A Jamaican in Kobe - Part I

Restaurant that is. Today's plan was to meet with Dolly and Adelle for a trip down to Kobe for sightseeing and Jamaican food, and after that we would meet Steve to wish him happy BDay. When I got up I saw that the sky was grey and the clouds looked ready to burst. I was hoping for no rainfall. It was a busy morning with getting ready to sending last minute phone emails to people.

We managed to meet up and have a snack a little behind schedule. The JR Special Rapid Express train from Umeda whisked us to Sannomiya station in 20minutes, which really surprised me. After getting off the train we walked around to find the restaurant. On the way we took a premature left turn and got a little lost, but soon we were headed in the right direction.

Trouble befell us as Adelle discovered to her dismay that an opened bag of Mozzarella in water had sprung a leak in her bag! I volunteered to go get her a bag from a nearby Lawsons. As I was waiting for the street light to change I heard a steel drum melody, and when I turned my head I saw the sign for Jamaicana, the restaurant for which we had been searching.

With the spill contained and dealt with we made our way to a Doutor to get some snacks to quell Adelle's ravenous, Dolly's small hunger, and Jamie's I-ate-recently-but-I-could-eat-again hunger. A mocha was all I needed. Fortunately for us the weather changed while we were chatting and the sky turned from gray to blue!

After some discussion we wanted to go see a Teddy Bear museum or some famous themed houses so we headed off with trusty maps in hand. Unfortunately for us, we took the wrong turn and ended up way off course. So we turned around to head back but our attention was caught by the Kobe cable car attraction. Adelle, who had been on it already, convinced us to go up and so we went. Heights are not my cup of tea, but I got in the gondola and away we went.

At the top of the mountain there was a gift shop with all sorts of flowery perfumes and bath things. The girls shopped for a bit and then we headed down the mountain. We paid some money to walk through the Herb Garden and to visit a neato green house. In the spring and fall the flowers bloom, but as it is February we saw only a few perennials. The greenhouse was great as it was hot and humid inside with various palms and tropical plants.

Soon the manicured herb garden turned into a road that lead to a steep and rough trail that lead down towards a dam. Once down the stairs we were rewarded with a great view of the water basin there, though there were plenty more surprises in store for us.