Yokohama

Today we visited Y in Yokohama. Miki and I managed to get on the opposite direction train and ended up in Ikebukuro. No big deal, just needed to go back. But we were late with no means to notify Y. The train station was very tricky. I thought we took JR, but couldn't find the central exit. How could that be possible? Turn out we needed to walk through another platform. But still, that wasn't the central exit. (Lesson: which escalator you take to leave the platform seems to be crucial.) Nevertheless, we exited and managed to find the JR station from street level, but it was more massive and confusing then I thought. There was a central east and central west exit. This spelled disaster. We were already late for half and hour. I didn't have Y's number, but I do have T's. So I tried to call T to ask her phone Y about our location. After waiting at the gate for a while, I felt I needed to clarify our location better. So I called T again. Those pay phones were for long distance and 100 yen only gives you a minute. Sucksssssss!!!!! My change and hope were disappearing. I got Y's number from T and was going to make one last call before giving up. Then Y found us! Oh~ thank God thank God thank God!!! (I was about to cry.)

As it's Miki's number one business, Y took us to Volks first. It was quite hidden. I found a Pinky from those clear lockers. Plus an interesting transparent polymer clay. It's more like translucent, though. Miki found some stuff to buy too but I forgot what.

Then we took the subway to have lunch at the food court of a mall(?). It was very crowed and when people were waiting for tables everywhere, you don't feel comfortable taking Pinky pictures. (T_T) After ordering, the clerk gives you a buzzer. When your order is ready, your buzzer will buzz and you can go pick up your food and return the buzzer. This system is awesome! I guess it only works in Japan. Anywhere else will have the buzzers stolen for sure.

After lunch, we continued walking to the red brick loft with yappy stores. Supposed to be a famous tourist spot but we didn't go inside. Time was tight. We walked some more to see the crashing of old and new architecture. Yokohama has been an international port since long ago, and foreigners have been bringing their culture here. It shows in the architecture. However, old buildings have been torn down to make way for city development through the years. How do you preserve old structures while building new ones? Some one had the crazy idea of "building on top of the old", so Frankenstein buildings were born. I don't thing you can see something like this anywhere else in the world.

It was starting to get dark. We headed for Y's home for dinner. I know her address from mailing but never realize it's this far away form the train station! We took a cab after the train. Yes we could have taken a bus, but it was cold and late and buses were far apart on holidays and we didn't want to waste time. (Thanks Y!)

I thought Y's sister would be around but only her mom was at home. She treated us with traditional Japanese sweets and green tea. Delicious and refreshing! Her mom made stew and salad. After eating out most of the time, this home cooked meal was oasis! It was completed with dessert and tea. Somehow I was expecting something more Japanese, haha! One strange thing was, mom didn't eat with us. Is it Japanese tradition that the mom doesn't eat with the guest at the dining table??? It felt a bit weird.

We read some of Y's books, took some pictures, and she played the violin for us. Awww~ I wanna play too! If it wasn't for the accident, I could have played very well by now! (T_T)

As trains in Japan don't run all night, we had to leave. Y ordered a cab and take us to the train station. We were hoping to visit the Ghibli Museum so she help us get tickets at the Lawson (convenience store) in front of the station. It's like Ticket Master, but Lawson is the only place you can buy Ghibli's ticket. You also need an address and cell phone number. This makes things impossible for visiting foreigners. (T_T) Luckily we had Y's help. Thanks Y~! (^_^)

When we got "home", there was a bag of stuff in front of our door. I thought it was something our next door neighbour forgot, and didn't touch it. It was not until an hour or two later when I checked mail, that I realized the bag of stuff was from S! It contained candies and key chains for me, and cookies for M, tomorrow's new year party host! Awww~ S visited us, but of course we were out. (T_T) So she dropped of the stuff to the staff. I guess the staff than left it at our door. Hmm... is it really true that Japan is this safe? Elsewhere, it would have been stolen for sure!