It’s 11 pm now, and I have been up since 7 am yesterday. Lots gone in the apartment. We’re spending tonight and tomorrow night in a hotel. Tiniest hotel room I’ve ever stayed in. But it’s on the 20th floor in Sakuragicho, so it has a good city night view. Tomorrow morning, breakfast buffet!
Good night.
Today, we went for a walk to Izumi-chuo Station in Izumi Ward, Yokohama. We walked 17.8 km, and were treated to a lot of flowers and birds. The Japanese plum trees are blooming, and the Kawazu cherry trees are beginning to bloom. It’s like spring! So, enjoy the pictures and video.
This first picture is a Kawazu cherry tree that’s beginning to bloom. We will be going to Izu in Shizuoka prefecture later this month to see them in full bloom.
The flowers currently in bloom (nearly full) are the Japanese plum, or more correctly, the Japanese apricot. This tree has white blossoms.
And here are the first birds we saw. They’re great egrets. My wife saw about ten of them on this tree yesterday.
We walked past Engyou Hachimangu shrine early in our walk. I’ve been by this shrine so many times. I also did a video about it, which you can see here.
We made it to Engyou Park, and enjoyed the plum blossoms. Here are some bright pink ones.
And this is a deep pink one. Can you believe this was taken with an iPhone?
In this tree, we got to see a group of three mejiro, or Japanese white-eye. They’re a green bird that we can often see.
Here’s a mejiro with a commercial jet.
I was able to get a video of a couple of mejiro. However, the second one flew away just as I was starting to record it.
In the same park, there’s a bamboo grove. I love bamboo.
We walked for a while and entered Yokohama. This is Yumegaoka Station, one of my favourites, although it’s rather quiet and has a lack of houses around it. However, it has a wonderful view of Mt. Fuji.
And near Izumi-chuo Station, I saw this tree. Weird.
I took all of these pictures and the video with my iPhone. Better quality than my old digital camera. Hope you enjoyed the pictures and video. Comments are always welcome.
I have a lot of videos to edit and post to YouTube. They were mostly taken back in October while my sister was visiting for two weeks. You’ve been waiting a long time for the videos to come out, so I thought I’d give you an idea about what you’ll see. So, here’s the grand list of videos I will post.
And there will be another video from Izu. Or maybe more than one. We’re supposed to be going there later this month to see the kawazu zakura, which is a kind of early-blooming cherry tree. They’re bright pink. The area we’re going to has other attractions, as well.
Any of those look interesting to you? Let me know which ones you want to see in the comments below.
And just for a little taste, here’s the last Taste of Japan video. It’s a ride on one of the world’s largest Ferris wheels. It’s also the world’s largest clock. The view is amazing!
Let’s not even think about the colds we have, first of all. My sister has been here for 11 days, and we’re now on the 12th full day with only today, Wednesday, and Thursday to go for sightseeing. She goes back to Canada on Friday. The time has flown so quickly.
We’ve seen a lot, but it could’ve been better. We could’ve been healthy. She’ll remember Japan as the country she visited twice and caught a cold both times.
Today is a big day. Off to Shinjuku, Harajuku, and Shibuya. Tomorrow is Tokyo Station area, Imperial Gardens, and Tokyo International Forum. We may have time for something else, so we’ll see. On Thursday, it’s Marine Tower, Chinatown, and the Yamate area. We may see Hikawa-maru and Sankeien. She’s already been to Chinatown, but it was very brief. This time, probably having lunch there.
And that’s it. Then she goes home on Friday. We’ll see her and my mom in five and a half months when we move to Canada, though.
Well, time for three days of great sightseeing! And plenty of videos.
In Yokohama’s Minatomirai 21 district, there are a lot of tall buildings (Landmark Tower), shopping centres, and it’s a very popular tourist attraction. One of the biggest things that stands out is Cosmo Clock 21, the second largest Ferris wheel in Japan, and one of the largest in the world. My sister and I rode it, and I took a video. So, check it out!
It’s huge, isn’t it? Can you ride on it? Let me know in the comments below.
Today, my sister and I went to the World Festa Yokohama 2015. It was held at Zou no Hana Park (Elephant’s Trunk Park), which is the location of the opening of Yokohama port to the world. It wasn’t a big festival, and there was some interesting food to be eaten, but it seemed to be more of a festival run by non-profit organisations and charities, rather than an actual international cultural festival. I took a quick video about it.
Not my best video by a long shot. The closing message was from my sister, whose voice was barely audible. Oh well, I don’t think I’ll use that clip for the next video. Enjoy the video anyway. And of course, subscribe to my channel!
So, today is our first real day of sightseeing. Yesterday, we went to Costco. Nothing exciting to see there. Just shopping for two weeks’ worth of food. Last night, we did all of our planning. Unfortunately, we couldn’t fit everything into the two weeks. And tomorrow is raining, and we needed to do something family friendly that’s indoors, so no sightseeing.
Today, our plan is to go to Yokohama, around the Minatomirai area. We’ll be going to World Festa Yokohama 2015, where we’ll enjoy food, culture, and music from around the world. Then on to Cosmo World, where we might go on the Cosmo Clock (it’s really up to my sister). Then we get to go shopping a bit and see the Yokohama Museum of Art. And that will be it.
What do you think of this plan?
The walk back home brought us up north to Izumi Ward in Yokohama, then back over to Shonandai in Fujisawa. We stopped for lunch, too.
These are some more farm pictures. You’ll notice some black fabric in one picture. Those are supposed to be scarecrows.
We passed by Kotohira Shrine. I’ve been there before, but it was about 4 years ago.
Here are the Yokohama Subway and Sotetsu Line bridges across the Sakai River going to Shonandai.
Now it’s Sakai River and some more farms next to the river. The third one shows rice hanging and drying.
Time for lunch. We stopped at Gusto and had a hamburg steak meal.
And back at Shonandai Station. Soon, it’s home.
Total distance was 12.98 km. I hope you enjoyed the posts today. Any comments are very welcome.
We arrived at our destination, Matano Park, and found a playground for Tommy to play at. She’s become very good at climbing. This park is in Totsuka Ward in Yokohama.
What’s interesting about this park is that it has an unusual appearance on Google Maps. Turns out it’s mostly a giant cemetery.
I love being high. But I also hate it. I know what you’re thinking, but I’m pretty sure you’re wrong. I’m talking about tall buildings and mountains, of course!
I like being at the top of this:
And seeing this:
I love seeing the view from tall buildings and mountains. In Japan, we have Yokohama Landmark Tower in Yokohama, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (which is free and has a great view in Shinjuku), Sunshine 60 (a rooftop view from Ikebukuro), Tokyo Tower (looks like the Eiffel Tower), and Tokyo Skytree (tallest freestanding tower in the world at 634 metres). They all command amazing views of the cities they’re in.
In Edmonton, the city’s newest tallest building is under construction, Stantec’s headquarters, and will be 250 metres tall, the tallest building in Canada west of Toronto. I’m excited to see that.
But I also said mountains. I’ve been to the top of Mt. Fuji, Mt. Oyama (and will likely go there again in October), and Mt. Takao, all here in Japan. In Canada, the top of the Whistlers in Jasper afforded a wonderful view of the town.
But where’s the hate? Well, if I’m on a balcony, the edge of a cliff, or at the top of a building without a barrier, I don’t like leaning over the edge. I get an immediate feeling of pending doom. If there’s glass in the way, no problem. A balcony railing isn’t good enough to stop the feeling. But I’m fine with being at the top of a 3,776 metre mountain, which also happens to be a volcano.
How are you with heights?
I Read Encyclopedias for Fun 