Yokohama Weekend

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So just incase anyone is still actually reading this blog after my long winter break hiatus and recent tendencies of writing a Japanese blog on a completely different site and even using Japanese on this site, I will bring forth a little bit of writing to those dedicated enough to possibly be still be hanging around.

Oh let me quick start off by saying that recently my University back home in Pennsylvania has published my article I wrote back yonder about the Momiji in Kyoto, thus if you never have read that maybe you should!

Alright let’s get this show started. This past weekend I took the Friday night bus with Levi from Umeda Osaka to arrive Saturday morning in Shinjuku Tokyo, where we would then ride the JR trains to the neighboring, but almost blended together megalopolis area of Yokohama. Recently with going back and forth between Tokyo and Osaka and Nagano and Osaka by means of night bus one would assume I would be all but used to riding the buses and sleeping, but this is still so impossible for me. No matter what whether it be the bus temperature, the loud sitting neighbor, or my own busy mind, I usually end up rather sleepless and then thrown into the next day. Since this was a weekend excursion I had to count on my rather relentless personality to get me through it.

We roll into Shinjuku, which is a tough area to describe other than using the most stereotypical idea of a big Japanese city which include Neon lights in any possible direction and not a single spot of free open space. This being said, I absolutely love the area when it comes to life at night - it is quite vibrant.

We ride the trains to Yokohama’s Nakayama and meet Levi’s buddy Roger. This is where we would sleep for the weekend. We all get together eat a so so meal of donuts at Mr. Donuts, where you can drink coffee with free refills, and then went to Roger’s buddy Ryoko’s place to get our haircut. My parents have told me recently I look like a hippie, drunk in my photos, and like a different person, so I decided to chop off a lot of my hair. I felt like a silly military boy at first, but I am liking it quite a lot more now. So then Roger and Levi offered me some sightseeing because they are both familiar with the neighboring areas so we decided to go to the Yokohama Bay, where we can find a rather large China Town and shopping malls. Yokohama’s China town rocks the Kobe one’s world by offering a lot more than some conjured up images of Chinese food in Japan. Things such as…Cheap shopping, bootleg videos, funny cell phone straps, and the Chinese traditional clothing stores that are overly available in this world were on hand. For Lunch we eat at a Brazilian Barbeque where they bring different types of meats, fried pineapple, and potatoes, to the table until you flip a card over that says you are way to full to be doing this anymore. Expensive, but delicious - My Japanese motto.

Other highlights included playing Mini Golf on the 10th floor of a shopping mall, riding a huge feriswheel where I saw a high school couple, uniform and all, doing some very interesting activities, watching the others, Nicole Kidman’s flick, which was actually pretty creepy, having a caricature drawn of me from the Japanese perspective with an amusing end result, and not sleeping all that much.

BUT having said all of this I will tell you I like Yokohama more than Tokyo! Why? Yokohama is just as active and busy as a city of Tokyo, but without the salary men, Yokohama is a much cleaner and attractively built area, and a different pace and environment to live among. People will disagree, but that’s my two cents…

- Zach

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Photos

Feriswheel & Mini Golf
While Feriswheels are found throughout Japan, I though mini golf didn't exist at all!

Train Ads..
Random Japanese from me to you!

Yokohama Bay/Harbor
I'm not sure of which word is right, but you get the idea i'm sure.

Yokohama Flavor
Yeah...I'd like to live here...

Levi
My camera went crazy, but I like it like that.

JR Train
I seriously have come to really enjoy trains. Aren't they cool?

Another Perspective on Yokohama
Via train window...

Comments

[Jim]

As usually sounds like a blast. Yah I still take time to see if you update *L* more exciting down their then here. Where is the photo of the new crazy Zacko hairstyle????????

[G-ma]

from the voice of experience
Hi Zach, I sent you an e-mail earlier but I wanted to let you know that I go into your blogspot and view the photos and try to know what you are feeling by all that you see and do. I hope we never get too boring for you back here and that when you come home you won't be disappointed in being in Pennsylvania with your family. We cleaned the big porch off and got it spiffy for our cookouts. We have a new chime that is really beautiful sounding. We are in the midst of making our plans for our new addition to the house. I want to share the plans with you. So this Tsu is someone special, huh? More special than the other gals in your life? It takes two years to test the true feelings in a relationship and the compatibility, according to Dr. Laura. My belief is that Compatibility is really important. Communication and Compatibility, Caring enough, and being on the same wave. So, I will let that with you to ponder. I understand that Tsu is coming here to Nebraska for school. For how long? Well, I'll get back to the blogspot photos. Thanx for sharing and stay safe. Know that you are greatly loved. G-ma.