Enough of Tokyo, onto Yokohama
Today was the last day in Japan that I had free, so eventhough Jesse was at work I still wanted to go out. Last night Kumi said she had plans to go to Yokohama, so I thought it would be fun to join her and Tomoe. We decided to meet a little later in the day because we needed to rest and we all had our own stuff to take care of.
This morning I had to do my laundry because I had not done any since I left Florida. My first task was to get some laundry detergent. This was not too bad since I know Kanji, or Chinese characters. I gave the lady at the front desk a piece of paper that said 'wash clothes' with 50 yen and then she gave me the detergent. I thought the rest of the process was going to be a piece of cake, but it wasn't. I had no idea idea it was going to be so expensive. I was used to paying 50 cents for washing and 50 cents for drying at my mom's house, but at my hostel it was a lot different. Since I didn't know where any other laundry mats were I had no choice. The wash itself was 300 yen or $3.00! Then I had to dry all my clothes. I am not sure if Japanese driers do not dry as fast or as hot as my drier at home, but it took me 50 minutes to dry the clothes I had washed. This was even when I checked it frequently and took out the stuff that was already dry. At 100 yen, $1.00, for 10 minutes it cost $5.00 to dry my laundry. I also had to dry my towel, which thankfully only took 10 minutes, so I ended up spending almost $10.00 for one load of laundry!
While I was drying my laundry I was able to walk around my neighborhood. It was a pretty nice place. It was not too rural or too urban. It was sort of in between. Sort of like Columbia City, but the stores are mych more compact and cramped. You could consider Rainer Ava. as being the Ikegami train line which went through the neighborhood. At that time of the morning none of the restaurants were open, so I went to a bakery to get one of those tasty curry doughnuts. I also walked past an elementary school where there were kids stretching on the playground.
After all my clothes were washed, dried and folded I hopped on the train to Shibuya where we met at hachi-Ko statue and then headed to Yokohama.
Our first stop in Yokohama was China Town. I would have to say that the China town in Yokohama seemed to be much more authentic, or maybe cliche, than the China town we have in Seattle. I can not say whether I liked Yokohama's better though. We walked around China town for a while. It seemed like everyone and their brother were selling roasted chestnuts. This made Kumi happy because she likes them so much. We tried to eat dim sum, but it was a little late, so we went to a restaurant that looked good. After our lunch we started walking towards Minatomomieru Park. While still in China we came across a photo shoot for some fall clothing. Again, there were a lot of people standing around and watching.
We made it to the park and we went to the scenic viewpoint which overlooks Yokohama Bay. We took a few photos and the view was nice, but we did not stay long because we had another place to visit.
Near the park is a building called The Landmark Tower. On the 69th floor is the Sky Garden. It is basically another observation deck to view the city from. The observatory is 273 meters high making it taller than the observatory in the Tokyo Tower and the highest in Japan. Despite being on the 69th floor the elevator only takes 40 seconds to reach the observatory. At one point it reaches a speed of 750 meters per minute. I have calculated this to roughly 37 miles per hour. Apparently this is the fastest elevator in the world. From the observatory we were able to see a lot of Yokohama, but even though we should have been able to see Mt. Fuji there were too many clouds, so we could not see it.
After leaving the tower we all rode the train back to the Yamanote line. The Yamanote Line is the main train line around Tokyo. After we got to Shibuya we all parted because we all had different people to see. Kumi and Tomoe had other friends to see and I was going to have my last dinner with Jesse. Our plan was to meet at Shimbashi station. I told Kumi and Tomoe that if I was on the Yamanote Line then I would be fine. They were surprised that I had gotten used to riding the trains in Japan so fast. I think after that I was jinxed. After I bought my ticket I went down to the station which went the opposite direction. I got on the packed train right near the door, but then I had second thoughts, so right as the doors were closing I jumped off. Then I waited around thinking that the train I got off was the right one. When the next train came I got on it. I watched the little reader board flash with where it had been and which way it was going. Ride before it was going to leave I noticed it had already passed Shimbashi, so I got off again. As I got off and was walking towards the stairs I noticed Kumi coming my direction. She had bought a ticket and came down to tell me I was going to get on the wrong train. We went back upstairs and I went to the right station. I guess in the end I was not so familiar with the trains.
I met with Jesse at Shimbashi station and we went to a nearby Izakaya, or pub. We sat down and ordered a bunch of little dishes. He told me what he thinks about Japan versus the first time he came here and I got to tell him what I thought. I will write a separate entry for that later. After some drinks and some ngiri it was time for both of us to head home. I thanked him for helping me have a great time in Japan. We wished each other luck and then we went home.
This morning I had to do my laundry because I had not done any since I left Florida. My first task was to get some laundry detergent. This was not too bad since I know Kanji, or Chinese characters. I gave the lady at the front desk a piece of paper that said 'wash clothes' with 50 yen and then she gave me the detergent. I thought the rest of the process was going to be a piece of cake, but it wasn't. I had no idea idea it was going to be so expensive. I was used to paying 50 cents for washing and 50 cents for drying at my mom's house, but at my hostel it was a lot different. Since I didn't know where any other laundry mats were I had no choice. The wash itself was 300 yen or $3.00! Then I had to dry all my clothes. I am not sure if Japanese driers do not dry as fast or as hot as my drier at home, but it took me 50 minutes to dry the clothes I had washed. This was even when I checked it frequently and took out the stuff that was already dry. At 100 yen, $1.00, for 10 minutes it cost $5.00 to dry my laundry. I also had to dry my towel, which thankfully only took 10 minutes, so I ended up spending almost $10.00 for one load of laundry!
While I was drying my laundry I was able to walk around my neighborhood. It was a pretty nice place. It was not too rural or too urban. It was sort of in between. Sort of like Columbia City, but the stores are mych more compact and cramped. You could consider Rainer Ava. as being the Ikegami train line which went through the neighborhood. At that time of the morning none of the restaurants were open, so I went to a bakery to get one of those tasty curry doughnuts. I also walked past an elementary school where there were kids stretching on the playground.
After all my clothes were washed, dried and folded I hopped on the train to Shibuya where we met at hachi-Ko statue and then headed to Yokohama.
Our first stop in Yokohama was China Town. I would have to say that the China town in Yokohama seemed to be much more authentic, or maybe cliche, than the China town we have in Seattle. I can not say whether I liked Yokohama's better though. We walked around China town for a while. It seemed like everyone and their brother were selling roasted chestnuts. This made Kumi happy because she likes them so much. We tried to eat dim sum, but it was a little late, so we went to a restaurant that looked good. After our lunch we started walking towards Minatomomieru Park. While still in China we came across a photo shoot for some fall clothing. Again, there were a lot of people standing around and watching.
We made it to the park and we went to the scenic viewpoint which overlooks Yokohama Bay. We took a few photos and the view was nice, but we did not stay long because we had another place to visit.
Near the park is a building called The Landmark Tower. On the 69th floor is the Sky Garden. It is basically another observation deck to view the city from. The observatory is 273 meters high making it taller than the observatory in the Tokyo Tower and the highest in Japan. Despite being on the 69th floor the elevator only takes 40 seconds to reach the observatory. At one point it reaches a speed of 750 meters per minute. I have calculated this to roughly 37 miles per hour. Apparently this is the fastest elevator in the world. From the observatory we were able to see a lot of Yokohama, but even though we should have been able to see Mt. Fuji there were too many clouds, so we could not see it.
After leaving the tower we all rode the train back to the Yamanote line. The Yamanote Line is the main train line around Tokyo. After we got to Shibuya we all parted because we all had different people to see. Kumi and Tomoe had other friends to see and I was going to have my last dinner with Jesse. Our plan was to meet at Shimbashi station. I told Kumi and Tomoe that if I was on the Yamanote Line then I would be fine. They were surprised that I had gotten used to riding the trains in Japan so fast. I think after that I was jinxed. After I bought my ticket I went down to the station which went the opposite direction. I got on the packed train right near the door, but then I had second thoughts, so right as the doors were closing I jumped off. Then I waited around thinking that the train I got off was the right one. When the next train came I got on it. I watched the little reader board flash with where it had been and which way it was going. Ride before it was going to leave I noticed it had already passed Shimbashi, so I got off again. As I got off and was walking towards the stairs I noticed Kumi coming my direction. She had bought a ticket and came down to tell me I was going to get on the wrong train. We went back upstairs and I went to the right station. I guess in the end I was not so familiar with the trains.
I met with Jesse at Shimbashi station and we went to a nearby Izakaya, or pub. We sat down and ordered a bunch of little dishes. He told me what he thinks about Japan versus the first time he came here and I got to tell him what I thought. I will write a separate entry for that later. After some drinks and some ngiri it was time for both of us to head home. I thanked him for helping me have a great time in Japan. We wished each other luck and then we went home.
posted by Jon Keto at
11:00 PM
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