Kobe Matsuri Part 1

Happy Friday everyone!

The annual Kobe Matsuri was held a couple weekends ago while my friend and I went cafe hopping and took place in Sannomiya for the entire day. Every time I turned, there were parades, performers walking to their next destination, food vendors and exhibitions! All of the main roads were closed off for the matsuri so it was interesting to walk in the middle of the roads that were usually packed with cars and buses.

If you didn't come early, you weren't going to get a good spot to take photos of the numerous parades..

Just saw Darth Vader walking in broad daylight. No biggie. 

This adorable group of kiddies were playing the theme music to Pirates of the Caribbean and-if I may say so- they were quite spectacular! 

Proud parents and curious onlookers snapping away :)

Definitely not something you see everyday...

Finally got to see a taiko performance in Japan!!! Hearing the familiar beating of the drums and recognizing portions of their piece brought back so many memories :) I really hope that I can play taiko in Japan some time! 

Thank you so much for reading :) Next post will be Part 2 of the matsuri ^^ Have a wonderful weekend!

Gliding over water: Lake Biwa Cruise

Happy Monday everyone!

A couple weekends ago, a rather large group of us went on the Lake Biwa Night Cruise. It was an event that included Kobe and Shiga JETs so it was nice to mingle with new people while admiring the sunset and views while out on the lake :) Lake Biwa is the largest freshwater lake in Japan and is also one of the oldest lakes in the world. We departed from Otsu Port and were able to enjoy the relaxing, two hour cruise :)

Thank you so much for reading :) Have a wonderful week!

Cafe Hopping in Kobe

Happy Friday!! :)

I've been wanting to experience Kobe cafes for quite some time, and when my friend suggested that we go this weekend, I was only too happy to agree. This past weekend was also the Kobe matsuri (I'll have a post about that soon!) so we decided to use the festivities as a mini break between our numerous cafe stops. Four cafes and 4,000 yen later, I was incredibly glad that we did it :)

Although this wasn't a cafe, the words "Chocolate House" made it a mandatory stop :)

Dark chocolate and worth the 280 yen that I paid

Our first cafe stop was at the open cafe on the first floor at Daimaru 

Caramel cappuccino with this cutie in it! I've never had a cappuccino before, much less one with a design in it so the price was well worth it for me :)

Second cafe stop was at a quaint place in Motomachi

And they had a special strawberry parfait, so we had to get it :)

Sample plate at our third stop with a warm scone, chocolate and custard tart, jam, marmalade and whipped cream.

Pairing the sweets with some Royal Milk Iced Tea :)

Last stop was at Kobe Fugetsudo in Motomachi :)

One word: delish. 

Matcha shave-ice with azuki on top and a cup of hot tea :)

If you're in Kobe, I highly recommend walking around Sannomiya and Motomachi! There was literally a cafe on every street :)

Sunny Days and Beautiful Waterfalls

Happy Hump Day~ :)

Just wanted to share a picture of Nunobiki Falls that I took when I went on a short hike with some friends. The waterfall was literally only ten minutes away from Shin-Kobe Station and there were numerous other hiking trails for people to go on.

Hope you all enjoy the rest of the week! :)

Spring Food Bites

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a fun weekend :)


Just some pictures of what my friends and I ate when we went to Nunobiki and explored around the Sannomiya and Motomachi area :)

Milk and honey ice cream? Oh yes. This ice cream was incredibly creamy and tasty and on a sunny day, it tasted even better!

Garden Herb Burger! I was very skeptical when I first ordered this because I haven't eaten red meat in months, but it turned out to be such a good choice! The bread was slightly green because of all the herbs that they put into it and the burger had a very fresh taste with lots of herbs :) Filling, but not heavy at all! I highly recommend this to anyone who goes to Nunobiki Herb Garden ^^

Outside of Modernark Cafe :)

My friend and her sister are allergic to gluten in addition to being vegetarian so we were glad to find a cafe that served food that they were able to eat! Brown rice with a vegetarian curry :)

And a figure-friendly salad ^^

Tasty vegetarian wrap!! :) 

Thank you so much for reading :) I hope you all have a fun week! 

Flowers of Nunobiki

Happy Friday everyone!

Here is the flower post from Nunobiki Herb Garden :) I definitely need to come back again when it isn't as crowded! The bright and cheerful colors of the flowers were a sure sign of spring and summer ^^ I hope you enjoy the pictures!

One of my favorite flowers from the garden :) I especially loved the gradient-like effect of the colors

The pink flowers reminded me of pom-poms!

We weren't the only ones drawn to the gorgeous flowers :)

Port Island in the background!

Thank you so much for reading :) I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! ^^