The day started like any other, with crane games. This day we decided to try our luck once again on the now infamous crane games. Owen spotted a large pig game where the goal was to move a peg left to right and forward to backward into a small hole to release the hook for a pig about 15 in. in diameter that he wanted to win for Emily. Simple enough except 15 minutes and about seven dollars later, he still was left with no pig. He turned away from the machine to the machine just to the right to watch Michael try to win another souvenir and turns back to see a girl pulling the giant pig out of the winners slot. She’d done it in one try somehow and Owen would never forget it. He cursed that machine, that pig and that girl for the rest of the trip.
We made our way into Yokohama, which is about an hour south by train and is the sister city of Tokyo. Yokohama is actually one of the largest cities in Japan (I believe second only to Tokyo) and a destination we had planned to visit a few days before. We were to meet Charlene and Jessica in Yokohama but neither picked up their phones for the early part of the afternoon. Owen, Mike and I wandered around a bit not sure of what to do or where to go. Mostly we were just tired and instead we stopped in a small coffee shop, ate a hotdog, a donut and played risk on Owen’s Iphone for some time. Yes, how American can we get huh? After Charlene called, we left to meet up with her after we bought some snacks at a local grocery store. We were going to do our “Nato Challenge” which was supposed to be the four of us each eating Nato until the first person made a face. The loser would have to eat all the rest of the remaining Nato, but we decided against buying a bunch of Nato at the grocery store, something I kind of regret because it would have been a nauseating and hilarious challenge to have done.
Taiyaki, Yakitori, Soba and Freshly Self-Ground Sesame for Dipping Sauce
After we met up with Charlene we went in search for a late lunch. It was about 3 PM and we had not eaten lunch yet and wandered around with Charlene to try to find a place that was open. We assumed that Charlene would know her way around a city so close to where she lived and studied and learned once again never to assume Charlene would know the way. We ventured into a building with many promising looking restaurants on different floors and started on the 8th floor and worked our way down. Each place was closed and empty and each time we left one restaurant, we saw a lady walk into the same empty restaurant after us. After about the third time we saw the same lady, we got into the elevator and started to laugh uncontrollably. Apparently the elevator door had not fully closed and we think she might have seen/heard us. In a panic, we mashed the buttons and escaped to the bottom floor before she could follow us. We ended up eating at a place we had passed by half a dozen times looking for a sit down restaurant which was a standing soba stand. We ordered and ate the best bowl of fast food soba noodles we had ever had and went on our way. Owen was still in a bit hungry afterwards and we decided to stop off in an izakaya for some yakitori. We had our fill of some quail eggs and various unknown meats until we were full and happy.
Standing Soba Noodle Lunch
Next stop: Minato Mirai, Queen’s Square and Cosmo Clock 21. This is a large redevelopment near the bay of Yokohama that has a small theme park, a large shopping mall, and (in 1989) the world’s largest Ferris wheel and clock. In the mall we found an actual Pokemon Center that had hundreds of cards, stuffed animals and memorabilia. I would have gone crazy had I been 10 or so years younger, but it was still pretty cool and we had some fun in the store. Outside the mall I had a blast photographing some giant spider looking metallic public plop art. As it got dark, we decided to go to the observation tower and get a nice night view of the harbor and to see all the beautiful lights from above. The 2nd of four observation towers total that we would see on the trip and this one was definitely a good one. From the top, we could see the whole harbor and even a faint distant blip on the horizon of Mount Fuji right at sunset. The shots at night of Yokohama were fantastic and there were actually plenty of interesting things to see even inside the observation deck including a giant wave of blue lights and caricatures that looked like friends.
Side Story: Sumimasen!
Owen decides to try to scare me. But with his very limited Japanese that I've taught him over the last few days, he could only think of one word to scream out, "sumimasen" which means excuse me. So he jumps out at me and yells "SUMIMASEN!" I just stare at him and we both just start laughing. Maybe it's one of those you had to be there moments.
Side Story: Sumimasen!
Owen decides to try to scare me. But with his very limited Japanese that I've taught him over the last few days, he could only think of one word to scream out, "sumimasen" which means excuse me. So he jumps out at me and yells "SUMIMASEN!" I just stare at him and we both just start laughing. Maybe it's one of those you had to be there moments.
Spider Plop Art
Yokohama by Night
Inside the Observation Deck
The Cat Burglar
After we all camera whored out and were sick of taking pictures, we down to visit the amusement park. Owen and Mike once again wander into an arcade. After a few minutes we walk outside and I ask why everyone: Mike, Owen and Charlene was holding the same black cat stuff animal. Apparently Owen had found one of the plastic panels in the crane machines had come loose and he could fit his hand into the machine and just pull them out. I whined and said I wanted one too and at this point Owen let out a disgruntled sigh as he was beginning to worry about attracting unwanted attention from the employees but he did it for me anyway. Thanks buddy. He left one in the winners slot for some lucky kid who would be delighted to find a free prize.
Caught in the Act
The Loot
We met up with Jessica after a bit because she woke up late after another late night of partying. Jessica is hardcore and this was just one of many nights in a row she had been out late, so we met up for dinner in Minato Mirai, the large shopping mall. We couldn’t find too much that appealed to us and ended up eating a fried food place where we got fried chicken cutlets infused with a cheesy oozy center. I forgot to take a picture while eating this because it was just too awesome, and I forgot to stop eating for a second to take a picture, but I did take a picture before the meal began of the sesame seeds in a small bowl that we got to grind up ourselves and use as a dipping sauce which was delicious. Afterwards we went out towards Shinjuku and halfway there, Charlene bailed because she would only be able to stay for a little while and would have to once again catch the hour long last train home back in the same direction.
We met up with Jessica’s boyfriend, Will at Hub in Shibuya. I wanted to meet up with Baptiste and Hilde who were also in Tokyo and arranged to meet in Shinjuku so we moved again almost immediately after arriving in Shibuya to Shinjuku and then things got complicated. Baptiste brought two other friends from France who were studying in various parts of Japan, and Hilde came late. The problem was that we needed to get a headcount for everyone who wanted to do all you can drink and Will had already negotiated a good price for everyone in a bar. I walked into the elevator to find Baptiste and stepped right into a puddle of vomit. I swear in English and meet a guy who asks me where I’m from. We have a short chat standing in a puddle of vomit for 8 floors and later he I would see him later again that night at the 3rd bar we would go to and he would buy me a drink (drunk Japanese guys are very friendly and generous sometimes). Anyways, after a lot of discussion and running around, making phone calls and texts, Baptiste’s two friends left, he stayed and Hilde stayed. Hilde caught the last train home but got stuck halfway when the train stopped and she unfortunately had to take an expensive taxi ride to get home on the other side of town. Baptiste decided to stay with us despite the fact that he had to lead his family around Tokyo the next day. I appreciated him staying to party with us. After the first 2 hours of unlimited drinking, having a few beers, exchanging a few dirty secrets in a game of truth or truth and doing our first sake bomb, we moved onto the Hub in Shinjuku. There we met up with a lot of random people, chatted with both foreigners and Japanese people and drank the night away. Michael passed out almost immediately upon arrival at the second bar. He had challenged Owen in drinking which was not a good idea and he was safely tucked into a cozy booth in the corner. Owen drank more, had a good time, and then quiet puked into a cup when I wasn’t looking. I took him to the bathroom to wash his hands, I rinsed out the cup and we called it a night. We drunkenly walked back to our Hotel with Baptiste as an added guest for the night as he waited for the first trains to start again at 5:30 AM. Owen and Mike passed out almost immediately arriving in our room and Baptiste and I stayed up to chat. Not 20 minutes later, his nose began to bleed. He rushed to the bathroom and stood over the toilet to let it drain. It lasted for 45 min to 1 hour which is the longest nosebleed I had ever seen. He tried every technique to make it stop. He would plug his nose and wait for it to coagulate, but after he removed the tissue, globs would just plop out and a steady stream would resume. I didn’t what to do and we began to get worried after an hour. I was helplessly standing in the bathroom doorway half falling asleep every 15 minutes or so and when the first trains resumed, Baptiste decided to just head home to the hostel where his family was staying and would figure out what to do if it didn’t stop by then. Luckily, later he told me it did eventually stop.
And yes, if you're wondering, Yokohama is in my main title picture. I didn't know that until I went to Yokohama.
And yes, if you're wondering, Yokohama is in my main title picture. I didn't know that until I went to Yokohama.
No comments:
Post a Comment