Chinatown, Round 2

In an (unfortunately unsuccessful) effort to see some Chinese New Year festivities this week, I spent Tuesday afternoon in Chinatown in Yokohama. (Please refer to my post from Oct. 1 to see pics of my last visit.) Didn't get to see anything extra-special like I'd hoped for, but I DID get a 5% off coupon for a pastry shop. Would have been nicer if I'd found something to use it on. But it was a nice afternoon all the same. Happy *early* Chinese New Year to everyone!!

Photos:

• Top left: this is the same street with lanterns pictured in my Oct. 1 post, only I took this one standing a little farther back.
• Top right: entrance to one of the two temples I saw on this visit. Last time I came, Kim and I didn't even realize that this was here. Chinese temples are much more colorful than Japanese ones. The temple itself is actually at the top of the cement stairs you see in the background.
• Middle left: This is a view inside the temple. The wooden slats you see in the foreground are part of the offering box (saisenbako) where everyone tosses their coins before "sanpai sahou", which is what a person does to worship the god: bow twice, clap twice (to wake him up if he's sleeping, my students tell me), then bow once more. Compare this interior with my picture of a Japanese temple interior on my post from Dec. 28.
• Middle right: view down the main street of Chinatown.
• Bottom left: another view of Tokyo Bay, about a 5 min walk from Chinatown. The ferris wheel you can see in the distance is the one in Minato Mirai. See my other picture of it here.
• Bottom right: Taken at Tameike-sanno this week. I couldn't have said it better myself, unless English was my native language...