Adventures in Japan

So many monuments

We'd been to Kyoto. We'd been to Nara. Next on the list was Kobe. Trevor & I wandered along pretty much the same route Tyler & I took last time we were there. We saw many statues of naked ladies, and a guy trying (unsuccessfully) to catch ball on pole.


After much searching, we found the earthquake memorial in Meriken Park. It included a stretch of waterfront preserved just as it was right after the big earthquake in 1995, along with photographs, video, and statistics relating to the disaster and the following reconstruction. Wow. That earthquake brought down a lot of really big stuff. Devastating, really. And not just the physical damage. The local economy relied heavily on Kobe's status as a major international port. With the waterfront in ruins, they were in big economic trouble too. But the city looks great now. You wouldn't guess it had been almost completely destroyed 10 years ago, other than most things look pretty new. Quite the recovery.

Once it started getting dark, we headed in to the shopping (but mostly dining) complex alongside the pier. We ate some overpriced dumpling things that were kind of like takoyaki, but made with egg instead of batter. We thought they were the source of the delicious aroma we smelled as we walked by. Turns out we were wrong. They did a bit to tide us over until we found a proper meal, though. Our proper meal consisted of meat on sizzling platters, served with paper splatter guards that served the dual puprose of warning us, very politely, that the plates were hot (because the loud sizzling might not have tipped us off). It wasn't exactly "Kobe beef", but it was still really tasty. I also took a chance on a weird gobo-potato-mayonaise-on-lettuce salad and was pleasantly surprised. Hooray!


After that we rode the ferris wheel, because it just had to be done. Then we toyed with the idea of riding some ratty-looking walking animal contraptions, but thought better of it.


Feeling the need for yet another ride to an even loftier view of the harbour, we took a (free!) glass elevator to the top of a shopping centre-type building, where we discovered probably the most scenic karaoke rooms in all of Kobe. Or so the ad out front would have had us believe. Karaoke just wouldn't be the same without Tyler, so we gave it a pass.

Other than breakdancers in an the underground mall, that elevator was the last thing I remember clearly. The rest of the evening was spent wandering around (mostly uphill) and getting horribly lost. (Stupid free visitor's centre maps.) We finally gave up on our vain attempts to figure out where we were and tried to catch a cab to a train station. Except none of them would pick us up. Not even the ones sitting by the side of the road with their passenger doors open. And then it started to rain...

We did make it home eventually. And I guess the train ride did us some good, because by the time we got back, we were rarin' to walk 10 blocks for Domino's pizza. Their pies are about ¥700 cheaper if you pick them up. With a discount like that, we could afford the mille-feulle. Creamy cheese is the perfect accompaniment to shrimp, squid, tomato, broccoli, garlic, olives, parsley, basil, bacon, pepperoni, ham, and mushrooms. I'll bet it even goes well with corn & mayonaise.


Then I think we stayed up drinking and watching TV.

Wow, that was a long day.