Sunday 28 June 2020

Japan Journeys: Kobe

Disclaimer: There is a currently a travel advisory issued against all non-essential travel due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Government of Canada and the State Department have advised all Canadians and Americans to avoid all non-essential travel due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, all major cruise lines have suspended operations around the world until September. I am not promoting any travel during this time. Please do not travel. I am just sharing my past travels and continuing to work on my blog while we are all staying at home, practicing social distancing. If you are reading this, stay safe and healthy out there. Take care of yourself and each other. 

In comparison to Osaka and Kyoto, Kobe is a quieter and slower-paced city. We were still tired from the day before, so we decided to take it slow in Kobe. The ship provided a free shuttle from the port to the Chinatown area, so we took advantage of it. Once we were dropped off in Chinatown, we wandered the area. It was still early so most of the area was not opened yet. We grabbed some snacks from FamilyMart and melonpans from a local bakery. We made our way to Motomachidori, a "namesake" shopping street; then Sannomiyacho shopping street.



It was almost lunchtime, and we wanted to beat the lunch rush so we found a nearby Kobe beef restaurant, Steakland. Even though we were early, there was a short line. Kobe beef is Wagyu beef from Japanese Black cattle. It is valued for its flavour, tenderness and marbled texture. I didn't end up ordering Kobe beef but my husband did. The chef cooked our meals in front of us teppanyaki style. The Kobe beef is certainly very tender, but in comparison to my normal steak order, I didn't think it was a huge difference! It was a nice treat though.

While we're on the topic of food, I want to talk about food allergies. I have an anaphylactic allergy to soy and bean sprouts are included. I told our server, and asked for the chef to not serve the bean sprouts, and she fully understood but somehow, the bean sprouts still ended up on my plate. It was not mixed with my meat, so I was able to eat the beef without any issues but I wasn't happy that it was still served. After this incident, I began to notice a pattern. I personally think that food allergies are uncommon in Japan, so it's often forgotten or dismissed. So if you do have a food allergy, you may have to reiterate it several times; and if it's severe, you might have to send the plate back.


After lunch, we continued to walk around the area and stumbled upon Ikuta shrine. This Shinto shrine is believed to be one of the oldest shrines in Japan.



We walked back to Motomachidori to do some shopping, stopped to get katsu for the husband and soft serve for me. There was not much more to do around the area, so we decided to call it a day and hop back on the shuttle to port. By this time, we've fallen in love with the vending machines, and stopped to get a drink before heading back on the ship.


Our last port is coming up! Stay tuned for my milestone birthday in Yokohama...

12 comments:

  1. Claiming the travel item implies that you are contracting legitimately with travel providers under your organization's own agreements, you are not simply exchanging a travel item possessed by another travel business, visit administrator, travel office or travel consolidator. cambodia tours

    ReplyDelete
  2. Uzbekistan lies at the core of the Great Silk Road. For quite a long time, desert gardens of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva carried reprieve to the processions as they advanced over the desert. Uzbekistan travel

    ReplyDelete
  3. What do we mean by one way travel? This is taken to mean when someone has open ended travel plans and has not bought a return leg or, perhaps, if someone is emigrating and wants to have cover for the travel part of their itinerary. Alanya yat kiralama

    ReplyDelete
  4. visit website
    Appreciate you sharing great blog. Keep writing.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This article will settle any second thoughts you may have had about beginning an online travel business. I won't gloss over it. timeshare cancellation team

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thus, it is a smart thought to have everybody sign a duplicate of the travel strategy to guarantee that it is perused, perceived and possessed by all organization staff. I recommend that everybody in the organization signs a duplicate of the travel strategy, if they travel. Best Western in Kansas city

    ReplyDelete
  7. Artan küreselleşme ve personelini denizaşırı ağa gönderen ve açık deniz potansiyel müşterileri / müşterileri / tedarikçileri ile bağlantı kuran şirketlerdeki artışla birlikte, kurumsal seyahat oldukça karlı bir turizm segmentidir. ucuz uçak bileti

    ReplyDelete
  8. Fethiye Resort, bölgedeki harika plajların çoğuna yakındır. Ölü Deniz'in ünlü "mavi lagün" plajı sadece 25 dakikalık dolmuş (minibüs) yolculuğu mesafesindedir. ayvalık midilli feribot

    ReplyDelete
  9. Excellent .. Amazing .. I’ll bookmark your blog and take the feeds also…I’m happy to find so many useful info here in the post, we need work out more techniques in this regard, thanks for sharing luxury travel blogger

    ReplyDelete
  10. I was looking at some of your posts on this website and I conceive this web site is really instructive! Keep putting up.. 웹툰보기

    ReplyDelete
  11. I was surfing the Internet for information and came across your blog. I am impressed by the information you have on this blog. It shows how well you understand this subject. Pai River Rafting

    ReplyDelete

I'd love to hear your thoughts!