Yes, I’m going to go on and on about Japan till my obsession subsides and you’ll just have to bear with me.
Somehow, I fell in love with this city. Yokohama, Japan’s second largest urban area after Tokyo, is located about 30-minute train ride from Tokyo. It was still early when we arrived and we didn’t mind taking a walk in the cool weather. So upon arriving Yokohama Station and gotten hold of the city map from the tourist info centre, we set off on foot (that was before we realized, it was a very long walk. It is Japan’s second largest city after all!).
We did make it to our destination - Minato Mirai (the harbor of the future). A reflection of its name, Minato Mirai 21 is a futuristic city area in Central Yokohama, complete with one of Japan’s tallest skyscraper, the Landmark Tower, convention centers, 5-star hotels, a huge shopping center, Queen’s Square, a Hard Rock Café even and lots of other restaurants AND an amusement part, the Yokohama Cosmoworld, with a huge Ferris Wheel towering behind as background.
Landmark Tower, tallest building in Japan
(The Yokohama Royal Park Hotel occupies floors 49 to 70)
The Landmark Tower has a Sky Garden on the 69th floor as observatory deck. It also boasts the world’s fastest elevators. The answer is no, we also didn’t go up to this.
Yokohama Grand Intercontinental Hotel and the Ferris Wheel
Hard Rock Café, outside Queen’s Square
Don’t ask what is metal structure behind, but it looks so futuristic!
Yokohama Cosmoworld
Cosmoworld was empty but the rides were in full swing, creating quite an eerie feeling to the park. The amusement park reminds me of the book, The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. (Lazy to explain what it is all about but if you have read it, you'll know what I mean)
Operating rides with no one on board.. scary.
Carousel, so fairy-tale like
Pikachu & Doraemon! Cute ya?
Was imagining the whole place at night.. it would be so magical! But we were too early to attempt to sit there till night. Bf suggested that we check-in to one of the plush hotels right there and then. Should have taken up the offer.
This is what I have missed out (Minatomirai 21 viewed from Landmark Tower)
Photo from http://www.npointercos.jp/Yokohama.html
See? Even the manhole on the street is ‘branded’. Cool, eh?
Landmark Tower and Queen's Tower A & B (there's a connecting Tower C too)
Only passed through Queen’s Square to the Minota Mirai Station and did not shop. We took the metro to Chinatown (yes, it truly is too far to walk!). 
The elevator is really high
The Minato Mirai subway station
And I love the trains. They are pink in colour as it is a pink line subway! (the train lines go by colour-code)
Pink line = Pink seats!
Yokohama Chinatown (Chukagai) is Japan’s largest Chinatown. Yes, larger than Malaysia’s Chinatown of course. We were starving by then and so hurried along the streets with the intention of locating a restaurant with pictures of FOOD, listing affordable prices on windows display (can’t read Japanese nor Chinese). Actually nothing much to do there besides food.
Drooling over food at restaurant’s window display
Found an ideal restaurant for lunch
Don’t ask me why I went Japan and took a photo of a Chinese temple!
I'm a tourist and everyone was doing that.
There are four gates stand at the entrances to Chinatown and five more gates can be found within. No wonder we lost of sense of direction when planning to leave. The gates all look-alike.
Two of the entrance-gate
If.. IF I am to stay in Japan, I don’t mind staying at Yokohama, against the over-populated Tokyo. I like it for being close to Tokyo, only 30-min train ride away (it takes me longer to drive from home to work daily for an approximately 15km journey) and it has a huge Chinatown if I get homesick! :)
I know, it was only a day trip and we haven't even finished exploring the city, but I love Yokohama already. Can totally imagine myself sitting staring at cartoonish Cosmoworld and buildings behind at Minato Mirai whole day, everyday. Ok, maybe not everyday, but I will get to shop inside Queen’s Square too, won't I?
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