This weekend we planned to visit Yokohama.There are many tourist attractions here in Yokohama,we could not cover all of it, Managed to cover more than half of the sight seeing places.

Yokohama is a city with International trading port.It is located along the coastline of Japan’s Pacific Ocean.

Aravind had read in Tokyo guide book that we could travel by sea from one location to another in a Covered boat, we headed towards this place called Sea Bass where we have to take a ticket to goto Yamashite park,Person escorting us into the boat wished us Namaskar,Dhanyawad and Subhyatra,We were surprised to hear these words from Japanese.On the way if you look around we get to see a beautiful view of an amusement park(Giant wheel),oil refinery,Bridge,International terminal,Japan coast guard,Minato Mirai (Tallest building in Tokyo that offers 360 degree view of Tokyo and Has got the Fastest Lift).

We reached Yamashite park,where we met a Japanese Uncle who had been to Delhi 10 years ago.He managed to explain to us about what he had seen in Delhi.

From there we strolled down to a place called China town, China town is a street,a place full or restaurants,cake shops and eateries . I assume this place is famous for momo’s, Most of the people on street did not miss on eating huge momo’s.

Moving on, we took a subway train to Queens Square and reached the amusement park, by then it was raining , we managed to get into giant wheel and capture beautiful view around from the top.

The building next to Queen’s Square,Minato Mirai is the tallest building with 72 floors.It has got the fastest lift with max speed of 750 meters per minute.It takes 40 secs to reach 65th floor where u get to see 360 degree panoramic view of Tokyo.Observatory is named Sky Garden.1000 yens per person are the charges.Observatory area has the facility to sit and relax and some refreshments(u need pay and get things to eat or drink)

From here, we headed back to our apartment.

With a population of over three million people is Yokohama Japan’s second largest city. Yokohama is located less than half an hour south of Tokyo by train, and is the capital of Kanagawa Prefecture.

Towards the end of the Edo Period (1603-1867), during which Japan maintained a policy of self-isolation, Yokohama’s port was one of the first to be opened to foreign trade in 1859. Consequently, Yokohama quickly grew from a small fishing village into one of Japan’s major cities.

Until today, Yokohama remains popular among expats, has one of the world’s largest chinatowns and preserves some former Western residences in the Yamate district.

More than a month ago, Yurindo closed in Landmark Plaza. I didn’t know what I was going to do about books. Well, on Friday, Kumazawa opened in the same location with a large foreign books section! I found my solution.

Last week, I posted a video of La Machine.  Well, here are the pictures and the report!

First, my friends and I visited the Egypt exhibition, which is called “Egypt’s Sunken Treasures” in English.  It’s in Pacifico Yokohama.  The exhibition was quite good, though it was very crowded.  It constisted of artifacts from the sunken cities of Canopus, Heracleion, and Alexandria.  Sorry, I couldn’t take any pictures inside, but here’s the entrance:

At the entrance of the Egypt exhibition

After this, we went and had lunch in World Porters.  Then it was off to the 150th Anniversary of the Opening of the Port of Yokohama, or Y150.  It was a hot, sunny day, but it was windy.  Throughout the expo, there was mist being sprayed to cool everyone.  Too bad the wind blew the mist up.  First was La Machine.  You’ve already seen the video, but here are the photos.  You’ll get a much clearer picture of the big spider with these photos.

It's asleep

The pilots are coming out

The pilots are in their seats

It's moving!

It's terrorising those poor people

It's coming this way!

It's all curled up now. Is it sleeping?

No, it's still awake!

Now it's spraying venom! Oh, it's just water

It's getting even closer now!

Uh, I think it farted.

It's posing for pictures now

After this, we said goodbye to La Machine, and went through the history of Yokohama Port area.  It was more for kids, I think, though interesting.  Then it was ENEOS Energy Future Pavilion, which even included oil sands from Alberta’s oil sands!  Then it was the Kurofune Trick Art (I’ll have an example of this posted in a future post following my exploration of Yamate).  After that, it was the Futuristic Theatre with an animated movie called “Baton.”  It was done with motion capture, which was interesting.  And then we went to the Nissan Y150 Dream Front and Super Hi-Vision Theatre.  First was a technological display from JAXA and JAMSTEC, and included a full scale mock-up (or was it the real thing?) of a vertical takeoff and landing rocket.  Here it is:

Full scale mock-up of a vertical takeoff and landing rocket

After that, it was into the Super Hi-Vision Theatre.  The screen was a 540 inch ultra hi-definition screen (more than 7000×4000 resolution, which I forgot) and a 22.2 channel sound system.  Wow.  Very high quality picture and sound!  After that, it was on to see the Nissan Pivo2, which is a concept car that has a spherical passenger pod that can rotate 360 degrees, and even the wheels can rotate to the side so you can parallel park very easily.  Here it is:

The cute Nissan Pivo2

Nissan Pivo2 from the front

And then finally, it was into the next room, where you could write a positive message for Earth or the environment, or I guess anything you want.  And then you put the message into one of several giant plastic balls.

You can put your positive environmental message on paper and into these big balls

My message is in this one.

And that’s it for Y150!  Here are a couple parting shots at night:

Here's Minato Mirai and the big ferris wheel at night

The Red Brick Warehouse (or Aka-renga) at night, now a shopping centre.

Day Version – 2009/May

The Land Mark Tower: The highest building in Japan (296 meters) & the Nippon Maru: A ship was built in 1930.

Canon 400D / Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8

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Night Version – 2008/May (1 year ago…)

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The Nippon Maru from another angle. I like the reflection in this one : )

It’s been too long since I last posted pictures.  This time, it’s pictures that I took recently.  In fact, they were from Sunday, July 19.  It’s a walk from Yokohama station to Minato Mirai, with a little bit near Aka-Renga Soko and the new Zounohana Park.  I was only briefly at Zounohana Park that day, but as you’ll see in my July 20th pictures which I’ll post sometime later, I returned with a very long walk.

The walk from Yokohama to Minato Mirai I’ve made several times.  If you look at an earlier set of pictures from Minato Mirai that I posted, you’ll see that there are really big changes in the area.  4 years ago, most of the area was dirt and grass fields that had yet to be built on.  Now, most of the area is built up with expensive condo buildings, shopping areas and office buildings.  Most notably, Nissan’s new head office is being constructed now.  Anyway, take a look at the pictures!

The western side of Yokohama Station

Walking to Minato Mirai from Yokohama station. There's the new Nissan building.

View from Sogo in Yokohama

Near Yokohama station, a view from Sogo

I just crossed that bridge from Sogo to Yokohama Bayquarters

Another view of Sogo from the bridge to Minato Mirai.

A picture of Minato Mirai from the bridge

The new Nissan building in Minato Mirai. Nissan's new head office.

A look back to Yokohama Bayquarter

The Yokohama F Marinos J-League soccer team's training centre in Minato Mirai

A view of Minato Mirai. This area has changed a lot in the last 4 years.

These trees line the streets in Minato Mirai. The leaves are huge!

Here's a view of Yokohama Bay Bridge from near Aka-renga.

The Yokohama Customs building in Naka Ward, near Aka-renga.

A view of Minato Mirai from the new Zounohana Park

I’ll get the next group of pictures up as soon as I can.  You’ll get to see the big spider from the 150 anniversary celebration of the opening of Yokohama Port.

Here’s the final part of my Minato Mirai tour.  This time, it’s just a video.  I took it while I was in Sky Garden in Landmark Tower.

And now for part 3 of the Minato Mirai tour.  This time, I walked around to Kisha-michi Promenade, to Akarenga, near Cosmo World, then over to Rinko Park on the eastern end of Minato Mirai.  Finally, I headed over to Yokohama Station for dinner with other teachers.  Please read parts 1 and 2.

A view of Minato Mirai and Cosmo World from Kisha-michi Promenade

A view of Queen's Square from Kisha-michi Promenade

Landmark Tower from Kisha-michi Promenade

A view of Yokohama Grand Intercontinental Hotel

This is Tokyo Bay from Akarenga, near Cosmo World

I took this picture of the map so I wouldn't get lost on my way to Yokohama Station

A view of Minato Mirai from near Pacifico Yokohama

Another view of Minato Mirai, including the NTT Docomo building

A view to the north from Minato Mirai. There are no buildings here yet.

Rinko Park in Minato Mirai, Yokohama

Rinko Park in Minato Mirai, Yokohama

Rinko Park in Minato Mirai, Yokohama

Rinko Park in Minato Mirai, Yokohama

A view of Minato Mirai from Rinko Park

Yokohama Bay Bridge from Rinko Park

Rinko Park in Minato Mirai, Yokohama

Rendering of buildings in Minato Mirai. They have since been built.

Construction site in Minato Mirai. Since 2005, there has been a lot of development.

Nabe dinner after my Minato Mirai walk. It was a dinner for many teachers in Yokohama.

This is a sign in Nishi Ward, Yokohama, near Yokohama Station. Beer Communication!

That’s it for pictures!  Next up is a video in part 4.

Welcome back for part 2.  If you haven’t read part 1 yet, it’s below this post.  Please read it first.  For part 2, we’ll have a look at Minato Mirai and area from Landmark Tower.  I went up to the 69th floor, which is an observatory called Sky Garden.  It has amazing views of Yokohama!  The elevator going up to the Sky Garden is the 2nd fastest in the world.  You can feel your ears pop on your way up.  So, here are the pictures.

Looking north from Sky Garden in Landmark Tower, including the Yokohama Art Museum

A view to the north from Sky Garden toward Yokohama Station

Looking northeast from Sky Garden, including Yokohama Pacifico convention centre

A view to the west from Sky Garden. One of those buildings is the Bank of Yokohama.

A west view from Sky Garden in Landmark Tower

A view to the south from Sky Garden toward Naka Ward and Yokohama Bay Stadium, home of the Bay Stars baseball team.

A view south from Sky Garden, toward Naka Ward

A view south from Sky Garden toward Naka Ward. Kisha-michi Promenade is a walkway across the water.

A view south from Sky Garden toward Cosmo World and Yokohama Port in Naka Ward

Straight down from the Sky Garden, it's Nippon Maru

An eastern view from Sky Garden, including Cosmo World and Queen's Square

An eastern view from Sky Garden, there seems to be a performance happening

An eastern view from Sky Garden. You can see Queen's Square, Yokohama Pacifico and the sail shaped Yokohama Grand Intercontinental Hotel

Looking southeast from Sky Garden, you can see Cosmo World, and in the distance, Yokohama Bay Bridge

From Sky Garden, there's Yokohama Bay Bridge

An eastern view from Sky Garden, you can see Yokohama Grand Intercontinental Hotel

View of Cosmo World from Sky Garden. It's 3:48pm, according to the ferris wheel/clock

A night view to the north of Landmark Tower...okay, it's a photo inside Sky Garden

The same view from Sky Garden to the north

Stay tuned for part 3, which I will post in a moment.  Part 3 will contain the final part of my Minato Mirai tour.

Be prepared for a lot of pictures.  During my first Golden Week in Japan, I visited Minato Mirai before joining other teachers for dinner near Yokohama Station.  For those of you unfamiliar with Japan, here’s a little background.

Golden Week is a series of 4 holidays in the period from April 29 to May 5.  I happen to get a whole week off during that time.  I was going to meet other teachers for dinner at the end of April, and I decided to tour Minato Mirai.  This was my first time in Minato Mirai, which is the ultra-modern area in Nishi Ward that includes Japan’s tallest building, Landmark Tower.  Yokohama Station, which is one of the busiest train stations in the world, is to the northwest of Minato Mirai, and is the actual downtown area.  However, Minato Mirai has been under heavy development over the past few years, and is quite impressive now.  The pictures I have here show a lot of open space in Minato Mirai, which has since been mostly filled in by tall condo buildings and office buildings, including Nissan’s new head office.  Next to Minato Mirai is Cosmo World, which has the world’s largest clock (actually, it’s a ferris wheel).  Cosmo World is an amusement park with one of the best locations in the world.  Cosmo World is actually in Naka Ward, which has Yokohama’s city hall, Prefectural government office and Chinatown.  But let’s get on with the tour.

Landmark Tower in Minato Mirai, Yokohama

The ferris wheel at Cosmo World from Minato Mirai

Landmark Tower. It's really tall.

Here's some English in Landmark Plaza

More Landmark Tower and other skyscrapers

The tall Landmark Tower again

Queen's Square in Minato Mirai, Yokohama

To be continued in the next post.  There are many more pictures.

That’s the meaning of the kanji I chose the other day for my name. I realized that I can write them both from memory because they’re elementary level. My name in japanese is pronounced maaku. The kanji are 真悪. The first is ma, the second is aku. The most literal translation is in fact true evil.

Update wise: Monday I went to the theme park at Tokyo dome with one of my conversation partners named Mariko. We bought free-ride passes and rode all the rides, some multiple times. After that we went to Shibuya and ate at an awesome izakaya and had a couple drinks. Eventually went our separate ways at shibuya.

Tuesday I went to Minato Mirai yet again, this time for a dinner with my language class. It ended up just being Santos, Balkis, Jera, her boyfriend, and me. But we had a great 90 minute buffet dinner for 20 bucks and enjoyed our selves quite a lot. After that I hung around the lounge of the dorm chatting with Willing folks for a few hours.

Today I had what’s probably my last meeting with my conversation partners. We went to Ginza, had sashimi don or something to that effect which was delicious. Then went to a fun toy shop down the road. Eventually we took a train to Asakusa and walked around the popular tourist spot. I bought some souvineers that I thought were pretty worthwhile. Sad to say goodbye to these folks so instead we said, see ya later, except in Japanese.

Tomorrow is the Willing dorm party at Tamagawa, which has been opened up to anyone who wants to come. Should be fun. Maybe I won’t spend so much money tomorrow… that would be good.

Well I guess I got a bit caught up in exams and such.

The past few days have been a lot of fun, since I finished school.  Two days ago I went to a place called Kouenji, it was pretty nice, quiet, and full of really good looking restaurants, without so many extremely tall buildings.  There I tried a pretty good peach flavored alcohol drink.  Yesterday I had Mr Donut donuts (macha “green tea” flavor) for the first time, had some iced coffee with soy milk at a really nice cafe nearby, then went to a wonderful Choral Performance at the Tokyo Opera House.  After that Jannis, his girlfriend Yuko and I went to a really great Indian restaurant in Shibuya.  From there we went to do Karaoke (on Saturday night… a time I would avoid if possible).  It was however an incredibly good time.

Today I met up with my conversation partners, for a not quite last time (hopefully).  I had a message from Jin who usually organizes it that involved something with a coven of witches.  So I didn’t really know what that was about, and still don’t clearly… unfortunately we didn’t meet up with the coven, maybe they’re in China right now?  I’m not sure.  Anyway we met at Shibuya and ate at a good but expensive cafe called Cheesecake Cafe or something of that sort.  I had a really amazing salad and a tiny pudding for breakfast there   After that we chatted for a long while and eventually Jin and I went to Minato Mirai for the Fireworks show that they put on there this time every year.  We went to a building there on the floor of some japanese language school I think called IUC.  I don’t know what it stands for though.  Anyway it was a few floors above the ground maybe 5-6 so we had a wonderful view from the outside balcony.  It’s similar to the view from Odaiba except from the other side of Rainbow Bridge.  The fireworks were spectacular.  After that we fought the masses and returned to Shibuya, and I came back to Sancha.  I tried some Gobou, which is apparently burdock root.  It’s interesting, but I think the ones I bought were a little moldy so I did not eat them all.  Now I will eat for the 2nd time today (seriously eat) my last pouch of curry with my last bit of rice.

Yokohama Street Sign

When Japan ended its self-isolation from the outside world, one of the first ports opened to the world was Yokohama. Now remains as one of the biggest ports (and the busiest cities) of Japan, Yokohama resembled a mixture of East meets West cultures.

The meeting in Fujisawa dragged until late in the afternoon. I wouldn’t bore you out with meeting details, to cut the story short, we dropped our bags (and laptops) to the hotel before heading to Yokohama’s tourist destination, Minato Mirai.

Minato Mirai 21 (みなとみらい21, Minato Mirai 21^?), often shortened to Minato Mirai, is a large urban development in Yokohama, Japan.

The name, which means “Harbor Future 21,” was selected in a public competition. Construction of the area started in 1983. Built largely on reclaimed land, the area now features the Landmark Tower, Japan’s tallest skyscraper, the Queen’s Square shopping mall, the Pacifico convention center, Intercontinental Hotel, and moreThe area is a popular tourist spot together with nearby Yokohama Chinatown. Minato Mirai is one of the few places in the Tokyo-Yokohama area where the seashore is accessible, and not blocked by industry and harbour areas.

From Wikipedia Minato Mirai

Meeting must be tiring...

The other side...

Our hope to catch the sunset at the port was for sure wouldn’t be fullfilled. We caught the train to Yokohama as yesterday, a group of a few Indonesians, a FIlipino and a Malaysian. After Bani splitted in the station, we walked from Minato Mirai station to the port. Woah… I love the view of thousands of lights on the tall bulidings by the water. It’s so different from what I’ve seen so far. The weather was a bit cold of the bay’s strong wind, better pack up a sweater. Though it was summer, still I felt a bit chilly whenever there was no sun.

the lights reflection

There were pathways and docks of wood and bridges that we walk on the side of water, from across the building of five starts hotel and meeting hall stood tall in glimmering lights from top to bottom. One of the atraction was also an amusement park, with its giant ferris wheel also decorated with lights and a roller coaster with screaming spectators.

The place itself was also a common dating place, given the view and the ocassional meeting spots. Suddenly the participants of the “tour” was busy with their own cellphones – calling home. Aaww

Laper banget

We had dinner in the mall, where I tasted one of the best meal in Japan so far, strangely it was Korean food. I never thought that our choice of having dinner first have a consequence of not being able to ride the ferris wheel. The wheel closed at 9 pm and we arrived there minutes too late. So we just went to the park down there and spent some time with the view there. I found Doraemon there! (a ride where kids can get inside Doraemon and have some screen in there). Hehe

Ferris wheel or dinner?

Giant Doraemon!!

just sit and enjoy the view

We spent sometime there before one of our friends joined us and we went back to Fujisawa using the same train.

Kali ini gw pengen review yokohama, sekalian bagi2 pengalaman gw waktu jalan2 ke sini. di yokohama ada beberapa spot2 yang menarik, biar lebih enak di liat gw bagi2 aja deh jadi beberapa point.

1. china town

Berhubung yokohama salah satu kota pelabuhan yang besar dan pelabuhan international yang di buka pertama kali di jepang, banyak pendatang2 dari cina yang menetap di sini. kenapa coba orang cina yang paling banyak dateng ke jepang untuk berbisnis? katanya sih gara2 orang cina jaman dulu udah bisa komunikasi dgn pedagang asing pake bahasa inggris (mungkin cuma inggris2 dasar kali ya), dan mereka juga bisa komunikasi dengan penduduk lokal dgn menggunakan kanji. kanji kan awalnya dateng dari cina, jadi kalo orang cina komunikasi pake kanji, otomatis orang jepang juga bisa ngerti (walaupun ga semua kanji cina ada di jepang). karena banyaknya orang cina yang tinggal di sini, dibuatlah china town. china town di yokohama adalah china town terbesar di seluruh jepang, dan termasuk salah satu china town terbesar di dunia.

Ada 4 gerbang utama yang menjadi pintu masuk china town, dimana totalnya ada 10 gerbang. di dalem china town ini ada skitar 500 toko dan restoran. restorannya udah pasti lah restoran chinese. waktu itu gw pernah makan di salah satu restoran disini bareng 3 orang temen gw (1 indonesia, 2 dari mainland china). menurut mereka masakan cina disini rasanya ga sama kayak masakan cina dinegaranya sendiri, dan lagi harga makanan cina di china town ini mahal2 banget! kalo kita cari restoran cina di shibuya, atau di tempat2 lain, pasti bisa dapet yang jauh lebih murah. mungkin emang krn china town ini termasuk salah satu spot yang terkenal kali ya, makanya harganya juga beberapa kali lipat lebih mahal.

2. yokohama stadium

Letaknya deket banget dari china town atau dari kannai station. katanya sih, stadium ini termasuk salah satu stadium favorit utk nonton baseball di jepang. stadium ini adalah base dari team nasional yokohama, yaitu yokohama bay stars.

3. yamashita park

Termasuk salah satu taman favorit gw di jepang. soalnya di sini, selain bisa duduk2 santai, banyak atraksi2 juga. ada sulap, ada orang2 nyanyi (walaupun ga sebanyak di yoyogi park sih). trus kelebihan lagi, kita bisa ngeliat kapal2 yang lagi berlabuh, jadi bener2 enak deh buat relax. yamashita park luasnya bener2 luas banget, tempatnya juga lumayan buat pacaran hehehe

4. osanbashi

Adalah dermaga international utama di pelabuhan yokohama. dermaga ini adalah dermaga tertua disini. di lantai 1 ada tempat parkir mobil, di lante 2 ada kantor imigrasi + hall serba guna, dan di lante 3 ada tempat yang di design open air yang bisa di akses 24 jam oleh siapa aja. konsep bangunannya hampir mirip kayak kapal, dan smua lantai-nya di buat dari deck. tapi yang uniknya, di lante 3 (yang open air), ada satu bagian yang di tanemin rumput. banyak banget orang2 yang tidur2an disana sambil berjemur, pacaran, jalan2 sama anjingnya, dll. tempat ini bener2 rekomendasi deh pokoknya!

5. landmark tower

Landmark tower adalah gedung tertinggi yang ada di jepang. totalnya ada 70 tingkat, yang di dalemnya di bagi2 lagi jadi mall, hotel, dan kantor. kantor tempat gw kerja cabang yokohama ada di dalem sini juga nih. makanya dulu gw udah pernah maen2 ksini hehe. oh iya, lift gedung ini katanya sih lift tercepat di jepang. trus kalo kita ke lante 69, kita bisa liat seluruh pemandangan kota yokohama (biayanya 1000 yen)

6. yokohama cosmo world

Adalah theme park yang ada di yokohama. icon-nya adalah ferris wheel (bianglala). krn ferris wheel-nya ini tinggi banget, jadi kalo kita ke daerah minato mirai, pemandangan ferris wheel-nya pasti sgt mencolok. sistem permainannya ga pake tiket terusan, jadi kita harus beli tiket sesuai dengan apa yang mau kita maenin. rata2 harga tiketnya 500-700 yen. berhubung mnurut gw rada rugi, gw blom pernah nyoba wahana2 yang ada disini. wahana yang ada di dalem sini : ferris wheel, jet coaster, haunted house, nia gara2, dsb.

7. yokohama world porters

Adalah salah satu mall yang terletak persis di sebelah cosmo world. di dalem sini banyak banget restoran2 dengan harga makanan rata2 800 yen ke atas. di sini juga ada restoran indonesia yang namanya “surabaya”. gw skalian mau review restoran ini juga nih. jadi mnurut gw, kalo ada orang indo yang kangen banget sama masakan indonesia, kalo ga terpaksa ga usah dateng ke surabaya yg ada di world porters. krn waktu gw ke restoran ini (yg di world porters), pelayanannya bener2 buruk, ancur, bobrok, pokoknya jelek banget deh. jadi ceritanya waktu itu gw berlima (orang indo smua) mau coba makan makanan indo yang ada di jepang. akhirnya kita ke sini lah. eh pas dateng, ternyata ada pelayannya yang mas2 dengan sikap yang sangat tidak ramah dan gaya bicara yang juga ga ramah. dan sialnya, dia yang ngeladenin kita. dia ngomong ga pake basa basi (bener2 kerasa perbedaan pelayanannya dengan orang jepang). pas dia nanya “mau minum apa?”, kita jawab “air putih aja”, trus dia makin bt, tanpa ngomong apa2 langsung cabut. restoran cabang yokohama ini tidak gw rekomendasi lah intinya.

8. yokohama red brick warehouse

Di dalem sini, banyak cafe2 dan toko2 kecil. lumayan lah sebagai tempat istirahat. design tempat ini juga cukup unik, krn motif batu bata-nya tetep dibiarin gitu aja. waktu pertama kali liat bangunan ini, nuansanya kayaknya beda banget sama jepang. jadi kerasa ada di rusia atau di daerah2 bersalju gitu deh haha.

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