Chinatown, Harborland and the House of Amusements

Yesterday, we walked Kobe.

I woke up uncharacteristically early and had to wait for Nicole to join me. I watched the new "30 Rock" and, since it was late in the afternoon in the U.S., caught up on the day of American politics.

We ventured out around 10 a.m. and walked along a shady, Rocky Point-esque shopping path (used video games, possibly-stolen electronics and loads of porn with Reggaeton music in the background) that lies under the Japan Rail line to Sannomiya, a thriving hub of Kobe. Nicole took me into a department store even though I was hungry. Little did I know that in the basement of all department stores in Japan lies a stocked market with all kinds of food counters. Seafood, butchers, cake shops and bakeries, this was better than Whole Foods. Canuevenbelieveit?

We picked an assortment of delicious pastries and walked over to do more eating in Chinatown. Packed with children of various ages who seemed too young to be left to scavenge for their lunches, Chinatown consisted of rows of many similar looking food stands (but all looked delicious). Water dumplings, pineapple and curly fries on a stick (how adventurous of me!).

We shopped around and explored the area until we found Round 1, a bowling and "Amusement" house, 12-stories high. Rhythm games, Mario Kart and purikura (insanely fun photo-sticker booths designed for Japanese girls).

In the evening, we went to Harborland, a modern dining-center on the bay with over 30 disparate restaurants, amusement park and a multi-plex. It's where the young suburbanites go on date night in Kobe. We surveyed the restaurant choices and rode the giant ferris wheel before deciding that we had to eat Kobe Beef at least once in Kobe. We cooked the delicious, thin strips ourselves on a small grill in the middle of our table. "Yum-O!"

Photos of the day.