Japan Trip - Day 3 (Yokohama)

HAPPY EASTER!  You are just starting your day as we finish ours.

Today we took the train to YOKOHAMA.  It's the second largest city in Japan.  We dropped Steve and Kyle off at the stadium to watch baseball.  The teams were the Yokohama Baystars against the Hiroshima Carps.  Japanese baseball is really different because the fans really get into it. 

They were in the general admission seats and it was divided in half for each team.  They had cheerleaders for each section and all the fans knew all the chants.  Unlike US baseball, the general admission seats had no concessions available.  There is a lot of action going on in the stands with the fans. 

The flowers around the stadium were absolutely beautiful!

Lydia, Sheila and I went to their Chinatown.  It was right near the stadium.

 

After we went there we walked to the other part of town and rode a large Ferris wheel. 

Then we got some yummy crepes. After that we tried to take a subway but went the wrong way and had to figure out how to get back to the trains to get back to the stadium.  Then we met Steve and Kyle and went to Chinatown again so we could eat.  We took the subway back to the other side of town to go to this store that Lydia wanted to go to that was 7 stories high. 

We did lots and lots of stairs today going in and out of subways.  We are certainly getting our workout.  Also, we have to totally eat with chopsticks so that can be challenging.  I don't think Sheila or I have finished a meal yet, but we are improving with our skills.  We could get a fork if we really wanted to, but it's really a pride thing.

Sheila and I are learning a new phrase each day.  So far we have learned to say "hello" - if it's morning, "thank you" and today it was "excuse me" - since we seem to bump into people a lot.  The Japanese are very friendly and helpful and everything is very clean everywhere.  Kyle is learning a new tip each day on Armed forces network, which is the tv provider.  They have public service commercials that he is really enjoying.

Most people travel by the trains, including a lot of school kids.  All the school kids wear uniforms and are neatly dressed. It's been hard to get used to the driving on the other side of the road.  Also people pass each other also on the left instead of the right.  That may explain why we are always bumping into people.

Tomorrow we are going to Hakone for two days.  We will need to carry backpacks with our clothes and carry what we bring for most of 2 days.

Oh, the cherry blossoms are beautiful and we see them everywhere we go. The Japanese are always taking lots of pictures of them.