The only few bits of shots from the early days are the following. Remember I mentioned we had to walk for 15-20 minutes to the office after getting off at Tsunashima? Well, this is a glimpse of what you'd see were you in my shoes.
At one point in our path, we'll use an alley (of sorts) through the housing area. Here, we come across a small playground adorned with Sakura trees!! These have already somewhat blossomed much sooner, thus showing young green leaves.
This is still by far my favorite shot in Japan. This was an opportune close-up of a bloom in that playground.
This was just a random shot taken from one of the houses just beside the office. I was sure mom would love to see this :)
Fast forward... Saturday! We made a trip down to Motomachi-Chukagai aka China Town. This is a few streets dedicated to standard Chinese food and merchandise.
There's generally a high density of people at China Town. Standard things to obtain here are chinese-style merchandises like clothes and accessories.
This particular shop had an exceptionally long queue. When we first arrived, wecouldn't even get close enough to figure out what the fuss was all about. We gave it another try on our way out. Apparently it specialized in selling small bean dumplings. Take it from me; you can get better ones in Malaysia! I suppose you should leave the Chinese delicacies to the Chinese themselves.
China Town is situated very near to Yamashita Park. This park is a combination park and dock. We are greeted here by a statue amidst a pool of fountains adorned by fresh, beautiful flowers. Don't ask me what the statue signified, nor the name of the flowers =P
Just beside the status is this rather noticeable bell. That plaque has a description about what it signified... but I cannot recollect what it said. Hehe... I'm getting old indeed. *sigh*
The park is situated just beside the docks. It promises a great scenic view of Yokohama. I was rather captivated by this wind turbine. I believe it is Japan's largest wind turbine!
This of course is the walk way along the park. Captured here is one of two ships that were docked that day.
I'm not kidding when I say this; dogs are a rarity in Tokyo. In fact, pets in general are rare. When you do see dogs (Yamashita Park being a good spot for that), you see a variety of pure-breed dogs.
We stuck around the park for a while, taking a break from all the walking thus far. Eventually, we headed into the city itself. It almost felt like a random stroll, but we were actually heading to Minatomirai station. We just followed the directions on the maps strewn all around the city to make our way there. Every once in a while, you'll see architecture such as this; collonial and classic in design. It provides a harsh and refreshing contrast to the generally clean, modern look of the city.
It was getting a bit dark by now. Yes, Japan is approximately one hour behind M'sia, so it starts to get dark by 6 here. This is Cosmo World Amusement Park, a major landmark here in Minatomirai. It houses one of the largest ferris wheels in Japan. Our real destination; is that building behind it. That's where our next station home is :P
...but we couldn't resist. We decided to check the amusement park. There's a whole load of things to do here, but it is also very crowded. The ferris wheel queue spanned a flight of stairs three-storeys long! There was also a roller-coaster ride (with an equally long queue) that goes under the pool shown here. I soooo wanted to take a ride :( Darn the queue...
By the way, an interesting/peculiar observation... the Japanese seriously are overdressed for a place like this. It is all too common to see women in the evening wear and men in stylish formal attire. I know it is cold, but we're here walking around in short-sleeved t-shirts and jeans and we ain't complaining. Oooo, but can't go wrong with the gorgeous ladies around here :P
Well, it was getting late and we sure did not want to risk getting lost on our way home at night. We didn't really have dinner at a restaurant that night. We ordered take-aways. I especially was looking forward to...
TAKOYAKI!!!!!
If you EVER go to Japan, you have to try their takoyaki. Once tasted, there's no going back! If there's any food I particularly miss from Japan... it has to be their takoyaki. They don't make 'em so juicy, large and uber-satisfying in M'sia. Did I mention I had takoyaki for.. er.. supper-snacks 3 days in a row :P The only reason it wasn't all 6 nights was because we don't always pass the stall *sigh*. By the way, do try it from Gindako... its a famous takoyaki chain. Can't say it's the best, but it came recommended by my boss. They even have a selection of toppings for the takoyakis... something almost unheard of here in M'sia.
I also bought sandwiches for breakfast. You can buy really fresh sandwiches in quality packaging in almost any convenience store. And there's one store (if not more) in almost every street! The sandwiches are heavenly... nothing extravagant. Just simple sandwich, but the vegetables, meat, and watever stuff in it... is totally fresh. I could have those for breakfast everyday! (Which is pretty much what I did, actually :P).
So, once we bought all our food (which was a lot, really), we headed back to the hotel. The remainder of the night was just about enjoying our meal and watching TV. TV here is almost fully in Japanese. I caught a brand-spanking new episode of Naruto, though I had no clue what was going on :P They don't have subtitles here, haha. Oh, and for those interested, 'special' broadcasts start after midnight.
Not long after, lights were off and I called it a night. Need all the rest I can get because we're going sight-seeing in the heart of Tokyo city the next day. That is a story for another post...
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