Yokohama

I’m finally home after a very long weekend and my first thoughts after sitting down at the foldout desk from my wall: I have a much smaller apartment than I remembered.

The last few days I’ve been staying with Makiko in Hiyoshi, a suburb mid-way between Tokyo and Yokohama. The actual town of Hiyoshi is quite built up and a maze of very large, very old apartment buildings mixed in with industrial-type factories. For those who don’t know, Makiko is a very good friend of mine who I’ve known for a couple of years. She also happens to be on the heavier side of the coin pouch, so after 4 days in a very nice apartment with our own maid who cleaned and cooked for us, it wasn’t so bad.

Saturday I was a little tired after no-more-school celebrations the previous night but after receiving a call from Makiko I made my way down to her place via 3 trains, a car ride and 4 hours of travel. Saturday night was a fairly quiet one, because by the time I got there it was already 6pm and I was hungry so we just had a fairly quiet night in.

Sunday was spent driving around and a short trip down to Yokohama. Now Japanese people have always scared me because of their driving ‘techniques’. Makiko is no exception. After flying down the expressway (40-70km/hr speed limit) at 100km/hr in the rain, not indicating when changing lanes (as is the Japanese way), flying around corners and bends, I was a little nervy. This wasn’t helped either after learning that Makiko originally wanted ME to drive because she’s recently lost her license for 30 days after having one too many traffic accidents. *Gulp* Well, I’m happy to say we both arrived alive and in one piece. Once we finally arrived in Yokohama (it only took 20 minutes with Makiko’s driving) we watched the latest Tarantino movie (which I highly do NOT recommend) and went for a walk, but it wasn’t too fantastic due to the rain, so we headed back to Hiyoshi after not too long.

On Monday, Makiko was working so I took myself on the train down to Yokohama and explored the area. Perhaps it was because it was overcast and I was rained on, perhaps it was because I was tired, perhaps it was because I felt a cold coming on - but Yokohama just didn’t do it for me. I had the impression that this was a city full of big, new buildings (and many under construction) with not much atmosphere at all. Even Chinatown wasn’t that great. Sure, it’s big, but mostly just a whole lot of restaurants and tacky souvenir shops. Three hours in that area was enough for me before heading back again and getting some rest last night.

And now I’m back in lovely Mito, in my lovely, tiny apartment, making the most of my time here before I have to hand back my keys.

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