We decided to head back to Kobe on Monday. The kids brought along their Build-A-Bears as we were headed to the Build-A-Bear Workshop in Kobe (or so we thought). When we arrived at the Kobe JR station we found this beautiful flower arrangement. 
Sara wanted to take a sniff.
Sara wanted to take a sniff.
This was the beautiful waterfall in between the escalators leaving the train station.
We walked through a shopping district and while trying to find our way outside, we came across a man who wanted RJ to come make a bug. So we did.
"Thanks for all your help!"Then we headed across the street and ended up in Canal Garden.
It is basically an outdoor area with a roof that leads to many shopping stores. RJ was immediately smitten by this contraption that had a lot of pool balls rolling around in it.
It is basically an outdoor area with a roof that leads to many shopping stores. RJ was immediately smitten by this contraption that had a lot of pool balls rolling around in it.
Can you see RJ? He is the one in the white hood.
There were all these great, colorful statutes lined up down the street.
This was the last one at the other end of the street
My knight in shining armor.
Then we finally went into Hankuyo Department store where we had been told the Build-A-Bear Workshop was. Up to the 5th floor we went. 
We came across a play zone, so we let the children have some fun while I went off looking for our destination. 
We came across a play zone, so we let the children have some fun while I went off looking for our destination. 
Both of our kids LOVE to play kitchen. Maybe they will grow up to be chefs!!
Sara loves to wash her hands, even in pretend water.
Mitch says he is going to make one of these when we get home....
That's our dancing RJ. He heard some music as we passed a clothing store and had to stop.
Back to the Bear Hunt...unfortunately I was told that the store was closed and it had closed on Jan 31. What a bummer! We will look into another store that they say is in Tokyo. Hopefully it won't close before we get there. ***Prior to leaving the States, we purchased Pawsports (similar to a passport) for each kids bear to have. You can have them stamped at all the different stores you visit. We thought it would be fun for the kids to have that as a souvinor. That is why we want to go to this store.***
After leaving the play area, we headed outdoors to the waterfront. 
What a difference a day (or two) makes. On Saturday you couldn't even see Mosaic Garden (the amusement park behind us) because of all the falling snow.
What a difference a day (or two) makes. On Saturday you couldn't even see Mosaic Garden (the amusement park behind us) because of all the falling snow.This area might look familiar if you have been reading Mitch's blog also (http://www.hammesgroup.blogspot.com/) as we came here in the fall. 
This a cool red bridge that leads to Osaka. One of the JR trains in riding over it in this picture. (remember you can click on the picture to see it bigger on your computer)
These are some pictures of the dry dock area in Kobe.
Sara was getting a bit bored on the boat so she made her own entertainment by running around the table and then 'jumping' off the step.
This picture is hard to see but the long bridge (on the left) leads to an island where KIX airport is (on the right). This is the closest international airport to Himeji. The island it is on is man made and when they designed it they didn't do such a great job. It is slowly sinking. Hopefully it will still be there when it is time for us to go home :-)
These 3 pictures are of the mountains behind the Kobe harbour. I took it so you could see a few things. The skyline along the water front and the many houses/buildings that are on top of the mountains.
I took this picture for my dad. This container ship opens in the front so they can load the Caterpillars on to it to ship them. I thought that was pretty cool.
I have no idea what these buildings are, but I think the tour talked about them as people were looking at them and pointing and talking.
This was the boat we rode.
The finished product was a palm tree with a monkey on it that can climb the trunk. Pretty cool. It actually made it home on the train and the bike ride from the station. Now if we can only keep Sara from popping it.
To finish his act, he did the flaming sticks. RJ was really worried that something was going to catch on fire.
As we were headed back to the Kobe train station we saw this. A soccer field right in the middle of downtown. There was a game going on.
We wondered around for a bit then came upon a boat tour that was leaving shortly. RJ has been bugging us to ride a boat since we got here so we decided to go. It was all in Japanese so I have no idea what I was really taking pictures of, but I hope you enjoy the boat tour.
Captains RJ and Sara ready to go.
These are some pictures of the dry dock area in Kobe.
This is the world's longest suspension bridge. It connects Akashi to Awajishima. We hope to make it to Awajishima when the weather warms up a bit.
Sara was getting a bit bored on the boat so she made her own entertainment by running around the table and then 'jumping' off the step.
This picture is hard to see but the long bridge (on the left) leads to an island where KIX airport is (on the right). This is the closest international airport to Himeji. The island it is on is man made and when they designed it they didn't do such a great job. It is slowly sinking. Hopefully it will still be there when it is time for us to go home :-)
These 3 pictures are of the mountains behind the Kobe harbour. I took it so you could see a few things. The skyline along the water front and the many houses/buildings that are on top of the mountains.
I took this picture for my dad. This container ship opens in the front so they can load the Caterpillars on to it to ship them. I thought that was pretty cool.
I have no idea what these buildings are, but I think the tour talked about them as people were looking at them and pointing and talking.
This was the boat we rode.
After we got off the boat, we came upon a street performer setting up for a magic/juggling show. We stayed to watch.
Being the foreigner has once again has paid off for my children. RJ was the chosen one for the balloon act. But he became quite shy when asked to step up on stage. The man was very good and let RJ stay with us while he ran back and forth with the balloons.
The finished product was a palm tree with a monkey on it that can climb the trunk. Pretty cool. It actually made it home on the train and the bike ride from the station. Now if we can only keep Sara from popping it.
This was cool. He had something that resemebled 2 cones put together and got it spinning on a string. He made it do many different tricks.
Here are a couple of videos of his acts. I hope you enjoy!
This is the cone thing climbing UP the string.
To finish his act, he did the flaming sticks. RJ was really worried that something was going to catch on fire.
RJ and his new friend the magician
As we were headed back to the Kobe train station we saw this. A soccer field right in the middle of downtown. There was a game going on.
No comments:
Post a Comment