[Tokyo Fall 2008] Yokohama: Cosmo Clock Ferris Wheel

It was not quite 5 pm., but already getting dark in Yokohama.


Aka-Renga Soko at night. It looked almost mysterious.

We wanted to go onto the ferris wheel, and all we needed to do is to look around and found its direction!


There was the famous Yokohama ferris wheel, the "Cosmo Clock 21."


It was called a "clock" for a reason.

There were a lot of people in line to get on the ferris wheel, but we got our tickets and stayed in line for less than half an hour and we were on it!


Looking inside the ferris wheel.


Looking out from the ferris wheel cart... with the Landmark Tower on the left.


And you can see the whole Yokohama bay!

May I say how frustrated I was when I noticed I forgot to bring my "regular" camera... all these photos were taken with my video camera, and the battery died when we were up in the air inside the ferris wheel cart! Oh well. I did take a lot of "mental" pictures after that.

DO go on Cosmo Clock if you visit Yokohama! The view was just amazing!

[Tokyo Fall 2008] Yokohama: Aka-Renga Soko Part.3 - Out By the Bay

We really enjoyed the inside of Aka-Renga Soko, and the outside was just as fun!

It was almost 4 pm and getting dark already! I wish it was brighter out so I could take better pictures... but I still remember the beautiful Yokohama bay and the happy people...


Huge and beautiful ship by the bay.


Beautiful (but a bit dark) sky.


Happy people and dogs!


Dreadlock dog! His owner was really nice and let us pet this little guy and took picture of him.


Looking out toward the Minatomirai area. This was another time where I wished I had a better camera on me!

Ahhh Yokohama bay.

[Tokyo Fall 2008] Yokohama: Aka-Renga Soko Part.2 - "Kitchen Curtis"

There were many interesting shops and restaurants at Aka-Renga Soko, and it was almost difficult to choose from all the yummy-looking food!

But then we saw this:


They were bone-in sausages!

Now that was just crazy! And we had to try it!


The shop was called "Kitchen Curtis," and we ordered their signature platter to share.

According to the posters from Curtis, the shop uses top-grade ham from Kamakura. I don't know the significance of its origin, but the meats were super yummy!


In the plate there were some smoked ham, seasoned fatty pork, and of course, the bone-in sausage (I believe they called it "Bone-in Frank.")

OMG. Yummy.


"Bone-in Frank" close-up.

The main purpose of the bone was for people to better grab the sausage for eating, I belive, plus it looked cool. The sausage was juicy and flavorful. It was probably the best sausage I've had for a long time!

Hmm... sausages.

[Tokyo Fall 2008] Yokohama: Aka-Renga Soko Part.1

We walked around Minatomirai area in Yokohama for a while, and saw these signs:



I've heard of fun shops at the "Aka-Renga Soko," and decided to go check it out.

"Aka-Renga Soko" literally means "red-brick warehouse." I believe there are many of them all around Japan, and most of them were built during the Meji period. Today a lot of the Aka-Renga Sokos have become tourist spots and/or unique shopping districts.

We followed the signs and eventually saw this:


This must be it!


It was indeed, all brick!


There were underground compartments as well.


There were also unique hardwares all around the warehouses.

Many shops small and large were here. There were plenty food establishments as well. John and I found a place where there were "bone-in" sausages. It was cool!

[Tokyo Fall 2008] Yokohama: Minatomirai Part.1

After lunch (inside Queen Square) we decided to explore the Minatomirai areas a bit.

There were many cool buildings in the area.


I didn't know what buildings these were... but they looked very cool.


Pacifico and the cool looking hotel buildling in the back.


Then we saw the big ferry wheel that's shown in a lot of Yokohama pictures.

The ferris wheel is called "Cosmo CLock," which was the largest ferris wheel in the world when it was built in 1989.


We decided to come back later and get on the ferris wheel.

You can read more about the Yokohama and Minatomirai and know more about this cool area.

[Tokyo Fall 2008] Yokohama: Jiyuken curry

After we visited the Yamashita Park, we hopped back on Minatomirai Line and got off the Minatomirai station.

I believe the station was connected to Queen Square, which was a very large shopping buildling. We decided to find a spot to eat at its "food floor".

We had our eye on Jiyuken.

The place was busy. We waited for a few minutes before we were seated.


Japanese-style fried chicken. A bit dry, but flavorful.


I got their "famous curry" with tonkatsu set.

The "famous curry" was rice with curry and spices, plus a raw egg that you stir and mix in with the rice before eating! It was tasty curry rice, and famous all right.


John got their omu-curry-rice set.

The omu-rice was filled with curry spiced rice. John thought it was tasty as well.

While we were eating we saw some people purchasing curry buns. I was tempted to do so, but after the "famous curry" I was too full to eat anything else.


I did enjoy the vintage curry bun poster on the wall.

Interesting enough, Jiyuken started in Namba, Osaka, where we visted several times for the past few years... but I never tried their food until we visited Yokohama this time.

[Tokyo Fall 2008] Yokohama: seagull alert!

I saw the big Hikawa Maru ship by the Yamashita Park in Yokohama.


There was something about it...


Notice the anchor chains?


Seagull alert!

Bunch of seagulls were lining up and hangingout on the docking chains. They seemed to be really enjoying the sun and the breeze. I thought it was cute.

[Tokyo Fall 2008] Yokohama: Yamashita Park

After we left China Town, we walked downhill toward the Yamashita Park by the Yokohama bay.


We then saw the stone water guardian lady. She watches over the bay area in Yokohama.


I love the big ship that was parked by the dock.


We could see the buildings of the Minatomirai area from the park.

The water was so blue and beautiful!

We walked around the park and checked out the colorful plants in the area, as well as the happy people that were relaxing in the park.


We then watched a funny street performer.


I loved the big (maple?) trees by the park.

A lot of people were taking pictures of the treets and falling leaves.


Look at me!

We saw this young lady being photographed by her mother. Her little brother was in the stroller. She would grab a bunch of the fallen leaves and threw them on her self and the mom would take pictures of them. It was really cute, and this was not the only time when we saw people throw leaves at themselves to have their autumn photos taken!

It was a happy park.

[Tokyo Fall 2008] Yokohama: Chinatown

After Anpanman Museum, we hopped back on the train and headed off to Yokohama's Chinatown. The station was the last one on the Minatomirai line (Motomachi/Chinatown).


I loved the walls at the station.

These walls were of vintage photos of the old time Chinatown. Looked very cool.

The weaving streets were crowded. People loved Chinatown!


One of the main streets in the area.


Chinatown Hello Kitty!

I waited and waited for the little girl to move, so I could take a better picture of the Chinatown Hello Kitty... but she just stood there and stared at Hello Kitty.


So I was like, fine, I would just take a picture of HK's head.


A lot of people were selling little snacks like these steamed buns, "bao".

There were a lot of Chinese restaurants of all sorts. Some looked cool and the others didn't. We also saw a lot of people selling baos and roasted chestnuts. We didn't see anything that stood out, so we actually didn't eat there.


One of the main temples.

There were people shooting a film or something right across from the temple as well. Interesting.


The lanterns were really giant, red and pretty!

[Tokyo Fall 2008] Anpanman Barber Shop!

We saw this when we were at the Anpanman Museum:


Is that a barber shop?


It's true. It's Anpanman Hair Salon!

So how is Anpanman Hair Salong different than other hair salons?


You get to sit on Anpanman and watch Anpanman cartoon while you get your hair-cut. Sounds cool doesn't it!

At least you're not required to have an Anpanman haircut. :D

The whole hair salong was cute and cozy, with a hint of elegance.


Even the waiting area looks lovely!