Shabu Shabu

It has been a while since my last post. I dont have any excuses except for that the hotel we are in at the moment makes you pay to use the internet, and I`m pretty tight. So you can imagine my fury when I find it cost me the equivalant of a pound for ten minutes. Anyway, ranting aside...

We have moved on from the city of Osaka and are now in the port town of Kobe. The remaining few days of Osaka were pretty great. We headed to Osaka castle which was quite nice, but I think I may have seen enough castles now to get me through the rest of the trip. There is one Castle in Himeji, which is the only one I would willingly go see from this point foward as it is one of the few remaining castles that is in its original state. All the other ones seem to have caught fire, and then several years later hit by lighting. I guess maybe they should stop making them on top of large hills. It would have saved a few pennies and it would have saved me having to walk up large heights.

After the castle we decided to try the local speciality in terms of food, Octopus Balls. I don`t mean the testicles of a octopus silly. It is simply octopus friend into a type of doughy ball. They are really delicious and if you ever head to Osaka you should definitely try some.

That day after that we headed to the out skirts of Osaka to where the main Otaku scene is. Otaku is a phrase used for the over-emotional anime fan. The area was great and probably my favourite part of Osaka. It is so gritty and messy, yet full of Anime shops and maid cafes. We wanted to head to a maid cafe just for the experience but they all seemed fairly expensive. The beverages alone were a lot of money, and then on top of that you have to pay by the hour for simply being in the cafe. So we decided not to. Walking down the Otaku street and seeing Japanese girls in maid outfits and buildings with large anime pictures posted on the outside of them was an awakening moment for me. It suddenly hit me that I was in Japan, and that is country is so different from our own. It was a great moment.

Kobe is beautiful. It is an amazing port town and I think i like it more than Yokohama. Our first day was simple. After checking into the "you have to pay for the web" hotel we headed to "HarborLand" A shopping district with a small theme park and a nice view of the port and shipping yard. We simply window shopped but it was nice to walk around and breathe in that salty sea air.

The day after we headed to the China town of Kobe. Although not as big as Yokohama`s it was still really nice. Simply made up of four streets the China town, know as "Nankin Machi" is full of restaurants and souvenier shops it was pretty great.

Yesterday was a great day, and an even better night. Kobe hasn`t been the most accessible place and there wasn`t really an easy way to get to the earthquake museum so we decided to walk. It took the best part of an hour but was well worth it. The earthquake museum was a mix of emotions. The earthquake known as "Hanshin Awaji" happened at 5:46am, 17th January, 1995. It claimed the lives of 6,000 people and destroyed Kobe. The museum takes you through what happened and gives you an insight into the people that were affected by the quake. It made me realise how weak man is. It doesnt matter how much we prepare for a disaster like that, we can never truely brace ourselves fully against mother nature. We are babies in her arms and she can decided how badly she wants to hurt us when she wants to. However, the museum shows that people have the will to rebuild and be kind to others. The restoration after the quake shows that man can survive and that we are able to push through the bad times to make something better of the future. As Humans we learn and adapt and that museum shows how truely beautiful the power of man can be.

On the evening of that night we met up with our friend Jun, who we met in Nara. Jun was a gentlemen and treated us to Shabu Shabu. Shabu Shabu is literally a large pot of soup that you fill with meat and vegetables and then eat away at. It has replaced Ramen as my favourite Japanese Dish as it is just so delicious. Jun was great company for the night and we are glad we have met someone so great on our Journey. He is even taking us to an Onsen tomorrow that overlooks the longest suspended bridge in the world. We are both looking foward to it immensely.

I hope this post isn`t too up and down. As you have probably guessed I only have ten minutes so have rushed this post in order to save money. One more night in Kobe and then we are to Hiroshima where we will be staying with Annika, which I am most grateful for. I`m really excited. Apparently she is excellent at downing drinks, this i have to see.

Thanks for Reading.
Arigatou, Sayounara.