The first neighborhood outside of Tokyo I visited was the beautiful city of Yokohama. According to Shino Yokohama is like the Brooklyn of Japan. The people who live there exhibit great pride in their home. The rappers from that region even rep their area code in their lyrics. The first thing Shino and I did in Yokohama was take a ferry ride to see the shoreline and the many hotels of this great city. There's a really cool amusement park located along the water. While I liked it the park seemed like it's more directed towards children. I caught some cool pictures of it (see below). There was also the cleanest Chinatown I've ever seen in my life! Tasty treats were sold on every street, inside and outside venues alike. I am a big fan of steamed dumplings of the chicken and vegetable variety. However in Japan I got laughs when I even brought up such a thing. When it comes to dumplings the Japanese (in Chinatown and outside) only cook up pork and beef dumplings. At least for the most part, I did find one place with veggie dumplings which brought a smile to my face.
The next place I visited was Kamakura. This city is located south of both Tokyo and Yokohama. On this portion of my trip I was accompanied by Shino's entire family (Father, Mother and Sister). The Yanagawa clan are quite a trip. We had a great time visiting many shrines and a very famous Buddha statue. After taking a tour of a few shrines we sat down for lunch. The spread was delicious and the service was great. I was told by Shino's sister Chiho that someone took my picture when I wasn't looking. The owner of the restaurant also told Shino's parents that he felt as if he knew me from before. It was really interesting to hear that being that I've been told in a past life I was Japanese. *shrug* So after lunch was done and I got finished hitting my head on the low ceiling entering the dining area AND leaving the dining area we went to see Buddha.
The Buddha statue was breathtaking. There was an entrance for you to go inside and see how it was all put together. It was all very interesting. It was a sunny day and there was a wedding going on near the statue. I felt very lucky to be taking in all of these experiences and I wasn't 4 days into my trip yet. The ride back was pretty quiet being that everyone was tired from all of the walking we did that day. I just observed folks on the train and looked at the passing neighborhoods in awe.
A trip like this one couldn't be summed up in one entry. Stay tuned for Part 2.
And in case you were wondering the photos you see are provided by Shino Yanagawa and myself. (but I'm getting better!)
The restaurant Owner and myself.
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ReplyDeleteYeah the gentleman from the restaurant asked my mother about you when we were there. HE KNOWS YOU!!!! Maybe you guys were the monks in Kamakura in previous life;)
ReplyDeleteYeah I think that was such a dope thing to hear during my trip.
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