Kobe

I took a short trip out of Kyoto to check out Kobe. I was delighted by it's beautiful port scenery. I remember telling Grace that it reminded me of San Francisco, and she responded "That's funny, it reminded ME of Liverpool".

I only spent a couple hours there, mostly at the children's area with the ferris wheel, merry-go-round and arcade. I had an oreo cookie shake, and watched the sun set on the sea.


Picture taken from the ferris wheel.


Kobe is part of the Kansai region that are known for having a distinctly different way of doing things from the rest of Japan. There's the crazy Kansai-ben, uproarious riyori, and of course, standing on the right of escalators. (Explanation of the last sentence---Kansai-ben is a dialect different from other regions in Japan, riyori is the style of cuisine, and usually people treat the escalators as they treat the roads of japan, walking/driving on the left....only in Kansai, they stand on the right. I felt right at home. Yes, I am going to call Kobe SF junior.


Can you see the red bridge spanning over the water in the distance? Does this not remind you of SF?

I had originally called my vacation itinerary "the trail of tears" as I planned on seeing Hiroshima and Kobe, both known for disaster. Here are a couple of scenes from their big earthquake on my brother's birthday, 1995. This is a collapsed shrine.

Their double decker freeway fell just like the bay bridge. Cars can't swim.