Kobe, Japan’s seventh-largest city, plays host to a bustling population of around 1.5 million. As the capital of Hyogo Prefecture, it’s like that quirky character in a sitcom who’s always got something interesting up their sleeve. What makes Kobe so special?

Well, it’s famous for its fantastic pier that’s home to a boat museum, a shopping mall (hold my wallet), an outdoor skating rink (for the adventurous souls), and an eye-catching ship-like hotel that’s parked right by the water. I’ve dropped by Kobe a couple of times, and the breeze from the water was making me shiver. Still, the view was so captivating that I forgot all about the chill in the air.

The real ship in the museum:

And the fake ship (hotel):

The area is a popular tourist attraction, and was filled with caucasian folks (most of them could be found skating) or asian boys, who seemed to step out of some dorama series.

During my first visit to the Kobe pier, I was lucky enough to stumble upon a Chinatown, all decorated with lanterns and other street decor. When I came back to see it again a month later, all the beauty was already gone (although the spirit of chinese vendors, yelling out to bargain with you, certainly remained).

It takes around 30 minutes to get to Kobe downtown from the place where I lived. My station, however, used to feature the longest bridge in the world (I drove it on my way to see Naruto whirls) until Chinese outsmarted Japan with a slightly longer bridge somewhere on the mainland. The pier near me also displayed a European Victorian house of a wealthy Japanese politician who lived there a century or so ago.

The picture of me was taken in February, and it was around 15 degrees at that time. I was all dressed up in many layers of clothing and still got cold because of the wind 😦