Day-27: Kobe, Japan

Day-27: Friday, February 28, 2014

Beginning Location: East China Sea En-route to Kobe, Japan
Final Location: Kobe, Japan

We had an easy morning following our day at sea. 

Japanese Defense Force Submarine

Red Right Returning!

We had breakfast just a little later than normal and by 1000 were seated with our team for the morning Trivia competition.

Today’s trivia challenges were tougher than before; well the questions were tougher or we weren’t quite as smart as we thought. We scored 19 out of 27 with the winning team scoring 26 points. Today’s questions included:

• Name the four primary types of clouds. (4 points)
• Pierre & Marie Curie discovered Radium and what other element?
• What are the two most famous beaches of Rio de Janiero?
• What is the deepest trench in the world?
• What year did the Titanic sink?
• Other than thermo-nuclear weapons, what, in a recent survey, was deemed to be the most feared device invented by man? The device was invented in the 1880’s.
• Where is the “ceremony of the keys” conducted daily?
• In the Peter Rabbit series of books, what animal did Mrs. Tiggywinkle represent?

After a tough morning at Trivia we returned to the room, did a few last minute Internet tasks and settled in for the Kobe arrival.

We were moored to the Ocean Terminal pier adjacent to the Meriken Hotel at 1200 having been welcomed to the mooring by the Kobe Fire Department band and Miss Kobe. Seems that the Japanese welcome typically includes music and in this case, the local Miss Kobe graciously smiling and waving to the arriving tourists.

Crazy Logo

We mustered for our Kobe tour “The Glory of Mt. Rokko” around 1230 and within a few minutes were on our way through the city with our tour guide Su.

Su is a fifty something mom of three daughters living with her family in the Kobe area. She opened the tour with a Godzilla comparison as she described the height of a port authority tower in the terminal area.

We headed to Mt. Rokko, an area of Kobe developed by a Brit at the turn of the 19^th to 20^th centuries. To reach the top of Mt. Rokko we loaded on to a funicular and then continued to the Mt. Rokko observation station by bus. Unfortunately, the view looking down into Kobe was shrouded in haze so pictures will never tell the story of the view from on high.

Throughout the trip Su had told us the history of Kobe and it’s international flair as a major port city of Japan. She also spoke of the earthquake of 1995 when over 6,000 lives were lost in the Kobe area. On the lighter side Su described the opportunities available to tourists in Kobe from local dining on sushi, sashimi and Kobe beef, to gambling (technically not allowed in Japan), Karioki and even the option of public baths (not likely for this group of tourists).

The final tour stop was at the Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum. Now this is a quality museum; you spend about ten minutes watching a video related to the origins and production of Sake, then go on a walking tour of the museum but most importantly, near the exit you enter the tasting room. This tasting room offered four types of Sake from the basic brew through several flavored offerings. Unlike many U.S. tasting rooms, in this museum there appeared to be no inventory control or limitation on the number of samplings one could do. If the sampling toast picture didn’t look just right, no worry, go back and try again, and again …

After the brewery binge we loaded back on the bus and by five were back on the ship. After a brief nap I was ready to resume the day and at seven we headed to the Grand Dining Room for dinner. Tonight we were paired with two other couples and a single woman. Of the seven of us at the table Sheila and three others thought New Jersey was a pretty good place. That being said one woman was immediately disqualified to pass judgment as anyone who thinks that the “Jersey Shore” is one of the world’s great beaches has either experienced very little in life (unlikely for the ship’s seasoned travelers) or has a very warped vision of the world. As for the other couple that had lived in NJ, they confirmed one of my core beliefs; the belief that though you might live in NJ, you aren’t likely to retire in NJ. Another sign of the similarities amongst guests on the ship was the fact that of the seven, five, including me, were familiar with Chihuly glass and that of that five no one could afford a piece of Chihuly glass art.

For dinner I had salmon and Sheila had pork, both dishes were enjoyed.

We stopped by the Martini Bar to follow-up on the evening’s trivia. The program had just concluded and the questions were being answered. Good thing we weren’t playing, I didn’t have a clue to names of the seven dwarfs when spoken in Latin.

We spent a few minutes chatting about cruises with our Kansas acquaintances, had another drink, an El Mexicano Martini for me and a Kir for Sheila before heading in to see the evening’s show, a solo act by one of the ship’s performers, a self-admitted Jersey Girl.

We stayed for several songs and then retired for the night. I’ve spent many a minute watching a Ferris wheel that is located adjacent to our ship. The wheel has one of the greatest light shows I’ve ever seen; the pictures and video clips probably won’t do it justice, nevertheless, it was impressive.

We have an early tour tomorrow with our muster at 0700 so tonight will have to end early. It’s time for sleep.