものように記念に機内食をｕｐ。これは到着直前に出された朝食。味は平均レベル。映画などの機内エンターテインメントは物足りなかったが、時差のない地域への移動であり、夜中は寝ておかなければならないので映画がなくてもまあ、許せた。羽田を夜１０時５０分に出発し、シンガポールに翌朝５時３０分に到着。

Visit to Yasukuni Shrine

　　I visited a hospital in Tokyo, in which my old friend from my junior high school was there for cervical vertebral surgery, then I visited Yasukuni Shrine. It was convenient that his hospital was located in the neighborhood of the shrine, but I usually visit the shrine when I come to Tokyo and have some time. The shrine isn't properly known or talked of overseas, because lots of Japanese and non-Japanese medias report it with malice. Yasukuni Shrine is the counterpart of Arlington National Cemetery in the USA.
　　My trip's destination of Singapore is one of the scenes of a hard-fought battle in the Great East Asian War. I'm meaning to visit Penang, which was conquered by Britain and was named "Prince of Wales Island" in a self-serving manner. My plane would pass over the sinking spot of the battleship "Prince of Wales". I don't have enough time to visit various former sites of battle, but I prayed for a safe trip and that I could find lots of new discoveries from the trip. The cherry trees all over the grounds had burst into bloom. Everywhere you looked, there were petals in elegant, subtle shades of pink. They sometimes scattered in the wind to create a dreamy atmosphere.

(Vocabulary)
the scene of a hard-fought battle　激戦地
former sites of battle　戦跡
self-serving （けなして）利己的な, 身勝手な

マラッカ海峡クルージング記：　出発前に靖国神社参拝

古い友人が頸椎手術のため入院している病院を訪ね、靖国神社に参拝した。友人の入院している病院が靖国神社に近いこともあったが、東京に出て時間のあるときは靖国参拝をしている。左翼偏向メディアによりこの神社は海外へ向けて正しく報道されているとは言いがたいが、たとえて言えばアメリカのアーリントン墓地のような場所である。

これから向かうシンガポールは大東亜戦争での激戦地。イギリスに統治され、Prince of Wales島と勝手に名付けられたペナン島にも立ち寄る。戦艦Prince of Walesが沈没した場所の上空を通過することにもなろう。今回の旅で戦跡を訪ねる時間的余裕はないが、旅の安全と多くの知見を得られるよう祈った。境内には桜が咲き、あたりは上品で可憐なピンク色で染まっていた。

The Strait of Malacca Cruising

　　I saw the Strait of Malacca from the hill of St. Paul's Church on my first visit to Malaysia last summer. You can see the same scene here(link). Since then, I'd been eager to see the Malay Peninsula from the sea, though the coastal terrain would have completely changed from that in 15th century when the Straits had appeared in history. I just wanted to view the Malay Peninsula from the Straits just like the sailors in 15th century blown by the breeze on the Straits. After coming back to Japan, while seeking for a means of transport, I found a gorgeous cruising tour. The name of the cruise ship was Diamond Princess! The ship registry was Britain, but it was built in Japan. I applied to go cruising in the Strait of Malacca immediately.
　　I took this opportunity to replace my worn red daypack. I'll move from Japan in the still cold climate to the waters practically right on the equator. I had to take my winter clothes off and put summer ones on at my arrival in Singapore. My new daypack was required to have a big capacity as a carry-on bag. It must also have pockets for mobile PCs, documents, and desirably be waterproof. Even when almost empty, it must keep some space for fragile stuff. My about ten-year-old daypack didn't have any partition and was heavily damaged. I had to use two cases as you see here(link). The daypack in the linked picture was the last dayback but one. Considering these conditions, I chose a silver one in the following picture. It had all the functions which I needed. I would say that this type of daypack should become popular.

http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2016/08/overview-of-malacca.html
http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2008/03/last-minute-pre.html

(Vocabulary)
take the opportunity to do これを機に～する
I would say that~ 私の見るところ～である。

マラッカ海峡クルージング記　　はじまり(^o^)

昨年の夏に初めてマレーシアを訪問した。そして、初めてマラッカ海峡を眺めた。(LINK)この眺めを見て次は海からマラッカ市街を眺めてみたいと思った。この海峡が歴史に登場する１５世紀頃の景色とは随分と違ってはいるだろうが、当時の船乗り達が眺めたであろう山々を眺めてみたかった。帰国後、その手段を探していて、見つけたのがマラッカ海峡クルージングツアーだ。船はあのダイヤモンド・プリンセス。申し分ない。イギリス船籍だが日本で建造された船だ。すぐに申し込んだ。

今回のツアーでデイパックを新調することにした。まだ寒い日本から赤道直下の海上へ行くのだ。ディナー用の服に加えて、季節の違う国へ向かうため夏と冬の両方の季節の普段着を用意せねばならない。機内持ち込み荷物にも十分な容量が必要だ。約１０年以上使ったデイパックは中に仕切りがなく不便な上に、かなり傷んでいた。仕切りが無いため下記に示した箱を入れて使っていた。（LINK)今回は中に何も入れなくてもある程度のスペースを保つもので、パソコンや書類など用のポケットのあるもの。防水なら更に良いという条件で探して写真のものを選んだ。機能的に申し分なくこれから愛用することになるだろう。このタイプのデイパック、流行るだろうな。