Wandering in Yokohama

Today was Mack's GMAT test in Yokohama - poor guy! I decided to go up with him to provide some support before he went in, not remembering that I was going to have an hour and a half of crazy rush hour train time. The usual trip up there is only about 30-45 minutes, but they have to hold the doors extra long to get more people on, and make a few more stops - yuck. I hate Japanese trains at rush hour - you literally could pick up your feet at not fall over.

Anyways, so once I dropped Mack off at the testing center I headed to a nearby outdoor mall for some wandering. First I headed to a place called Book Off - it is a discount book store.

What's great about this place is its brethren - Off House, Hobby Off and - wait for it - Hard Off. I love it!! I mean seriously, can you deny the awesomeness?

Unfortunately it then started raining and of course I hadn't brought my umbrella - which is pretty dumb considering I live in Japan and it's the rainy season. So I ducked into a Starbucks and hung out for a while. Once it stopped raining (or paused I should say to be accurate) I headed back out. I was so glad I did because I found this amazing house. I love this about Japan - you can be in a totally developed, modern part of town - in this case the mall and in particular a parking lot - and see completely old style buildings.

Right across the street:

I wonder if they check IDs?

As I strolled around killing time something huge caught my eye. And by huge I mean uberleviathanesque:

And he moves!

I love living in Japan. Every day is an adventure.