Quick Notes:
Weather: Mostly sunny in the mid-70s
BBQ
Kamakura
Yokohama
All Photos
This trip was during Japan’s Golden Week which is an extended national holiday. The first holiday is on April 29th (Thursday this year) which is to honor the birthday of the Showa Emperor, the reigning Emperor from 1926 to 1989. Then May 3rd is Constitutional Memorial Day, May 4th is Greenery Day, and May 5th is Children’s Day (also know as Boys’ Day). Being a national holiday I knew there were going to be a lot of people every where but I had to go see something since I had all this time off.
This is where and how this story starts. Saturday (May 1st) I was invited to a BBQ at the Ninomiya House on Sunday. Sunday afternoon I walked out to see if people were in the courtyard and they were out there cooking. I went down and met a few people and talked to the host for a little bit. The BBQs are very friendly and sharing but you are expected to bring something to share, which isn’t a big deal. Knowing I didn’t have anything to cook I had to go to the store. While walking around in the grocery store with Seth we decided to make a big juicy American (Southwest) green chili cheese burger. Bought what we needed and headed back. Made the patties, made some guacamole, grabbed a can of green chilies, some cheese, and headed downstairs. We made four burgers, ate two and shared the other two with the people. There was a mix of people some Japanese, four Frenchmen, an Englishman and two Americans (Seth and I). A couple of the Japanese shared one of the burgers and really enjoyed especially with the green chili. During the BBQ we were invited to go to Kamakura and Yokohama the next day with a few of them. Since we didn’t have any solid plans we figured it would be nice to go do something with some people we knew so of course we said yes.
We meet the group at Tsukuba station in the morning which included five Japanese, a Spaniard, a Mexican, a Frenchman, and an Englishman. The trip plan was go to Kamakura first, which is about 50 km (31mi) south of Tokyo, spend some time there and have lunch there then go to Yokohama. Kamakura is enriched with history and I’m sure many other things that I don’t know but the largest tourist spot is the Daibutsu (Great Buddha) statue. The statue was cast out of bronze in 1252, it is 11 m (37 ft), and one of the two largest pre-modern bronze Buddhas in Japan.
Group of new friends in front of the Daibutsu
Next we set out to find some lunch while making our way to the beach. I found a Turkish kebab joint that looking really good and it was great, I had two.
Turkish Kebab Stand
When I got to the beach I was eating my kebab (2nd one) and out of know where this hawk-looking bird dove down and almost took me out. Luckily it didn’t take out my eyes or take my kebab. The beach was nice and it was definitely calming (besides the hawk part) to have some personal space back and just watch the water. All ages were out enjoying the beach from babies to great-grandparents. There were kites, wind surfers, people clamming (digging for clams), kids chasing each other, and just relaxing.
People at the beach
After the beach we made our way to the Hase-dera Temple which has beautiful gardens and a great view of the Sagami Bay. The Temple houses a wooden statue of Kannon carved in 721. The statue is 9 m (30 ft) high and is the tallest wooden statue in Japan. There were numerous of beautiful flowers and the pictures are posted here.
Main Temple of Hase-dera
Sagami Bay
Now back to the train station to go to China Town in Yokohama. So I thought that I had been on a train that was really full, Seth and I call it “Gettin’ Real” not sure why but it makes sense because you are about to get “real” close with the all the people around you. I digress, the train was already more “real” then I’ve seen and then another 20 people got on our train-car, needless to say it got really real. As a disclaimer the video below is suppose to depicted the lack of a personal bubble not that the Japanese are rude or disgusting.
China Town in Yokohama was very stimulating and overwhelming. All of the streets were full of people, there were fireworks going off, people dressed in dragon costumes, and street vendors trying to give you some kind of nuts. Did I mention all of the people? Also there were still a few cars trying to drive on the streets through all the people, controlled chaos.
Streets of China Town Yokohama
We walked through China Town to the bay to see the sunset and at least for me I was able to regain my composure.
Passenger ship that served as a hospital during WWII.
Sunset at Yokohama Bay
We ventured back into China Town for dinner and found a little place that actually had setting for all 12 of us. It was served family style with 6 different main dishes, soup, and desert. It was great and hopefully I can find the place again. After dinner we headed back to the station and headed home. It was an amazing day with new sights and new friends.
Weather: Mostly sunny in the mid-70s
BBQ
Kamakura
Yokohama
All Photos
This trip was during Japan’s Golden Week which is an extended national holiday. The first holiday is on April 29th (Thursday this year) which is to honor the birthday of the Showa Emperor, the reigning Emperor from 1926 to 1989. Then May 3rd is Constitutional Memorial Day, May 4th is Greenery Day, and May 5th is Children’s Day (also know as Boys’ Day). Being a national holiday I knew there were going to be a lot of people every where but I had to go see something since I had all this time off.
This is where and how this story starts. Saturday (May 1st) I was invited to a BBQ at the Ninomiya House on Sunday. Sunday afternoon I walked out to see if people were in the courtyard and they were out there cooking. I went down and met a few people and talked to the host for a little bit. The BBQs are very friendly and sharing but you are expected to bring something to share, which isn’t a big deal. Knowing I didn’t have anything to cook I had to go to the store. While walking around in the grocery store with Seth we decided to make a big juicy American (Southwest) green chili cheese burger. Bought what we needed and headed back. Made the patties, made some guacamole, grabbed a can of green chilies, some cheese, and headed downstairs. We made four burgers, ate two and shared the other two with the people. There was a mix of people some Japanese, four Frenchmen, an Englishman and two Americans (Seth and I). A couple of the Japanese shared one of the burgers and really enjoyed especially with the green chili. During the BBQ we were invited to go to Kamakura and Yokohama the next day with a few of them. Since we didn’t have any solid plans we figured it would be nice to go do something with some people we knew so of course we said yes.
We meet the group at Tsukuba station in the morning which included five Japanese, a Spaniard, a Mexican, a Frenchman, and an Englishman. The trip plan was go to Kamakura first, which is about 50 km (31mi) south of Tokyo, spend some time there and have lunch there then go to Yokohama. Kamakura is enriched with history and I’m sure many other things that I don’t know but the largest tourist spot is the Daibutsu (Great Buddha) statue. The statue was cast out of bronze in 1252, it is 11 m (37 ft), and one of the two largest pre-modern bronze Buddhas in Japan.
Group of new friends in front of the Daibutsu
Next we set out to find some lunch while making our way to the beach. I found a Turkish kebab joint that looking really good and it was great, I had two.
Turkish Kebab Stand
When I got to the beach I was eating my kebab (2nd one) and out of know where this hawk-looking bird dove down and almost took me out. Luckily it didn’t take out my eyes or take my kebab. The beach was nice and it was definitely calming (besides the hawk part) to have some personal space back and just watch the water. All ages were out enjoying the beach from babies to great-grandparents. There were kites, wind surfers, people clamming (digging for clams), kids chasing each other, and just relaxing.
People at the beach
After the beach we made our way to the Hase-dera Temple which has beautiful gardens and a great view of the Sagami Bay. The Temple houses a wooden statue of Kannon carved in 721. The statue is 9 m (30 ft) high and is the tallest wooden statue in Japan. There were numerous of beautiful flowers and the pictures are posted here.
Main Temple of Hase-dera
Sagami Bay
Now back to the train station to go to China Town in Yokohama. So I thought that I had been on a train that was really full, Seth and I call it “Gettin’ Real” not sure why but it makes sense because you are about to get “real” close with the all the people around you. I digress, the train was already more “real” then I’ve seen and then another 20 people got on our train-car, needless to say it got really real. As a disclaimer the video below is suppose to depicted the lack of a personal bubble not that the Japanese are rude or disgusting.
China Town in Yokohama was very stimulating and overwhelming. All of the streets were full of people, there were fireworks going off, people dressed in dragon costumes, and street vendors trying to give you some kind of nuts. Did I mention all of the people? Also there were still a few cars trying to drive on the streets through all the people, controlled chaos.
Streets of China Town Yokohama
We walked through China Town to the bay to see the sunset and at least for me I was able to regain my composure.
Passenger ship that served as a hospital during WWII.
Sunset at Yokohama Bay
We ventured back into China Town for dinner and found a little place that actually had setting for all 12 of us. It was served family style with 6 different main dishes, soup, and desert. It was great and hopefully I can find the place again. After dinner we headed back to the station and headed home. It was an amazing day with new sights and new friends.
9:40 AM |
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