Kobe Beef

We went to Kobe because it was there.

Again we had to settle for the pod hotel option and in it we met an American, who we ended up acquiring for a good few days.

Andy was pretty big, pretty hairy and pretty Californian. He had good stories a loose wallet, on the whole not a bad guy.

We spent our time in Kobe cruising around the city on the beach and eating Kobe Beef.

Kobe Beef is from cows that are fed beer and given massages and odd stuff like that. You eat it raw, or practically raw, and it tasted a little over hyped. It was nice but, well, not that nice.

The town was like Fukuoka. Bit of a party place. We ended up, through curiosity, in a girls bar. Essentially you pay for the privilege of entering a bar staffed by reasonably attractive women. They are apparently gorgeous, i beg to differ. You get free whiskey but it doesn't really cover the door charge to be honest. When we got in there all that was going on was two really preened Japanese guys, ginger mullets and all, where singing shitty J-Pop on karaoke.

All in all it was an odd experience. we tried to get them to make us White Russians but it turns out they were literally hired for their looks, Bar skills where heavily optional. The whole experience was all a little stuffy and weird to be honest.

If I was single in Japan I have no idea how I would meet women. There are no pubs, barely any clubs and paying to talk to a women is just frankly odd.

(You can also pay to talk to preened Japanese men if you want, the Japanese sex industry is at least equal opportunities in that sense)

I have heard rumours of Cell Phone Dates. These involve two people out on a date, sat opposite each other just texting their mates. No actual conversation is required.

Holding hands in public is unusual.

We saw a couple snogging in a park once and applauded.

We drank one night in a pub that sold nice continental beers. They tried to charge us a massive service charge, we did a runner. We still left a little money like like (The actual price of the drinks) Paying a service charge when they served us the wrong beer twice seems odd to me.

American girls in Kobe who took us to the beach.

The beach was pretty picturesque but unfortunately the only place where I have seen litter in all of Japan. It was filthy. Andy, a born surfer, was rightfully gutted about this.

The beach was shingle, so essentially useless for fun, but it did have a nice view of the bridge to Shikoku Island. This is the bridge that was built exactly like the Humber Bridge but ever so slightly bigger. You will be pleased to know I flicked it the Vs.

Before leaving the beach we discovered a free break dancing event and indulged in it heavily. Steve is a break dancing beginner and you could see he was loving every minute of it. To be honest so was I.

We also had a walk around Kobe harbour, where the fish jump out of the water, ya know like salmon. They did this in Yokohama too but I think I failed to mention it.

Anyway the next few days would be a bit hectic and climax in me seeking a rural retreat.

Stay tuned folks...