it was actually my second time to Yokohama, the place where all imports and exports in Japan started, a very historical place especially for the development and growth of Japan. the first time I merely explored the place as I only “dropped by” after visiting Kamakura which was amazingly beautiful. so for this Tokyo trip, I spent one whole day at Yokohama.

meet my tour guide for the day, probably the funniest man in Yonsei University’s language school — BOB!!!

Bob’s actually Korean who grew up in Yokohama but is Korean by blood. AND he also attended an international school and studied abroad so he speaks.. much better English than me even. I was kind of surprised how many Japanese CANNOT speak English compared to Koreans.

here’s from.. 2 years ago. well you get what I mean by funny right?

like really funny. hahaha. great old times T_T. now everyone’s busy with our own lives so.. the Yokohama catch up was awesome!

and no he wasn’t trying to impress me or anything haha. he’s just pure funny by nature and.. my very funny ex’s best friend. haha. this picture was taken years ago. the location? Vietnam.

SO, let’s begin with our tour shall we? we got off at Motomachi-Chugakai station. it costed like.. over 700yen to get there from where I was in Tokyo (Chofu) and the Yokohama line’s new (the Minatomirai line) so it’s ridiculously expensive. but ridiculously pretty as well.

so why get off at Motomachi? to get to Motomachi street! I was taken aback at how pretty the street was. it was like Garuso-gil of Seoul. a lot of hipster stuff, shops and… dogs.

it’s definitely a higher end place suitable for married couples and the older folks but it’s no doubt very pretty and I really liked this place. would like to spend my time here next time when I earn my own money pfft.

the whole place was very modern yet…

we found this old-school soft drinks in bottles vending machine. I was so amazed by it and Bob demonstrated how it works!

he drank everything in one go hahaha. sorry about my lousy video-graphing skills. I should really learn from Joseph hahaha. but hope you enjoyed the video because we had troubles operating the (old) machine and had to trouble the owner of the shop to help us with it heheheh. filmed it twice!!!

and just a few minutes away from Motomachi was…

CHINATOWN!!! believe it or not I’ve never actually been to Chinatown. not in Malaysia, not in Korea.  I’ve always thought why should I go to Chinatown since I’ve been to China (many times when I was younger). so Yokohama took my Chinatown-ginity.

the shops were embellished with dragons and all the staple characters which symbolizes “China” and it was weird how it looked more like China than how China really is hahaha.

look how China it was!

then there’s this shop with the weird sign.

I bet everyone saw it too right? the second character look like the rock and roll hand sign too haha.

Chinatown selfie!

that dish’s called UFO lol.

there’s a Chinese pavilion suddenly out of nowhere.

lets take a look at the souvenir shop!

I didn’t get what it was until Bob demonstrated….. and it got me cracking hahahahaha.

Chinese caps? anyone?

so happen that I wore my Hello Kitty in a Mentaiko suit socks (from Fukuoka!)

I was contemplating if I should get a Hello Kitty in a Panda suit socks but… hahahh oh well it looks good but the quality’s really bad T_____T. Japanese (expensive) socks Y U FAIL ME!

rubber balls with a panda in it!

and a HUGEEEEEEEE panda. with small Bobanda.

and here’s Jamanda.

and Totoranda. opps?

the famous talking panda. who doesn’t like me very much hahahha.

another Chinatown selfie hahahah.

this Chinatown was hugeeeee. they had so many alleys and it felt like it’s never ending. I was so amazed. because Korea town in Osaka didn’t really resemble Korea. D=.

CHAR SIEW BAOOOOOOOO!!! so I went to Japan and I had Char Siew Bao and Bakuteh. weird much? someone’s gotta bring Bakuteh to Korea.

like, literally everything’s panda.

Bob was so hungry he had 3 charsiewbaos. #charsiewbao’ssuperyummy!

Chinese temple selfie!

sad panda baos. I’ve never seen any baos sadder than this.

another long stretch of China.

this ain’t really Chinese looking (I don’t think shops in China creates an anime version of their chef and food hahaha) but…. it succeeded in getting my attention!

then there’s a road especially dedicated to Hong Kong!

sad I forgot to take pictures here as I was fantasizing with all the HK food there which I had to miss because I was filled before going there. they had Beef noodles, Kailan, Choysum…. the list goes on.

WALKING DISTANCE from China Town’s the.. YOKOHAMA MARINE TOWER!

Yokohama Tower selfie!

and just opposite the road there’s the Hikawamaru! located at Yamashita park, this 80 year old ship have served through the world war 2 and also brought hundreds of Jewish refugees during the Nazi invasion to the west. a very grand and elegant ship it was. very very huge too. it’s now a museum ship.

it was a great day to chillax on a ship’s metal chain. hahahahahah.

poop all over it too.

then I saw this graceful chow chow. I want a chow chow too!!! they say dogs and their owners look alike. sometimes I think it’s true. I don’t know why either. I guess I’ll never have a dog since I look like a cat/bunny.

it looked so graceful no matter at what angle =3.

Hikawamaru selfie!

and just a few minutes walk away there’s…. the Redbrick Warehouse!

I’m not sure if I was lucky or what but Yokohama had the best weather I’ve ever experienced in Japan. the air was clean and refreshing and the sunlight made everything look more beautiful.

before we headed to the warehouse, we dropped by the Osanbashi Pier!

since the weather was amazing, we actually spent quite a long time here because for the FIRST TIME IN FOREVER, I wanted to sit under the sun and just chill.

here’s a quiz for you: there’s 2 pictures of the awesome Yokohama view taken with 2 different camera. a compact and a DSLR. because the weather was so amazing, it seemed like the type of camera used didn’t make such of a big difference. so my question is, WHICH picture’s taken with a DLSR and WHICH with a compact camera?

take #1!

take #2!

let me know your answers in the comment box below! and I’ll reveal it after.. I collected enough answers hehehe.

I actually took a midnight bus from Osaka to Tokyo, put my stuff down at Chofu, went to Shibuya for lunch and came right to Yokohama. it was a tiring but productive day! looking at the amazing view, everything’s worth it. I actually didn’t feel so tired after coming to Yokohama. must be the weather!

perfect weather for selfies =D.

great sunlight make my hair look great too hahaha.

I’m sorry for laughing at your funny poses and facial expressions Bob ahhahahahhahah. but it’s really funny!

some sick architecture.

perfect weather ahhhhhhh.

quaint little bar/cafe

and look who’s there!

so finally, the famous Red Brick Warehouse!

this warehouse was built in the late 19th century and it was one pretty historical building. wait, there was two. it’s now a mall and a place for events. they sell amazing food inside it and all types of delicate yet tasteful items in it. really worth a visit!

I wanted to skate but.. I didn’t know how to T_T. (and Bob came here on an ice skating date like.. the day before HAHAHA. what Japanese people do on dates. not bad actually! very romantic indeed!)

I wished my parents taught me how to skate when I was younger. well I guess it never worked since I always have problems balancing. which is why my recent success in riding the bicycle was a total miracle.

Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse selfie!

this duck crepe looked so good we just couldn’t hold ourselves in. despite it being around.. 1,500yen. the most expensive crepe I’ve ever had in my lyfe T_T. and at a foodcourt. ahhaha. but it was so yummy! probably the best crepe I’ve ever had as well hehehe. I can’t wait to eat crepes from Paris since this shop’s from.. Paris. there were stewed mushrooms, egg and duck meat. I don’t know how to exactly explain the taste but it was.. really savory.

Duck Crepe selfie!

I never knew that Yokohama’s ferris wheel was inside an amusement park. since the one at Kobe was just.. in the middle of nowhere.

it was not even 6 and it was pitch black ._.

I’ve been to the Cup Noodles Museum at Osaka but the one at Yokohama was HUGE!!!! and prettier. more accessible too! will definitely return! I always call it the cheapest way to be happy in Japan hahahaha.

hugest cup noodle lol. made out of Japanese paper!

the ferris wheel’s so pretty I couldn’t stop looking. the swirls of colours was addictive.

romantic spot lol. alone. T_T.

the night suddenly got very cold so.. we hid inside this very super tall building/the Landmark Tower. this location’s where you’ll want to stop by if you want to take a picture of the Yokohama view, Minatomirai Station. but I walked all the way from Motomachi and it wasn’t even a tiny bit tiring! =D.

each time before I go to Japan, I have exams and I barely eat during the exam period (I had no time! explains my weight loss in Korea) and when I reach Japan, I want to eat so much but my stomach couldn’t fit it T_T. (don’t worry, now I am slowly turning back into a pig. I started eating breakfast and dinner too! I used to only eat lunch and it’ll last me the whole day. =X.) I felt bad for my friends because they don’t want to eat too when I’m not hungry. so on that day, we settled our dinner with COLDSTONE! thank goodness Bob wasn’t hungry either hahaha.

the ultimate reason to why you should visit Coldstone especially in Japan.

it was crazy how they need to memorize around 200 songs (a verse or two of each but still!) for their job and stay happy at all times. Japan’s hospitality’s really ICHIBAN!

so… I’ll end my post with this cheerful video =3. don’t forget to grab Coldstone if you’re going to be in Japan!

I LOVE YOKOHAMA! =D!

PS: here’s the link to Yokohama’s Map if you need any reference on walking around.