This blog post is a continuation from the previous one (you can read that here) of our last week in Japan. By the time it came to our final week, hubby and I were absolutely exhausted, both physically and mentally. Moving homes is no easy feat and when you add a change of country into the mix then you're definitely taking it up a level. Our bodies and minds craved complete bed rest, but we found that we couldn't just take it easy and chill out at our hotel. We felt the need to be out and about, making the most of the limited time we had left in this amazing country, because otherwise we may regret doing nothing during our last few days. We had to make the most of the time we had left.
Hanazono Shrine
Hanazono Shrine
On this particular day though, I did leave hubby to rest up in the hotel, as I wandered out. We were staying in a part of Shinjuku that was quite different to where we normally visit and so I took my vlogging camera and went exploring. I came across the Hanazono Shrine which I'd walked past the previous day but didn't have time to walk around then. The shrine is situated on a main road and used to form part of the Imperial Gardens. The buildings at the shrine have been redeveloped over the years to what's currently on the site today as some of them were damaged during World War II. You can see more in the vlog below, as well as the rest of our final week in Japan.
By the time I'd finished wandering around the shrine, hubby had joined me and we spent the rest of the day in the main shopping district of Shinjuku before heading back to Yokohama the next morning.
Cruise ship at Osanbashi Pier in Yokohama
Back in Yokohama, we had to finish packing up our shipping boxes as they were being collected soon. We did, however, take a break from the packing and head down to the bay one last time. It was such a glorious day that we couldn't spend all of it indoors, especially as it was forecasted to rain on our last day in Yokohama, so you know... we had to make the most of it ;o). We headed to Rinko Park, our local park, and walked along the waterfront where we spotted a huge cruise ship at Osanbashi Pier. Naturally, we had to go take a closer look. We then went to Nihon Odori back to the Turkish restaurant that we'd been to numerous times to say goodbye to the family that run it and grab a bite to eat.
Minato Mirai 21, Yokohama
MM21 all lit up at night
We ended the day with heavy hearts as we walked back from Nihon Odori, taking in the sights that we'd become so accustomed to, one last time. That night we'd be moving our suitcases into our final hotel near Yokohama station, and we knew that we would not be coming back to Minato Mirai 21, the place that had been our home for the past nine months, again. So we lingered around just a bit longer, taking in the sunset and watching MM21 light up at night, for the last time (and wiping a few tears as we did).
Cosmo World amusement park, Yokohama
Whilst leaving Japan was very sad, hubby and I were immensely grateful for having had the opportunity to live in one of the most unique countries we'd ever visited. It also made me glad that I'd taken the somewhat bold step (bold for me anyway) of vlogging as now we had captured memories that we could relive via my videos :o).
Once we'd boarded our flight to Singapore the next morning, the excitement of arriving to
our previous home was starting to take over from the sadness of
leaving our current one. I did do some vlogging whilst in Singapore and I hope to share that with you in the coming weeks.
Although this is my last Japan vlog, it is by no means the end of
my Japan blog posts (or videos about Japan) for I have many things that I
still want to share with you, including all the things that we bought before
leaving Japan. However, all that may take a little time as we wait for
our shipping boxes to arrive and try to progress with our house
renovations, but I will get there :o).
Happy New Yearto you all! I hope you all had an amazing new year's eve and ended 2014 on a high note. It was rather strange waking up this morning on January 1st 2015, whilst most of my family and friends were still in 2014, waiting for the clock to strike 12... the joy of living in different time zones ;o)
I spent quite a bit of time Googling yesterday trying to find out what happens in Yokohama on new year's eve but failed to find anything in English. I then resorted to searching on YouTube and saw that for the past couple of years there has been a firework display at the giant ferris wheel in Cosmo World (an amusement park). Hubby and I wrapped up warm and headed out just before 10pm, but as it got closer to 11pm the amusement park was strangely a lot quieter than one would expect on new year's eve, plus we couldn't see any signs of a firework display.
Luckily the lady at the information desk spoke a little English and we discovered that the fireworks had been moved down to the Red Brick Warehouse this year. So we headed to that part of town and it was crazy! There were so many people there that there was no doubt about us being in the right place.
As we made our way to the waterfront we were surprised to see rows and rows of people sat calmly on the floor waiting for midnight. There was a jolly atmosphere and people didn't seem to mind squeezing along to make room for others. There was no big countdown from 10 to midnight. One second we were stood looking at our clocks and the next thing we knew some people started shouting "5, 4, 3" and the rest of us joined in.
I'll be honest, the fireworks were not blow your socks off kind of amazing. Unlike the ones back home in London, or the ones we've been lucky enough to see in Sydney and Singapore. Nonetheless is was nice to mark the occasion. Once the fireworks were over, people calmly started to make their way back into town. It was whilst walking back that we saw one of the lanes on the main road come to a complete standstill as groups of young men lined the street with the boots of their cars open, displaying all their amplifiers and music systems. Crowds had gathered around the back of cars to watch people dancing and strutting their stuff... their was even some twerking going on ;o)
What surprised me in particular was that not a single car driver beeped their horn at these guys blocking the road or the scores of people that started dancing and gathering around, literally in the middle of the road. It was quite a sight. The Cosmo World amusement park was still open with people celebrating the arrival of 2015 on the various rides and roller coaster.
Hubby and I went out with our camera and captured a few short clips just so that we could share our first new year's eve in Japan with you all. I'll be honest the video does make me cringe a little as neither of us are comfortable in front of the camera (as you'll see) plus my editing isn't great. However, I'm determined to share this with you all, and hopefully some more short videos in the future. We get so many people asking us about Japan and what it's like to live here, that what better way to explain, than to show you :o)
Did you have a good new year's eve? How did you celebrate?
