January
12, 2005 - Laura's Here! (Day 1)
Me about to puke - we started the day by going for a run. After about 20 minutes I said "uh, we should stop and look at this (pant) temple (pant). You don't (pant, pant) er, want to miss it.".
There is a spring about half way up the trail.
The spring has a little hut next to it with cups, a thermometer and a clock.
Cool, clear water .
Near the top there is a large wooden gateway. Laura really liked the carvings of water .
Today is the official “first day” for Laura in Japan. Technically she arrived yesterday, but as it was late and she was haggard so not much happened. Diana had to work in the morning so Laura and I took off without her. We wanted to run / hike a trail not far from our apartment. The trail leads up the side of Maya mountain and ends at a lookout platform with a great view of the city.
Hot drinks.. .
Nothing like sugary sweet milk tea to warm the hands .
Storms over Kobe.
It was cold and a light snowfall began just as we reached the top. To warm our insides we got some hot “milk tea” from a vending machine before going to check out the view. Laura was giddy with excitement about hot drinks from a vending machine and equally enchanted by the sugary sweet flavor of milk tea.
Laura:
In Japan, a buck twenty buys bliss, a delicious and drinkable hand warmer. Vending machines offering an assortment of hot beverages including lemon and milk tea, were easy to be found (with the exception of the mountain jaunt). Milk tea consisted of something like ¾ cup earl grey tea, 4 cups of sugar and ½ cup evaporated milk.
The Tram (they call it a ropeway here).
First we tried the rope swing - which was painful to cold hands.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch...".
Then we tried the super roller slide - which made your butt feel funny.
"Oooooh, my butt feels funny..."
Finally we tried the zip line - which was just right .
The tram takes you partway down, then you transfer to a cable railway.
Laura was screwing around when the window fell and almost chopped her head off.
This photo is for the climbers out there - these were the hand straps on the cable railway - bomber.
Lunch at the quickie mart .
There is a tram and a cable train that ferry sight seers up to the summit. After taking in the view for a spell we bought tickets to get us back down. The gondola didn’t leave for another half hour so we entertained ourselves on some of the playground structures.
Ready for the ride.
Kobe Blizzard.
The most snow we've seen this winter.
Yippie!
Diana got off work around noon so we all headed to downtown Kobe to another gondola, this one leading to an herb garden and greenhouse high in the hills above Kobe. It began to snow heavily as the gondola ascended and we were treated to a mini blizzard at the very top.
Shopping in Sannomiya .
Monster Sushi.
Must stop... Too full... Must... Stop...
After the gondola Diana and Laura headed to China Town whilst I headed back to the apartment to get the directions to our host family’s favorite sushi restaurant. We met our friends Scott and Carolyn there about an hour later and shared some good, yet overly large sushi.
