Obon Holidays

Obon is a Japanese holiday similar to the "Chinese Ghost Festival" where ancestors are believed to be going home for a visit. And because of that, Japanese take offdays from work up till a week sometimes to go back to their hometown.

So foreigners like us who have no hometown to go back to go for trips. heeee... this time, 8 of us, conquered Kobe, Himeji, Osaka and Nara together. A very fun and full of interesting happenings trip. Shall start with Kobe.

So 8 of us went to school with our large bags intending to dash for Kobe straight after class. And since this is the period for the "Senshun Ju18 ticket", it allows us unlimited rides on JR trains for 2300 Yen per day. It is very very cheap to travel this way in Japan because on normal days, it costs about 5800 Yen to reach Kobe.
'
Anyway, we hopped on the train bound for our first destination. After about 4 hours' train ride, this is where we went to!

The youth hostel which we booked was about 2 stops away, so we decided to have some fun at Kobe habour before checking in. Check out the night scene.. It was sooooo beautiful! Breath taking, magnificient view!





And we entered a restaurant by the sea determined to have some famous Kobe beef. The ambience was superb accompanied by soft music and friendly staff. Of course, the food was so delicious and mouth-watering. can't help but over eat! Oh yes, it was buffet style with the different kinds of meat delivered straight to our tables. oohh.... so blessed! The meat was soft, tender and as you bite into it, the juice just fills every part of your mouth.. urhhgg....

Anyway after dinner we decided the trip will not be completed without a ride on the ferris wheel. But... the view should be fantastic uh? hmm why do I say so... because, I only took glances of it here and there. We the girls who sat in one car together were soo excited that we spent all the time yakking and taking photos, only to realised it when we were touching the ground ....ahaaa

So the final was wrapped up with us riding on mad mouse. Wasn't scary at all but yet we still screamed our lungs out. Well well... it was almost 11 then and we decided it was time to pick our bags and check in....

Only to find that we couldn't! No matter how hard we rang the bell or press the intercom, nobody came to the door for us. Eventually we met 2 other occupants staying in the youth hostel too but they too couldn't locate the manager as the rooms were a separate building from the main reception... almost midnight, tired and dirty bodies... the 7 of us were left stranded on the streets not knowing what to do. Train service was almost ending too... So san and I wee frantically calling every hotel in the area only to find that they are all fully occupied...

Just at the moment, we managed to find one that has space for all 7 of us. Though it was a little expensive, we welcomed the comfort of having single ensuite rooms.

Yup... wth that our first night in Kobe ended!