Kobe, Japan
Today we decided to wing it in Kobe after our tour of Osaka with Tiaga. There is a Chinatown and a shopping mall that we are going to check out.
Stores generally open at 11 am in Japan. There is a shuttle bus provided by the city and we hopped aboard sometime after 10 am. It is a short day today as all aboard is 4:30 pm.
Not as big or as impressive as Chinatown in San Francisco but we decided to check it out. It was still before 11 and not too many business were yet open. Next door was an arcade that had many shops starting to open. Minatomototomachi Mall.
We browsed the many shops. One shop that caught our eye was a vintage clothing store. It had many shoes, boots and other previously worn items but also had some brand new clothing with a classic look. I purchased a cardigan sweater and Terri picked up an overcoat, a scarf, sweater and vest. Great looking stuff. We also stopped in the coffee shop and picked up more coffee. Ours was running a bit low and I don’t want to stoop to ship coffee. Bad stuff.
Lunchtime. We walked back over to Chinatown. We ordered meat dumplings and fried rice. Is it more Japanese than Chinese? We will figure that out in China next week. Very delicious. I had a local draft beer and Terri some local wine.
We left the restaurant and wondered about. We came across a chocolate store and decided we would try some.
We were given samples when we walked in and they were so delicious we had to buy some. We were amazed by the number of people in the street eating and going about their business. Yesterday it was snowing in Osaka and today in Kobe it was only in the 40s at best. Economy not hurting here.
We enjoyed our time in China Town and boarded the shuttle bus back to the ship.
There was a sail away party on the promenade deck. As we sailed away, a community band played some tunes. Very small group. Good sousaphone player and some understandably out of tune clarinets. They were outside and it was cold. Looked like a fun group.
It was tough taking this picture. Lots of folks in my way.
Tonights entertainment was Kenny Martyn. Last time we heard Kenny, he was Kenny Martin on the 2019 world cruise. Not sure how the pandemic gave him the Y instead of I.
Great clarinetist. I really wish an entire big band could accompany him. He used canned music. It is ok but live is best. We missed his first show last time we saw him. All clarinet. His second set he will pull out the banjo, sax and other instruments. He is a very accomplished performer. He gets a 10. Live music would give his show a 10. Canned tunes. I can only give a nine.