Japan Trip - Day 5 (29 March 2010)

Kamakura (鎌倉)

Today we will be covering two locations – 鎌倉(Kamakura) in the morning and 横浜(Yokohama) in the afternoon. What attracted me to visit 鎌倉 is the 大仏 (Great Buddha). Pris said that it is the 2nd largest in Japan, after 東大寺(Todaiji Temple) in 奈良(Nara). Before we set off, we had Mister Donut for breakfast – Angel Cream, yum yum!! Then it was an hour ride on the local train to鎌倉.

Upon arrival in Kamakura, as we need to save time, we took a local bus to Daibutsu. After reading so much, Daibutsu is finally here before our eyes. Too bad Sakura was not in full bloom during our visit, otherwise it will be a magnificent sight. Anyway, just looking at the Daibutsu was already very grand. We took many photos of Daibutsu and of course, I am also one of the main attractions. People were looking at Kath while she was taking photos of Daibutsu and me. ( > _ < )

We then proceed back to Kamakura Station for our lunch. We had 回転寿司 (Conveyor Belt Sushi). We were lucky as their ネギトロ寿司 (Negitoro Sushi) was on promotion. The price went from ￥180 to ￥120. Wow…. what a catch!! Pris and Kath just grabbed all the Negitoro sushi and gobble down their throat. I think they enjoyed eating.

After lunch, we walked to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine and at the same time do some simple window shopping. We had croquette and せんべい (Senbei) on the way to the shrine. Yah yah yah….. more eating. At the Shrine, some of the sakura has bloomed therefore we managed to take beautiful photos of the cherry blossoms with the lovely pond. We stayed for a while before taking the famous Sakura-dori back to Kamakura Station. It was a 10 mins walk which we enjoyed although it was drizzling.

Yokohama (横浜)
We reached Yokohama at 4pm in the afternoon which was within our plan. We walked from Yokohama station to Minato Mirai pier. On the way there, we passed by an amusement park with roller coaster and many other exciting rides.

Then we walked on to 赤レンガ (also known as Red Bricks Warehouse). There was a flower fair which was something similar to what we saw in 2005. I think the fair is mainly for wedding decorations. Kath’s main purpose to visit Yokohama was to take the night view of Yokohama harbour.

As night falls, the wind got stronger and the weather got colder. It was unbearable just standing by the pier and waiting for sunset. Our whole body was numb with the cold. It was worst when our camera’s battery started to fail. We had no choice but to wait patiently for sunset and take all the photos we want. It did not turn out as nice as what we thought but anyway, we get to see the night view and 1 more task accomplished.

Next we discussed about where to have our dinner. The weather was too much for us so we went to World Porter shopping mall to temporary hide from the cold. We came across a restaurant serving Shabu Shabu 80 minutes Buffet. Thinking of the hot soup, without hesitation, we joined the queue. We waited for about an hour but it was all worth it. The beef and pork was delicious. We did not have time for our dessert and the time was up. That was fast. However, we have a wonderful dinner.

After that, we prepared ourselves (jacket and gloves) and headed for home. We took the same route back and it was torturing. As we crossed the bridge, the wind was so strong that we could not even walk straight. The Japanese lady ahead of us had to hold on to her boyfriend as she basically could not walk alone. That’s how strong the wind was.

We finally reached our apartment. Thinking back on the day, “freezing cold” is the best description deep in my mind. In Japanese, they said [冬の寒さ] which means the weather is as cold as Winter even though it is Spring.