Although the weather forecast would have me think that rain was today's agenda I left Takuya's apartment at around 10:00. And that was without my bags, of course. First time I ever ride without my bags and it feels so light. Almost too light actually. The bags did work as a balance/weight thingy that prevented me from over steering and without them I feels like I might turn the bike handle too much and trip.
Luckily that didn't happen. At least not yet. I went to Yokohama in order to visit the usual touristy things, but also to visit the Yokohama archive of history, and if possible find the place where my great grandmother lived during her early childhood. Now the story behind that is not easily told, but if people are interested they can get it in another forum.
I was also suggested by Takuya and his mom to go to Chinatown. And I love to visit Chinatowns around the world. This might seem strange, why go to another country to see a part of China? That's just it, it is isolated from China and has developed in its own way through many many years. Fascinating!! There I got what I usually get in Chinatown, meat buns. There were many cheap Chinese buffets and for the first time since I arrived I thought it was a real shame that I didn't have a group of friends to go with. I got to make up for that the day after tomorrow.
After Chinatown I went looking for the archive of history, but to my displeasure I found it closed due to a nation holiday. Which I by the way knew was today, but somehow didn't make the connection..
Disappointed I went to the main thing, finding the bluff, the neighborhood where foreign settlers lived around the time my great grandmother was in Japan. I found it quite easily, but finding the exact property is somewhat tricky. We have a rough idea though and now there is a hospital located there. Just a normal hospital. But the neighborhood itself is quite special still.
I didn't really ever give it any thought, but there are still foreigners living on the bluff, or Yamate as the part of the city is called now. I don't know if you can call them foreigners though. I presume they can speak Japanese and are a part of the local community, but they don't look Japanese, that's for sure.
There are many international schools in the area and even the Japanese looking kids spoke English. And with American accents at that. Combined with the western looking buildings and the many non-Japanese looking people, I felt I was no longer in Japan. Getting down from the bluff again I returned to Japan. That's how it felt anyway.
I did find one remaining clue that Danish people once lived there. One of the boards featured an old map and there it was, a Danish flag on one of the settlements. I was quite lucky to find it as it was a place I hadn't planned to visit.
I want to stay here until tomorrow and then visit the archive in the morning. I hope to find something with my knowledge of our family history and Japanese reading ability. Maybe I'll learn something new.
I went to the baseball stadium and the park around it and rested a bit before making it through small and narrow streets. I found a bike shop and wanted to give my tires some air when I found out the price was 100 yen.. Now I don't know if that's normal or not, but next time I'll refuse. I will survive until I find someone who'll pump my tires for free, haha.
I found a manga cafe where I will stay, but before settling in, I decided to take a small night trip around the port area I visited earlier. In one of my favorite ps2 games, Gran Tourismo there is a stage where they drive through Yokohama Bay Area by night. And it was worth it. The light from the tall buildings, the big roads and the Ferris wheel, it was all amazing.
Tomorrow I'll go to the archive and then I'll visit a cup noodle museum if I have time.
Distance: 60 km
Time: 4 hours
Condition: Relaxed and excited for tomorrow.
Quote: look to the past and you will know
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