My final day in Kumamoto was Thursday. It was a wonderful place to stay, but Ryan needed to get to Tokyo for job prospects. Which raised the question of when I would be leaving as well. The question seemed solved when I spoke with Sanae. She found out I was considering going to Tokyo at some point in order to perpetuate antics and hanging out with Ryan (and also because I didn’t want to make myself a bother while staying too long with a friend), and said that while she wasn’t able to meet up in Osaka anymore, she could still meet in Tokyo. Joy!
So … plans were made. Plans of great preparation and perhaps doom. Or great doom and perhaps preparation. In either case it was decided that on the way to Tokyo, we would swing by Kobe and see my friend Yumi. Because as everybody knows, Kobe is right next to Tokyo. And I am excellent at planning that sort of thing.
We arrived in Kobe that evening and had our first dinner with Yumi. It was very awesome seeing her, as I haven’t kept in touch with her nearly enough since she came back to Japan. We found a good tofu place for dinner, which was very gourmet, very expensive and very covered in fish. I suppose you could say it was varied.
After that we decided to have second dinner, which ended up being at a small Italian place that inexplicably had “Reno” written out in cups at the entrance and played Goonies projected on the wall. After 2nd dinner we decided to have 3rd dinner. This is more commonly known as dessert, and concluded a day far more food filled than prior days were. Day two in Kobe we got to eat at an okanomiyaki shop owned by Yumi’s aunt, and then got a ride to something very special by Yumi’s mother.
In Japan there are said to be three views which surpass all others. Three famous locations that are the pinnacle of awe-inspiring. One of them is in Nagasaki, another in Hokkaido and the best one is in Kobe. When Yumi’s mom picked us up and we started to head back to her house where we were staying, she mentioned that since it was night we should go see the view.
What I thought was going to be a small detour to see a pretty view, turned out to be a significant detour to see three cities as a whole including harbors and mountains … all from one high vantage point. I took pictures, and a video which will have to serve for now, but it’s sort of like taking pictures of the Grand Canyon. You really don’t understand it until you’re there. You could see Kobe, Osaka, and Wakayama all in one go. These are not small cities.
The next day I found what will be my mother’s favorite place in Japan when she comes to visit. She doesn’t know it yet, but it is her favorite place in Japan. We took the sky rope way up from Shin Kobe, which deposited us in the mountains in an expansive herb garden. We walked down the mountain through fields of lavender and other herbs, into green houses that created miniature rain forests, and through cottages made up to show herbal drying and refinement to oils.
Some lavender soft-serve ice cream, and we were off to meet up again with Ryan and Sanae in Tokyo.
Which is where I wrote this.
~Jeff
Wow... that's a lot of food. I'm full just reading about it. The garden looks really beautiful.
ReplyDeleteWe're all still listening...even if we don't write comments. Which is why I write comments...even pointless comments like this, to let you know to keep writing. It doesn't have to be every day just once a week or twice...or maybe even seven times a week...you know, which ever you feel like.
ReplyDeleteEPIC train picture.
The food sounds good, you should have asked why it said "Reno." LOL.