Continue from previous post, I visited the two most popular ijinkan in Kitano-cho: the Weathercock House and the Moegi House. It wasn’t really necessary or very worthwhile – I had just too much time to kill here.

**

Weathercock House 風見鶏の館

Website: www.kobe-kazamidori.com/index_02.html
Built by G. Thomas in 1909, this red brick building is named after the weathercock on top of its roof – probably the most famous one in Kobe. It’s charging 500Y per entry but the better choice will be getting the Weathercock House + Moegi House combo tickets for only 600Y.

The living room

Else, daughter of Thomas

Dining hall

**

Kazamidori no Tamago 風見鶏のタマゴ

Website: http://kazamidorinotamago.com/
Tabelog info: http://tabelog.com/hyogo/A2801/A280103/28005422/
Located right on top of the information centre (which is just 10 metres away from the Weathercock House), I hopped into Kazamidori no Tamago for some late breakfast. Kazamidori no Tamago means Whethercock’s Egg by the way. Cock and egg, interesting. :P

Here to cure my hunger!

Meal with a view

Scramble egg & toast set for 800Y, tourist price

Coffee or tea (can’t recall by now ^^”) that comes with the set

Watching a street performer doing his stuff at Kitano-cho Plaza while enjoying my toasts from above

**

Montmartre is where movies Amélie and Moulin Rouge sets took place right? Hope to visit one day!

Spot a lady in witch hat selling her crafts

**

Moegi House 萌黄の館

Website: http://www.ijinkan.net/ijinkan/moeginoyakata.html
Moegi House, also known as Kobayashi Family House or former Sharp’s House, built in 1903 – nothing too special as well, yet a single entry ticket costs 300Y, ouch.

Pretty simple wooden house

Love how the sun shines through the windows

Bathroom

A piece of chimney which collapsed during the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake

How To Get There

• About 10-15 min walking north from JR Sannomiya Station (三ノ宮駅)

Related Posts

• Full itinerary of this trip
• Next:??
• Previous: Kitano-cho, Part I

Kitano-cho (北野町) is a historical district in Kobe which contains a number of foreign residences aka ijinkan (異人館) from last time. There are many ijinkan in this area open for public visiting (for a fee), such as the one above, the British ijinkan – with Sherlock Holmes theme as its attraction.

Went to a few popular ijinkan which I’ll post about them later, though personally I think that there’s nothing much to lose to skip these European houses – they are not that special. With that said, a visit to Kitano-cho is still very much recommended, as the area is quite big with many narrow slopes and alleys – fun for a day stroll. Not to mention you’ll be able to catch some sea view from a shrine on top of some slopes. :)

Venue of a wedding party

Lovely little lane

No Cake, No Life :)

Austria ijinkan

Outdoor cafe in between Austria and Denmark ijinkan

Check out the cute pattern on the gate

Kobe manhole

K.O.D stands for King of Dog, me guess it’s an accessories shop for pets.

A wedding house. There are many wedding houses in this area.

How To Get There

• About 10-15 min walking north from JR Sannomiya Station (三ノ宮駅)

Related Posts

• Full itinerary of this trip
• Next: Kitano-cho, Part II
• Previous: Kobe Kitano Starbucks

I find it’s fun to check out some popular international chains (read: McDonald’s, or Starbucks, in this case) when visiting different places. Not so much about having comfort food, but just to see what do they offer in their menu at this side of the world – or better still, try it!

That said, I didn’t go into this Starbucks located in Kitano (北野) as I wasn’t in the mood for a cuppa – just happened to pass by during my walk to see the ijinkan (foreign residences) and thought this Starbucks has a lovely exterior.

Wooden house

It looks like something that came out from a storybook to me. In fact, the whole Kitano made me feel that way. :) Will post about it in the next post, hopefully!

Starbucks green-and-white combo

How To Get There

• They have a map here. It’s probably about 10-15 min walking north from JR Sannomiya Station (三ノ宮駅)

Related Posts

• Full itinerary of this trip
• Next: Kitano-cho, Part I
• Previous: Kobe Back Alleys

I always love the characteristic of little streets and back alleys in Japan. They’re so fascinating to be discovered or just to simply stroll along. These photos were taken in a quiet morning of a public holiday – I could imagine parties everywhere the night before.

Some restaurants and little Japanese pubs

Complicated wiring stuff

Related Posts

• Full itinerary of this trip
• Next: Kobe Kitano Starbucks
• Previous: Ikuta Shrine

An on going traditional Japanese wedding ceremony at probably the most prominent shrine in Kobe city, Ikuta Shrine (生田神社). Nice weather, love the colours.

How To Get There

• About 10 min walk, north from JR Sannomiya Station (三ノ宮駅)

Related Posts

• Full itinerary of this trip
• Next: Kobe Back Alleys
• Previous: Osteria Gaudente @ Kobe Harborland

By having all the Japanese meals for the past few days, as much as I love them, finally I’ve reached a point where I’m really craving for something else, just anything that isn’t Japanese. After some surveying and window shopping in Harborland, I decided to dine in this Italian restaurant called Osteria Gaudente. Nice classy place with a ferris wheel view. Quite empty though.

Some bread

I ask for an English menu as I was too lazy to go through all the Japanese katakana in normal menu but that was kind of a bad move – the English one has a lot lesser choices! In the end I just made a relatively safe order, a carbonara, and tiramisu for dessert.

Carbonara, 1470Y

Tiramisu, 525Y

The carbonara was good (creamy~), so as the odd-shaped tiramisu. The dessert was served by the Italian chef himself – what a pleasant surprise. Definitely a satisfying dinner after all that cravings for non-Japanese food.

How To Get There

• Walked over to Harborland after the stroll along the harbour
• Nearest station is JR Kobe Station

Related Posts

• Full itinerary of this trip
• Next: Ikuta Shrine
• Previous: Evening Stroll @ the Port of Kobe, Part II

Continue from previous post, the sky is getting darker and finally I reached the other side of the Kobe Port Tower, the landmark of Kobe. Maybe not as pretty as the Tokyo Tower, but it does look elegant – I like this red painted steel structure.

Didn’t go to any of the museums at the area as most of them were closed by evening nor I was very interested. It’s more fun to just wander around and watch some random people, I think.

Harborland, the shopping place

Kobe Port Tower

That green thing beside the tower is Kobe Maritime Museum

Next, to the Harborland for dinner!

How To Get There

• Take JR from JR Sannomiya Station (三ノ宮駅) to Motomachi Station (元町駅)
• Probably 10 min walk from there, just head towards the direction of the sea (lol)

Related Posts

• Full itinerary of this trip
• Next: Osteria Gaudente @ Kobe Harborland
• Previous: Evening Stroll @ the Port of Kobe, Part I

After checked in and dropped luggages in Toyoko Inn, off to the port of Kobe I go. Only a station away from Sannomiya, the Meriken Park and Harborland at the port area are great places to chill and relax. Had lovely time strolling along the harbour while enjoying some nice, cool sea breeze.

A giant fish near the Meriken Park, belongs to a cafe called Cafe Fish

Port of Kobe Earthquake Memorial Park, a remembrance of the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995

Harbour city

Strolling along the harbour park

Kobe Meriken Park Oriental Hotel

That's Kobe Ohashi Bridge in red

Nice statue - 北の人

Just a few more photos to come, in part II.

How To Get There

• Take JR from JR Sannomiya Station (三ノ宮駅) to Motomachi Station (元町駅)
• Probably 10 min walk from there, just head towards the direction of the sea (lol)

Related Posts

• Full itinerary of this trip
• Next: Evening Stroll @ the Port of Kobe, Part II
• Previous: Toyoko Inn Sannomiya 2

Toyoko Inn (東横イン) is a popular chain business hotel in Japan – I think they’re in South Korea too. Decided to stay in the Sannomiya 2 branch because it’s very close to JR Sannomiya Station (三ノ宮駅), the main terminal of Kobe.

Overall I had pleasant time staying here, very comfortable room with great service from staff. Over the reception counter while checking in, they recommended to apply their membership card and use it right away for pretty good member discount – awesome!

Pardon the little mess

Then, I mentioned that there’s a luggage (the one covered with plastic in photo above) supposed to reach the hotel today, they went to the storeroom and brought it out for me – really grateful of that because I didn’t get to let them know beforehand that I sent my luggage to them prior my arrival!

Finally a room with my own bathroom

Complimentary breakfast

They provide free breakfast as well, although it may look kinda sad in my photo but that’s just because I wasn’t a big fan of Japanese style breakfast, there were actually more stuff than what I had. I love the onigiri (rice ball), they’re nice and warm! I’ve had enough of cold onigiri with pathetic fillings from konbini (convenience stores) over the past few days!

How To Get There

• Print out the map from the website – shouldn’t be too hard. I didn’t have the map with me therefore I was kinda lost and took me awhile to find the place
• It probably takes slightly longer than 2 min walk from JR Sannomiya Station as well

Related Posts

• Full itinerary of this trip
• Next: Evening Stroll @ the Port of Kobe, Part I
• Previous: Leaving Mt Koya

Left the beautiful Mt Koya at around noon for Kobe, the whole journey took almost 3 hours via Osaka. Passed by many little villages along the way which I wished to hop by but didn’t as I wasn’t sure about the frequency of trains at these places – there might be case like only a train to stop by every hour or so. Owhwells, next time perhaps?

Empty, it's all mine! ;)

Going down, going down

Transferring from cable car to train at here. Love the name of this station: Gokurakubashi (極楽橋駅) - literally means "bridge of the extreme happiness"

Riding on single track

Random little station

Should I?

Related Posts

• Full itinerary of this trip
• Next: Toyoko Inn Sannomiya 2
• Previous: Kongobuji