2015-07-19, Kobe

At the beginning of the week I went to lunch with Cindy at a place I had been to in early March and had wanted to go back to ever since.  We had a nice, although a little bit rushed, lunch.  Last time I was there there had been only a couple of other people in the place but it was full this time.

I had daily lunch - some sashimi, pieces of pork and egg, vegetables on top of fish
tempura, rice and seaweed soup.  Yummy.

Cindy had the Omi beef lunch which was even more delicious.

We had the outside edge of a typhoon on  Thursday and Friday, nothing much really - here anyway - there was a lot of flooding and landslides in other areas.  

On Sunday I took a train to Kobe, a city I haven't been to before.  I decided to take a different road to the station - when will I learn not to do things like that?!  And of course I went the wrong way and had to backtrack (luckily I decided to stop and ask for directions).  I had to pedal hard and it was so hot - I made it but with sweat dripping down my face.  I had a 2 hour ride during which I cooled off.  

I met Noriko (my friend from Tokushima) at a nearby department store.   I had been planning to walk around the harbor area before meeting her but they didn't hit any traffic and arrived first.  So we headed to Chinatown where we had a couple of snacks.  Some steamed bun type things (manju) and tapioca tea.  

Then we stopped at a chocolate shop where Noriko picked up some gifts.  And at another one around the corner to admire all the cat chocolate.

We spent a good part of the rest of the VERY hot and humid day wandering around shopping arcaades and indoor malls.  One of them had these ice displays.  Evidently with the first one, if you melt the ice you can take the toy inside.

We stopped for lunch at a place Noriko had seen in a book - there are big books describing restaurants in almost every city or area in Japan.  People seek them out and wait in long lines to get in.  The line here wasn't bad, just a couple of people ahead of us, perhaps because it was still early.

This is a form of takoyaki - octopus balls (flour batter balls similar to pancakes with a little piece of
octopus inside and sauce and fish flakes outside).

 This place had a unique type of takoyaki.  It seemed to have very little flour, it's mostly very fluffy egg.  And it comes with a yummy broth to dip the egg in.  You can also put sauce on top.

The restaurant was very cramped, as are so many good places in Japan.  Long and narrow with some areas in the kitchen so narrow the women had to scoot through sideways!  They only serve 2 things, the takoyaki (above) and torokuten which is a kind of clear noodle made from a certain kind of seaweed and eaten cold in the summer.  Either with a vinegar dressing or sweet syrup.  

I didn't realize it but Kobe is famous for sake brewing.  They use water from the nearby mountain and say that's what makes it so good.  So we decided to take a train to an area that has a few breweries.  Most of the old building were destroyed in the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake which destroyed most of the city and killed 6300 people.  Evidently some of the buildings were saved and they are museums and shops now.   Our first stop was the Hakutsuru (white crane) brewery.  They had a very nice museum and really good sake and plum wine.

Hakutsuru sake brewery.

There are many similarities between sake making and wine making.  I think they use a different kind of mold for fermentation and of course rice instead of grapes.  Another fact I didn't know was that aging does not help sake at all and it's actually best to drink it the year it's made.

These are an example of workers shoes (now they wear rubber boots) - their names are on the shelves.

The little boxes - laquered and plain wood - are used instead of cups on special occassions
and in front are the tools used to open the barrel.

Some old sake heating pots.

Lunch boxes and tea pots.

We did a little tasting - it was REALLY good.  I would have bought a bottle but it was
so heavy and we still had a lot of walking to do.  So I settled for this:

There is yuzu (citron) flavored sake in this pouch.  You freeze it and then drink it (out of the pouch) like a slushy.  There is ice cream in this form at the convenience stores but I haven't tried it yet.

We went to another brewery down the street, Kikumasa? I think...

They had a very informative movie in English but neither of us like the sake as much.

We walked slowly back to the train wieghted down with the two bottles Noriko bought, and the heat.  And made our way to a gigantic 5 story mall near the opera hall where Noriko's husband was attending an opera.  We came across this gelato shop and of course tried some.

And then in a funny turn of events ended up at

Costco!

Just last Thursday one of the owners had gone to a different Costco and offered to bring us things.  The only thing on my list she found were lamb chops so I did pick up some baby greens, blueberries and sunscreen.  I was VERY good since I had to carry whatever I bought home.  I really wanted to bring a cooked chicken or pizza home but I couldn't bring it on the train - too long without a fridge and it would smell (good, but still...)

The best part - pizza before we left!!!  Although it wasn't easy deciding between pizza and a hot dog....

I was exhauseted by the time I arrived home around 9:30pm since I'd left the house at 8:15am! 

 But it's so nice to see friends it's totally worth it!