For some reason, there seems to be a large run of public holidays at this end of the year. Quite a good idea, I think. Its always nice to have an extra day off work, an extra day sleeping in, and best of all, an extra day to do whatever one wants.
Of course, having such amazing weather was fantastic, especially for an excursion to Yokohama. I must admit, though, on Friday evening, the weather wasn’t looking quite that promising. A little typhoon had blown up on Thursday, and by Friday it was in full swing. My vice-principal had warned me before lunch that the wind was strong; he was most amused to see me return from lunch with merely an umbrella frame… the wind having taken possession of the umbrella skin.
Battling my way home through the wind and the weather now without an umbrella, I eventually found my way onto the train, but the wet wool of my suit smells distastefully like wet dog – no one sat near me on the train. Train lines all over Kanto were being delayed because of this little whip of weather. The Joban line from Ibaraki was stopped in places, and I don’t believe it would have been much fun sitting on a train with the doors open and rain blowing in, for three quarters of an hour. Even the Tokaido line, my line, was delayed, but not by a great deal. At least by later that night, the wind was beginning to let up, and though it was still raining heavily the worst had passed.
And pass it did – Saturday began with one of the clearest, brightest blue skies I have ever seen in Japan. In all the time I have spent in this country, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a day with not a single cloud in the sky at all – there was always at least a couple. Until this weekend. A constant 26 degrees all weekend, and not a single cloud on Saturday.
Yokohama
Though I live less than an hour from Yokohama, I hadn’t actually ever been exploring the city. Well, I had been briefly dragged through Chinatown by my dear oompa loompa- the old retiree my company provided (the lazy one who never bothered to put his brain in and think). This was the day he met me at the Yokohama Branch Office and puttered along with me to Odawara…
But I digress.
We decided to go exploring in Yokohama. Such a lovely city… I could happily live there. (And indeed I am seriously considering it). The walk from the station to the port area, Minato Mirai, was rather short (once we figured out how to get there) and the first thing that impressed me was the sheer amount of greenery – trees, open spaces, and grass. Sitting having a coffee under the shade of tall evergreen trees and the NHK TV tower, out of the sunlight and somewhat protected from the wind… but only somewhat. My serviette, my glasses, and even the puppy at the table next door were all scooped up by the wind and flung across the footpath – but promptly retrieved. Time to go for a walk…
The port area itself blew me away. Certainly the bright, sunny, warm day helped, but the Minato Mirai area is spectacular. (Shame the branch office is so close by…)
From a deep amphitheatre cut into the ground in a way reminding me of limestone quarries, (which, incidentally, was hosting Yokohama Oktoberfest, complete with German bier, wiener, Trinken und Tanzen, mit much Spitzensparken) to the waterways across the road. A tall ship – the Nihon Maru – lay at mooring in a quay; a three-masted tall ship with (ever Japanese) a radar head unit on the foreward mainmast.
A block or two down the canal towards the ocean, sits the famous Yokohama Ferris wheel.
How could we resist?
The view of the city was incredible. Being able to see all across the city is amazing at any time, but Yokohama is nicer than most cities in Japan. Yes, theres the urban sprawl, but theres also the coast. From the vast tracts of green grass (vast for Japan), to the trails of ships coming and going in the port, to the line of aircraft following an ILS down to Haneda Airport in the distance… the scenery was fantastic. And the day was so clear, that off in the distance, rising high into the sky, was the lofty peak of Mt Fuji, clearly visible despite its distance.
Photos are up.
Ueno
Sunday afternoon I had arranged to meet Jun at Ueno.
Turning up at the prearranged time, I was trying to text her to arrange a meeting point…. To no reply. So I phoned her.
And again.
Waiting at what I thought was a reasonable point, rather taking a chance, I had been standing for fifteen minutes, glancing at my phone, and listening to public address announcements talking about delayed trains, when suddenly the PA changed…
In Japanese: “Would Mr (my full name) from Australia please make his way to the Central Exit Gates, where Miss (Jun's full name) is waiting..” repeated over and over, about seven or eight times…
And I just happened to be wearing a tshirt saying Australia….everyone else in the station, probably close to a hundred thousand people (Ueno is a big station) saw me start walking towards the gate, and realized exactly who I was, where I was from, and who I was going to meet, and where…
Still, it was good to see Jun…
