No Beefing About Kobe

I finally have my computer back in operations, after a few months of inoperation. I contacted a guy who placed an ad in one of the local papers, and he did an excellent job. He fixed the operating system (well, re-loaded it, really), fixed my sound board-- which means I can listen to internet radio now, a good thing. A very good thing.
And, I have Word 2003, and can now send out my resume as a document, instead of a dodgy looking email. The best part is that I can now efficiently load pics I take on my phonecam and post them here. I will be playing catch up for the next few days, and then back on track with my regular insights.


So, the other day, DS and I went to Kobe.

First, we walked through Chinatown. Kobe has a fairly big and well developed Chinatown, and the Chinese population is very large here too. Kobe has been a port town of some import for many years, and Chinese goods have come through here into the rest of Japan, distributed by various concerns through many an emporia.They even have a great gate!


We also went to visit the maritime museum there, which is in the downtown area and just by the harbour. The museum is adjacent to the Earthquake memorial, and if you think those pictures in the link are only models, not so: they are all too real. The museum also has a segment of earthquake footage, and it is horrifying, terrifying and fascinating all at once. The destructive power of nature humbles even the proudest amoung us, as well it should.

The museum itself is fairly typical of boat museums, mostly with artifacts of the old port town, models of ships and their tonnage, speed, etc., etc. The real thrill was to go to the Kawasaki Good Times World, which is basically a very glitzy advert for Kawasaki. What is interesting about the firm is that they do much more than motorbikes and lawnmowers. They make helicopters, racecars, small engines, all kinds of ships, tunnel borers (they were the ones which made the borers for the Chunnel), and fighter planes. They have also deveolped parts and engines for Japan's Space Programme. Basically, if Japan wants to go to war again, Kawasaki will build the armaments, and do it well. The fun part is the interactive museum, where you can pilot a cesna, walk through a chopper, and get to sit on your choice of four motorcycles, which I did, choosing a Vulcan 88.

We then went to a great Brazilian restaurant, which has some of the best cuts of meat I have ever eaten; I even had anaconda. Yup, snake, and it was delicious.
It was a good day, from sea to serpent, and I was very satisfied.