For my first full day in Tokyo, I had some errands to run in the morning. First there were a few things I wanted to mail out, so I headed to the nearest post office with a box of snacks I purchased for my sister. With previous experience, I know how tedious it is mailing to Canada due to customs, but I just didn’t realize how much MORE tedious it got.

At first the staff weren’t sure if I was allowed to mail to Canada, so they were encouraging me to take it back and ship it in my luggage instead. But once they gave me the go ahead, I needed to fill out the customs form online. That meant I had to borrow a friend’s address, fill out the form listing out every single item, wait for a confirmation, then ask the staff to print my label. It was needlessly complicated. And on top of that it cost 8,800 yen!! I had spent so much time that I paid it just so I could leave, but I remember how much cheaper it used to be to mail by EMS!

Anyway, after that fiasco I was on my way to Toranomon Hills to meet up with a friend at her office tower. I was going to pick up something I had asked her to order for me, but I realized it wasn’t feasible carrying it around as I was heading to Yokohama later, so after a quick ‘hi’ and ‘bye’, which was completely out of my way, I left without grabbing anything. LOL

The day finally got better once I made it to Yokohama. In the 4-5 years since I last visited, they built the Yokohama Air Cabin, which is a gondola connecting Sakuragicho Station to Yokohama World Porters. Since it was a nice day out, I decided to take it one way there and was treated to some decents views from the top. 

My first stop once I reached the end was to the Cup Noodle Museum. I remember visiting the one in Osaka when I was on my working holiday and it was a similar experience. First I visited their Noodles Bazaar for lunch and tried two kinds of ramen – the Laksa from Malaysia and Mie Goreng from Indonesia. Then with my timed ticket I got to make my personalized Cup Noodle at their factory. I was a bit sad cause they limited it to one cup per person that day, but at least I didn’t have to line up.

The rest of the time in Yokohama I spent wandering around the Red Brick Warehouse and did a bit of shopping inside World Porters. Then I did a leisurely walk back to the station and transited to Tokyo. For dinner that evening I met up with Yumi-san in Shimbashi for Okinawan food. I felt really bad because it was a last minute meetup, but Yumi-san was really understanding and it was great seeing her after all these years. So happy I got my fill of Okinawan food!