Japan April 17 2006

Well, it’s almost 4 PM; I’ve had a full day, and all I did was hang around Yokohama. Its fun finding my way around a foreign city all by myself. Can I make myself understood? Can I find a sign in English? Can I figure out what’s going on around me? The results are mixed, but I’ve had enough success to be satisfied!

After a very lazy breakfast I headed out to the mall which is attached to our hotel. Lee had to get up really early to meet someone for a business breakfast, and I only vaguely remember him getting up and leaving. I didn’t get up until almost 8 AM! I got myself oriented and even figured out where the subway station is that I’ll need to use when I go into Tokyo tomorrow to meet the 3M ladies for lunch. I walked outside into beautiful sunny weather and found the Yokohama Museum of Art and decided to try it out. They had a really nice, if small collection, ranging from surrealism and modern art (Dali, Ernst, Picasso, Klee) to typical Japanese screen painting, to a really interesting photography exhibit featuring photos from the late 1800’s.

After that I went on a hunt for some lunch. Frommers said that I should look for the restaurants overlooking the harbor on the 5^th floor of the mall, but I couldn’t find them, so I tried one of the tempura places on the first floor of the mall instead. It was crowded so I figured that was a good sign. Lots of Green Tea, miso soup, tempura and rice. I sat at a little table by myself and watched the people. Amazing that I managed to order what I wanted, eat and pay without a bit of English being spoken. I ordered by pointing to the picture of what I wanted on the menu, nodded, gestured and smiled when they asked if I wanted more tea, and hesitantly said “domo arigato”, at which they giggled and smiled, but they knew that I was trying to say thankyou!

Then I decided to go up to the top floor of the tallest building in Japan, which just happened to be right there on the Yokohama waterfront. The guidebook said that on clear winter days you could even see Mount Fuji, but although the weather is beautiful it wasn’t THAT clear, so I could see distant mountains, but not the big one. Nice view though. When I went back down their elevator they let me off at the fifth floor, right into the area with the harbor view restaurants! OH WELL!!

Then I decided I would take a walk along the harbor to a park about 30 minutes away. It was lots of fun. I just LOVE watching all the people. Their little kids are so adorable. But after awhile I find myself longing to know what everyone is saying. I just love to eavesdrop on conversations and I start realizing how much I miss it when I can’t understand anything that’s going on.

Now I’m back in the hotel room. Lee is supposed to contact me eventually and let me know if I get to go eat with the businessmen. It depends upon the nature of the dinner; if it’s a continuation of the meetings or if it’s a more informal gathering. If I have to eat by myself I may get room service. I may go get a snack in the 25^th floor lounge, or maybe wander out in to the mall and buy a gelato….who knows!