Kobe by night

January 30, 2015

I was racing against the sunset to get to the pier, hoping to capture some photos before it completely got dark and I was LUCKY. If I could pick one touristy thing to do in Kobe, it had to be going up the Kobe Port Tower. Using the Kobe Welcome Coupon I got from the tourist information centre at Kansai Airport (or you can always click that link above and print it out) I enjoyed a 100 yen off the usual 700 yen entrance fee to the tower.

Because it was also a weekday, I got the top most observatory deck almost to myself. It’ll be romantic if I had company.

The view of the City of Kobe was superb from up there. The photo directly above this text reminds me of a view I’d get looking out from Marina Bay Sands and into the central business district of Singapore. Except that the buildings in Singapore are taller, more clustered together and we sure as hell didn’t have a mountain peeking out in the distance.

I was getting really hungry because I haven’t had proper food the whole day. My onigiri and bottle green tea has long digested, and I needed my Kobe beef PRONTO. The last city loop bus had already left the Kobe Port Tower, so I needed to find my way back to Sannomiya station.

Using Google maps, I walked towards Motomachi, one of the longest covered shopping street I’ve seen. Things were definitely more bustling during the day, as the shops were already starting to roll their shutters for the night even though it was just 730 in the evening. Sannomiya was only a train stop away from Motomachi, since Google maps has started to become a little wonky, I decided against walking and hopped on the train instead. Less stress, less time taken to reach my destination.

At last, I’ve reached STEAKLAND, the steak place in Kobe widely reviewed by bloggers around the world. If I had the time and budget, I would have gone somewhere off the grid, but I didn’t, so I stuck to Steakland.

And true to the reviews, it didn’t disappoint! The 6-course meal comes with quite a hefty price tag too. Paying around 6600 yen altogether, the meal comes with a salad and miso soup to start, hors d’oeuvres of smoked salmon and capers, the yummiest small grilled seafood platter I’ve tasted that includes a slice of grilled konyaku jelly. Strange, but delicious. Flavourful beef stew with some pieces of beef laced with fat. So sinfully good. Of course, teppanyaki almost always comes with a generous serving of bean sprouts. I can hear both Ayshie and Ummar’s voices judging me as I tucked into them sprouts. TOO BAD YOU DON’T LIKE THEM, GUYS.

I don’t know much about beef, what’s a good grade, the marbling of the meat etc. But all I know was that the steak with prepared with such skill that for the first time I got to experience meat melting in your mouth. Yes, I finally knew what it meant when people describe meat like that.

Seasoned with only garlic chips, salt and pepper, the chef recommended the steak to be done medium rare. Even though I like my steak medium done, I was game to try whatever the chef recommended. The result was meat that was still reddish, slightly charred with a bouncy texture and so tender, so flavourful that I really took my time to savour every bite.

The dessert of strawberry sorbet complemented the meal, giving a sour perk me up after an otherwise heavy, flavour-packed meal.

I will need to expose myself to a wider variety of steak before I could properly give a verdict to what I like and do not like about my Kobe beef experience. But personally, I prefer the char-grilledness of a western styled steak to how the Kobe beef was seared right in front of my eyes. Then again, I never had a western styled steak melt in my mouth before so.

That meal lasted me the entire journey back to Kansai Airport and breakfast and lunch the next day! It should because I spent half of my budget on it. But I would definitely recommend anyone who’s going to Kobe to try the Kobe beef once. Just once to tide you a lifetime.

After dinner, I made my way to the pick up point where the bus would take me back to Kansai Airport. Another reason why I love the Kansai region more than Tokyo: Kansai Airport opens 24/7 so you don’t have to worry about catching the early bus or train to the airport. You can take your time with dinner, enjoy the city lights and then make your way back to the island where the airport (and my hotel) was located.

Kobe, CHECKED. Where in Japan shall I go next?

Kobe by day

January 27, 2015

I had one of those 2x two-nighter trips in Osaka last week. While I spent the first half lazing around in the hotel room and caught up on sleep, I was determined not to waste the second two-nighter. These trips were hard to come by. Everyone else decided to stay close to the airport, only venturing out to Rinku Town, a train stop away; I booked a return bus ticket to Kobe, and geared myself for the day of solo exploring.

Of course, I had a Kobe checklist. I had so many things to do, so little time. I started from Kansai Airport a little past noon, hence was already behind schedule. Contemplated a Kobe beef lunch, but thought I might just settle for an onigiri and bottled green tea to tide me till dinner. Sightseeing > Food.

First stop: Ikuta Shrine

The Ikuta shrine is a Shinto shrine located in the heart of the city. It isn’t too difficult to find, but I marvelled at the tranquility of the temple grounds, amidst the hustle and bustle of the city life outside the gates.

The shrine resembles the Fushimi Inari shrine in Kyoto, but is tiny compared to the vastness of the Fushimi Inari compound. It even features a row of the iconic orange and black torii gates, however nowhere near as magnificent as the ones I saw in Kyoto. I love that it’s peaceful and quiet, except for this Chinese kid who stomps around, repeatedly screaming intelligible words.

My next stop was Kitano Ijinkan. As the places of attraction in Kobe were many and some weren’t really of a walkable distance, I hopped on the green and red retro City Loop bus and paid 660 yen (~SGD7.50) for an unlimited one-day pass and zoomed towards my destination. The City Loop bus only goes one-way, hence it’s best to pick out the attractions of choice on the map and plan it according to the bus’s route. The whole loop, which comprises of 17 stops takes about 63 minutes to complete. If you missed a stop, well.. Good luck!

Now this was a very unique place to visit in Kobe. The Kitano area is dotted by western-style houses built by foreigners who arrived in Kobe during the late Meiji and early Taisho eras in Japan. The area had European-style museums (even a Sherlock Holmes’ house), art museums and little vintage shops selling kitschy items. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the luxury of time to chill at one of the cafes there, but I managed a cuppa at a Starbucks built into an old American-style house!

There were four different lounges, all fashioned like what you’d normally see in a house (minus all the extra tables and chairs). There was a library, a cosy little living room and a sun room on the second floor, and it wasn’t unusual to see people darting in and out of the rooms taking pictures. The ambience was marvellous, nothing compared to what we have here in Singapore. Unfortunately, this special Starbucks didn’t offer anything special on the menu, except for the tumblers and mugs launched early for Valentine’s Day next month. I couldn’t help to grab a tumbler even though I have so many at home, and mum’s gonna kill me.

The next destination on my list was the Kobe Muslim Mosque. While at the Ikuta shrine, I drew a fortune and it didn’t read so well. There were lots that I need to be cautious about this year, and I was feeling a little jaded. I may or may not believe in a written fortune, but I sure believe in God’s Grace. I took to the map, but the journey to the mosque was ridiculously difficult as the map didn’t exactly point me in the right direction. But the sights along the way were worth getting lost for.

It took a bus trip, a 990 yen spent on a cab to get to the mosque. I had a map, and unlike the majority of the female population, I know how to read it. The damned map wasn’t detailed enough to tell me where exactly the mosque was. When the cab pulled up in front of the mosque, I realised to my dismay that I shouldn’t have left the Kitano area in the first place. Bleh.

Founded in 1935 the Kobe Muslim Mosque is the first mosque ever built in Japan. It withstood the Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995 while most of the city had been flattened. Amazing isn’t it? God is great.

There were two other Muslim sisters outside the mosque premises taking pictures when I arrived. The door looked closed and it was past the late afternoon prayer time, we weren’t sure if it was open. Oh well, that didn’t stop me from uttering a small prayer though. Hopefully this year will be kind to me.

It was almost 5 pm and the sun was already setting. I needed to make one more stop before the sun sets, and tracing my steps back to Kitano Ijinkan and boarding the bus on time was a close shave.

My next post will feature the Kobe Port Tower, and the famous Kobe beef of course! So do stay tuned :)

I’m still alive

January 20, 2015

Ooops, sorry for the lack of updates the past few weeks. Okay, not really sorry because I’ve been spending most of my time away from the Macbook and dedicating it to awesome people.

Went for my first trip of the year to Batam with Auch and Hanisa, the former I met once or twice and get updates via Instagram and latter, an old friend I haven’t seen in the longest time. It was an awesome trip spent eating, relaxing, shooting air guns and playing Jenga in the middle of the night while laughing at Hanisa who was super committed to her pilates routine. Basically, by the end of the week we learnt more about one another than we ever had and ever will. Hope to spend more time with them, though!

Spent the weekend at home, but not at home. Busied myself with random get togethers, and rock climbing! Hadn’t rock climbed since I was 15 and I had a merciless (yet supportive) belayer who threw me into the deep end of the pool, I mean, climbing wall. Ming didn’t let me start with the easiest; I jumped two sub-levels up and KILLED IT. Here’s to more sporting activities this year to keep my muscles active and not let me curl up in the corner writhing in agony after any intense activity. After rock climbing though, went to meet Mr Ummar and had a BBQ/steamboat dinner. Of course, we do physical activities not to lose weight.

The year is still pretty new and I’ve been consciously trying to put some of my bad habits to sleep and cultivate new ones. Right now, I’m just throwing things out… literally. I cleared out 1/4 of my desk when I was home last week and I hope to create a dent when I get home next week. One does not need that much stationery on the desk.

I need to get started on the wall behind my desk as well. I stripped down all my old photos and tacked up the Scratch Map Amanda gave me last year. Other than that it’s pretty bare. All in good time.

Plus, I’ve been actively trying to cut down on the amount of junk I buy while at work. Junk means unnecessary items, food and other stuff. I used to come out of the supermarket arms laden with food I thought I’d eat, especially in Japan.. with all the good stuff from the kombini. Less junk, more money saved up!

2015 will be the year of preparation for what’s to come in 2016. I have things up my sleeves that I want to achieve and to do so, I’ll need lots and lots of preparation. Saving up a ton makes up a huge part of it, but research is key as well. This year will be my work hard, save harder and try to squeeze some travels in between kinda year. Let’s see by the end of this year how many things I can tick off my list. EXCITES.

Lastly, my Turkey trip travelogues are works in progress! February will be completely dedicated to sharing my experiences with you. So stay tuned! Meanwhile, I am going to enjoy the rest of my work trip. We’re going to KOBE tomorrow! Right now, I am going to have to drag myself out of bed and go to work. Sigh.

The Reread Challenge

January 6, 2015

My mum bought a whole set of squarish blue books the size of a sandwich from a vendor before I even learnt how to talk, let alone read, but I picked them up and the rest is history. As a kid, the only thing (other than food and The Sims) my parents won’t object getting me were books. I had a whole collection of Spot the Dog series, Enid Blyton, Harry Potter among others residing in my bookshelf. For some reasons I could never fathom, I never liked the Little Miss and Mr Men series. As cute and odd and colourful the characters were.

When I’m travelling for work or for leisure, I almost always have a book with me. Some times I finish a book in two weeks and would be itching to get a new one, pronto. It ain’t good for my overcrowded bookshelf. And I am too much of a snob to invest in an ebook. I still like the feel and smell of a book book. Last year alone I bought 10 new books.

So when I saw this challenge hosted by Hannah from So Obsessed With and Kelly of Belle of the Literati, I just HAD to participate. I’ll be plucking old books off my shelf and what I’ve read every end of the month.

I’ve just finished reading The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak and it was mind blowing. There’re lots of women in the story; grandmother who suffers from Alzheimers, mothers who favour her one and only son over four daughters, four sisters who are so. very. different, daughters who just want answers. The most amazing thing about this book is that you’re reading fragments of each characters lives, asking questions only to find the answers in the next five chapters. But at the end, the book ties up loose ends and wrapped nicely with a bow, like a present.

If you like reading too, join me in completing this year-long challenge #ReRead2015!

P.S. The blog’s very first giveaway has ended and INGE SPEERMANNS from The Netherlands was the lucky winner. Congratulations, and I hope you’ll like the gifts!