yOkOhAmA

The Drosinos ~ 2006

En route to Tokyo and onward to Maui...I made a pitstop near Yokohama to see an old friend who moved to Japan last summer. Jill and I were best friends growing up...elementary through high school. After high school everyone went their own way, but we tried to stay in touch. She married Tim (who is a pilot in the Navy) and they have been traveling around from base to base ever since. This is their 6 month old, Despina. She is THE cutest and MOST alert baby I have seen in a long time. Adorable...and already a world-class traveler!
We made the usual rounds, seeing some of the bigger landmarks in Yokohama, the famous ferris wheel pictures above and went up the tower---the tallest one in Japan to get shots like the ones below. Yokohama is the second largest city in Japan and it pretty much runs right into Tokyo

so all we could was a 360' view of concrete.

Not very picturesque, but unbelievable how commercialized it is.

From there, it was onward to Chinatown. The biggest of its kind in Japan. Sorta resembled China, w/ random animal parts for sale on the sides of the street, but a bit cleaner and more friendly than my experience in China.
It was SO special to see such a good, old friend and familiar face IN JAPAN! Who would have guessed that two friends who grew up in small town St. Cloud Minnesota would wind up in Japan. Crazy what a small world it is!
Thanks again for the wonderful visit! I'm so looking forward to you coming up sometime this summer. Enjoy the warm weather down there--I'm still using my kerosene heater up here! See you soon! Matta ne!