Cruisin’ Asia, 2012

: a typical, beautiful evening view from the ship

: we had clouds to keep us company

: the entry to Muroran’s harbor

: this is how you help dock a giant cruise ship

: this was how we tried to strangle our room steward

: Scott’s favorite from the shipboard breakfast buffet

: when it felt like we finally arrived in asia

: our first meal in Japan was of course sushi

: at the Muroran train station

: our first ramen in Japan

: parts of the town were shut down because it was an off-day

: on the way up to a Muroran temple

: a typical denizen of a Japanese shrine

: Japan is full of cute snacks

: in Lost In Translation style, Western actors feature in strange Japanese advertisements

: Muroran came out in force to bid the ship farewell

: the sunlight was spectacular across the water

: ships on their way in to Vladivostok

: gateway to Vladivostok

: bridges on the way in to Vladivostok

: Vladivostok is full of Soviet-era shrines

: workers in a Communist montage

: we took a tour on a tiny Soviet-era sub

: “VLADIVOSTOK” in Cyrillic

: a tiny Russian Orthodox church

: we happened upon a Buddhist artwork exhibit in Russia

: Soviet-era statues and posters

: a window made from pressed stained-glass

: a giant cruise ship is an attraction for locals

: hero of the workers

: plants growing out of the wall along the Shanghai riverside

: a sculpture along the Shanghai riverwalk

: Colonial-era buildings along the Shanghai riverside

: a little fishing pond in a Shanghai park

: a grid to help support growing bamboo

: a demon doorknocker in yuyuan gardens

: there were beautiful water features all over Yuyuan garden

: a staircase wouldn’t be a staircase without being flanked by critters

: detail from one of the roofs in yuyuan garden

: Yuyuan garden, old Shanghai

: natural arch in the Shanghai gardens

: there’s always room for starbucks!

: a spicy squid snack!

: an iconic view of Shanghai buried in layers of smog

: one of our last sunsets at sea

: more like a spaceship port than a ship dock

: nearby the hazy city was under massive construction

: people in Dalian wore bizarre mishmashes of fashionwear

: near all the downtown shopping in Dalian

: us on a mirrored escalator

: mollusks for sale in China

: a fantastically strange building near the dalian docks