Day 1: Kobe

Beware, Japan! The gaijin have arrived!!

Today Randy took off of work, so we decided to do some exploration of Kobe. We grabbed some onigiri rice balls from the store and headed to downtown. Randy’s train stop, Tanigami Station, is apparently one of the more expensive stops in Japan, ataround 510 yen ( about 5 bucks ). We rode the train a little ways with one mission : see the local daibustu ( giant Buddha ).

The daibutsu was a lot less crowded than I expected.... asin, there was no one but us, an elderly woman, and Mr. Buddha. The elderly woman made her way down from the statue, said a short prayer, and then stared at us as she slowly scampered away. The shrine was very pretty, but I was really kinda disappointed with the lack of people there. It almost seemed like the daibutsu were no longer significant to Japan, except as a tourist attraction. =(

Near the daibutsu was a small playground. A woman and her little boy were playing there, and, unable to contain myself, I scurried over to ask her if I could take a picture. I really just wanted a picture of her and her son, Yugo, because he was so dang cute, but I ended up in the picture.^.^ She was very nice about it, and she knew a little English. We chatted for a bit before we moved on to downtown.

Downtown was pretty hopping. Narrow streets backed up with cars and people were lined with little restaurants, game corners ( NAMCO!! ),and Pachinko parlors. We explored a couple places before heading to lunch at a Indian restaurant along thewater. For about 7 dollars, we got nanbread, chicken curry, a small salad, and some water. It was amazingly tasty, but I was still recovering from airplane food, and filled up quickly. I wasn’table to finish, and although I was wary of leaving food behind in Japan, I risked it and handed the waitress my plate.

“Oishikunai??? (Was it not tasty??),” she asked. In horror I quickly informed her it was delicious, and Randy ( who can speak Kansai dialect, whereas the rest of us cannot ), informed her that I had a small stomach. As I listened to this, I heard her say the word “ookii”.........big.O.O She apparently commented that I did not APPEAR to have a small stomach. I bowed my head in utter despair and spent the rest of my day scolding myself for not just eating the whole thing to begin with.

As we walked along the water, we saw a HERD – yes, a HERD –of schoolgirls, who frantically waved to us. One looked at Matt and giggled a punky “yo,” to which Matt responded a very gangsta “Yoooooo!”. They squealed with delight and then moved on to their actual destination.

We had a few hours to kill before meeting up with Randy’s girlfriend Keiko, and so we decided to eat at a small ramen shop in town. 500yen bought us a huge bowl of delicious ramen, which we slurped down as fast as we could. Shortly after, while walking around killing more time, we found a sample sauna and foot spa... on the side of the road. The signs were too difficult to read, but we could tell that it was free. The guys all climbed in and sat next to the one Japanese man in there, who seemed unphased by their presence. Unsure of the cultural ramifications of pulling up my pantlegs and climbing into the spa, I hesitated a bit before joining the guys. And it was amazing.... What was really funny is that EVERY Japanese person that walked by did a double take and stared at us. 5 gaijin sitting in the sample foot spa in the alley....

We sat around a small park for a bit, and I decided to brave the public restroom nearby. I had read about what to do if the toilet is a traditional Japanese squat one, as well as the fact that most lack toilet paper... so, having grabbed a pack of tissue, I ventured inside.... I opened the door of the first stall and what do I see? A squat toilet.... uh oh..... The only thing I took from this venture? I need stronger legs.... much stronger legs.

One point of interest: drinking in public in Japan is legal. Shortly after emerging from the toilet/leg workout station, Randy zipped overto the konbini ( convenience store ) and bought us all beer. Taylor convinced the man nearby to take a picture of us cheersing – and there was much joy.

Finally, we met with Keiko and headed to nomihodai. Nomihodai is a 20 dollar affair in which the customer can drink as much as they want for 2 hours. We took an elevator way up to the 5th floor of some building, and entered a small bar. We were the only ones there for quite some time, and thus claimed the couch in the loft area. Randy bought all the guys’ nomihodai, and Keiko and I our first two drinks. The drinks were so good, but very weak, and the guys actually made the mistake of requesting that the bartender make them stronger. O.O Needless to say, there was good reason for the Japanese father and son that laughed at Matt on the train later.... he doesn’t remember half the night... he had 10 drinks and 2 shots...