Kobe port + Kobe peculiarities

After walking around Kobe trying to find the Old Foreign Settlement area, I ended up at the port (which I knew how to find). Too bad about the Old Foreign Settlement area, but at least I didn’t walk up to the shrines and temples area… (some  people complain about the big number of shrine/temple posts ;P)

From the port I walked through Chinatown and back to the station. On my way I spotted a few peculiarities which I’d like to share.

Peculiar, you ask? Let me show you…

A street lamp with a cold:

Spiderman trying to burgle a steak house:

Spiderman chilling on the roof of a Kobe beef restaurant in Chinatown:

An art event about to open:

A pub called Brugge (a city in Belgium):

That pub not selling Heineken 😉 :

And the sign telling me where Old Foreign Settlement is supposed to be:

After all this, it was still only 9 AM. I was bored already so I just hung around at a Seven Eleven (free WiFi!) and posted about it on facebook. My WorkAway host Kyoko noticed my post and told me I could go there already. Saved!

I arrived in Himeji at 10:45, and I was super excited to go see the castle! I was visible from the train when it arrived at the station and from the station entrance they constructed the road in a way that it lines up with the castle. That way you have a great view of the castle from the station. Really amazing! I walked to the castle to get a closer look and then to the guesthouse which was only a few hundred meters from the castle.

When I got there, a group of Australian high schoolers was just leaving so I had to wait for a bit until they checked out. Kyoko introduced herself and Megumi, the staff working at the 588 Guesthouse. She also told me she was impressed at my Japanese (she saw on facebook) and that I could work at the guesthouse itself instead of at the one they were renovating, because my Japanese was good enough for doing check-ins and check-outs. She showed me to my room, which was located in an annex down the street, and told me to rest for a bit and meet up again at 12:30. So I did. I mean, I didn’t get any rest, I unpacked my luggage and changed clothes and stuff.

To see what we met up for, check out the next post on Friday!