Yokohama, Japan

I finally made it to Yokohama last weekend, Carly's new home. I took the night bus through Willer Express on Friday night, leaving at 11:50, and got into Yokohama the next morning at 6:30. The bus was far too cramped, allowing my knees no room to breathe, so it wasn't a pleasant or restful ride, but I endured. I snapped this little pic right outside Yokohama Station, where I arrived.

Yokohama is far more urban than historical and quaint Kyoto: more lights, taller buildings, bigger sounds. Carly lives near the Yokohama Baystars' baseball stadium, something I couldn't imagine seeing in Kyoto. We took advantage of that fun during this weekend. The first day out, on Saturday, Carly and I walked to some local market and perused the wares, buying a hand crafted belt for me and an 80's era leather jacket for Carly, not to mention the ¥100 ($1) sweater Carly got. We bought some food at a local market and explored some shops.


Carly looking fashionable, claiming her new territory.


Here we have one of the streets lined with vendors, on which there was a parade later in the day that we didn't see. But some ornamentation had been hung, and some of the below replicas were waiting to be hoisted and carried around the neighborhood.




Got a picture with one.


We enjoyed a tasty burger at Freshness Burger. I can assure anyone traveling to Japan who fears the lack of American food, Freshness Burger serves burgers as American tasting as they come. Carly had a mushroom burger and gave it rave reviews.


You may remember the chair I bought a month or so ago that I posted about rather excitedly. Well, Carly loved it so that she bought her own miniature version (aka Mini Me), which you can see above as Carly lays on it. How funny that Carly was wearing a blue and white horizontally striped shirt that almost exactly matched the pattern of the chair?

As we passed the Baystars' stadium on Saturday and saw how much fun it looked, we decided to get a pair of tickets for the following day's game. Carly and I were both pumped!

We then made it down to the marina to scope out some shops and grab an iced coffee. Carly's center of study (the Inter University Center for Japanese Studies - run through Stanford) was nearby the water. It was closed, so I couldn't go in.



The most random point in the weekend came when we stumbled upon a Porsche convention or show in the parking lot beside the shops on the water. There must have been over 100 Porsches, of all different colors, some with tricked out hoods, lighting, and spoilers. Some crappy cover bands were playing on a nearby stage to really get things shakin'.


You can almost see Carly's center building in this shot, which would be over to the right side behind the brick building. The Ferris wheel (designed and constructed by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. for a landmark for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago!!) in Yokohama looms large in the skyline and really adds to the seaside setting, akin to something in the U.S. on the east coast like Coney Island or Atlantic City.



That night for dinner we made homemade chicken curry. Yum. Nice job, Carly. She cooked it; I ate it.


Here is the crowd at the Baystars' game the next day. I must say that Americans would be put to shame by the organized cheering of Japanese baseball fans, however an American sport we claim it to be. Every Japanese fan knows at least 10 cheers--must be--of their home team. It seemed as if every player had his own chant when he came up to bat. There are even male "cheer leaders" (not the American, female type) who stand on pedestals like drum majors to lead the crowd in the chosen cheer.



The cheering section which we sat in was packed, but the regular, more expensive seats were not. This is likely because they are not nearly as fun. No chanting was going on over there. Did I mention we had a brass band in our section leading the songs as well?

Carly got a tea and vodka.

I had a beer.

Classic Brown disappointment face and stance. However, I forget what this was all about. Maybe that the Baystars lost...as they had the day before : (


The end. Had a great weekend and a better night bus back. Left Monday night to arrive in Kyoto Tuesday morning at 6:10 am. Went home, got ready for school, and started the week. I'm going back this coming weekend but this time I'm taking the shinkansen. Thank the Buddha.

Sexy Dance Moves Revealed!

Play this video and watch this sexy man dance to the music (press play on the music player below the video)!

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

The Philosopher's Walk

Last weekend, Carly and I went on the "Philosopher's Walk" here in Kyoto. It is a pedestrian path that follows a cherry tree-lined canal in Kyoto, between Ginkaku-ji and Nanzen-ji. The route is so-named because the influential 20th century Japanese philosopher and Kyoto University Professor Nishida Kitaro is thought to have used it for daily meditation (so says Wikipedia).


Before the easy stroll on the path, we visited a short street filled with snack shops, hat boutiques, and kakigori parlors. Kakigori, if you have not been lucky enough to have any, is a Japanese dessert made from shaved ice and flavored with syrup. Flavors include matcha (green tea), melon, strawberry, milk, lemon, etc. Adding a little red bean on the side (something sweet) is a major plus to the texture and flavor. Here is our kakigori, Carly's proclaimed "favorite dessert ever." Before this day, she had not had it in 5 years. That's a long time to wait between servings of your favorite dessert.


Here lies the Philosopher's Walk, following the canal. We will return in the spring when the cherry blossoms are blooming, but on a humid August day like it was, the shade of the trees (and kakigori stands) was reason enough to visit.


Carly digging the stroll.


Going for philosophical and contemplative.


A bend, one of many, in the path.


We came upon a few shrines as well, though we decided to save the Ginkaku-ji temple for another time when the cherry blossoms are in bloom. Here are some private residences near the shrines we popped into.


This shrine was ...dedicated, maybe, to "the rat." Carly could describe this better than I. It had something to do with rats I know, and in a good way. That is, it wasn't a shrine with a purpose to ward them off. So there were many rat statues with gnarled teeth perched upon pedestals.


So that was our afternoon. Since then, my high school, Rakuhoku Senior High, has had its cultural festival and I've said goodbye to Carly for two weeks as she starts her program in Yokohama and gets settled in.


Unfortunately, I won't be able to post pictures of my students on my blog for privacy reasons, so I can't share the good times I had at the festival, which was full of choreographed dancing, short plays, tea ceremonies, classroom activities, skits, etc. But I should be able to take some pictures of the outside of the school to show you all. Here, at least, is their website, though it's in Japanese. At least you can get an idea: http://www.kyoto-be.ne.jp/rakuhoku-hs/ However, of the cultural festival, I can tell you that I dressed up in a maid's outfit for a photo with my fellow Assistant English Teachers (AETs), which the students enjoyed witnessing. Maybe I'll get that one up here sometime soon.