yokohoma, yokosuka, enoshima, and kamakura.

Major blog catch up :)

We took a fabulous trip to Yokohama, Enoshima, and Kamakura a little bit ago and I totally forgot to blog!!   There is so much to see and do in Japan that I lose sleep over it at night!!  I am constantly trying to plan our next excursion.

We spent the night at the Yokosuka Naval base on the coast near Tokyo at one of their hotels. I never knew the greatness of military hotels before moving to Japan!  we have been so lucky to take advantage of them all over here. This one was great. Cheap and perfectly located- and even had bunkbeds in our room for the kids :) I took an early morning run in the INSANE humidity.  It was gorgeous- but way too humid! I'm so grateful the sticky hot air is gone,

the Yokosuka base is pretty big and has a few better restaurants than our base does.  They even have a real American Mcdonalds.  Luckily I MUCH prefer Japan McDonalds to American McDonalds!

Kamakurra is rather close to the Navy base and is home to one of Japan's largest Buddha statues.

we got to go up inside the body. it was terribly stifling. I think we only stayed inside for a few seconds! I didn't even take any pictures.  It was like being in a giant humid oven!

Our kids have seen one too many large statues here and are no longer impressed. I loved it, though.

everything in japan is photogenic.  it's heaven for me and my camera.

aside from the big buddha- we also visited a couple of shrines along the coast.  we didn't last long before just heading to the ocean.  Have I mentioned how hot it was?!

we did find a cool cave with a shrine inside..  I mean 'cool cave' in  more than way!  It was pretty nifty AND much cooler than outside.

If you remember- our summer was spent with metta in a cast.  It was long and miserable.  for all of us.  Heading to the beach with her in a cast was like pouring salt in her poor little leg wound.  She put on a smile- and loved the sand- but really just wanted to swim.  This cast cover sort of did the trick in keeping her leg sand free.

mack was too hot and tired.  thankfully he just crashed for most of the day!

a little booth on the beach was renting these out for kids to play. Kent couldn't say no :)

 Our 2nd day was spent in downtown Yokohama.   First stop: cup noodle museum.  This place was really quirky and great. And so Japanese.
 Momofuku Ando is somewhat of a Japanese hero. He is the inventor of instant ramen!  and instant ramen is a really big deal in Japan.  He invented it as a way to help feed the people of japan in the postWWII era.  The message of the entire museum if pretty awesome as well:  Never give up!! he created space ramen when he was 95 years old!!  It was actually very inspiring.  Mr. Ando is the coolest.

we got to make our own sealed cup noodles while we were there.  the only caveat was that the kids HAD to choose 3 toppings to include.  All 3 of them wanted plain ramen- but the Japanese would NOT allow it. They are so funny when it comes to following rules- even if those rules seem arbitrary. Ike finally agreed to just add 3 servings of these little chicken heads.  we had NO idea what they were.  we ate one of the cups a few weeks ago and I still don't know what they are!!

 

metta and mack and I got to play with this little chicken while the boys had fun in the play area.  Metta wasn't allowed because of her cast :(

 the art of cup noodle ramen :)

 for lunch we got to try ramens of the world!!  they were delicious!

After the museum we took the elevator to the top of the tallest building in Yokohama!  I cannot remember what it was called but the view was stellar.

We could even see fuji in the distance! I swear you can see fuji from everywhere in Japan!!  I guess when the country is set at sea level- it's pretty easy to see the spot at over 12.000 feet!

The perspective from this high up is staggering.  I hope my kiddos remember these experiences! 

this little blue eyed monster stands out so much in japan :) they love him.

our final adventure in yokohama was checking out the roller coaster we'd seen from above!  They wouldn't let metta ride it (because of her cast) and she was devastated!!  

Our pokemon hats came from the cool mall at yokohama.  Malls here are a kid paradise and a parent's nightmare.  Everything is really expensive.  Zeb and Ike wanted it ALL.
 That evening we ventured into Chinatown.  It wasn't as cool as china- but was still pretty bright and exciting,

Living in Japan is a constant bombardment of colors and signs and lights.  I love it. and find it all so fascinating.

It's interesting to see the differences in colors and shapes that define the cultures in Japan vs. China.  I'm getting pretty good at distinguishing between the two.

Ike and metta are pretty stingy when it comes to getting in pictures these days!  Zeb is a good sport and will almost always jump in.

I have come to love pandas and hello kitty since living here.  I could NOT resist a picture with the Hello Kitty Panda!!

Another great Japanese adventures in the books! now on to the next!