Enoshima Island, Pizza, Big Buddha, Beer

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So. First update.

So I am staying in Yokohama for a while. I don't think i am even ready for Tokyo. Yokohama is a very happy city. Not as lively as Tokyo, but enough for me!

I read about a city just 20 minutes away from Yokohama station called Kamakura. I read up on the history. It used to be capital of Japan for a while. Due the its historical and artistic importance, Kamakura was spared what most of Japan got during world war two.

The most famous sight in Kamakura is the Daibutsu (this means Big Buddha!). I couldn't find the damn thing! I kept getting lost and i don't speak Japanese at all really. ah. but i did get to see a shinto wedding, which was beautiful.

I paid 300 yen to get into a garden and two Canadian guys struck up conversation with me. Of course. So. They were hitting up Kamakura in teh morning, but heading to the nearby island of Enoshima pretty soon. I had nobody with me so I just said alright, lets go.

I have to say that i was a little temple-d out already. But Enoshima Island was still fun. It has all of the history and old-school prettyness that i loved in Kamakura, but you can also see live bands and lay out on the rocks near the water. We kept getting lost, but it was easy to tell which way we were going by just lookign for the sight of the mainland island just a few hundred yards off. It was a little crowded for my tastes though. We hung out on the rocks and drank some Japanese beer (which is all the same!). The three of us allowed ourselves to get lured into the NYC style pizzeria near one of the temples. The place was right at the top of the mountain on a busy thoroughfare (with no cars, just people walking--very nice). Good pizza is my greatest weakness. Loved it. The owner was pretty cool. He brought his rescued street cats with him from New York to Japan. awesome! It was also thanks to his directions that i didn't get lost on my way back to yokohama station. inexpensive, too. Japan needs more places like that. And more good pizza.

The highlight of the day was watchign the sun go down right into the ocean. It lit up the sky all orangey. It made the silhouettes of mountains off in the distance look even cooler. Once it got dark we decided to go for one last drink at this bar that wasn't terribly exciting. The two guys that i was with just up and went back to tokyo themselves and i got myself back to Yokohama. When i exited the station, there was a magician breaking stuff with his mind. trippy. I had enough for the day so that brings me here to this internet cafe. This will be my blog for the rest of this little sojourn. So wish me luck! I plan on going off to see mount fuji before the end of the week. cross your fingers for me to have a clear day when i do!

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Comments

[Micheen]

kamakura
you missed the daibutsu!! damn! its not easy to lose track of. its a tad larger than a keyring. near yokohama station (and elsewhere) you can see lots of high school kids doing all manner of amazing thigns with hip hop dance. ahh globalization.