My Solo Cruise to Japan

My Solo Cruise to Japan

today I’m going to be sailing Japan’s most luxurious cruise ship back to Tokyo but not before one final stop it’s so pretty here over the past week I’ve covered more than 3,000 miles across Asia from the lush nature of Taiwan to the tropical shores of Okinawa but now it all just comes down to this what a stunning day one more port one final adventure before home let’s see how this journey ends good morning from Kagoshima we’re almost there it’s so funny going into this cruise I definitely thought I was going to be waking up at like 6:00 a.m every day but that is assuming I’m in bed at 10:00 i lowkey love the option for Japanese breakfast here they always have egg omelettes and salmon also they have these like massive kiwis look how big they are oh we’re like here oh it’s so pretty it’s excursion time this is my first excursion with MSC so I’m very interested to see what it’s like i have been to Kagoshima before but I feel like when I was signing up for excursions I was just really open to hearing like what the best rated excursions were and kind of just rolling with that the last time I was here Kakoshima was not my final destination i was actually mainly trying to be in Yakushima so I think this will be fun please enjoy Kagoshima first step is Sangen Garden this is a beautiful botanical garden in Kagoshima and this is my first time here it seems like there’s just tons of nature to experience it’s so pretty here there’s also like a samurai house here it is so cool i’m in a samurai’s house right now before coming in you have to take off your shoes and that’s mainly to just preserve the house a lot of the reason why this garden is so popular is because right on the other side is Sakurajima sakurajima is a volcano here in Japan and it is one of the most active volcanoes if I remember correctly there is volcanic activity about once a day at least today in particular it’s a bit cloudy with this particular tour we were given about 30 minutes to just roam around and explore do whatever we want personally I feel like I could spend a lot longer here but doing my best to maximize the time this is the bedroom this is a private bathroom wow something I’m also really loving about being here is how empty it is hakushima is definitely one of those places that people don’t really come to a lot unless you’re here for a cruise port but even then it’s just not super busy or popular but it’s so lovely [Music] this is our tour bus and we drove onto a ferry i actually fell asleep on the bus so when I woke up we were on the ferry i had no idea what was going on [Music] i asked her what her favorite flavor was she said the most popular was caramel or matcha of course I had to go with the matcha sakurajima kind of lives on its own so it’s easiest to access by ferry it’s only about a 15-minute ride across and then we’re going to be able to see Sakurajima up close there is Kagoshima here is Sakurajima as you guys can see it is very cloudy today so the visibility is not the best oh [Music] there’s music all of this on the ground here is ash it honestly feels a bit nostalgic being here so the route that we just took to get to the spot is the same exact route that I took five years ago but I was on my bike it was the middle of August it was an absolute sauna and quite frankly we did not have enough time and we were so tired that we didn’t quite make it here so it’s neat to actually get to see the spot that we were originally trying to get to well it’s a bit foggy today but this is where you could see it the fog is getting so thick that you can barely even see the water it’s always quite a tricky thing with the weather obviously if you’re doing an experience like this the goal would be to see Sakurajima however it’s just so out of our hands but also it’s just like an awesome experience to be here like when you take a step back and just think about where you actually are like look how beautiful this is like the sun is kind of peering out over there in the clouds this region is typically a bit more rainy so it’s just like so green and vibrant as you can see in my videos it’s literally just me and like there’s like one or two other tour buses here but very sweet and quiet it’s a beautiful day definitely need new shoes after this now the final task for the day is to see if they have any stickers they have like one little gift shop cart and maybe they have a sticker let’s go see this is the guy whose house we went in earlier stick off i haven’t got this anymore i swear I stopped recording for like 5 seconds the guy gave me a keychain for free he’s just like “This is a present for you.” And he gave it to me it’s like a shaved ice bear kawaii hello [Music] i feel like a really common question I get is “How are you so comfortable traveling solo?” While I think that confidence really started when I first moved to Japan it didn’t really get instilled in me until my first cruise contract i’ve never really talked about it publicly but there was a lot of drama on the contract and I just did not want to be a part of it and because of that I ended up going off on my own quite a bit and we were in the Mediterranean so I wanted to enjoy my time in cruise ports I haven’t been to is that a little bit scary it’s nerve-wracking just not being fully acquainted with a place but in a way it doesn’t actually feel like I’m ever really alone for example for this itinerary I knew I was going to be in Taiwan and I don’t yet have a Taiwan eim but it’s super easy to get one and then I can just be fully connected to the been a super super busy day today but we still have plenty of stuff to do this evening on the ship there are two Cir shows so today I’m going to be trying out the other one thank you [Applause] [Music] [Applause] looking back at what I’ve had to eat today honestly not super substantial i don’t know after such an exhausting day I feel like I just need fuel and I’m also so tired and I want to be energized and ready for everything that tomorrow has to bring as well i just feel so stinking grateful to be here i just had a moment today this afternoon we were leaving the port the sun was setting I was on top deck and I was just like “Wow.” There’s just some things in life that you don’t realize that you actually miss it until you’re back in that situation again and I that was definitely one of those moments [Music] so I have good news and bad news the bad news is that they wouldn’t let me record the backstage tour but the good news is that I can talk about it right now like I briefly mentioned previously I was not able to bring a phone i was not able to take pictures or record anything that was that but nonetheless it was still interesting to see the crew areas of a different type of ship after being a crew member myself naturally I have seen a couple different crew areas at this point can confirm they all look a bit similar but it was interesting to see and learn about the different processes they have on the backback end anyway flash forward it is now the next day and it’s last day on board it feels so weird that I’m saying that yesterday I was asked by a friend how that made me felt and it was interesting to reflect on it i don’t have the feeling of like I need to hold on to this experience forever and I also don’t have the feeling of like I can’t wait for the next thing i just feel very content with where I am right now and I’m really happy that I’m experiencing this and being able to just fully be in it right now because the weather’s been a bit funny during this cruise today i woke up at 5:30 a.m because I knew there was going to be sunshine but alas it is super rocky today i was literally falling over i was blowing away now as for the rest of the day what are we up to it is a C day so no more port days at the moment I’m very much enjoying my morning tub but overall I feel kind of just like relaxing is that bad no i think there are still going to be a couple that I try to go to but I think after three backto-back port days it’s exhausting i’m tired guys i’m so sorry to tell you this but I absolutely lied on the bright side however we have our Japanese breakfast today I went all out with the rice and the soup and everything but forgot chopsticks it’s 9:40 and it turns out I need to eat a little bit faster than I thought because I forgot I had an appointment it completely slipped my mind here I was rambling on about how I have nothing to do today turns out I do going to give myself a whopping 10 minutes to scarf down all this food and then off we go fork with rice just does not make sense not to sound like high and mighty or anything but I would say I am pretty lowmaintenance more than anything I feel like it’s just expensive to upkeep so many things but since I’m on the cruise I figured why not treat myself do something crazy it’s been so long since I’ve had my nails done that I literally could not tell you the last time I’ve gotten them done but that’s about to change so nice and warm i feel so relaxed right now i think because I’m not used to getting my nails done I went with something a bit neutral kind of like this light pale color and then a little accent sparkly nail and then on the toes it’s all sparkles i don’t really know why I haven’t at least tried this before i feel like nails hair lashes all that kind of stuff it’s kind of like an addiction and I’m always nervous I’m going to like it so much that I’m going to want to keep going back but just a special treat believe it or not after waking up at 5:00 a.m after my nail appointment I was very tired i felt like there was a point where I was seeing stars and I was like I think this is my cue to take a nap so that’s what I did i took a nap i went to the gym just overall taking things a bit easy today and then kind of just recently actually I decided I was going to go to a specialty restaurant tonight most of my dinners here have either been at the buffet or the dining room but I feel like since it’s the last night I wanted to try something a little bit different oh I also got all my disembarkation information sad so I also have to pack all my stuff anyway I am very excited for dinner although I wouldn’t really say I have Mexican food too often i do love it which is why I’m going to tacos and cantina [Applause] yay i’m so excited first things first we are starting off strong with a margarita [Music] i made eye contact with one of the guys that works here he laughed at me it’s strong so my favorite part about going to Mexican restaurants is always the guacamole let’s see nice and zesty i haven’t had guacamole in so long and then the next thing that came out is the tacos i ordered the chili pescado and the ancho tunga which is chicken and fish let’s go chicken first super flavorful but not super spicy oh no and the torture is falling apart and then the fish m the salsa is really good i think it might be chipotle they warned me this one might be a little bit spicy but I’m actually surprised that I can handle it this is good and last but not least we have the quesadilla honestly I love a good quesadilla oh yeah that’s good quesadillas used to be my after school snack so this feels kind of nostalgic for me super cheesy i am a very happy alley right now now it is time for dessert and we have an ice cream taco i’ve never had something like this before but it is basically taco shell but it’s a waffle cone with vanilla ice cream caramel and green when you order it you can pick the type of ice cream your sauce and also like what kind of toppings you want to have lots of options [Music] packing time see this is why I love packing cubes throughout the cruise I basically just left everything in the packing cubes and it just makes repacking that much easier yay aside from toiletries that’s basically it which is great news because that means there’s more time for activities this evening starting with a rock and roll class [Music] thank you so much yes yes thank you okay I just left the little dance class and I ran into my friend from the chocolate store she helped me with my customized chocolate bar last time and she’s letting me try with a white chocolate a little almond cluster yes very good actually thank you welcome she said she just packaged them please let me try it’s so fresh m oh yeah is Which one do you like better oh I like the white one yeah thank you so much that was so sweet i was literally walking back to my room and we bumped into each other and she’s like “You never came back.” I’m like “I’ll go back right now.” And now here we are trying a little almond clusters thank you [Music] outside of God for you everybody got [Music] say [Music] Everything about this final evening felt like it was just perfectly aligned as it was meant to you know I wasn’t even planning anything special just wandering capturing a few last shots when suddenly I saw Akisan and my little friend who happened to be standing together they both waved me over and in that moment I was just in pure disbelief i just had not expected to see them again at all but in my very last night there they were and somehow it just felt like the perfect goodbye to this journey or so I thought today I am leaving the MSE Bissima but it has been such an amazing week goodbye room goodbye balcony dismbembaration day is always pure chaos it’s just people rushing off the ship bags everywhere and I’d already made my way off i boarded the shuttle and now I was standing on the train platform when suddenly out of the elevator comes my little friend and her family it was just the sweetest thing when she saw me her eyes just started beaming and she screams “Mama mama Ali Chan Ali Chan.” I literally couldn’t believe it but it was just the best way to end the trip thank you so much for coming along this journey with me it has been such a special one if you’ve made it this far I hope it has brought a little bit of sunshine into your world don’t forget to like comment subscribe and I will see you guys in the next one bye

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Join me as I sail 3,000 miles across Japan on one of the country’s most luxurious cruise ships. In this final episode of my Japan cruise series, we make our last port stop in Kagoshima before heading back to Tokyo!

From Okinawa to Taiwan, this cruise has taken me on an unforgettable journey across Asia. But today’s vlog we are finishing off in Kagoshima, Japan before heading back home to Tokyo.

💛 Watch the full series here:
Part 3: https://youtu.be/7qF_0UI84GE?si=hzoK110IXDg14Kk8
Part 2: https://youtu.be/-eezjm2adfg?si=5DLoRS6mReuyw_RP
Part 1: https://youtu.be/AWSTMRF4c-4?si=U1xbjH6Vtw_KuL5P

🛳️ Cruise Ship: MSC Bellissima
📍 Port Visited: Kagoshima, Japan

👇 Let me know your favorite part in the comments & don’t forget to subscribe for more travel videos!

#JapanCruise #LuxuryCruise #Kagoshima #CruiseVlog

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