My friend Valerie from Germany is visiting and we’re having a wonderful time. Today we visited the small zoo by my house. My favorite exhibit was the penguins – they were playing with the kids. No, really. The penguins raced the kids the length of the tank, doing little jumps out of the water while they were at it. As soon as the kids left the mad swimming stopped. If a really small tyke stood by the wall they came to visit.
Cutest thing ever.
Last weekend Ken and I spent a great day in Yokohama going to Minato Mirai 21. While the name literally means “Harbor Future 21″ I think it’s meant to convey something like “Harbor for the 21st Century”. They have whole bunches of stuff there.
(Find bigger, prettier versions of all these pictures on my flickr page.)
There’s enough shopping for the most dedicated shopaholic and plenty of places to play. This ferris wheel was the largest world but is now 11th on the list. It also claims to be the “world’s largest clock” but that seems a little dubious to me.
After walking around we had a great time at Osanbashi, a pier sticking out into the bay. The design is stunning. I don’t have any good wide angle shots so check out this page for a better scope of the thing.
You can walk around the entire pier without climbing a single step. All of the walkways are meticuliously cut and angled beautifuly.
Ken and I sat at this particular spot and ate a picnic lunch. Once the sun got a little less intense we found an even better resting spot–on the lawn.
I can’t wait to head back… maybe on a summer evening, with dinner and ice cream on hand to compliment the sunset.
I popped in my memory stick and found photos of my flight I forgot to post:
My leg room in Economy Plus. It’s hard to tell in the picture but I have my long, lanky legs completely stretched out. With my butt all the way back I couldn’t reach the seat in front of me if I wanted to! Awesomeness.
In my lap is my Pacific Waters shawl. It hasn’t been blocked yet but I finally finished the knitting on it. Luckily my blocking wires survived the trip over. ^_^
The awesome CAs (cabin attendants… completely gender neutral and more accurate than “flight attendants”) for the Chicago-Narita leg of my flight. They were doing something I’ve seen in tv shows–the pre-work meeting. Everyone whipped out a notepad and pen and scribbled down what the lead flight attendant was saying. I’m guessing it was stuff like–the chicken meals were running low so the kitchen gave us extra beef, the passenger in 15C is highly allergic to eggs, there will be one infant in economy, etc. They rocked.
Today I had to visit my company’s headquarters in Yokohama so when that was over Ken and I had a look around. We ended up at Yodobashi Camera, an electronics superstore.
Think of your favorite big box store then put it on steroids. There are ten floors of stuff (eight above ground and two under) including two floors of restaurants. The entire time you’re in there it’s sensory overload between all the signage and specials being recited over speakers and the rest of it. It’s quite something.
Tomorrow we’re headed to check out Kawasaki proper. I need some passport photos for my “gaijin card”, or foreigner card. Japan requires that all non-Japanese carry special identification at all times. If you’re here short term your passport works fine but if you plan to stay over three months you need to register at the ward office and get a special card. A police man can ask you for your card at any time for no stated reason (us white people are easy to pick out). If you’re not carrying it they take you in for questioning and the entire thing becomes a hassle. The card is also important because I can’t get a cell phone without it. So anyway, that’s tomorrow.
My jet lag isn’t so bad this time around–I’m pleasantly surprised. I usually take a full week to get over the change but I felt nearly normal after four days. I still tend to wake up early (5 or 6) and fall asleep early (8 or 9) but those times are slowly shifting later. Good thing too–my favorite drama airs at 9 tonight. ^_^
The apartment is basically empty now and quite echo-y. After a desk and the bed were gone Ken and I were like, “Hey, this room is actually quite spacious! What did we need a double bed for, anyway?” One night crammed on an ancient twin mattress reminded us. My shoulders are sore and I haven’t even flown anywhere yet!
Tomorrow’s schedule isn’t too bad. Normally when I head back east I take the earliest flight I can manage, setting an alarm for 4 am. There’s only one ANA flight to Narita out of SFO each day, though, so a 6:30 am wake up call it is. I’ll be home by 11 pm but it will feel like 8 to me.
I definitely get the good end of the deal, though, with an eight hour trip back to Upstate New York. Ken will be on an airplane for 11 hours and then on a train for four more. Ick. My own trip to Japan will be worse, but I don’t even want to think about that right now.
So what does one do in a room with a desk, a light, a bed mattress, and little else? Do crosswords and read. Oh, and Ken and I might play some head-to-head Tetris later. It’s been a nice last day.
Oh, and did I mention that it hit 70 degrees in San Francisco today? I was wearing a t-shirt and was still hot. Crazy. Oh, and the high in Albany tomorrow–9. I wish that were a typo. Thank goodness mom is bringing my winter coat to the airport. Maybe I shouldn’t have packed that scarf so tightly into the bottom of my suitcase…
I have exactly one month left in San Francisco and there’s still so much to do! Today two friends and I went to Rainbow Grocery, the mother of all co-ops.
Photo by superamit.
It’s absolutely huge inside, probably six times larger than any other co-op I’ve been in. They have everything you expect (bulk spices and pasta, organic fruits and veggies) and some things you don’t (bulk shampoo, more kinds of miso than I could count). When they fixed up their roof in 2002 they added skylights for “daylight harvesting” (their term) and solar panels for electricity. It’s not enough to get them off the grid but they’re trying. I’m sad I won’t be heading back for a return visit.
Photo by KirrilyRobert.
They’re even Grammar Correct (GC, to those in the know). Oh Rainbow, how I love thee.
