Finally a relaxing morning. When we woke up, we wandered over to a nice little café near the JR Train Station in downtown Kyoto. Today we are catching the train to Hiroshima. By this point our Tokyo "group of eight" has dwindled down to just Sara, Jenny and I.
Now the girls have a Japan Rail Pass and I do not, so they were limited to only certain trains to get to Hiroshima. They ended up having to take two connecting trains, whereas I bought a ticket for the Super Express. Since I was traveling alone I made a corporate decision to purchase a “Green Car” Ticket, which is the Bullet Train's Business class. Big leather chairs, free WiFi, and other amenities for only $20 more (thanks again Mom). The ladies and I arrived in Hiroshima around the same time, but they left about 30 minutes before.
The train trip gave me some time to suck my photos into my computer and edit them a little bit (very little if you've seen them). Once in Hiroshima we took the bus directly to the Atomic Bomb Memorial Site and spent the entire day there. Unbelievably, we actually ran into the guys who left us in Kyoto. They left at 6am and had a five hour bus ride to Hiroshima (sucks for them), while we took the ninety minute Bullet Train while sitting in First Class.
It sure was interesting being there. Seeing first hand the scene of this horrific event that ultimately ended WWII, this being just a week after we experienced the place where it all began ~ Pearl Harbor. The destruction of both sites was mind numbing, almost too much to fathom. We talked for 20 minutes to a survivor who was very very interesting, it was so sad to hear what had to say. War is hell... but I'm glad I ended up going with the girls, to this place and to Pearl. Just to see for myself the destruction that going to war and the A-Bomb have.
Night – Kobe
Well I took the JR Bullet train to Kobe… Green car again of course… and got in at about 7:45pm. Once at the boat, I was going to hang out and upload some pics until 10:30 ish. This is when Eli was suppose to get back to the ship and we were going to head out on the town.
Well ... I dropped my stuff off and went to the computer lab to check my SAS email (a virus has infected us - getting a ton of spam). On my way down to my room I ran into my Bow and Greg. They said they were going out for some KOBE BEEF ... and asked if I wanted to join them. “Do you even have to ask”?!
A group of nine ended up going to this very nice Kobe Beef Restaurant (like there could there be a bad one). They had four different “dinner sets”. Ranging from a regular Tenderloin Steak dinner that was 4480 Yen a Kobe Beef dinner that was 5480 Yen and the Mac Daddy of them all the Special Kobe Beef Tender-loin Dinner that was 7480 Yen. Now Y'all are probably wondering which one I got! Right? Yea that’s right baby, the big one (haha) and it didn't disappoint me! Their presentation and timely culinary efficiency was beyond my expectations. Cooked Hibachi Style right in front of you, they first brought out some Hors D’Oeuvres, then a soup and salad with a traditional Japanese Vinaigrette dressing. Then because Bow and I got the special entree, they grilled a live shrimp right in front of us. My god it was just horrible watching it waggle and die right there. With it's little eyes still staring at me I waited the requisite three minutes to let it cool and then consumed it. I gotta admit, it certainly was a tasty delight. Now it was time for the main show, the Pièce de résistance, The Kobe Beef. It literally melted in my mouth and I just didn’t want to it to stop. When it was gone (and there wasn’t much of it to begin with), a tear came to my eye. It was definitely the BEST STEAK I EVER CONSUMED! The Cattlemen pamper these animals with massages, they feed them beer, grain and ages old herbs and medicines to fatten them up. Unlike the regular joe cows who consume only corn. I absolutely loved the meal!
After that we headed to a Kobe bar called Second Chance. They were giving out coupons to all of us SAS'ers, so of course when we finally got in there it was packed! You couldn’t even move in this place, it was shoulder to shoulder. Bow,Greg and myself left the rest of the group and went to find a more patron challenged bar. As we walked about, I saw this sign that said The Philadelphia and it pointed down a staircase. So I says to the boys "lets go down there gents".
It certainly looked like a nice gin mill and we needed a place that took credit cards because none of us had any cash. All the ATM’s we happened upon only took Citibank, Japanese banks or were for Japanese reading people only. So in we went and man, it looked like we were going into the back room of the Como Restaurant or something, but way more elegant. There were these guys playing what we though was poker but later learned was Oicho-Kabu (おいちょかぶ), which is a traditional Japanese game, sort of like Baccarat we're told.
When the three of us walked in, there were already two SAS'ers in the place (guy and a girl) and they were talking to this very Japanese fellow. We waltzed up to them and introduced ourselves. The SAS girl Amber (translation by the bartender) had been telling the Japanese fellow about their travels. So this Japanese fellow(who we found out owned the place) offered to buy us a drink in honor of Japan and the good memories that we were having there. Funny thing, after that drink the conversation started cranking up and you could just feel the good time vibes around him, he loved us! His name was Hero and he gave Bow and Greg a bottle of Whiskey (I don’t drink the hard stuff). Greg asked Hero if he wanted to have an "American" drink, so Greg went behind the bar and made our new friend Hero a “Sake Bomb” and of course he loved it! By this point we noticed that he was enamored with Amber our new SAS friend. So Bow text-ed some friends to get a bunch more of those darn American Girls down here. Well when they arrived, Hero went nuts. And because I am the Big Man (haha), he points to me and says “Nick, you work…you work bar, and all drinks are free”. Now who can turn a deal like this down! At this point there are maybe twenty of us in the bar..., not too many but certainly enough to have a decent party. So behind the bar I went, cranking out the drinks like a seasoned pro! My neighbor Rob is (according to him) a Whiskey connoisseur. He proceeds to pick out a bottle of BenRiach 40 year old Single Malt Scotch Whiskey (that reportedly sells for over $1000) along with a bottle of U.S banned - Cuban made - Havana Club. This is starting to get out of hand! The nice guy that he is, Rob bought a $200 bottle of Champagne for Hero and he was very thankful! It was just a very fun night where no one got hurt, nobody got arrested and no one broke anything in the Philadelphia, and so all is Good!
We left there at about 3:30am when our Hero had to leave, We then went to this all night bowling center and stayed there till 5:30 before calling it a night and heading back to the ship.
The Next Day
We all slept in till about lunch time (go figure). We had two goals for the day, to find an Internet café, and get some more Kobe Beef! We did both of those while we wandered aimlessly around Kobe. Around 4pm we got back to the ship for the final time in Japan… It was a sad farewell to the Land of the Rising Sun, we sure had an amazing time ~ you were quite the host!
The great thing was, I got to hang with a lot of different groups of SAS'ers. The greatest thing was the bonding. Now when I run into these dudes on the ship they are like “OMG Nick! Do you remember when we did this, and when we did that” (lol). Everyone has a plethora of interesting stories from Japan and it’s gonna be a lot of fun to hear them all.
Once again every single person made Ship Time and there were no major incidences in Japan (to speak of). So naturally the Staff was pleasantly surprised and very pleased!
We passed out early (maybe 5pm or so) and woke up briefly at 10:30pm for a late night snack before sacking out for the night. First time we had to wake up for classes in awhile. Except for class and meals pretty much the entire shipboard population slept the whole day(including professors)! Eli and myself got our post port Massage, it really hit the spot and I sorely needed it after a rough tumble through Japan.
Monday Night - we arrive in Shanghai, China tomorrow!
That's China tomorrow, China tomorrow…that’s been our mantra all day.
Night – Kobe
Well I took the JR Bullet train to Kobe… Green car again of course… and got in at about 7:45pm. Once at the boat, I was going to hang out and upload some pics until 10:30 ish. This is when Eli was suppose to get back to the ship and we were going to head out on the town.
Well ... I dropped my stuff off and went to the computer lab to check my SAS email (a virus has infected us - getting a ton of spam). On my way down to my room I ran into my Bow and Greg. They said they were going out for some KOBE BEEF ... and asked if I wanted to join them. “Do you even have to ask”?!
A group of nine ended up going to this very nice Kobe Beef Restaurant (like there could there be a bad one). They had four different “dinner sets”. Ranging from a regular Tenderloin Steak dinner that was 4480 Yen a Kobe Beef dinner that was 5480 Yen and the Mac Daddy of them all the Special Kobe Beef Tender-loin Dinner that was 7480 Yen. Now Y'all are probably wondering which one I got! Right? Yea that’s right baby, the big one (haha) and it didn't disappoint me! Their presentation and timely culinary efficiency was beyond my expectations. Cooked Hibachi Style right in front of you, they first brought out some Hors D’Oeuvres, then a soup and salad with a traditional Japanese Vinaigrette dressing. Then because Bow and I got the special entree, they grilled a live shrimp right in front of us. My god it was just horrible watching it waggle and die right there. With it's little eyes still staring at me I waited the requisite three minutes to let it cool and then consumed it. I gotta admit, it certainly was a tasty delight. Now it was time for the main show, the Pièce de résistance, The Kobe Beef. It literally melted in my mouth and I just didn’t want to it to stop. When it was gone (and there wasn’t much of it to begin with), a tear came to my eye. It was definitely the BEST STEAK I EVER CONSUMED! The Cattlemen pamper these animals with massages, they feed them beer, grain and ages old herbs and medicines to fatten them up. Unlike the regular joe cows who consume only corn. I absolutely loved the meal!
After that we headed to a Kobe bar called Second Chance. They were giving out coupons to all of us SAS'ers, so of course when we finally got in there it was packed! You couldn’t even move in this place, it was shoulder to shoulder. Bow,Greg and myself left the rest of the group and went to find a more patron challenged bar. As we walked about, I saw this sign that said The Philadelphia and it pointed down a staircase. So I says to the boys "lets go down there gents".
It certainly looked like a nice gin mill and we needed a place that took credit cards because none of us had any cash. All the ATM’s we happened upon only took Citibank, Japanese banks or were for Japanese reading people only. So in we went and man, it looked like we were going into the back room of the Como Restaurant or something, but way more elegant. There were these guys playing what we though was poker but later learned was Oicho-Kabu (おいちょかぶ), which is a traditional Japanese game, sort of like Baccarat we're told.
When the three of us walked in, there were already two SAS'ers in the place (guy and a girl) and they were talking to this very Japanese fellow. We waltzed up to them and introduced ourselves. The SAS girl Amber (translation by the bartender) had been telling the Japanese fellow about their travels. So this Japanese fellow(who we found out owned the place) offered to buy us a drink in honor of Japan and the good memories that we were having there. Funny thing, after that drink the conversation started cranking up and you could just feel the good time vibes around him, he loved us! His name was Hero and he gave Bow and Greg a bottle of Whiskey (I don’t drink the hard stuff). Greg asked Hero if he wanted to have an "American" drink, so Greg went behind the bar and made our new friend Hero a “Sake Bomb” and of course he loved it! By this point we noticed that he was enamored with Amber our new SAS friend. So Bow text-ed some friends to get a bunch more of those darn American Girls down here. Well when they arrived, Hero went nuts. And because I am the Big Man (haha), he points to me and says “Nick, you work…you work bar, and all drinks are free”. Now who can turn a deal like this down! At this point there are maybe twenty of us in the bar..., not too many but certainly enough to have a decent party. So behind the bar I went, cranking out the drinks like a seasoned pro! My neighbor Rob is (according to him) a Whiskey connoisseur. He proceeds to pick out a bottle of BenRiach 40 year old Single Malt Scotch Whiskey (that reportedly sells for over $1000) along with a bottle of U.S banned - Cuban made - Havana Club. This is starting to get out of hand! The nice guy that he is, Rob bought a $200 bottle of Champagne for Hero and he was very thankful! It was just a very fun night where no one got hurt, nobody got arrested and no one broke anything in the Philadelphia, and so all is Good!
The Next Day
We all slept in till about lunch time (go figure). We had two goals for the day, to find an Internet café, and get some more Kobe Beef! We did both of those while we wandered aimlessly around Kobe. Around 4pm we got back to the ship for the final time in Japan… It was a sad farewell to the Land of the Rising Sun, we sure had an amazing time ~ you were quite the host!
The great thing was, I got to hang with a lot of different groups of SAS'ers. The greatest thing was the bonding. Now when I run into these dudes on the ship they are like “OMG Nick! Do you remember when we did this, and when we did that” (lol). Everyone has a plethora of interesting stories from Japan and it’s gonna be a lot of fun to hear them all.
Once again every single person made Ship Time and there were no major incidences in Japan (to speak of). So naturally the Staff was pleasantly surprised and very pleased!
We passed out early (maybe 5pm or so) and woke up briefly at 10:30pm for a late night snack before sacking out for the night. First time we had to wake up for classes in awhile. Except for class and meals pretty much the entire shipboard population slept the whole day(including professors)! Eli and myself got our post port Massage, it really hit the spot and I sorely needed it after a rough tumble through Japan.
Monday Night - we arrive in Shanghai, China tomorrow!
That's China tomorrow, China tomorrow…that’s been our mantra all day.
Japan Yen
Interesting Links:
Hiroshima - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshima
Chamber of Commerce - http://www.city.hiroshima.jp/e/index-E.html
Atomic Bomb - http://www.cfo.doe.gov/me70/manhattan/hiroshima.htm
Kobe - http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2159.html
Traveling in Japan info - http://wikitravel.org/en/Japan
Kobe - http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2159.html
Traveling in Japan info - http://wikitravel.org/en/Japan
Check out our current position or other info about my voyage - http://www.semesteratsea.org/
Check out my blog as well! - nick-sas-spring2010.blogspot.
Check out my blog as well! - nick-sas-spring2010.blogspot.
Email me at - Nicholas.a.tomkins@gmail.com
My favorite part is the live shrimp!! Nick, your descriptions are hilarious and my family really enjoys reading them. Sounds like the Japanese don't think too badly of Americans, well the girls at least.
ReplyDeleteNick,
ReplyDeleteI am guessing you will not be the PETA spokesperson any time soon. You are having too much fun. I am taking a leave from UB to come rescue you. See you in a few days.
Aunt Sue