Now that I've recovered from the Drunken Stupor that the Habu-Saki put me in, it was time to set out on my lil adventure. I didn't have too long, but I still wanted to get out and see what I could see. So Yokohama and Tokyo, HERE I COME!!

I hate having plans when I travel but I make some exceptions and this day was one of those.  Often when I travel I make it a point to watch some hockey and I made plans to do this in Japan.  You may be surprised but there is professional hockey in Japan.  The pro hockey league in Japan may not rival the NHL but it was not the worst hockey I have ever seen.  The game I chose ot watch was between a team from Tokyo and another team from Sapporo and they played at Shin-Yokohama's Prince Hotel Skate Center. 

The play on the ice is not what I remember though.  Before the game I stood beside an American, who was working for the Sapporo team, and we talked about the fact that the NHL was still on strike.  I think he was just happy to get some hockey news from North America.  Our tickets placed us directly behind one of the nets and because of the design of the rink we were basically right over the goalie at that end. 

One of the funniest things I have ever seen at a hockey rink occurred here.  During the game one of the Plexiglas sections cracked and a small piece broke off.  This type of thing happens semi often even in the big stadiums over here but how they chose to try to fix it was a novel if somewhat dangerous.  The staff came out with a ladder and I expected them to take out the broken section and place a new one in.  However one guy climbed the ladder and had another hand him the broken piece of glass.  They then pulled out a roll of what looked to be electrical tape and tried to tape it together.  As soon as the referee saw what was happening he quickly skated over and using a bit of broken Japanese and simple English (I think he was American) he told them to change the glass.  Even at the smallest rink in Canada I can not imagine the local rink manager thinking he could just tape broken glass back together and consider it safe.

Between periods I use to going to get a burger and a beer from the food stand.  If it is a modern NHL rink maybe I will grab a pizza or even some BBQ chicken.  It of course was much different at this rink.  The food was supplied by the hotel that the rink is part of so it was much better then I expected.  The food was not surprisingly full on Japanese.  I think I had udon noodles and a green tea.  Novel experience to be slurping noodle while watching live hockey.

Even before the game we had a strange experience.  As we walked from the local JR subway station we suddenly realized we were surrounded by many white people wearing strange jerseys and they were not speaking English.  As we were way early for the game we followed them and discovered that soccer team from South America was playing another team from Europe in some sort of club championship at a nearby stadium (International Stadium Yokohama).  After walking around the outside the stadium we headed to our game in the much smaller hockey stadium.

The next day we did head into the huge city of Tokyo.  However Akiko does not really like Tokyo, I think it has to be with be from Osaka, so we did not stay long.  We did try to get a look at the Emperor's Palace but it was not possible so we just walked around the nice park that surrounds the palace.  We also found the rink my local hockey team played in, a few years earlier, which really is Yoyogi Swimming Pool.

I was so lucky to find this Chinese Restraunt. Once you enter you welcome by friendly staff and the view of the restraunt is very beauitful. Your first given Jasmin Tea with a nice warm wash cloth to wash your hands. The menu is both in Japanese and English. I ordered roast duck, sharkfin dumbling, fried rice with shimp, fried crab leg. I must say it was the best food I had tasted in a long time. The duck was great and the crab leg was so delicious. I highly recommend trying this restraunt. Although somewhat expensive, some items on the menu are very reasonable, it just depends on your taste and how much your willing to spend.

Visiting Chinatown becomes an different experience each time you visit.  Today we walked and visited as many stores and shops our feet allowed us.  The train ride was very simple and although we went during the week it was still busy with people.

Landmark Tower is the best place to visit when you in Yokohama. It's the tallest and fastest building in Japan. Not only do you get to see a great view of yokohama at night from the 69th floor, you also get a chance to see one of the best looking buildings that thats tons of shopping centers. One a clear day you can see Mt. Fuji from this building and also you can see Yokohama Bay bridge. The cost to get to the top is only 1,000 yen which is about 9 dollars per person. Once inside the elevator you will race up to the 69th floor in about 40 seconds. The max speed is about 750 meters per seconds. Once there you will get a complete 360 degree of yokohama. There's food and entertainment once you arrive at the sky garden. If you go at night it can enjoy a nice relaxing time sitting in the comfortable chairs over looking the view. Once you get off the elevator to the left they have on the floor a projection of the traffic below very cool especially at night. The great thing about the Landmark building is after you wonderful view of yokohama you can choose many of the great restaurant or you can leave the building and across the way is Hard Rock Cafe.

So I finally made it out to Yokohoma, man I should have went a long time ago.  I had so much fun.  Hard Rock was easy to find and it was very pretty at night.  I plan to return for day trip.  I want to go up in Land Mark tower and view the city. 

JAPAN DAY 2
[SATURDAY]

Even though i haden`t slept in 2 days i still woke up at 6am. I tried going back to sleep but no luck. I waited up until 9:30 then couldn`t take it anymore and woke up my friend. We went downstairs and had breakfast/lunch. We had fruit and these brown noodles with pork in them. I usually dislike noodles in the states but these were soooo good. We watched T.V while we ate which is quite an experience in you don`t speak japanese. After we ate we got ready and went out to buy some snacks. OMG is it hot and humid in japan ... I wa sso glad when we got back to her house. We watched the movie Freaky Friday .. basically all the movies here are either American or Korean. I talked to Jeff on the phone and it felt so good to hear his voice ... I still miss him so much D: I also called my parents. I miss them too. We then got ready to go to the fireworks in Tokyo. We wore Yutaka`s which are japanese summer kimono. It took a long time to get to the fireworks site. First we took a bus, then a long subway ride into Tokyo!!On the way there thought there were so many people that I almost passed out from the heat so we had to get out of the subway for a while. I caught my first glimpse of Tokyo at Shibuya station at that big intersection you always see on T.V. We then took another subway to the fireworks ... When we got there we met Yui`s friend. She was nice and spoke a little english. It was quite good considering she`d never been to an english speaking country before. The major thing i noticed was that japanese fireworks are like 2 hours straight while American ones are like 30 mins max. We ate yakatori which is chicken skin, which sounds gross but its really good. We left early as to avoid the large crowds that would be at the end. I fell asleep on the subway, when we got back to the house I just took a shower than went straight to sleep ... I was so tired.