Time with Charlie and Rokko Mountain

After we dropped our things off on Rokko Island, Jillian and I went to go meet Charlie in Kobe for lunch. We couldn't actually check in until later that afternoon, so we just left our things with the concierge at the front desk. Since Jill and Charlie really wanted Thai food, we went to this cute little place that Charlie knew about near Sannomiya. The place was cozy, and packed, so we actually shared a table with two Japanese women, but didn't speak with them much because of a partition placed between us since we weren't really the same party. Eating Thai food with Jill was really nostalgic, since it's something we did a LOT in Olympia. (Olympia has something like, at least six different Thai restaurants... we've eaten at pretty much all of them)

After eating, Charlie suggested that we go up to Kobe 北　(North Kobe) since it was just a few blocks away from where we ate. Jill and I weren't interesting in anymore shopping, since we already had so much stuffed-'till-bursting luggage back at the hotel, so we decided to take the Skyway up to the Rokko Mountain Herb garden, which Charlie said was pretty cool.

Rokko Mountain Skyway

Fortunately for us, it was a sunny, if somewhat chilly day, so the view of Kobe was pretty breathtaking. Unfortunately, my pictures from the top of the mountain didn't turn out super-well, but I've still got some from around the mountain!

Rokko Mountain Herb House and Spice Museum

At the top of the mountain, there's a neat little gift shop that sells seeds and perfume and things from the herbs on the mountain. They've also got this neat display of how fragrance is extracted from plants and herbs, and a big, detailed doll house, although I'm not sure why it was there exactly. There's also this spot where they have four scents lined up in a row in different bottles, and each bottle has a letter and a color associated with it. After smelling them all, you're supposed to decide which was your favorite, and which was your least favorite. Depending on which you've chosen, there's a kind of personality analysis sheet you can (in theory) read. Unfortunately, since there was way too much kanji for me to understand, I couldn't decipher it, but it was still fun to try!

Doll House near the gift shop

As we continued down the mountain, we found the herb garden itself. Unfortunately, since it's winter, a lot of the plants weren't blooming in full force, but guests are encouraged to touch and smell the leaves and flowers that are available. Sadly, Charlie had a really bad cold, so he couldn't smell too much, but we had a fun time looking for plants we recognized and seeing them in their semi-natural state. They had little plots for pretty much every herb I could think of! The nerd in be got really excited that I could remember what kinds of potions (or poisons) could be made from some of these plants in various video games I've played. It was cool to see!

Past the herb gardens is the greenhouse and spice museum. Inside they had lots of interesting plants, as well as the spice museum where you could grind up and smell the plants and herbs after they'd been harvested and manufactured.

Fox Fruit (Citrus)

A grind-and-sniff section of the Spice Museum, complete with Mortar and Pestle!

We stayed in the welcome warmth of the greenhouse for a while, and smelled more things in jars - some good, and others not so much. (I kept going back to Cinnamon between tries because it was easily my favorite - licorice a close second) Charlie said that it would probably take another half hour or so to hike down the rest of the mountain, but because Jill wanted to make it back before it got too late since we'd left our bags at the front desk, we decided to take the Skyway back down the second half of the mountain.

Before heading back to Rokko Island, we bought some of these amazing little Manneken waffles they sell at the Kobe Train Station. Since I was supposed to return to the states the next day, Charlie and I had our farewells before we headed back for the island.

OH! One odd thing that happened though before we headed back was that Charlie and I were waiting for Jill near the bathrooms when an older, and probably fairly drunk Japanese gentleman approached us and asked us where we were from. I looked to Charlie, not sure what to do, and Charlie looked back at me expectantly. The man tapped me on the shoulder and repeated the question, which surprised me since Charlie is slightly more clearly a foreigner than I am, but I responded "America" hesitantly. The guy got really excited and started asking me questions in slurred English, and I did my best to respond in Japanese. That got him really riled up, and he started to raise his voice saying, "Wow! Very good Japanese!!" He was also starting to spit while he was speaking. Charlie just seemed amused.

Eventually, the man's friend, or son or something found him and pulled him away, saying that they were gonna miss their train. I nodded at his companion in grateful relief, but the man pulling the drunk guy away just looked kind of agitated. The drunk guy shouted that he needed to go, because he was gonna miss his train, and went away.

But yeah! Adventures! Next time, I'll write about the airport - after I list some things I miss, because I do miss some things. I'm not sure if it's homesickness or what, but goodness... anyway, new post! 'till next time!