As luck would have it, Craig got three days off this week in honor of Respect for the Aged Day and Autumnal Equinox Day, which was perfect since I’m leaving for the states on Friday. Since I’ll be gone another two weeks, it’s wonderful to have some time together before my trip.
Ever since Craig and I began dating, we’ve planned our vacations around getting some new stamps in our passports. While this has led to many amazing adventures, we’ve strived to explore the country we live in just as much. So we decided to use these days off to cross a couple of cities off our list that we’ve been waiting to explore, resisting the urge to just make coffee and watch The West Wing.
No matter where you live, whether it’s close to or far from where you grew up, there is always something new to see and get excited about. I can’t wait to share more of Japan with you.
So, in lieu of a regular “6 Happy Sights” post, I give you some snaps from the first day of our staycation in Yokohama.
After some ramen, we first headed to Thrash Zone, a heavy metal craft beer bar. Getting a beer that wasn’t 1/3 head was much appreciated.
It was a bit of a cloudy day, but the rain held off so we could take a walk along the bay. Here we’re passing Nippon Maru, a permanently docked ship/museum, and Cosmo Clock 21, an epic ferris wheel.
I couldn’t believe how many elements of neoclassical and gothic architecture I spotted on our walk. Much different than Tokyo.
Visiting Yokohama Chinatown was definitely the highlight of our visit.
There was street after street of food that looked and smelled amazing. We were bummed we’d eaten lunch elsewhere and had to pass on some Peking duck.
Couldn’t pass up a photo of this panda-riffic entrance.
Kakigori, because we had to.
We ended the trip strolling Motomachi, Yokohama’s most famous shopping street, which was a madhouse due to a late-summer promotion.
Beautiful architecture and the kakigori looks amazing!