Kobe & Kushi-Katsu

August 3, 2015 

After spending yesterday recovering from the all night party of Saturday night, we decided to head out to Kobe today to meet a friend of mine, Ike and to check out the sites. I had only been to Kobe maybe a couple times before so I didn’t know much about the area. Fortunately for me, my friend Ike was willing to take some time out of his day to show us around.

We began the day at Sannomiya Station. After meeting up with Ike, he showed us to a popular soba restaurant for lunch. Even though I had been in Japan for over a year, I still hadn’t had proper soba so I was pretty excited for it. The food was good and so was the experience of eating it!

Afterwards, Ike had planned an afternoon of site seeing in popular spots of Kobe so we were on our way! One of the first places we stopped was a fancy Starbuck’s which is known as Kobe Kitano Ijinkan Store. Ike had said that this place was called the most beautiful Starbuck’s in the world. I had actually seen this place before today but still was happy to go back to it.  It was a little of a hike to get here so we all got something to drink and grabbed a table to take a break at.

Once all of us recovered a little from the heat and sweat, we continued onto the Shin-Kobe Ropeway. The ropeway lifted us up to the southern slopes of the Rokko Mountain chain. While it ascended, the ropeway also allowed us to pass by the Nunobiki Waterfall as well as the Nunobiki Herb Garden. The day was super hot so once we got to the top, we all needed another break! The ride gave as a really nice view though and instead of just going to the top to take the ropeway back down, we walked the way down to check out the sites along the way. We passed by gardens full of flowers and herbs that were pretty nice.

With dinner plans  later in the day, we had to wrap up our afternoon in Kobe and head back to Osaka.  Along with dinner plans, another one of our friends, Jack was also flying in tonight. So the boys went back to their rented apartment to get Jack as me and the girls went to Tennoji to walk around the shops until time to meet up Rika and Mariko for dinner. I was actually worried that my brother and the guys would have a hard time getting around on the trains but they did everything by themselves rather well!

Around 6:30 or so, we meet up with Mariko and Rika for kushi-katsu in Shinsekai! I had kushi-katsu before but Shinsekai is known for this stuff so it seemed only proper that we went there to eat it. If you are wondering what exactly kushi-katsu is, its different foods that are individually on skewers, breaded and fried. Once you order your selection of fried goods, there is a special sauce that you dip it with. The thing about the sauce is it's a community sauce (shared with the whole table) and the rule is you are only allowed to dip ONCE! Andrews said this time of food would work in the States but not the sharing style of the sauce.

Dinner was fun once we all got situated. Rika and Mariko ordered a bunch of different things and everyone just shared it. It was a good experience but I can understand my siblings struggle with eating a meal of strictly fried things and beer. One of the things I continue to struggle with in Japan is finding a balanced meal out. Meals here always seem to be heavy on one end of the spectrum, mostly carbs and very skimpy on others like fruits or vegetables. Nonetheless, the experience of dinner was nice and I’m sure everyone had enjoyed it.

After dinner, we walked around the small area of what most people know Shinsekai to be. There were many good photo opportunities, which you know we took advantage of!

Along with the sites, Mariko suggested we check out old school pachinko games called Smart Ball. She figured Andrews might have an interest in the pachinko scene of Japan and the old school machines that are discontinued now. To give you some background on pachinko games, its almost like pin ball but there are no flippers. The player releases the balls and hopes it lands in a slot which then gets you points or releases more balls. It seemed really lame but the pachinko industry is actually a huge industry here. Gambling is not allowed in Japan so pachinkos are a way around it. Players that accumulate many balls can trade in these balls for prizes or tickets. If the quantity is really high, they can take these tickets and go to a separate business (of course connected to the pachinkos) to trade it in for money. So it’s like working around the system to still gamble.

Today was long, hot, and sweaty but also a lot of fun. I really enjoy seeing my Houston life merge with my Japan life and also show my family new things that I get to experience now. I’m also super thankful that I have awesome friends who will take out the time to meet my family and friends from home and to show them around. Kobe and kushi-katsu, check!!

xx

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