Yokohama & Kawasaki (the cities, not the companies)

On Friday and Saturday, I visited Yokohama and Kawasaki. Some of my former students from Portland are home for summer break, and decided to have a get together. On Friday, as soon as my last class before summer break finished, I went to the train station with Tota, one of my former students from here at the church. The trip to Yokohama took about two hours on the regular train. (Because of the route, the shinkansen was only about 30 minutes faster, and twice the cost, so we decided to save money.) YouJung, Jun, Shiori and Lina met us at the station. We rode a shuttle/tour bus around parts of the city, and stopped in Chinatown. We had some delicious snacks, walked around while making dinner plans for our return later that evening, and then headed to CosmoWorld.
CosmoWorld is an amusement park packed right in the middle of the urban area, partly on artificial islands. First we went on the tallest ferris wheel in the world (depending on which amusement park's report you believe, but it's definitely in the top three) and I took some pictures of the area. After that we went on the two roller coasters in the park: the not-so-creatively-named “Spinning Coaster” (I'm sure you can guess what the cars do as they go down the track!) and “Vanish! The Diving Coaster” whose main drop appears to go into the water (into a tunnel surrounded by a pool). The first one was pretty decent, but all the spinning (and hysterical laughing and shouting!) gave me a little bit of a headache. The second coaster wasn't nearly as scary as it looked-almost a little bit TOO smooth, but very cool.
After CosmoWorld, we went back to Chinatown for a buffet dinner, which was very delicious. Then, after dark, we walked through a beautiful park along the ocean which leads back to CosmoWorld. In the park, there is a statue which is based on a famous Japanese song about a girl with red shoes; I took a picture with Cosmoworld in the background-the nighttime cityscape was beautiful. Lina and Shiori went home, and the rest of us got on the train for the short trip to Kawasaki. The father of Jun and YouJung (brother and sister) pastors a church there, where they graciously let us spend the night (thank you again for your hospitality!).
We slept in the next morning, and then walked around the neighborhood in Kawasaki, stopping at the ENORMOUS mall next to the train station. After we returned to the church, YouJung and Jun's parents took us to a delicious Italian restaurant for lunch where we had pizza, pasta and some great salad. We talked, relaxed, took pictures, and enjoyed the air conditioning! After lunch, they dropped Tota and I off at the train station, and we headed back to Yokohama. We got off the train there for about an hour, looked around, and bought a snack (well, I did—Tota: “Rob, how can you eat so much?!”). The train ride home was crowded, but uneventful. Thanks everybody for a great trip-I had a fantastic time! In the pictures you can see Chinatown, CosmoWorld, the surrounding area, and our lunch the next day.