part of the million dollar view

Literally nothing better than a superhost that drives you around. Kazu-san is the guy who wants you to love Kobe as much as he does; and he did it. 

Like most Japanese people, I have a certain fondness for towers so I requested to go to the Kobe Tower by the bay. It's a red, torch-shaped structure with carefully drawn poles -the prettiest straight line curves to support itself. I've seen it many times while running an old Tumblr, and it made me smile like a fool when I stood in front of it. 

Kazu-san then drove us up to Mt. Rokko to show us Kobe from a higher altitude. It was our first day in Japan and we did all our shivering before moving on to other parts of Kansai -the wind up on the hill was bone-chilling and even Kazu-san had to add on another layer of jacket before leaving the car. We exchanged some thoughts in the cold crisp air; but I was mainly busy shooting the view and avoiding camera shakes while shivering non-stop. KIX was in our vision, and the lights in the cities shone like diamonds in the dark. It reminds me of Victoria Peak but I wasn't a big urbanscape fan so I'd prefer Kobe's. 

Cities are great, they make people move forward but they tend to make themselves indistinguishable. Perhaps that's why urban planners built towers, so they could mark themselves with it.

We were tired yet filled with excitement. Starting our trip in Kobe was so damn right. Even better when our host offered us a late check out and also sending our luggage to the train station -what else could we ask for!