Tag: Japan

We flew from Chitose back to Haneda airport, left our bags in a locker, and headed back to Tokyo one last time. Due to some overconfidence on my part with the subway system, we ended up about half an hour south of the city before we noticed we were headed the wrong way. Deciding to make the best of it, we stayed on the train and ended up in Yokohama. It’s the second largest city in Japan, the home of lots of international corporations, and is apparently the “world’s larget suburb” after New Taipei. We wandered the bar district, which was similar to Golden Gai but not quite as boisterous, and found a lovely jazz club called “Junk”.

In the morning we got Krispy Kreme, and walked across an artificial island to the Cupnoodles Museum. A testament to the innovative spirit and imagination, the curation is actually really well done. The building is hyper-modern, and was designed by the art director for Uniqlo. We got to design our own cupnoodles, choosing flavors, drawing on the styrofoam cup, and watching it get heatwrapped and bubble packed. Very cool.

The shack of invention

Cupnoodles Museum

Wall of Noodles

My cupnoodles

After a busy year at work with no vacation due to the election, we decided to take off for the holidays. No east coast Christmas for us, instead we are going to the Far East coast.

We packed for three weeks in carryon suitcases: two pairs of pants each, our most outlandish pants, and enough gear to keep us warm. Where we’re going it’s actually winter, unlike California.

Took BART to SFO, and we’re dismayed by the fog and flight delays. Our first leg through LA was postponed, so we would miss the next international connection. We waited in a very long line to rebook, but we’re aided by a man with rockabilly hair and a solver’s attitude, who put us on a direct SF-Tokyo flight.

One sprint through the airport with our light luggage, a few surprised ticket agents later, and we were on board. Didn’t have seats together, but we’ll see each other a bunch for the next three weeks. Sadly there were no in flight movie screens, just a persistent beeping to remind me why I try not to fly legacy carriers.

Now a 12-hour flight over the international date line into the future. Will update this blog as Internet and time allows.