around ikuta shrine

One last stop in Kobe before heading to Osaka, Ikuta Shrine eased our excitement and brought peacefulness while we waited for our parting with our superhost. Our first Shinto shrine of the trip -no reason to say no to come as it's located really near to the Sannomiya station and also one of the most popular shrines in Kobe; that last picture was just an optical illusion, just for fun.

kobe > himeji

breakfast by Rie-san // a casual walk around the neighbourhood // bus & JR to Himeji

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!

in the dusk (ft. kobe beef)

We left Arima Onsen and arrived somewhere near Shin-Kobe station. The whole point of coming back early was to attend ourselves to Kobe beef teppanyaki at Ishida reserved by our host at 7 p.m. My sister wanted to have Kobe beef in Kobe, and it's once in a lifetime so we thought why not. We were so well-fed on our first day in Japan that we thought we would never have that much food again on any other days.

Being full from our lunch, we decided to walk around the Kitano Ijinkan area. Winter's sun set way too early that most places were pitch dark when our footsteps arrived. The city looks pretty in dusk, and I think I started liking being up on the pedestrian bridge -there's a very DRRR feel to it.

We strolled back to our airbnb and rested while waiting for Kazu-san to leave for his basketball match. We were incredibly lucky to have him as our host as he offers to drive us. Soon we were at Sannomiya -the most crowded area in Kobe I've ever seen. 

Ishida is not cheap. But you're paying for the quality. Our first teppanyaki experience was so on point -I still dream of the slice of beef melting on my tongue. We ordered each a set of wagyu and Kobe beef (of the highest quality orz), just to have a side-by-side comparison. We ain't food critics but they are indeed different pre or post-grill: Kobe beef is more marbled (has a higher fat content) which makes the piece of meat more tender and gives the melting effect. But srsly, wagyu was already so damn good?! And yes, I discovered a new favourite liquor here: yuzu sake.

Night in Kobe city is lively. The part we lived in was mostly quiet and residential, but there were more to offer.

walking around arima onsen

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These were just a small part of Arima Onsen. We only had little time left on our clock and could only enjoy that much of late fall beauty in this place. Blame our iron chef lunch and onsen which fed us the extra dose of hyperactivity and warmth, I didn't even like taking tourist photos but I knew I gotta be pictured here at this moment. If you ever visit this place, please explore a little more around the ryokans and omiyage shops. They seemed interesting as we passed by on the way to lunch.

P.S. Don't you just love seeing the kids racing over their little boat in the river? I guess that's their daddy who brought them on a weekend trip. 

Time to head back to Kobe city!