Nearly blown off my feet

As we boarded the shuttle bus taking us from Osanbashi Pier to the retail area, the man ushering us aboard cheerfully informed us that today Yokohama was experiencing what the locals know as a spring typhoon.

An understatement, if ever there was one.

A blustery, unpleasant wind pushed the MahJong Queen and I along towards the Landmark Plaza building with its shopping arcades over three floors and the elevator, which takes some finding, whose purpose is to whisk you to the 69^th floor and the fantastic 360 degree views over Yokohama city.

First up, the very important task of finding the Post Office, which has the all-important ATMs, which very generously dispense cash, providing all the right buttons are pushed in the right order. Then, the next most important task, somewhere to eat.  We wander around and finally settle on curry udon for lunch. Paper bibs are provided and we attack our meal with chopsticks and a helpful spoon, make a mess, manage to get most of it into our mouths and decide it was an excellent food venue choice. 

Then a time consuming hunt for the entry to the elevator.  It is easier to find the souvenir shop than it is to find the elevator.  When we find it, we reach the 69^th floor of the Landmark Building in double quick time.   The views across the city are spectacular and there is no notion of the wind howling around outside.  Only the Cosmos Clock 21 is still and unmoving; imagine riding around in the gondola in today’s wind strength of upwards of 50 kilometres per hour!

Looking towards the Cosmos Clock 21 and amusement park.

On the opposite side of the Tower, cars, car parks and a freeway.

Almost every form of transport is catered for here, road, rail and air.

At the end of the circuit around the tower, we are back to the water.  In the top right of the photo is the Yokohama Stadium, the landmark I searched for yesterday.

Obligatory browsing through the shops in the arcades of the lower floors of the Landmark Building takes up some more of our time.  And then the next test.  Finding the exit door to take us back out the way we came in.  Not so easy.  Much tracking back and forth and inadvertently walking outside at one stage, to be nearly blown off our feet.  

Then more by good luck than good management we find the right level and are walking along the moving walk way.  In between the covered areas the walkway is exposed to the elements and the wind buffeted us around to such an extent I had to wrap my arms around a pole to remain up right.

The queue for the bus to take us back to the ship was a welcome sight and the wind gave us one final taunting as we left the pier building and scuttled, sideways like crabs, along to the ship’s boarding ramp. 

The idea of a pleasant, late afternoon stroll along the shore front, before the ship’s departure, was immediately abandoned.