Yokohama

1^st April 2012

The Captain’s weather forecast was right ! We woke up entering the Yokohama Harbour in calm seas and fine conditions.

As we entered the harbor we were greeted by a fire boat with all water cannons firing, and as we approached our berth we could hear a single drum beating loudly. When made our final approach a complete team of drummers joined in and entertained us until we were finally docked. There was a large crowd of locals lining the shore to see the Sea Princess arrive and also, I suspect, to enjoy the free entertainment, which they enthusiastically applauded.

The Fire Boat welcomes us  to Yokohama

The Cruise Terminal at Yokohama

Drummers welcome us to the berth

We were berthed by 8 am, and clear to leave the ship soon after. We had not planned to go on an organized tour, so headed out to catch the complimentary shuttle bus to Yokohama station. From there we caught a train to Tokyo, only a 30 minute trip on the rapid commuter train.

On arrival at Tokyo Station we headed off towards the Imperial Gardens that surround the Emperors Palace, wandering through the maze of underground subways until we emerged at the correct exit. I still had a vague memory of where to go from my many business trips to Japan.

We strolled around the gardens, which are magnificent , for some time, looking for the elusive cherry blossoms which are late this year because it has been colder than normal. Fortunately, today is a lovely day, and some trees have started to blossom. Earlier flowering plums are out everywhere, as are the magnolias. The Gardens are beautifully kept and blend in with the moats, and heavy rock walls in the palace grounds.

Ohtemon Gate entrance to the Imperial Gardens

Early Cherry blossoms

After exploring the gardens, we decided to walk to the Ginza district, about 20 minutes walk, and spent some time looking around at the huge shopping centres and upmarket shops before  feeling we had done enough walking and needed some lunch. Everywhere we looked for lunch had long queues, so we headed away from the main Ginza area, and eventually found a small Japanese restaurant at the International Forum Centre. After a short wait in a queue, we were seated and enjoyed a good lunch of tempura accompanied by udon noodle soup, which was very nice. (A cold beer also helped.)

The new Mikimoto Pearl Building in the Ginza

By now it was around 2.30 pm, so we decided to walk back to Tokyo Station, and catch the train back to Yokohama, and have a look around there. We were back in Yokohama by around 3.15 pm, and were ready for a cup of coffee, so ended up in a TGI Fridays restaurant and had a pretty average coffee.

The shopping precinct around Yokohama Station is enormous, with huge department stores and hundreds of specialty stores. We looked around Takashimaya and Sogo department stores from top to bottom, not really finding much of interest, although we did find a bottle shop in the basement of Takashimaya, that sold Johnny Walker Black label scotch for about AUD 30 a bottle, so stocked up.

By now we had been on our feet most of the day, and decided to get a taxi back to the port, as it was now about 4.30pm and we are supposed to clear immigration from 5pm, and all aboard by 6.30pm. Once back at the port, we had a bit of a walk around there in an endeavor to get rid of the Yen coins we have, as they cannot be converted to foreign currency. In the end the best we could do, was buy 2 ice creams and 2 x 500ml cans of Asahi Super Dry Beer, which almost completely depleted our coins. It was then off to immigration and back on board at around 6pm.

Departure was delayed until about 8pm, and people from organized tours straggled on board as their buses arrived. We were at dinner when we eventually sailed, so didn’t watch us leave Yokohama.

                                                           Sunset in Yokohama