Kobe and claustrophobia

Hopefully I`ve spelt that right, too bad if I haven`t.

Anyway, thought while I have this access to the net, I would update again.

Im back in the Capsule hotel again - it was fun and cheap, and I certainly couldn`t be bothered trying to find another accomodation, especially after my long day.

I had breakfast (brunch) on the ground outside this weird octagonal building, while I planned my attack on Kobe. I then had to locate the station here in Osaka - which was conveniently pretty much below me. However the trip to Kobe seemed to take forever, due to having to swap trains several times, and one of those trains was the Osaka loop line, and I think I may have taken the long way around the loop.


So I eventually got to Kobe at about 4pm. Anyhow after locating the information centre I ascended the mountain where the early foreigners used to live, and checked out their houses, including an Austrian one, and another, that was made by a German named Thomas... interesting. The photo here is near the Dutch house. Notice how the cute Japanese girl is shamelessly dressed up as a dutch girl.

Following that I checked out Chinatown. It was ok - mainly just food that is readily available in convenience stores here, and Bruce Lee merchandise. The Japanese love Chinese kung fu stars I think. I saw some nun chucks you could buy too, the cheapest (but still could do the job) for about 500yen. Anyhow it was ok, made worthwhile by the nunchucks.

Then, I went to the memorial thing of the earthquake. That was good, and was near the other stuff that made good photos (the port tower, the maritime museum etc). Then it was a case of getting back to Osaka.

I made it back about 10:30, and then had a well deserved spa and sauna. And here I am. Im thinking I might have a bit of a photo session outside before hitting the hay.

Tomorrow is Osaka sightseeing. Looking forward to it.
By the way, the claustrophobia bit is because today I got a bit overwhelmed with the complexity of the train system, and the fact that Osaka and Kobe is so big and confusing, and there are millions of people.