Sailor Scouts take on Kobe

This past weekend, my friends and I decided that it had been too long since we all got together and since pay day had just passed, we figured it would be the perfect time to explore somewhere new, KOBE! So my Saturday agenda consisted on taking the train up to Kobe to meet up dear friends, Jacob, Becka, Loc and Joseph.

I had never been to Kobe before and the only prior knowledge I had of the place is hearing good beef comes from there. With really not knowing anything at all about Kobe, I was excited to see what the day would have in store.

After meeting up, the day was perfect for walking outside and wandering so that's exactly what we did. Our first destination was the water. The water! I had yet to see any large bodies of water yet and had missed the sight and smell of it. Kobe Port was really relaxing and just being able to see the ocean was comforting. When we were walking around the port, we passed by Earthquake Memorial Park that also had this section that was left as it was destructed from the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995. I have never been in such a natural disaster, thank God, but just seeing what Mother Nature can do to a place is rather scary.

After hanging out by the port and enjoying ice cream cones, we decided to find some real food for lunch and walked towards the mountains. Kobe is really nice since you have the water on one side and then the mountains on the other. I kept thinking to myself, "This place is so NICE!" A generic word but somehow so suitable for the weather, air, and scenery of Kobe.

We found ourselves at a Vietnamese restaurant for lunch. With the guidance and fluent Vietnamese skills of Loc, our lunch was very enjoyable, entertaining and pleasant. I was so surprised that all the employees there were Vietnamese and there was even Vietnamese music playing! It was nice to have familiar foods again and even hearing Vietnamese music was a bit comforting, oddly. Being in this place honestly made me feel like I was in Vietnam.

When lunch was through, we decided to walk our food off and checked out more of Kobe on foot. The day took us to many different sections of Kobe and even up to a nice shrine with a great view of the city. It was great to be in a new city on a beautiful day with my friends again. With all the ice cream cones, laughs, and memorable camera footage, it is easy to say my first visit to Kobe was a successful one!

And since Osaka was on my way home, I decided to stop by and meet up a friend from school, Yuko for a drink with her sister. Joseph had joined me since he lived in Osaka and was kind enough to help me find my way to Shinsaibashi. He took us to our first "gaijin" bar that I found pretty interesting. Gaijin bars are more for foreigners with most people being foreign or being able to speak English.

The day was long but really great just being able to see many of my friends here and go to places that were new to me.

Don't forget to check out the video below!

xx
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