Intercontinental Yokohama

... it was supposed to be the special. The ordering was a little tough since no one seemed to speak english, but luckily there were pictures on the vending machines where we placed our orders. There were two other types of ramen served at the museum; a soybean paste base (Miso) and a soy sauce base (Shoyu). Next we decided to hit up a shoyu based restaurant, that was Hachiya from the Asahikawa region. The ...

... waiting for a table, so we went next door for old-faithful curry. This is where Charlotte surprised me. She normally will not eat anything even slightly risky. She eats plain noodles, plain rice, plain bread, plain chips, plain vegetables etc, although she was adamant that she would try a kids meal at the curry house, which was a plate of a variety of foods, including curry and rice with chicken. We ordered it for her, even ...

... s mom that we were looking for a cell phone. Maybe becky told sayaka....hmmm. Well anyway Kouta's mom came up to me and told me that she worked at Soft bank ( a japanese cell phone company that is well known for giving international phones and prepaid phones as well as regular cell phones). She then said that she could help us get one. I was shocked. Chris and I already gave up on getting one. Well to make a long story short she met with us on ...

... is translated shabu-shabu) and then dip into one of two sauces, ponzu or sesame. Both are very good! The ponzu is citrus/soy based and the sesame is, you guessed it, sesame based! The meal was just scrumptious and we left very full! We were laden down with gifts from the Mano family as we left. Pictures, china bowls, hand made thread ornaments that Mamma Mano makes - really wonderful. They want to pick Brooklyn up from the airport and bring ...

... been abandoned. One of them is now a well respected photographer, not just in Japan but world over. Mr S then collapsed after drinking too much. His linguistic faculty was impaired (aphasia, I think). A sad story: a young photographer whose career never really took off. But it seems as though, from the number of names in the guestbook, he still managed to attract followers and visitors. Somehow, I ...

... as a women. We passed bar after bar, looking for just the right place to sit quietly and eat, while enjoying a beer together. We finally found a place around 1AM and sat upstairs. Jenna & I split a bowl of Udon noodle soup and we had a few beers. These girls were tired from their last few days of touring Kyoto and nearby Kobe, and I was tired from traveling. To sit, have soup and 3 beers total somehow cost us 3600 Yen or ...

... security guards or androids - which bear the effect of erasing personality. The hat acts as a sunglass that covers the whole face. The brim is large and wide. It can be lowered to cover the whole face. Getting off the dote, I run through a bike park underneath elevated railway. Then I tap on my season pass on the ticket machine. I climb up the stairs to catch the train. Something I noticed since my entry to re-education camp (Japan) on platforms is a row of four pink ...

... of hotels yesterday looking for somewhere and they we're all booked and very expensive. The only place that had a room, and is nice to white people, is the Star hotel. It is a 1 star hotel (and so appropriately named) and has alien prices. Despite the fact it is openly racist, horrendously expensive and freezing it is still fantastic. We've covered several little districts yesterday, (despite a late start, comfy bed) including Ginza, 'Harajuku, the imperial palace (which ...

... Gardens, and see about a bus ticket for Kyoto. On Monday, I want to go to Tsukiji Fish Market and then take a train to hike on Mt. Takao. Initial impressions:: I'm surprised how easy it is to get around on trains. People are quite patient with me even though I'm clueless. Really truly fully clueless. It's a very orderly place and even when things are very crowded, chaos doesn't ensue. I was surprised to see train police on the platforms at Nippori on a Saturday ...

... 4.50 for a Guiness! After about half an hour Pat turned up. He is an American who works for American Express and is working in Tokyo for 5 weeks. He was a good laugh and bought a round out of his generous weekly allowance. He is also staying in the Hilton Shinjuku (around 200 pound/night) for free! Which is nice. At about 11:30 we realised that the trains stopped running just after midnight and we were right on the other side of Tokyo, about 45 ...