It's time to go to Kobe! From Tokyo to Kobe we reserved seats on the shinkansen departing from Tokyo Station, and changing to a Limited Express Train at Shin-Osaka Station, and got off at Sannomiya Station. If you have the option, reserve seats on the right side of the train so you can hopefully see Mt. Fuji on the way. If not, then just walk to the space in between the cars and use the window there. We were so lucky to get a clear sky that day and were able to see the white-tipped mountain in all its glory!
Now about luggage. With a baby and a couple of seniors in the group, I didn't want to drag large suitcases on the street and on the train, so we made use of the TaQBin (delivery) service from Lyf Hotel in Tokyo to Monterey Kobe Hotel in Kobe. The service is normally 'next day service' as long as you drop it off before their pick-up time. You can check with the hotel concierge to see what their schedule is like, it's different from hotel to hotel. Give yourselves ample time because when shipping, the hotel would usually make a call first to the receiving hotel to make sure that they can receive and keep the luggage. The cost is about 2500 yen per piece of luggage (up to 160 cm L+W+H size).
If you decide to drag your suitcases with you, know that the Shinkansen requires reservations for large suitcases.
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Mt. Fuji
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Mt. Fuji
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We had a little incident at Shin-Osaka station this time, the train we wanted to take was so full that our group got separated! It all worked out in the end though, we split tasks, checked in at the hotel, and lineup for lunch all at the same time to make up for lost time.
As we had done before, when we go to Kobe, we have lunch at Steakland Kobe. They sell steaks teppanyaki-style, and they have lunch specials at very reasonable prices. DH said that the meat was not as good as it used to be, and he had pictures from our previous trip to prove it. It was still good, though. We ate here twice during our stay! :)
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| The queue for Steakland |
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| One of the Steakland locations |
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| Lunch set menu |
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| Waiting for our food! |
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The side dishes and sauce
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After lunch, we met up with a friend of mine from my university days. It was my first time meeting her kids! We went to the
Nunobiki Herb Garden which I will make a separate post for. So please stay tuned for that!
In the evening we went to eat
Ramen Zundoya as requested by Oma. A perfect meal for a cool night.
We stayed 2 nights in Kobe, but had spent one of the days in Himeji. The hotel where we stayed at, the Hotel Monterey Kobe has public bath available. Not an onsen, but still very nice. We made sure to use it both nights we were there. To see more info on other hotels in Japan, please have a look at my
Japan Accommodation Review post!
On the second evening, we had dinner at Red-Rock the tasty sauce version. Most people know Red Rock by their towering Roast Beef rice bowl, but they also have another location nearby that sells more variety of meat with very tasty sauce. I didn't remember the exact location so we went round and round only to find that it's located right across from the Steakland! LOL!
Next, the Nunobiki Herb Garden. Stay tuned!
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