Finally our train arrived. Did it arrive on time? Yes, everything in Japan is always on time. It was quite plush and busy so we are glad we paid extra for reserved seats. The train left Kyoto and picked up speed. In fact calling it a train is a little strange. The Shinkansen flies. There is no rickety train movement as it passed joins in the track. It glides and even leans!
Just over an hour into the journey we were getting really excited. The sky was blue and clear. We had seats on the left hand side of the train and had our eyes peeled. Suddenly Christine spotted what we were waiting for. Mount Fuji in all its glory. A magnificent cone volcano!
Not too long after we arrived at Shin-Yokahama. We were meeting our Japanese friend at the Shinkansen gate. We headed to our meeting point and there she was patently waiting for us. Next, we walked to the car and we were off for an exciting day! First stop was a local Onsen, steam bath. Not a tourist in site, we listened carefully to the instructions.
"Leave everything in the changing room when you enter the spa .... EVERYTHING."
Men on 3rd floor, Ladies on 2nd. We spent the next hour and a half seperated enjoying 13 different spa pools, some inside, some out. Some hot others cold. After a thorough pampering we were off to our lunch stop. Free tickets to the Yokohama ramen museum meant we would get to eat Japanese ramen in style. The museum was fun. We learned about the history of ramen, had a free tasting session and explored the old style ramen restaurants. Before we chose our different ramen a world balloon making champion entertained the big kids with a great Mickey Mouse balloon model.
We chose 2 different restaurants to eat at. We only chose the small bowls so we could sample a variety of ramen. We tried soya sauce, salt based and even a spicy variety. All fantastic and we were totally stuffed!
Back at the house the children arrived home from school. They helped us make some incredible origami models using their English learned at school. We played some excellent games together, a great one arranging coloured cups and another with pictures of matches! Before dinner we had a short trip with the children to the local shop to collect a few items for dinner.
Dinner was served and was delightful. We got to sample so many different things. Our friend was an excellent cook and had gone to enormous lengths to make the perfect meal. Her sister-in-law also came and brought some more dishes for us to try.
The evening was spent catching up on the past and we had a surprise visit from Mum who was bearing gifts and fruit. What a lovely lady! We now have a bag full of beautiful Japanese gifts from our friend and her mum.
The end of a wonderful day in Yokahama for which we owe many thanks to our friend and family!
