Yokohama

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Our day started at Starbucks, like it nearly always does. We visited Yokohama today, which is the 2nd largest city in Japan after Tokyo...it's a massive commerical hub and port city, with lots of walkways and bridges. We caught the train to Yokohama station and wandered through Minato Mirai which is newly redeveloped and futuristic-looking. It's rather pretty actually. Landmark tower has the dubious honour of being both the tallest building on the Yokohama skyline and having the world's fastest lift. Spent a while getting lost in Landmark tower, it's a rather swanky shopping centre and pretty darned big (should be getting used to that by now...). There was a live radio broadcast happening here today with guest artists so we found a spot and watched for a while. We took photos of the giant feeris wheel there, which apparently is also the world's largest clock.

Our goal for the afternoon was Chinatown which is extensive and includes a rather pretty Buddhist temple. There are loads of chinese restuarants and random chinese stores in the area. If you had to eat chinese food in Japan, this would probably be where you should look for it. We wandered through the department store Takashimiya - being Saturday it felt more like a fish market, with everyone trying to get last minute deals. Overall, Yokohama seems pleasant and bustling, but almost a little bland in it's normality, apart from Chinatown. *hides from Yokohama lovers*

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