Day 149: Finally rode the Kobe Ropeway! 水曜日・２０１５年２月１１日

Finally got home. Spent all day out in Kobe with Rachel and one of her Japanese friends. We had a snack overload on the train – matcha pocky, matcha chocolate nuts, matcha crunch, and orange Meiji biscuits. The latter was my favourite of the bunch. (Contrary to Rachel’s belief, I do think there is such a thing as too much matcha.)

Firstly we had Vietnamese food in a restaurant near Chinatown. I’ve actually never had Vietnamese food before, so that was my first experience of it, and wow, was it delicious. I had spicy tomato and pork pho, with seafood spring rolls and fried chicken in sweet chilli sauce on the side. Mouth-wateringly good.

After that we went to one of the famous bakeries, where I bought some bread and a couple of sweet things as dessert – I got one baguette and one garlic cheese flatbread for later, and a sweet creamy tangerine profiterole and almond crunch to eat right then. Today was the day of binge eating. So many regrets, and yet none at all, because it was all so delicious.

After that, we went on the Shin-Kobe Ropeway, so I realized a dream. The view was amazing. I’ll upload photos at some point (too tired to do it now). It took us up to the top of the mountain where we had a view of Kobe, the ocean, and Osaka in the far distance. At the top of the mountain there were tea shops, souvenirs and cafés galore. We explored around and went into the “Herb Garden”, which was kept very hot and humid, like summer climate.

After getting the ropeway back down we went to see the Kitano district where there are all these Western-style houses. There was a replica of 221b Baker Street there, with a little plaque advertising Sherlock Holmes. I think we were allowed inside, but when we asked about it, they said they were closed. I guess we’ll have to go back another time.

We went to an Italian café for dinner, though I ended up ordering a huge set which came with fried chicken, chips, curry sauce, omuraisu and salad. Delicious.

Then we went home. And boy am I tired.

Day 122: I finally saw Battle of the Five Armies. End of an era. *obligatory nostalgic sigh* 木曜日・2015年1月15日

Okay, when I said I wasn’t going to wake up at a ridiculous time last night, those were famous last words, because I ended up sleeping 15 hours last night. I woke up at 2pm. Well, it’s not like I had anything planned for today, so it’s okay, I guess.

But I got a last-minute email from Aiko-san asking to go see The Hobbit, so I got ready, and off we went. The only showing that day was at 5:50pm, so I was wary that we might not leave until about 9pm at least, but this film was a lot shorter than the others. And it was better than I was expecting, because the second film dragged and dragged, but this one was over too soon. Some horribly cheesy lines, and certain parts that were supposed to be dramatic ended up being anticlimatized and botched, and then Legolas at some point denies the laws of physics, but actually, I didn’t mind it too much. I think because I actually managed to concentrate on the film without getting bored, which is what happened during the second one.

The film was shorter, and certain parts felt very sketchy rather than developed, so it felt very much like this film was a rushed assignment handed in quickly without checking over and working on the minor details to make it as good as possible. Though the visuals were still aweshum. I watched it in IMAX so it was pretty kewl. Though the 3D glasses hurt my eyes, as I was wearing them over glasses.

But anyway, I felt sad when it came to the end. I want another movie franchise to get all excited about, with the same calibre as Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. I’m feeling fantasy-deprived. I want to go back and watch Lord of the Rings all over again. And I actually really enjoyed the first Hobbit film. I could watch that alone and be satisfied. One aspect I enjoyed of this film trilogy was the bromance between Bilbo and Thorin. Richard Armitage and Martin Freeman had good chemistry there.

Backtracking, we went to the supermarket first, as that one has a HUGE IEON, which is my favourite Japanese supermarket as it sells stuff like herbal tea and other international products. I managed to get taco shells from there last time I came. Speaking of, I’ve not used those taco shells yet. I don’t actually know how to make tacos. It’ll come to me.

I bought a whole roast chicken (with garlic) from this IEON. I think it’s probably the only supermarket in the area where you can get such a thing. It’s huge in there – reminds me of the TESCO Extra in Stockport. Not quite as big, but the range certainly outstrips usual Japanese supermarkets.

I got home, and I finally unfroze one of the bananas at Rachel’s command, and put it in the food processor to see if it would mix. And it worked! Sort of. I put blueberries in it, too, making a more healthy ice cream substitute.

Very melted.

Unfortunately, it tasted too much like banana. I put strawberries on top of it, which made it better, and still managed to keep it healthy. But I need to combat this, somehow. Put more ingredients in it? Add sugar? But that would defeat the purpose of it being healthy… sigh.

But the consistency was pretty good. And as it’s just bananas plus whatever you want, it means it’s good for vegans too. I don’t eat ice cream that often, so this is good for satiating certain cravings.

I also found a BEAUTIFUL baguette in the supermarket, one I think the French would nod their heads at in approval. I did actually see some brie in there too, but I didn’t buy it. I didn’t think to have it on the baguette, which I could have done, I was mainly thinking, “ahh, I have no cream crackers”. But oh well, cheese is very fatty. The longer I put off buying cheese, the healthier I’ll be. I wonder if the brie over here is any good, though? Maybe I should give it a try some time.

Hmm, though speaking of fatty foods and so on, I’ve not exercised since Sunday. I feel like my body’s finally, MOSTLY recovered, thanks to that long sleep. There’s still a few remnants of pain when I stretch, but I think I could easily go on a jog tomorrow. I shall do that. That would be good, as I’ve been immobilized yet eating a fuck ton of carbs. Nothing unhealthy, just a load of pasta and bread, and I’ve not channeled any of that energy into exercise.

There’s an ochakai tomorrow (tea-party?) I think, so I’ll skip along to that. I don’t really have any interesting snacks, though. Just a lot of tea. So I’ll bring that over.

Whoops! It went past midnight already. I got distracted.

Night night!