Yokohama, Japaaan!

Thursday January 11th.

We have been off the internet for two days hence the lack of postings. I had forgotten that happening on our last voyage. Tomorrow again in Kobe there is no contact by internet or phone from the ship. So it was lovely this morning to caatch up on my emails: thank you Pat, Jody, Chris, Dia and Jo.

We had glorious weather for our first day ashore in what seemed like a very long time...10 days. Any ex-SAS-ites reading this will remember the graceful suspension bridge which we sailed under to enter the port and the varied and interesting skyline....I think all the most exciting architects in the world are in the East! No mere rectangular skyscrapers pierce these skies, oh no, they are curved and bulbous and spindly with the grace of the 1930s peeking through every now and then and the odd spire or green dome thrown into the mix....and in the middle of it all a huge Ferris wheel lit up in pinks and blues. This is a skyline of absorbing interest.

Now, before I forget I'm going to plunge from the skyline to the toilets....the most high tech in the world. Each has a control panel which offers music, a warm spray, a flush and goodness knows what else....I was too initimidated to press a button when the pictures ran out and only Japanese (Chinese actually) script described its function. I had a vision of being ejected out (still sitting on the heated toilet seat) to "please enjoy" an overhead view of the city. Nothing would surprised me...the Japanese pull out all the stops in hospitality.

George and I walked around Yokohama for two days. First day blue skies, temperatures soaring into the seventies, a pleasant breeze. Second day grey skies, a fierce gale and temperatures diving into what felt like the low thirties.

As soon as we disembarked we walked through immigration in the covered terminal building, down the beautiful wide, curved wooden ramp into the city and found the main post office where we sent off mail but also used the safe and efficient ATMs. My McMaster Credit Union debit card was accepted to my great delight and relief. I heard later that it is in fact the only ATM in Yokohame which will do so...what a piece of luck.

Yokohama is a beautiful city. Well controlled traffic (which we shall not see again after Kobe, apart from Hong Kong perhaps, until Mauritius and Cape Town), beautifully set out parks with fruit trees just starting to blossom and what I call giant Bonsais with perfectly bent branches and dark leaves and then the starker skeletal trees which children long to climb. There is always water and a little curved bridge. Places to refresh the spirit.

A common lament on board was where are all the Japanese restaurants? Well they are there in abundance if you will only take the side streets and stray off the main thoroughfares. We find a tiny one, just for a rest and a drink. No one speaks English but we make ourselves understood easily. George has a beer and I enjoy a long drink of iced water.....good water here in Yokohama. I notice that the middle aged woman who serves us and keeps a watchful eye on us at all times in case we need anything sits comfortably chatting to an elderly male customer. She looks relaxed and free of the tension and chic of the younger women we have seen. Her clothes are for comfort not glamour. More is spent on clothes in japan than in any other country in the world and there is evidence of this in the stylish outfits of young business women. Men wear mainly black suits for business or amongst younger men and students, really outlandish outfits and hairstyles of eccentrics or statement makers.

After a break (when we return to the ship and our cabin and put up our sore feet ) we decide to visit Chinatown. It's not far honestly says George but I know that 5 kilometres is 'not far' to George so I follow him suspiciously, feeling the effects of the day's walking. However he's right and weare son in a street decorated with lanterns and twinkling lights for the Chinese New Year (which starts soon)and he says 'choose a place' which I do. Small and elegant I think. We walk in. We are the only customers, bad sign. We think the price on the menu (which is the only thing we can read) is quoted for two people. We show two fingers questioningly to the woman serving....she shakes her head violently. and she puts up one finger! OK.....we exchange a secret glance and rise as one to leave. Origato we say....thank you! She laughs and so do we, that was quick! Who says you need to speak Japanese?

So George picks the next restaurant, successfully, and we sit in the Japanese city of Yokohama eating a Chinese meal....what's wrong with this picture? Never mind, everyone else here is Japanese and the meal is delicious....and no one speaks English. We choose our food from photos which works well. We are surrounded by students it seems....not our SAS students but possibly from a nearby University or college. They look Japanese but their clothes are similar in every way to their counterparts at McMaster in Hamilton. We feel very comfortable and are the only foreigners here.

Oh I nearly forgot, earlier in the day we wandered towards the Ferris wheel I mentioned. It is a huge complicated Amusement Park which Liam, Katie (and Tessa) and Bryn would have reveled in....how I wish our families were with us! Steep water slides, Catherine wheel of course, and lots of other terrifying looking adventures to try. There is a little village built for children on the river nearby called Kids Zone. We meet a bevy of beauties: six or eight young Japanese mums on an outing together pushing their edible (NB Frances!) round cheeked babies in a variety of strollers. All the mums are giggling and smiling and we are captivated. I want to take a photo but feel an intruder so restrain myself. George says 'You'll see them in your mind's eye' and of course he's right. The photo would have been labelled "Happiness is....."

Our second day is Museum day: the Silk Museum for me and the Marine for George. In the event we are each surprised how much we enjoy the other's choice. He didn't realise his passion for silk worms and I didn't guess how much I'd love model ships! We also enjoyed lunch in, finally, a Japanese restaurant. Predictably clean, well ordered and delicious. I'll spare you the details except to murmur ecstatically "oh that amazing toilet!" I'll keep that in my mind's eye too....

We ended our sight seeing with a long freezing walk along the waterfront to another ship, built in the 1930's. The Hikawa Maru was built as a luxury passenger liner, survived the war as a Hospital ship, reverted to a passenger line post-war and ploughed the seas between Yokohama and Seattle....retired and permanenty berthed in Yokohama in the sixties. What a beaut! All the interior decor is Art Deco. It is compact but thoughtfully and gracefully planned. (It reminded me strongly of the Apapa, remember Margery?) but of course it had much more elegant cabins and carried fewer passengers. There was a lovely ladies lounge with brocade chairs and bridge tables and a men's smoking room all in leather and wood. In it there was a small bar, two bar stools and stained glass at each end of the back shelves....stunning. The first class cabins were chintz and satin whilst the third class were simply wooden bunks....which is what we were used to in those bygone days isn't it? I wonder why we hanker after and so appreciate the past? After all the present isn't too bad....

I have never been so glad to get back to the Explorer and our cabin. I lay on the bed in a sort of exhausted stupor for about half an hour before accepting a scotch and soda to restore my flagging spirits and energy. Thank you Family Practice for those two cortisone injections into my knees....I couldn't have walked those miles without them.

We watched through the rain (and apparently a little snow) our departure at 2300 hours from that lovely, hospitable city. It is good to know we shall be in Kobe tomorow, so still in Japan.

Today it is calm, we are travelling at about 15 knots, it's very grey and raining but the perfect day to relax, write, read and probably nod off occasionally....