After a good nights sleep in our Ryokan the day before, we headed straight for breakfast of fish, miso soup and rice before heading out to explore the busier side of Yokohama.
After gorging the lot, we packed up our bags and hopped on the Yokohama Seaside Line with the Yokohama Bay Hotel in sight.
After about 30-minutes (or so) we’d totally left behind the sleepier and tranquil area of Yokohama and landed firmly in the buzzing centre of the city. Plus, the views from our hotel were just incredible and overlooked the bay area surrounding Yokohama itself.
Plus, our hotel view looked straight over to Cosmoworld with all its fun rides, Ferris wheel and cute streets. I just had to visit… even if it was only for a few snacks and frozen lemonade.
After wandering Cosmoworld and strolling past the wheel, we ended up landing right next to the Cup Noodle Museum that everyone kept mentioning to us.
Now, firstly, I had no idea there could be a whole museum to Cup Noodles but this was a whooper of a place. With nothing to lose, we decided to give it a shot a hopped on into to buy our tickets.
After a little wander around admiring the building and playing around with some camera trickery, we decided to head to the top floor to make our very own Cup Noodles.
Once here, we collected our cup from the vending machine and hankered down to create two of the best artistic masterpieces known to humankind…
A cup with a zebra pattern and one with a house! Yup, we’re certainly no modern-day Monet (that’s for sure). 😉
Anyway, whatever, we were both pretty proud of our designs so we strolled on up to the ingredients section to fill our cups.
Stuffed with prawns, chicken, corn and of-course Noodles, our very own combination was ready for us to take home and gorge upon.
It was a pretty fun experience, and it’s great if you fancy doing something a little quirky or the weather takes a turn for the worst.
After filling our cups with noodles, we headed along the bay area and Minato Mirai for a bite to eat. As we walked through this shiny area, it felt a world away from the more traditional day we have yesterday in Yokohama.
This was certainly a whole new side of the city.
After finding a little Udon place, we hankered down to get filled up before a bit more exploring across the area. After all, the midday sun had peaked and everything was getting that bit cooler outside.
Once filled up, we noticed the Sky Garden which seemed to tower over all the buildings around. Now, being a sucker for a good view, I couldn’t resist a little trip to find out what we could see.
After zooming up the elevator (which is said to be one of the fastest in Japan), we reached the top. As the doors opened, we were greeted with 360-degree views across the city and the bay itself. It was stunning to see, even it was a little hazy from the heatwave that was spreading across Japan.
By the time we came down, the sun had already started to greet the horizon, but not before we made a few more stops.
After wandering near the Cup Noodle Museum, we could hear a little music in the distance. We asked around and someone mentioned there’s a part beach that’s been created by the historic red-brick buildings on the waterfront.
I mean, party and beach are two of my favourite words, so without a second thought, we headed straight over to it.
After a little window shopping and an ATM stop within the historic Red Brick Warehouse, we headed straight for the musical beats.
Within a matter of minutes, we were right within the Red Brick Beach and it was amazing.
There was music, cocktails, lads of sand and a fair few hammocks which myself and Yaya both ran towards in a flash!
There’s no guessing in seeing who nabbed the last hammock, though! 😉
After a little chill on the beach and a few cocktails and beers to boot, we decided to head straight for dinner in Japan’s largest China town, which was only about 15-minutes cab ride from the shore.
Now, a few people had told us to head to Chinatown at least once during our trip to Yokohama and we quickly realised why there was such a fuss. It was pretty huge and had a massive selection of Chinese restaurants that was almost overwhelming.
Of course, we order lots of pan-fried gyoza, noodles, rice and meats, which almost had us falling out of our chairs. It was so much food (but totally worth it).
Then Yaya remembered something, he’d heard about Miyakobashi Shotengai Street that was apparently filled with tiny little bars and a charm all of its own.
Of course, this sounded so cool so rather than take a taxi back to the hotel, we made a pit stop at Miyakobashi Shotengai for the last few drinks.
Now, the street itself gets pretty busy on weekends, and we visited on a weekday. To be honest, this worked nicely in our favour as there was then plenty of places to pick.
Though, one word of advice, some bars only allow Japanese clientele inside and so don’t be offended if you’re refused entry. It’s said with a smile and apparently nothing personal, they just like to keep some of the bars saved for locals that visit. Plus, if you fancy heading to some other areas with bars, think about visiting the Noge district and Yoshida Machi. They’re great places to spend an evening but thankfully we’d found our bar of choice.
After popping our heads into a few, we found one lovely gem that really took our fancy. It was a classic wine bar with about six seats and a tiny little bar. It was all so kitsch and totally worth a little nightcap before our day of exploring downtown Yokohama drew to a close.
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