What to do in Kobe... aside from eating beef

Kobe is the capital of Hyogo Prefecture and is the 5th largest city in Japan. It's a relatively quiet city, except for the port, which is one of the busiest ports in Asia. 

From Kansai International Airport, one can opt to take train, bus, car or the high-speed ferry going to Kobe. 

It takes about 1.5hours by bus/car; 2 hours by train (change trains at Namba or Osaka station) or 30 minutes via high-speed boat.

Source: http://www.kobe-meriken.or.jp/english/img/access/access-map02.jpg

With limited time to go around... after all, it is first and foremost a business trip... here were some of the things we did:

Gawk at the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the world. With a distance of roughly four (4) miles, it links the island of Awaji to the mainland city of Kobe. Took 2 million workers 10 years to finish this impressive structure. A Japanese engineering feat!

For those who are not engineering students (like me), who can only admire the bridge for what it is, there is a nearby outlet store for all your shopping needs. Hence the Nike bag.

Factory outlets at Porto Bazaar

Platform of a typical JR station. On the board are the types of trains that will stop at this station and the final destination.

Inside a Kaisoku train. More comfortable than Rokko liner as these trains usually travel medium to long distances

Try a local ramen bar! Just say "miso ramen onegaishimas~" and you're good to go!

For those who have tempura cravings, order a special tempura set! You'll never notice how much effort it takes to deep fry something... and how much more effort you need to eat it properly.

Eating tempura is an art. There is order in eating them to build the taste in your palate. This tempura master was very precise. The entire meal set me back JPY 6000 (~Php 3000).

Cook like a pro at Tajimaya, a simple barbecue and grill restaurant. Their Tajimaya-don is popular and best paired with yakiniku, marinated with the finest sauce and spices.

Something you'll want to eat until the last rice grain!

Had my first taste of Pepper Lunch at Kobe Harbor.

The famous Kobe Harbor

A popular entertainment and shopping district near the busy busy port of Kobe.

Canal Garden, for all your shopping needs.

Cooking Kars!

The past few days, I've been experimenting lately in the kitchen. With much prodding from my mom to *at least* try cooking something simple, I've finally tried making simple dishes (thank you Mama Sita and Knorr mix!).

Wish I could post the pics now but my iphone can't get a wifi connection properly to email the pics in my laptop. Maybe next time I'll use my ipad or an actual camera.

But anyway, I cooked chicken caldereta on Monday night, which tasted incredibly edible! On Tuesday, I tried Sinigang (which was a bit too sour for our liking) and Pork Caldereta (aka Plan B) and asparagus with garlic and oyster sauce. I think I'm doing pretty well with this cooking thing.

I guess one pet peeve about all this is the dishwashing part. Thank God for younger sisters who can't cook! Mwahahaha!