I arrived in Yokohama on February 9th. I woke up and went to breakfast on the ship as we entered the harbor. After eating and watching the fog of the bay lift as the sun rose I got ready for a day on the town in Yokohama.
Originally I was going on a trip to Kamakura where I would see a Zen temple, meditate, and have lunch with Zen monks. However, for the last few days we have been having bad weather and maneuvering around storms (this is why there is a time where none of my posts went up, our satellites were having issues connecting us to the rest of the world for student e-mail purposes). So it had been anticipated that the ship would be a day late into Yokohama, but thanks to an amazing crew, we were only a few hours late.
At about 1pm, my friends and I got off the ship and entered the terminal for Yokohama. When going through customs I had my fingerprints taken, a thermal scan, and a photo taken before I could go into the city. The terminal in terms of architecture is amazing. The roof is a maze of walkways and benches where one can sit and watch the harbor or see the cityscape. At one point there is even grass on the roof that the walk ways move between.
First order of business was to exchange money. I had taken a lot of American $1 and small bills with me because it had been recommended by past SAS-ers. This is not necessary and a bit tedious. Debit cards are probably better, or getting currency before you arrive. Any ways, I needed to get some yen. So we walked down to a bank and saw that foreign exchange was on the second floor. I went up stairs said "konichiwa" to a lady then said "exchange"? She spoke a little English and was able to direct me, through hand gestures and a note pad, how to fill out the exchange form. Then I waited in line to go up to the counter and exchange my USD in to yen. Another teller, who spoke less English told me had filled out too many forms. I said "ok" and nodded that all I wanted was yen. She then tore one of the papers and proceeded the process of exchange. I gave her my money (USD), she counted it, then told me to wait. I went back and waited, was called up and asked to give a phone number to be reached at during my stay. I don't have a phone number, but I was able to borrow a friend's number for the purpose of the bank. Finally after more waiting I had yen! This was awesome, I was very happy. I was thanking everyone, "arigato gozaimasu". On my way out I saw the lady who helped me originally. She was curious if everything had gone okay (this was indicated by hand and head gestures with a smile) I nodded, smiled and said "hai, domo arigato gozaimasu" (yes, thank you very much). I am now very thankful for even remembering that much from my freshman year of high-school Japanese.
At the bank my friends met a guy who spoke English very well. We asked where a good place to get lunch is and we were directed to "china town." We went there, trying to locate the specific restaurant, and failed. However china town is filled with places serving amazingly delicious food, so we just stopped at a place that looked reasonably priced and had an English menu. The food was so wonderful I did not want to stop eating. We had cashew chicken, green beans, beef and peppers, steamed pork boa, shark fin dumpling, sesame rolls and more! It was wonderful, delicious, and magnificent all rolled into one.
After lunch we strolled around china town, looking at the wonderful colors, the food, the people, the bikes, and anything else we could soak in. When we left china town we went to Yokohama Park where there is a large baseball stadium. Outside of the stadium are trees and a beautiful pond with turtles, coy fish and lots of ducks and pidgins. The interesting thing about the park is that, besides being beautiful and serene, it is also the emergency gathering spot in case of an earthquake or tsunami. We walked through the trees and around the pond over toward the train station. Here we took note of different things, as we would need to use the train tomorrow in our adventure to Tokyo.
We then went to the post office where Michael could use the ATM. Apparently his card was not being accepted at any of the banks we passed, but the post office accepted it and he was able to get some yen as well (yay!).
We went back to china town and got street vended pork buns. Then we went to a walking mall where there is a block of pavement with some trees lining it. Here we saw people walking their small dogs or meeting after work in their business suits, or walking somewhere from somewhere else. Around the trees were little fences that also were made to serve the purpose of a bench. These types of dual purpose and visually friendly fences, or dividers and such could be seen everywhere.
We also saw garages that were stacked with three or four cars on top of each other, connected by a pulley system. This was awesome. To get your car the cars would have to rotate until yours is on the ground.
As the sun went down and lights turned on, we headed back to the ship to rest our feet a little before heading out into the night life of Yokohama. We walked on the terminal roof and stared at the beautiful lights defining the cityscape. In front of some skyscrapers is the Ferris wheel of Cosmo Land, one of the largest Ferris wheels in the world. We saw the wheel light up and the turn as its lights were reflected in a rainbow on the dark water of the harbor. Then we returned to the ship and got ready to meet at eight-thirty for sushi, a Ferris wheel ride and more…
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