Kobe Luminarie

Following the Hanshin Earthquake in 1995, Italy donated beautiful lights to Kobe to commemorate the tragedy. Now an annual event, the Kobe Luminarie attracts three to five million people a year. Before our visit home in December, we bustled through the crowded streets of Sannomiya with a couple of friends to see the illumination. (It was definitely on a different scale than Nabana no Sato!)

The first display was a tunnel of lights.

After walking through and seeing all of the lights, there were the usual yatai, or food stalls. Among yakitori and takoyaki stands was a stand with candied apples and mandarin oranges. I've never tried the candied fruits, but I've always thought they looked pretty!



Below is an okonomiyaki stand. It might be difficult to see, but I really like the smile on the man's face.


Going to see the Luminarie was a nice time, but unless you have friends to keep you company and patience for long lines, you might not be interested if you're in Kobe December next year.

Walks

I had the chance to take a walk around my school today and see some beautiful fall scenery:

I was surprised to come across this tree while walking through a park.

I am grateful for the opportunity to take walks in a country full of interesting things everywhere I look. I feel fortunate to experience solitary walks like the one I took today, walks with Chad, and walks with friends. Last month, I was lucky to have the opportunity to go for a 10 kilometer walk that supported breast cancer awareness.

It was called the Pink Ribbon Smile walk, and the 10K route went around some really neat parts of Kobe. We got the chance to see cool areas in Kobe, watch some neat festivals going on that day as we passed by, have good conversation, and support a cause we all believed in. I'm definitely hoping to participate again next year!

My friends Fumiko, Rachael and I before the walk

To mark the start of the walk, there was an explosion of confetti that fell all over the crowd!

There were plenty of cute things to look at in the starting area.

Here we are with Yasu after finishing! Phew!

I am thankful I could have such a meaningful walk while living in Japan.

November Challenge Update:
1. Went for a 38 minute walk
2. Day off from the gym, but going tomorrow
3. Drank 1 and 3/4 liters of water at school, and drank more at home.
4. No buying or eating sweets while alone
5. Recorded today's thankful thought!

Be back for more tomorrow!

Cake Set at Saint Maria

Near Sannomiya station there is a little cafe called Saint Maria. Although the atmosphere leaves something to be desired (it's kind of like a smoky 70's diner, without any of the kind of classiness you might be trying to imagine), the cake set was perfect for a rainy day.


It was only 500 yen for your choice of cake and your choice of specialty drink. We chose the berry cake with a caramel latte.


This week we had Typhoon Roke messing up all kind of plans for sports day at school and draining the sunlight and happy weather. Despite the gloom, it was a nice chance to catch up on busy work, calm down after such a crazy busy summer, and fall into autumn. We've had chances to try and break into a bit of reading and creative endeavors, do lots of exercise, and go on fun little dates like our trip to Saint Maria cafe. Luckily sunshine is in the forecast all weekend, so we can relax in brighter moods!

Akashiyaki

Two of our friends came from Mie to visit, and they happened to know a delicious Akashiyaki restaurant in Sannomiya!



Akashiyaki is a lot like takoyaki, but softer and with much more of an eggy taste. Also, whereas takoyaki generally has octopus inside, Akashiyaki can have octopus or shrimp (at least, at this restaurant that was the case). We were excited to try it for the first time.

Akashiyaki is grilled in the same fashion as takoyaki

Unlike takoyaki, Akashiyaki doesn't come with loads of sauce and toppings. It can be dipped in mitsube, or Bird's-Foot Trefoil (a plant that looks similar to a clover). There is also sauce you can spread on top if the mitsube isn't enough, but we enjoyed the simpler version best. Akashiyaki was very light and yummy.

With friends (from the back): Kazu, Mafuyu and baby Chio

Getting Beeped

Yesterday on the train home from work, the subject of crêpes came up and two of my coworkers and I decided it was necessary to seek them out as soon as possible (which was today). From Sannomiya station, we began our short pilgrimage to Hysteric Jam, a crêpe shop I had seen while wandering around window shopping.

Above you can see the enticing window display in front of the store, as well as a close-up of the blackberry and raspberry crêpe with chocolate and cream (ordered by one of my coworkers), the store sign, and a close-up of the rare cheese cake with blueberry sauce crêpe (which I ordered!).

So yummy! I never had crêpes before coming to Japan, and it had been about 4 years since the last time I tried one. If you are like me, and lacking crêpes in your life, I sincerely suggest seeking them out.

Note: If you try typing crêpe in an iPhone message, auto correct changes it to "beeped," which--at least to me--can result in a rather humorous message.