teamEggers

Motomachi, Yokohama

After leaving Noge I walked and walked and walked. Eventually I ended up in an unexplored area of a familiar neighborhood, Motomachi.

This is weird, right?

Before I moved here, Isaiah told me that I’d fit in really well. He was talking about the Japanese tendency to use adorable little guys as icons/logos/spokesmen for products and companies. On a related note, they also use little guys to denote what you’re eating. At a beef restaurant? There will probably be stuffed bovines or cartoon cows all over. Bet you can’t guess what this place serves:

So. I’m in Motomachi. I’m wandering and feeling a little beside myself, as can happen when you spend a whole day alone. I start to go stir crazy and need to communicate. One thing I’m learning about myself is that I’m not the introvert I once thought I was. I miss human interaction. I’m tired of being deaf to what’s going on around me. I really miss eavesdropping!

Anyways, I end up in this cafe. It’s a really nice little place (called HB Cafe, or the Happy Birthday Cafe – another time where I’m not sure that the words mean what they think!) with a florist attached. Great environment.

The barista speaks a little bit of English and for some reason she brings me my coffee without my paying for it first. This … like never happens. You go to a coffee shop, you order, pay, get your coffee. That’s how coffee shops work.

I’m sitting here for a while, enjoying the view, the atmosphere, my thoughts, etc. and eventually I realize that the scratching in the back of my throat, the suddenly itchy eyes and heavy-chested feeling I’m having is because I’ve been hanging out in a flower shop!! Now Mom, I mean no disrespect, but a day in your profession would be the death of me. I would have to be so drugged up on antihistamines just to get through the day without sneezing myself off my chair. I realize it’s time to go. For my health. Because you see, I’m now not in my right mind.

And this is when I walked out. Of the cafe. Without paying.

And this is when the very nice, kind-of-English-Speaking barista had to RUN down the street to catch me, bring me back in and take my $4.00. I can’t even describe the amount of embarrassed I was.

On the brightside, I’ll *never* run into this barista again.  (Not like the bakery truck guy who noticed when I fell over in the street and now sells me bread once a week.) I continue on.  Because there are good things in my future.

A few nights ago Jon and I saw a doughnut cafe that was closed.  It looked pretty cute and I thought I would check it out again.

I saw the line before I saw the cafe.

As it turns out, hara donuts had only opened a few days before. And to quite the fanfare! My review? While it was certainly worth $1.60, it was not really worth the 20 minute line! Never mind that, the logo was *adorable*! Another example of cute little guys.

Seoul [Part 5]

So that was Seoul. It’s now Sunday morning and we’re off. We had a few hours to kill between checking out of the hotel and hopping on the bus back to the airport, so we walked around looking for breakfast and coffee.

I’m going to admit something to you, dear readers.

I hate that jon isn’t a coffee drinker. Okay, okay. He’ll drink a latte when we go out, but just as the occasional social cigarette doesn’t make you a “smoker”, the occasional latte doesn’t make you a “coffee drinker”. I should be thankful that he’s not utterly useless before caffeine. I should be thankful that he’s not a total bitch in the morning. But you know, misery loves company.

Is there anything better than food made right in front of you? Street food is so… unpretentious and viscerally enjoyable. It’s usually messy. Designed to sell, its smell tends to waft through the air around.

Well, I’m glad you asked. Yes, there IS something better than breakfast sandwiches made to order. What’s that? It’s *free internet* in *airports*. Seoul has my heart forever. They not only provided free wifi, but also use of a dozen different laptops.

We boarded on the largest plane I think I’ve been on – jon and I sat on the top floor of this double-decker. It was a really comfortable 2 hour ride home.

All things considered, we had a fantastic weekend. It was relaxing in all the ways that a day wandering around a city can be, and perfect to have no agenda except being together.

Landmark Tower

reference note: The Landmark Tower is the tallest building in Japan.

I was in the landmark tower today, so i figured I may as well walk around its mall for a bit and see what’s around. It looks like the port of yokhama was holding some sort of… event. There was a concert in the middle of the mall! It seemed like the people on the stage were kind of a big deal – there were tons of people around clapping and singing along. Neat.

Woah. This is the first time I looked *up* in landmark tower. This mall is… huge.

Feeling slightly overwhelmed, I decided to sit down for a cup of coffee and read a few pages of my book. On the top floor, kind of tucked away, I found a place called “Giraffe” – it was an “around the clock cafe”. “ooookay”, I thought, “maybe it’s open early? open late?”. No no. Those punny japanese were telling me that it was *around* the *clock*. The clock being referenced was Cosmo Clock 21, which I believe is the largest timepiece in the world.

It was a great view, a much needed jolt of caffeine, and a great sanctuary in the middle of madness.

What kind of stores are at this giant monstrosity that is the Landmark Tower Mall? I’m glad you asked. Rachel… here’s your coach store. The thing was huge. I couldn’t fit it all in the photo (it extends more to the left). Lots of high end stores, etc. I can’t imagine how the japanese have all this discretionary income when *carrots* are $2 each.

Eating

I have a lot to learn.

Yokosuka is wonderful and terrifying all at once and I am completely unprepared.

I stumbled into a cafe this morning, despite my resolve not to drink coffee while I was here.   While signs for “coffee” are everywhere (usually paired with hamburgers, oddly enough), there are, infact, no tea shops to be found.  The first time I walked past it, I laughed at the Cafe Continue – what kind of name is that.  The next time I walked past it, I peeked in the window and it looked really cozy.  So I resolved to come back with a book and see what it was like.

Inside, Mori-san greeted me warmly and explained the different options. Luckily there was an expat sitting next to me that translated. We went with the “haasu blend-u” (house blend), and I later found out that Mori roasts all the beans himself. He brought out a handful of green coffee beans from the back and pointed to the coffee roasters behind him. Very cool! The coffee was great – much softer and more flavourful than the ol’ starbucks. The man next to me paid and left, and I noticed that his coffee was 1,400 yen (That’s around $15!!). Luckily mine was only 5. Luckily. hah.

After that I moved on to find a place for lunch. This is a scary, scary place. I feel so incredibly infantile, reading from picture menus and pointing to the nearest person around. I have to remember that this is my first day, I’m alone, and things will get easier.

What I pointed to ended up being the largest bowl of noodles I’ve ever seen. Quite possibly the size of my head. I wish I knew how to ask for a take-out box because I could have eaten this for the next few days.