Yokohama shopping

Today, I went with Stephanie to Yokohama for some shopping at a department store called Tokyu Hands. It has EVERYTHING you'd ever need...plus some. I had gone to the one in Shibuya before.

Yokohama is very similar to the other suburbs of Tokyo. It has lots of karaoke places, though, and lots of surrounding rivers. There is also a bay nearby. Unfortunately, this is the only picture I took:

An advertisement with Miura Haruma haha...Stephanie and I both like him.

Oh! This advertisement was actually at the entrance to one of the underground passages. There are actually not many ways to cross major roads so there are several over and under passes. The under passes not only lead to a stairway on the other side of the street, but there is a whole underground mall with clothes shops and cafes and even a market. The market was really cool. There were so many wagashi (Japanese sweets) stalls. I love wagashi because they're so beautiful and kind of soothing just looking at them. Wagashi are set to the season so right now there are lots of moon shaped or pumpkin shaped ones...and ones with autumn foods such as kuri (chestnuts).

I not only noticed today, but all over there are promotional goods for Halloween. I asked Kumiko "You don't celebrate Halloween in Japan, right?" and she said no...So I don't really understand why there are Halloween goods everywhere. I suppose it's just a promotional way to get money like Valentine's day or Christmas. People will buy Halloween things just because they look cute.

After shopping, Stephanie and I took a break at a little cafe:

A small salad with a salmon-shrimp hot sandwich and I think a small creme brule?

Finally, this is what I bought at Tokyu Hands--an electric kettle so I can make hot tea and even miso soup in my room! It was only about $21, too. Quite cheap compared to the other ones that were there. I'm happy with my little pot :)