One day this summer I got to go to Yokohama Hakkeijima Seaside Paradise with my friends from Berlitz and there friends too.

It is a fairly beautiful bay with an island in the middle.  The island has an aquarium and a few thrill rides and a restaurant area.

If you screen is wide enough you can see this panoramic view from the bridge that connects the mainland with the island.

Here's the aquarium.

And of course lots of fish.

and other assorted animals

He's hiding

Whatchu lookin at?

Penguins! or Pengin in Japanese.

Like some other aquariums they have a glass tunnel that passed through a large fish tank.

This whale seemed to act alot like a dog.  If you jumped up and down he would too.

Can you see how big this crab is?

Jellyfish has pets are supposed to be very popular.  The are very relaxing to watch.

This is the underside of a really cool looking starfish.

Here it is up close.

And here's what they look like from the other side.  Pretty scary.

These are all my friends

Atsuko.  Atsuko is in tech/customer support for a printer company.

Naomi.  Naomi is a Japanese teacher.

Mika.  Mika is expecting a baby.

Mayumi.  Mayumi is one of those people with unlimited energy.  I hear she often plays tennis for 5 straight hours.

That tower on the right is a 300 foot high free fall ride!    That's 1 1/2 times larger than the parachute drop at Knott's Berry Farm.  We were going to ride it but the wait was 40 mintues.  If you look close you can also see a roller coster on the far right.