Sleeping did wonders for my back, for I felt back to normal. For breakfast, we opted to stop by the local Lawson for food. I thought I got a pretty balanced meal: an onigiri, hard-boiled egg, seasoned fried chicken, pickled vegetables, green tea, and a matcha roll cake. Once breakfast was eaten, we got ready to leave for our destination for the day: Yokohama. I've been to Yokohama a few times to see their Chinatown and to explore near their harbor. There was also the instant noodle museum back in 2015. For July 12, 2023, there was one particular attraction I wanted to see: the moving RX-78.
It was blazing hot, with a clear sky and no cloud cover, as we walked from the station towards the Gundam Factory Yokohama. You had to pay a fee to enter; Hoping to see RX-78 without entering the premises, I noticed that they had high fences and a large building to block outsiders from seeing the Gundam. Fortunately, it wasn't a disappointment seeing the RX-78 (or more specifically RX-78f00) in person. There were a variety of different "shows" displaying different ways for the giant Gundam to move. We were able to watch three different shows, with the one I wanted to see the most: pointing it's index finger up into the sky. Between shows, we stopped by the gift shop to browse the souvenirs and grab a drink (that comes with a bottle that you can keep). I was hesitating on whether to purchase a 1/48 bust of the RX-78f00. I've been retired from building for a few years (I believe my last build was a RG Sazabi?), but it looked so good displayed in front of the many boxes of busts. After watching the last show (which was the finger pointing towards the sky one), I caved in and went back into the store to purchase the bust. I forgot to mention as well, that there was a museum in which they explained how they got to build the largest moving robot in the world.
After nearly spending 90 minutes, it was time to leave for our next location. Walking along the pier near the harbor was quiet, or maybe it was midday and people were hiding from the sun. We stopped to take a short breather in the shade. There were pigeons around the place we were sitting, with one of them inching its way towards us. I affectionately called it Hato-san (Hato means pigeon in Japanese). Hato-san was walking around our feet, until it suddenly wanted to fly on top of the stone bench we were sitting on. That caught us by surprise, and I guess our arms flailing and screaming made it fly away, sadly.
It was time to proceed forward, so we continued walking until we reached, what I believed, was a tourist center. Inside, they were selling soft-serve ice cream in the shape of an elephant. Seeing the need to cool down and sit inside a building with a/c, we decided to get one ice cream to share. Once we were well rested, it was off to continue on our journey to our destination.
The instant noodle museum was exactly like how I remembered. I wasn't able to make my own cup of instant noodles last time due to coming too late, but we had plenty of time to do it that day. Despite a relatively long lineup, they had a very efficient way of getting people through the entire process. It was definitely an experience seeing how they packed the noodles, ensuring that there was space at the bottom of the cup. There was a short documentary nearby, that we watched, that explained how the inventor, Momofuku Ando experimented and researched until he found the perfect way to pack his instant noodles. We spent a good deal of time exploring the museum, including visiting the food hall to try the original instant chicken noodles before heading back to the train station to make our way back to Asakusa.
After returning to Asakusa, we freshened up and relaxed before heading out to dinner. My girlfriend took me to a yakitori chain known as Torikizoku. Despite going to Japan so often, I could swear that I had never seen the bright yellow sign with red symbols. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait too long to grab a seat, for I was starving at that moment. The yakitori we got were extremely delicious and cheap. I was able to try a wide variety of chicken parts, with the skin being my favorite. After dinner, we headed to a nearby dollar (or 100 yen) store before walking to a nearby mall. They had some croissants filled with different fillings, in which we purchased a few. There was a Muji as well in this mall. After purchasing a jelly drink (shake the can and the liquid starts to gelatinize), we headed back to hotel for the night.
Another fulfilling day filled with Gundams and food!
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