4 day weekend

I have just had the pleasure of spending 4 days in the company of my lovely girlfriend, Shiori. This is due to accrued Shift Swaps from about 2 months ago (two days from Suzette) which allowed me to take Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday off.

During this time we visited Universal Studios Japan in Osaka and spent the day in the beautiful city of Kobe.

Wednesday

I caught the 10 o`clock bus from Hiroshima again and this time the journey didn`t seem so long. The passengers on the bus were a rather bizzare bunch ranging from a mother and here young baby, an elderly lady, a guy in his twenties and his young brother, a couple and myself.

Shiori was a little delayed at work so I grabbed a coffee when I arrived and waited.
She soon turned up looking as lovely as ever, so we headed off to Mos Burger for lunch.

After lunch we went to her place and packed one suitcase for our journey. I tend to overpack so my side was mainly clothes and my small washbag, hers was a hair straightener, the myraid of female toiletries and make up, and two changes of clothes.

For dinner we went to a really nice Yaki Niku place, which was delicious and suprisingly didn`t give me meat belly (my name for eating too much Yaki Niku; feels like you`ve got concrete in your gut).

Thursday

Having to get up at 4am is never good with me. And this time, with the rain beating down like small watery hammers was no exception and filled my heart with disappointment. I don`t mind the rain. Being British means we have a certain affintity with it. But Japanese rain is ruthless. And I didn`t want it to "dampen" my time with Shiori.

However, we set off for the Takamatsu-Kobe ferry.

Shiori is a good driver, which given that most drivers in Japan are bloody lethal is quite the compliment. However she is also pretty hilarious, as she shouts and curses at fellow road users. I don`t want to embarress her by putting up what she actually said, but lets just say it would make a funny TV show.

The Takamatsu-Kobe ferry was empty, apart from us and this fat,dreadlocked American guy in a white suit, who I decided was either a pimp or someone who worked in Music.
The ferry ride itself took 3 and 1/2 hours and Shiori slept for 3 hours and 10 minutes of this...bless her. I slept a little, wandered around and tried to keep my mind off my dislike of boats.

After arriving in Kobe we took a bus then a train to USJ, and dumped our suitcase in our hotel, which I have to say is the best I have ever stayed in. We were on the 28th floor with a wonderful view of the river and Osaka, despite the rain.

USJ

Even though it was raining heavily, it was still pretty busy at Universal Studios. However, I was determined to have a good time, and soon got into the "swing" of things, when me and Shiori purchased a Spiderman holder for our tickets, which I wore around my neck.

After bumping into Elmo and Bert from Sesame Street, and walking down New York styled streets, we came to our first ride; a 3-d Spiderman adventure. It was pretty cool, with Shiori grabbing my arm tightly for most of it.

We also went to Back to the Future, Jaws, a mightly impressive Waterworld (the Kevin Costner movie) show and the Jurassic Park Ride which is a water ride so we both got pretty wet.

In between all this we stopped in an Irish themed pub/resturant for lunch and had green beer, fish and chips and Shepperds pie.

In the evening for dinner we went to the Hard Rock Cafe,where the food was delicious but in massive American portions and Shiori got to keep the cocktail glass that her drink came in.

Friday and Kobe

Saying goodbye to our wonderful hotel, we headed back into Kobe and dumped our baggage in a locker. Kobe is a really beautiful city, and Shiori told me that it`s famous for shoes. I ended up buying a pair of leather shoes for work that cost me only 2,100 yen (about 10 pounds)...

Kobe is also famous for beef, where apparently they feed the cows beer and massage them. For lunch we went to a small place, where the usual price is 2,600 yen for a meal of salad, soup and beef and vegetables. However we only paid 900 yen, because of a special lunch time deal and it is the best beef I have ever eaten....

After that we did some shopping (mainly window), before we caught the ferry back at 7:30.

Saturday

After all the travelling Saturday was a quiet day for us and I want to mention 2 things. Firstly we went to a Sushi Bar for lunch. It was my first time and its cool to see all the revolving dishes in front of you. I ate tuna, shrimp and for the first time, grilled eel (which was ok).

Secondly, I guess hanging out in the rain and the Japanese humidity caused me to get sick, which kinda put a bad ending on a wonderful holiday.

BUT I had a FANTASTIC time and want to say a BIG thank you to Shiori. xxxxx

(I will put the photo`s up soon)