kobe

As we get closer to the end of our respective adventures, we’ve tried to narrow down the must-see list.  Katie and Mike had each told us that Kobe was really cool.  Plus the only meat Todd likes is steak (unless you’re counting Chicken McNuggets haha).  The promise of Kobe Beef in Kobe cinched the deal!

Kobe is west of Osaka, around the other side of Osaka Bay.  Only an hour by train with one stop, soon we were outside Osaka.  Here the mountains were much closer. 

Kobe is the 6th largest city in Japan, with a population of 1.5 million.  Sitting right on the port, it really had more of a beach feel, in fact one of the main areas is called Harborland and we headed there first.

Before we could even get there, we noticed a pretty building with people exiting in fancy attire.  We realized it was a wedding and, ever the romantics, we stopped to watch.  A woman ushered us to the front gates and soon there was a small crowd of onlookers, while the wedding guests began lining the stairs leading up to the chapel.  A young man had a large bundle of pastel colored balloons and began handing them to the guests.  Turns out we were going to be in the wedding 🙂  Another man handed out golden handbells that jingled when you shook them.  A trumpet player played the beautiful trumpet solo from Handel’s Messiah, which was special for me and Katie since we sang in the Messiah Choral Society for many years with my sister.  Soon the very lovely bride and her new husband came down the stairs to applause, cheers, and tinkling bells and everyone released their balloons!  What were the chances!?!? 

Directly across the street from the wedding was the harbor and ferris wheel.  It was warm, sunny, breezy, dry, and not too crowded–what more could we want?! 

Always up for “dessert before dinner” (or lunch, in this case), we headed straight to the ice cream stand 🙂  We wandered below to take pictures along the water.  The red tower was a radio station and tower, and the interesting white cable thing a maritime museum.  The large curved white building is the Oriental Hotel.

The area includes a park with statues and memorials, including the Be Kobe sign at the top of the post.  People watched as we posed.  A friendly girl took our picture, and we could hear them saying, “Kawaii!  Kawaii!” (Cute!).  It also gave Katie and Todd a chance to pose in their new Hanshin Tigers hats! 

Todd suggested we sit by the water for awhile.  The kids broke out their Kindles and phones to read and chill.  It was very peaceful, watching the ships and boats go in and out of the harbor.  The water splashed lightly on the small cruise ship and shore birds swooped the sky.  And I finally saw a guy fishing.

One of the memorials was for a terrible earthquake that occurred in 1995, registering 7.3.  Katie said that all of her adult students remember the event.  One guy’s house was actually destroyed but he was away on vacation.  The memorial included videos, photographs, and detailed information.  Next to it was a large area of pavement that was left un-repaired, with huge splits in the asphalt leaving gaping pits and street lights leaning.  A man was sitting within the gutted area, digging in the mud with tools and putting things in a bucket.

We went up into the 2 story market area and it really looked like CityWalk or something in Cocoa Beach.  It had cute trendy shops and little cafes selling lemonade, chocolate, pastries, and souvenirs.

Kobe includes a large Chinatown area and that’s where we went next.  It had a different look than Osaka, with bright red banners, latterns, dragons, and a courtyard that included statues for all the Chinese New Year animals–this is the Year of the Dog.  

Kobe beef was sold in several stands throughout the marketplace.  We noticed that every one of them had a lifesize Spiderman figure, in fact you can see him in the picture above.  According to Wikipedia, all of the Kobe Beef places are owned by the same company.  Each has a large black bull out front and when they first opened, the company offered them a Spiderman when they bought the bull.  It turned into a big draw for customers, so after that they ordered a Spiderman for each restaurant.  How random is that?!

The beef is sold in several levels of quality/price.  At the booth we first stopped at, there was the 1500 yen, 2000 yen, 3000 yen, and 5000 yen levels.  Todd ordered the 2000 yen steak, which was quickly grilled by a young woman in a chef’s uniform right outside in the booth.  It was cut in small slices and served with chopsticks.  Todd said it was really good! 

We didn’t really see anything the rest of us wanted to eat, so we left Chinatown and went into a market area that looked more like the places in Osaka.  We walked and walked, using google maps to look for something suitable.  The menus here were almost exclusively in Japanese so it was really tricky, but we kept looking…..and looking……By now our ice cream had run out and we were feeling blah.  After a long search, we surrendered and had a sad lunch at 7-11 haha 🙂  By then we barely cared! 

Todd made a real effort buying what looked like cheese on bread, which the 7-11 clerk microwaved.  But it was so full of onions, honestly it was awful and went uneaten by all of us.

We had a little time before we had to get the train back.  Katie was meeting a friend; Todd, Priscila and I thought about staying into the evening but we were already pretty worn out.  By now, the only one still hungry was Todd, as the 8 small slices of solitary beef was not much food.  Todd noted to Katie that she never got him a birthday present so maybe she should buy him more steak!  So Katie threw in 2000 and I threw in another 1000 and Todd tried the “next level” steak for 3000 yen at another stand.  It was served over rice and cut in small squares, worthy of photographing!  

Spiderman watched the event and ultimately Todd said that for the money, he would go for the 2000 yen serving, but he’d like to do a blind taste test with all levels.

A nearby booth served Turkish ice cream, which Todd and I both loved from Osaka.  The clerk looked and sounded like he was from Turkey.  He asked us where we were from.  He smiled and made a political comment, and when we responded favorably, he said “Ok!  I’ll give you more ice cream!”  And he did!

It seemed like a really long walk back to the train station; I didn’t realize we had walked so far!  We saw this symbol around town and maybe it was bull horns? 

The first train ended in Osaka Station, a spiffy, modern looking building.  

Katie had to take a train to her friend’s house and left the 3 of us with a couple routes we could take home.  Sometimes there is an obvious route, but often there are many options because there are so many trains and stations.  We picked one that would take us to Shinsaibashi, with a 15 minute walk home.  As we could finally see our street in the distance, my feet started to protest and I thought “I’ve earned myself an Advil!”  It was another excellent day and we were all glad to be home!

Photo:  Harbor in Kobe, Japan