Last month I went to an overnight trip in Yokohama. Nothing fancy, just want to have some staycation in a not-so-faraway place. I chose a nice hotel in Minato Mirai days before, took an afternoon off from work that day, and off to Minato Mirai we go.
To go there, we have to take the train from home for about an hour. I told you, this staycation isn't so faraway. I wanted to go farther though, but due to some constraints, we decided to come here instead.
Minato Mirai is an urban town near the waters, located in Yokohama, a big city south of Tokyo. Yokohama is the capital of Kanagawa prefecture. Minato Mirai isn't just a place to go for tourists, it's also the center of business. That means, you can find many salaryman in the area!
It was already almost 6 PM when we arrived. The Minato Mirai train station was located on the basement 3 level, but there's an escalator going directly to the 1st floor which we took. It's not my first time here but it's been many years since the last time I was here. I couldn't remember much except that my friends and I were going around in places unknown to me catching some Pokemons parading the streets.
It was such a fine day, and the streets were almost empty on a weekday. The salaryman (the Japanese working people) were nowhere to be found. Probably they already went home or they're still doing work. π
Our first order of business is to check in at the hotel. After that, we'll look for dinner so we'll roam around the area. Nothing really strict on our itinerary.
I was so surprised the hotel's building was such a tall one! Well, it's not the tallest but it's certainly not the shortest one either. The hotel's lobby was on the 20th floor so we're surely on the high floors.
We arrived at the lobby greeted by this piano playing on its own. So cool!
Booking Mitsui Garden Hotel Yokohama Minatomirai Premier wasn't cheap but with this accommodation and with this view, I was fine with it. It's not all that time that I can come here for a staycation so I tried not to mind the costs.
We went out to have dinner on one of the buildings in the area, the Yokohama Landmark Tower. I even saw Bleach there at that time. We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant at their Tower Dining area, located at the 5th floor of the building. We chose the counter seats which had a night view of Minato Mirai.
There's this ship docked here, which I wasn't sure if this was old or just recent. The docked ship looked like a trademark of how Minato Mirai is - minato in English means port or harbor, and mirai in English means future so Minato Mirai could mean harbor of the future.
An hour before midnight, we went down to buy something in the convenience store nearby. Since we're already out, we toured the block where the hotel was located.
The streets weren't so dark because of the light coming from the street lamps and from the surrounding buildings. Still empty though, I think we're on the not busy area of the Minato Mirai.
Too bad the entire time I was in Minato Mirai I wasn't able to find a colored version of this manhole cover. It's probably hiding from me.
Before we headed back to the hotel room, I wanted to explore the outdoor terrace. It seems like a beautiful place to have a date night, with its majestic view. And I wasn't the only one thinking that because there were other couples who were here too. Too bad, it rained that day so the foam we were sitting on was a bit damp.
And what a beautiful night view of Minato Mirai! I so love it! The ferris wheel that's like one of its trademarks wasn't seen from here though, it's hidden from the buildings but it's on the left side.
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We were greeted with a sunny day the next day. Actually it was my birthday. Hehe Sssh!
Before leaving Minato Mirai, we had to roam around a bit at Queen's Square. There were different buildings and they're all connected here. The outdoors were nice, lots of benches and there's even this pond. It was around noon time so there were many company employees taking their lunch break there.
Across the street was an amusement park. It seems like an extension of the Yokohama Cosmo World. I only saw one ride - and it was an extreme one for sure. Will never ride that in my lifetime. π
Happy HPUD!
I thought of doing the slowly but surely way of increasing my HP but lately I've been frustrated with my upvote mana not going back to the 90s, so here's me fulfilling my goal of 6k HP earlier than planned.
Because of that, I have a new goal of reaching 7.5k HP before the year ends. Nice and slow again.. π’
Thanks for reading!
See you around! γγγγγΎγγοΌ
With love,
All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise.