Yokohama in a Sandstorm

Today has been so windy that it's crazy. I was constantly rubbing sand out of my eyes all day. It was really warm at first, though, so the wind wasn't too bad. Only later did it get nasty.

Yokohama is suprisingly close! It's only 20 minutes by express, and only 440 yen. I'm definitely going back sometime either on my own or with maybe one or two people, since going in a huge group was...well, it was fun, but it's really hard to shop with other people who can never decide where to stop, and won't necessarily wait for you if you go into a shop. I got pretty pissed off around lunch time when no one could decide on a restuarant, and they kept saying, "We need to split up so we can get into a restaurant," but whenever a group of us disappeared, they would go searching for the group. I suggested about three times that we just get food from a vendor and eat while walking (which is what half the Japanese people there were doing, anyway), but no one listened to me. Eventually we went into a restaurant, and it was delicious. Except the fried rice. It wasn't really fried, I don't think. It tasted fine, but not fantastic. The wonton soup I had was really good, though, and the dumpling thing (I don't remember its name) was wonderful. I love Chinese food, haha.

Ah, and a culture point. Before we left the restaurant, I used the bathroom, and it only had a squat toilet, haha. It was...weird. I'm not going into it anymore than that! But I definitely prefer Western ones. Sorry, Japan, there's just some things that don't appeal to me. *dies*

I'm jumping ahead, though. One of my favorite parts of the trip was Landmark Tower, which is the tallest building in Japan, at 273 meters tall, and has the fastest elevator in Japan. Unfortunately, it was pretty hazy today, so we couldn't see Mt. Fuji from the tower.

There's an old ship! It looks so tiny from up there, haha.

The gang I'm always hanging out with, haha! So many of us.

My other favorite part was our trip on the sea taxi. Aaaaaah I will never stop loving the ocean or any part remotely attached to it (we were still in the harbor, obviously). I just get this awesome rush whenever I'm near sea water and can smell the salt in the air. Absolute heaven for me. I miss the ocean from the west coast so much, and I don't think I'll ever stop missing it, no matter how many years pass. I definitely left part of me there.

A ship from New Orleans...a long way from home, haha.

A cute little boy playing by himself in a small park by Chinatown. I love Japanese children. They're the most adorable things in the world.

Sandstorm a'comin'!!!!!!!! Before it hit, we were like, "Why the hell is the sky orange?!"

Some cookie things I bought and still haven't tried yet. I'll try them maybe tomorrow or later tonight. Oh, and I got some bubble tea in Chinatown, but it wasn't very good, so I think I'll stick to Shibuya's bubble tea.

We didn't go to Yamashita-koen because of the weather being so windy and sandstormy, but I figure I can go back when it's better, warmer weather, so I'm not too disappointed. When we got back, we found all of the bikes blown over, like dominoes. I don't know if I've ever experienced such fierce wind before! Crazaay~!