The next day followed a similar pattern. I spent most of the morning hanging out in the living room alone, while working on things and planning out my day. Before noon, I finally headed out for the day to do a bit more sightseeing. The weather was a little cooler and the sky was overcast, so I brought a jacket, just in case.
I walked over to the inner harbor, which is the home of Meriken park, the Kobe Port tower and the Maritime Museum. After wondering about the park for a little, reading the plaques (particularly concerning the 1995 earthquake), I visited the Maritime Museum, which houses an impressive collection of model ships ranging from 15th century wooden sail boats (such as the Santa Maria) to modern cruise liners. There were a few multimedia displays explaining integrated port systems and future technology of magnetic propulsion for shipping, as well as a whole second floor dedicated to the history of Kobe.
The museum shared a space with a — let’s say — permanent exhibit called “Good Times World” that is a PR feature of Kawasaki. It was quite interesting to see the whole history of the centenarian company that appears to have dominated the world of heavy industry. Kawasaki did not shy away from its involvement in WWII, proudly boasting of its development of airplanes and submarines. I was most impressed to see that the same year Kawasaki developed Japan’s famous bullet trains, it delivered shitty subway cars to New York. Anyways, there was a whole hands-on section to the exhibit where you could climb on various motorcycles and vehicles, and take part in simulators of aiplanes, jet skis and train operations.
I purchased a combo ticket that also included entrance to the port tower, but I probably should have just saved my money. The views were alright, but there was literally nothing else on any of the observation decks.
The stroll continued heading in the general direction of the train station, passing through another district with a handful of old buildings from the foreign settlement and a public park. In the train station, I purchased a one-day Kansai regional JR pass for the next day, then headed back to the park to kill some time.
I was so hungry and was not sure I was going to make it all the way to sundown to eat, but I did what I could to stretch out the time, including going to the 24th floor of the city hall, which is open to the public for views of the city. It probably would have been good to hang out there and watch the sunset, but I couldn’t stand the wait any longer, especially as I had been waiting all day to try some Kobe beef.
On the north side of the train station, there is a bustling strip of restaurants, bars, and karaoke. I headed to a place called Steak Land, and splurged on a steak set meal, cooked teppanyaki-style. The prices were a bit higher than I had scouted out in the hostel/on Google Maps, but I went for it anyways. The set meal was a bit of a disappointment. The “salad” was basically two leaves of lettuce. The “special home made soup” tasted like Campbell’s and was maybe three spoonfuls. The steak, which I had rare, was pretty amazing and the portion of grilled vegetables was generous (if a bit heavy on the bean sprouts). Nevertheless, the final disappointment was the tiny cup of coffee at the end, which was clearly instant coffee. In the final assessment, it would probably have been better to order a la carte or come in during lunch time for a better price (and not the extra 4% service charge).
I devoured that meal so quickly, the sun hadn’t even set yet by the time I was done. I hopped on the train back to my neighborhood and sat down at the balcony, where a couple of the residents were hanging out: G was drawing, C was playing video games, and W was working out. The table was covered in empty beer cans and gift packs of junk food, while two Japanese women (one of whom was the owner, I think) were playing with a baby in the living room. Obviously, I had missed a kids birthday party, though that didn’t explain all the beer. I ate a bunch of the junk food, then went down to the grocery store to buy more food and ate that.
Later, I packed up my bath stuff and headed over to a sento to relax in their hot tubs. It was a pretty good one with lots of different kinds of jacuzzis and a cold pool. The signs said the water was from the same source as the waterfall I had visited the day before. Unfortunately, the sauna was locked with a sign on it saying that you had to pay extra for it. As I was changing back into my street clothes, the boss popped his head in the locker room and (I think) asked me if I wanted a beer. I declined, but passing a 100 yen vending machine on the way back to the hostel, grabbed a 500 mL yellow can of Coca-Cola.
The usual suspects were hanging around the living room, one of whom was eager to play a game. I joined them for a few rounds of the name game (aka “who am I”), and it was past midnight before I even noticed.
| Shaving cream/hair stuff | 633 |
| Museum/tower ticket | 1000 |
| JR West Kansai Pass | 2300 |
| Kobe Steak “Satisfying Set” | 5075 |
| Train | 130 |
| Snacks | 179 |
| Onsen | 430 |
| Coca-cola | 100 |
| Total: | 9847 JPY (630.2 RMB) (USD 92.35) |
Running Total: 31272.2 RMB (USD 4582.6)
Daily Average: 306.6 RMB (USD 44.9)