Had a great night’s sleep @ the Chisun Inn Yokohama and woke refreshed, ready for the day’s new discoveries.

Good morning Yokohama! A population of 4 million, a seaport that opened to foreign trade in 1859, with many Chinese immigrants arriving and forming settlements – there is now a a large Chinatown. I like the feel of this city, lots of greenery, interesting streetscapes, water views and it has a cosmopolitan feel.

Drove into the downtown area to reconnoitre pic locations for a night skyline I’d previously researched…and had my first experience of multiple conjoined freeway loops taking you in very different directions, so if you get the ‘dismount’ instruction wrong….well…you are in trouble 🙂 Thankfully, I managed. Augurs well for Tokyo!

I had 5 spots picked and none of them had any parking areas where you could jump out, take your shot, and depart. There is a Japanese custom that only a handful of people seem to use, of just parking your car wherever, putting on the hazard lights, doing what you need to do and coming back to go on again. Very risky strategy in the areas I was choosing to take pics in….too busy. Also, my hotel is 40 mins away from these spots, so too expensive to taxi/Uber it. So I decided to just forego the drama and select a few images (that I would like to have taken) from others on the web, to share on my blog.

Took myself off for a couple of hours of walking in the Sankei-en (Three Creeks) garden. Wowser, apart from the Moss Garden in Kyoto, my next favourite! And some sunshine to boot. Yay. Sankei-en was designed and built by Tomitaro Hara (1868–1939), known by the pseudonym Sankei Hara, who was a silk trader. It opened in 1906, with 43 acres of ponds, streams, and very nice walking paths. Japanese-style architecture relocated from Kyoto and Kamakura is scattered throughout a gorgeously neat garden, producing a scene as beautiful as a Japanese painting. And I had the privilege of capturing some lovely wedding pic moments as well.