Japan 2023 Day 5: Kobe
DAY 5: 15 JUN 2023
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| Cup Noodles Museum Osaka Ikeda |
It's time to explore Kobe!
During my previous family trip to Kansai, we did not have time to explore Kobe.
So, I'm glad that I got to visit Kobe this trip.
As we were travelling out of Osaka, we bought the 1-day Hankyu tourist pass on Klook
for about S$7 per pax.
We took a train to Osaka-Umeda station and exchanged our passes at Hankyu Tourist Centre.
Unfortunately, we didn't know that passport was needed for verification and Michelle left hers back in the hotel room.
So, only Amanda and I were able to activate our passes
while Michelle continued to use the ICOCA card.
From Osaka-Umeda station, we took the Hankyu line to Kobe!
First stop: Cup Noodles Museum
We arrived slightly after 10am and the place was not crowded.
The entry to the museum is free and the first room displayed hundreds of instant noodles arranged from past to present.
The adjacent room housed the cup noodle making stations!
We paid 500 yen each for this activity.
The first step was to design our cup!
Since we were in Japan, the land of tori gates, I decided to draw a tori gate with the sun in the background.
Lo and behold, Zhi Sheng drew something similar during his trip years ago.
Michelle wanted to draw a cute cat but somehow it turned into a monstrous cat.
We were laughing like mad at our table.
Amanda's drawings were the best!
While we were drawing, the tour groups started to enter the room and we quickly completed our design in order to proceed to the next station.
The next station was the toppings station!
I remembered choosing the seafood flavour and the cute chick toppings!
Once we have selected our toppings, the staff proceeded to seal the top with the use of a machine.
Thereafter, the cup went through a machine which tightly wrapped it in clear plastic.
The last station was to secure the cup in an air-filled bag.
The bag was so cute and many were curious about our bags when we went around Kobe city!
After our visit to the cup noodles museum, we made our way to Steakland for Kobe beef!
We decided to go with the lunch set with premium cut which costs less than 5,000 yen.
The set came with salad, garlic chips, miso soup and coffee/juice.
The chef cooked the beef in front of us and the smell was so good!
The beef was tender and juicy.
However, to be honest, I can't tell the difference between Kobe and non-Kobe beef cuts.
It was a nice meal anyway.
After lunch, we headed back to the station wanting to purchase donuts.
However, they have stopped the donut sales and would continue later in the afternoon.
Instead, we settled for croissiant egg tarts by Crogg!
Thereafter, we made our way to Kobe Nunobiki herb gardens.
To get to gardens, we had to take the ropeway.
I purchased our garden admission and ropeway tickets on Klook for S$14 per pax.
The views from the cable car were pretty!
Michelle, who has fear of heights, was screaming throughout the entire ride haha.
I tuned out of her screams while Amanda, being the nicest friend, tried to calm her down.
It was an epic and chaotic ride up to the top.
We arrived at the top shortly and the area was misty due to the overcast weather.
It started to drizzle but we continued to explore the gardens.
Spot the pokemon, Michelle.
Flowers and herbs were everywhere.
We followed the directional signs which brought us around the key sights at the garden.
There was even an area with free footbath!
Hydrangeas bloomed during our time there and it was a lovely sight seeing hydrangeas of different colours all over the garden.
Along our way down, there were hammocks for visitors to lay on and enjoy the scenery.
We spent about 2 to 3 hours exploring the gardens before arriving at the mid-station for the ropeway.
We took the ropeway back to the start point.
Thereafter, we made our way to Kinato-cho which had some unique buildings.
There was nothing interesting though.
So we made our way back to the station with a quick stopover at Ikuta shrine.
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| Ikuta Shrine |
We thought of having an early dinner at Kobe and we were deciding between Ichiran ramen and another local ramen stall.
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| Minato-Ken Sannomiya Kokashita |
I seriously didn't realise it was a huge bowl because the price was very reasonable.
I got a shock when the bowl came.
The chashu was good and melted in my mouth.
I finished all the chashu but left some noodles behind as the portion was just too huge for me.
The broth was also too salty for my liking.
After dinner, we made our way back to Osaka.
Amanda went to a bouldering gym nearby while Michelle and I played with claw machines haha.
We didn't win any prize but it was a fun experience playing and watching others attempt the games!
We also went to pachinko but the game was difficult to understand and the players were mindlessly putting in coins and pressing buttons.
Thereafter, the both of us made our way back to the hotel so that we could get an early rest.
Along the way, we spotted Naruto Taiyaki Hompo which had a long queue!
We had to queue for it haha.
The taiyaki was stuffed with adzuki bean paste and it was so delicious.
Amanda spotted the stall on her way back and bought one for herself too!
Anyway, that's it for day 5 (:
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