今日など (with picspam)
On the 26th, Lauren and Ryuuji had a (Christmas) party at their house, where we had a Japanese Christmas feast of KFC fried chicken and Christmas cake. Of course many Japanese believe that the Christmas cake (and the fried chicken) was a cultural import from America, but well ... I'd never heard of doing that until I got here.
Lauren got one of the cakes from Circle K, which ... 1) I was only dimly aware they had those in Japan, and I don't know where there's one in Higashi-Totsuka ... and 2) I didn't know convenience stores made Christmas cakes, but it was really good! It was full of delicious seasonal fruit. o__O I brought the oblong one because it was 10% off at Tokyu the day before. Annie brought the last one (and the delicious fried chicken!), which was also delicious, but I forgot where it was from. ^^; Everybody devoured the cakes, chicken, salad, and the various other snacks, and we played video games and drank hot spiced wine and various other things. Lauren played some Christmas music, and various other music, and it was fun to meet some new people, and just hang out.
The next day, Lauren and Ryuuji left for America, and because I forgot my camera at their house, I had to meet them at the station that morning to pick it up. ^^;
Today I walked around Yokohama with Hiro, his boyfriend, and John and Keiko, who are visiting from Texas. :D We haven't seen each other for a while, so it was nice to see them again. Actually, I also met up with them last Wednesday(?) night when we went out with Amy and her fiancé to a bar near the station. I met Keiko, Hiro and his boyfriend again last night when we went out to karaoke, with Annie and her friend who's visiting from Chicago.
After walking around today, John and Keiko were leaving Hiro's house for Keiko's parents' house, so they brought their suitcases to the station. So when we first got there, we had to look for a coin locker to put them in. They only had 2 suitcases and they weren't that big, but they were too big to fit easily into the small lockers, so someone had to lean on the automated door to hold it shut while someone else struggled with the touch screen menu. At least Keiko thought it was pretty hilarious. 笑
Keiko wanted to buy some boots, so we went shopping at some shops in Minato Mirai. John wanted to do some sightseeing, but we were unable to locate a suitable boat, so we decided to go up in Landmark Tower (which we had never done before). It was kind of expensive to get to the observation deck (¥1,000), but we got to take the world's fastest elevator up there, and we even got a free drink (which would normally be ¥400, apparently). There was no time limit or anything, we could wander freely, and the view looked out over Yokohama on all 4 sides. It was about a million times better than this other "viewing area" I once went to in Tokyo, maybe because it was a clear day. You still couldn't see Mt. Fuji very well or anything, but that's okay because I can see it like every day where I live. :P (Also, that didn't stop people from looking for it.)
To give you an idea of how high up it is, here's a picture of John and Keiko in front of the famous (huge) ferris wheel in Minato Mirai:
and here's a photo of the same ferris wheel from the viewing deck of the tower:
Here's some pimpin' leather seats they had near the drink area in the viewing deck. Unfortunately, all the armchairs (which faced the then-setting sun) were taken. :P
In the far right side of the picture, you can see a tape-measure thing that lets you know you're about 275 meters up. And above the window is a screen projecting an image of the view from that spot at night. o__O
Here's one last picture of everyone (except me) up in Landmark Tower. I had to edit most of the images that included both a person and the view because of the lighting differences.
This is just one brief installment, and I want to post even more about Landmark Tower, and the 27th, hopefully tomorrow~
Actually, I haven't been able to get much sleep in the past couple days (I think because I drank some caffeinated tea), so I'm hoping to get some much needed rest for now. I'll keep you posted.
Lauren got one of the cakes from Circle K, which ... 1) I was only dimly aware they had those in Japan, and I don't know where there's one in Higashi-Totsuka ... and 2) I didn't know convenience stores made Christmas cakes, but it was really good! It was full of delicious seasonal fruit. o__O I brought the oblong one because it was 10% off at Tokyu the day before. Annie brought the last one (and the delicious fried chicken!), which was also delicious, but I forgot where it was from. ^^; Everybody devoured the cakes, chicken, salad, and the various other snacks, and we played video games and drank hot spiced wine and various other things. Lauren played some Christmas music, and various other music, and it was fun to meet some new people, and just hang out.
The next day, Lauren and Ryuuji left for America, and because I forgot my camera at their house, I had to meet them at the station that morning to pick it up. ^^;
Today I walked around Yokohama with Hiro, his boyfriend, and John and Keiko, who are visiting from Texas. :D We haven't seen each other for a while, so it was nice to see them again. Actually, I also met up with them last Wednesday(?) night when we went out with Amy and her fiancé to a bar near the station. I met Keiko, Hiro and his boyfriend again last night when we went out to karaoke, with Annie and her friend who's visiting from Chicago.
After walking around today, John and Keiko were leaving Hiro's house for Keiko's parents' house, so they brought their suitcases to the station. So when we first got there, we had to look for a coin locker to put them in. They only had 2 suitcases and they weren't that big, but they were too big to fit easily into the small lockers, so someone had to lean on the automated door to hold it shut while someone else struggled with the touch screen menu. At least Keiko thought it was pretty hilarious. 笑
Keiko wanted to buy some boots, so we went shopping at some shops in Minato Mirai. John wanted to do some sightseeing, but we were unable to locate a suitable boat, so we decided to go up in Landmark Tower (which we had never done before). It was kind of expensive to get to the observation deck (¥1,000), but we got to take the world's fastest elevator up there, and we even got a free drink (which would normally be ¥400, apparently). There was no time limit or anything, we could wander freely, and the view looked out over Yokohama on all 4 sides. It was about a million times better than this other "viewing area" I once went to in Tokyo, maybe because it was a clear day. You still couldn't see Mt. Fuji very well or anything, but that's okay because I can see it like every day where I live. :P (Also, that didn't stop people from looking for it.)
To give you an idea of how high up it is, here's a picture of John and Keiko in front of the famous (huge) ferris wheel in Minato Mirai:
and here's a photo of the same ferris wheel from the viewing deck of the tower:
Here's some pimpin' leather seats they had near the drink area in the viewing deck. Unfortunately, all the armchairs (which faced the then-setting sun) were taken. :P
In the far right side of the picture, you can see a tape-measure thing that lets you know you're about 275 meters up. And above the window is a screen projecting an image of the view from that spot at night. o__O
Here's one last picture of everyone (except me) up in Landmark Tower. I had to edit most of the images that included both a person and the view because of the lighting differences.
This is just one brief installment, and I want to post even more about Landmark Tower, and the 27th, hopefully tomorrow~
Actually, I haven't been able to get much sleep in the past couple days (I think because I drank some caffeinated tea), so I'm hoping to get some much needed rest for now. I'll keep you posted.