JAPAN May/June, 2004.
29th May 2004 finally arrived. The flight from KL International Airport to Narita took about 5-6 hours. The kids were terribly excited especially my daughter... she couldnt recall much of the travelling we did bcoz she was so young, so it sort of felt like the first time for her (ooh the grins on their faces lol).
@ KLIA waiting to board, excited & in the mood for funny faces lol
Its a beautiful city, Yokohama. Very modern, very clean, very well maintained. In fact if ever there was a place that was 'over-maintained' Japan would be it in my book lol.
Heres a little textbook background on the city:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2156.html
With a population of over three million people, Yokohama is Japan's second largest city. It is located less than 30 minutes south of Tokyo by train, and is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture. Towards the end of the Edo Period (1603-1867), during which Japan isolated herself from the rest of the world, Western nations forced the country to open its ports to foreign trade. In 1859, Yokohama's port became one of the first ports to be openend, and Yokohama quickly grew from a small fishing village into one of Japan's major cities. Until today, the Yamate residential area retains a Western touch and houses many foreign residents, while Yokohama's Chinatown is one of the world's largest.
Heres a little textbook background on the city:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2156.html
With a population of over three million people, Yokohama is Japan's second largest city. It is located less than 30 minutes south of Tokyo by train, and is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture. Towards the end of the Edo Period (1603-1867), during which Japan isolated herself from the rest of the world, Western nations forced the country to open its ports to foreign trade. In 1859, Yokohama's port became one of the first ports to be openend, and Yokohama quickly grew from a small fishing village into one of Japan's major cities. Until today, the Yamate residential area retains a Western touch and houses many foreign residents, while Yokohama's Chinatown is one of the world's largest.
Part of the Yokohama Skyline.
Typical chinese arch at Yokohama's Chinatown
We stayed at an apartment provided by my hubby's company for the use of their executives there. Like most Japanese residences it is small and compact with rather low ceilings. Situated in Honmoku, it takes about 20 minutes bus ride to get into the city i.e. to the Sakuragi-cho Station. My hubby had to work from Mon toThurs, so we went exploring on our own but limited to the Yokohama area only. That left us Friday, Sat & Sunday to travel further away. Our flight back was scheduled on Monday, Jun 7th.
Honmoku - view from balcony of our apartment.
Yokohama houses one of Japan's highest building, the Landmark Tower. This 70 story skyscraper at a height of 296 meter is the symbol of Yokohama. The tower has a hotel and halls, and the view from Sky Garden on the observatory on the 69th floor is fantastic. And at the Landmark Plaza, next to the tower, there's shopping to be enjoyed. Since my hubby's office is right across the street, its our point of rendezvous for the most part of our stay lol. Another thing we noticed, there are many many museums in the city. We only did 2; the Mitsubishi Industrial Museum where the kids got to do the City Helicopter Ride Simulation & Yokohama Museum of Art. Oh and the gardens.... its all so beautiful, as it is with most japanese gardens !!
The boys checking out the exhibits at Mitsubishi Industrial Museum
The Trio right outside Yokohama's Art Museum
We went to the fringes of Tokyo one evening and it took us roughly an hour on the JR Train (commuter service) from the Sakuragi-cho Station (situated close to Landmark). Got off at Akihabara, also known as Tokyo's electric city. From there we walked on to Weno, a bazaar like street with cheaper wares and everything you could want lol. My eldest son got himself an air-gun from there, to shoot lizards he said lol. for a toy it sure looked authentic to me and later on the flight back, we actually did take it apart piece by piece in case the airport security was having a bad hair day or something !!
Akihabara by nite
With the hubby's work finally done, we were able to go to the Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise on Friday. Its a man made island that houses the Aqua Museum with 100,000 fish, polar bears and sea otters is one of the largest aquariums in Japan. Theres also an amusement park incorporated in it, sort of like Six Flags.
Rides @ Hakkeijima Sea Paradise
We went in search of Mt Fuji (Fujisan) on Saturday. A group of us (comprising of my hubby's colleagues) decided to make the most of the good weather and drove there. Its totally awesome.... but the peaks were not as snow laden as it is famously depicted. the weather was kinda warm for June it seems. We went to Hakone which Hakone is part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. Its famous for hot springs, outdoor activities, natural beauty and of course, the view of nearby Mt Fuji. For a closer we went to Motohakone, a village at Ashinoko Lake and although there are buses, we took the more scenic option: via mountain train, then cable car and the ropeway (much smaller cable car lol). but the beautiful view was definitely worth it !!
Mt Fuji in the background
Approaching Motohakone by cable car
Lake Ashinoko
Hot springs spewing strong sulphur fumes
All in all it was a most memorable trip... the kids just hated to leave !! And add oogling japanese school girls in their ultra short & sexy uniforms (the likes of britney spears video clip not so long ago lol) for my boys (and their father too i'd bet though he tries hard to pretend nonchalance lol !! ) one last thing though, we didnt get to do 2 things; tokyo disneyworld and a ride on the famous Shinkansen or bullet train - too bloody expensive LOL !!!
More pics..
AF & AH @ one of the many train stations
AI & AH @ the fountain of Yokohama art museum
Trooping about the streets of Yokohama
No comments:
Post a Comment