a weekend in kobe: day 1

Went down to Kobe for the weekend and the first thing we did was eat Kobe Beef of course! There was a nice restaurant called Ryu-en located in Kobe Port which had a nice view of the water and served delicious Kobe beef for cheap!

so freaking delicious!

great views of the waterfront

There are two large shopping complexes located here and after wandering around looking at various stores we caught the City Loop Bus to Kitano. On the bus Jeremy, a friend of ours, got yelled at by the tour guide for talking too loudly. Turns out right over Jeremy's head there was a be quiet sign. Hahaha! Kitano is the city district where many foreign diplomats and merchants settled down in after Kobe Port was opened to foreign trade. Because of this many of the houses located in Kitano are built in a foreign style and are open to the public as museums.

I liked seeing all the foreign styled houses but unfortunately each house costs a couple hundred yen to enter. No one was that interested in paying to enter them so we just admired the houses from the outside. Afterwards we rode the Shin-Kobe Ropeway up to the Kobe Nunobiki Herb Gardens which offers a spectacular view of Kobe.

grabbed some delicious Turkish food while wearing cute costumes!

Then came a night of purikura (photo booth pics), Super Mario Kart arcade version (where I totally won a game!) and karaoke till the wee hours. I was surprised to win at a game of Mario Kart cause usually I drive right off that stinking rainbow road. The trick is to let everyone go ahead in the beginning and then right at the end toss a whole bunch of boxes and stuff at them so then you zoom ahead. Mwhahaha!

Thanks to Kei and Jeremy for showing us around their awesome city! They are the best karaoke partners. Can't believe I'd been in Japan for so long and this was the first time I've gone karaoking. We sang so much that we totally lost our voices the next day.

The Details
City Loop Bus
-stops at all the major tourist stops
Prices: 250 yen for one ride or 650 yen for a one day pass
website
the subway was also really convenient

Japan Guide website has all the hours and admission fees for each house

Shin-Kobe Ropeway
Hours: Daytime - 9:30am to 5:15pm Evening - 5:00pm to 9:00pm
Fares:  Daytime - Adults: 1,400 yen round trip, 900 yen one way  Children: 900 yen (RT), 450 yen
Evening - Adults: 800 yen for both  Children: 500 yen for both