So more like beef and the beauty, where the beef is beef and the beauty is a wedding...
On Saturday, we took the train out to Kobe so that EDP could have Kobe beef in Kobe. Kobe beef is *very* expensive but how often are you in Kobe? We found a place that was fairly reasonable (only $50 for 5oz!) and hopped on a train. Once in Kobe, we found a tourist info centre and found out the restaurant was about a fifteen minute walk. Well, when we said walk, the girl must have heard subway ride because it took us much closer to an hour to find the restaurant. It was a gorgeous day for a long walk so we didn't mind but it was good we gave ourselves lots of time before our reservation to get there.
Lunch was amazing. Like totally amazing. The restaurant was teppanyaki style, meaning they cook in front of you. We started with some delicious potato soup, followed by a little salad. While we had those, the chef was preparing our beef. He was nothing short of an expert - the beef was cooked perfectly and was by far the most amazing beef I've ever had in my life. It pretty much melted in your mouth. So we got a bit of beef, followed by some roasted vegetables and then some more beef. It was all finished up with some green tea ice cream and a coffee. It was one of the most amazing meals I've ever had in my life.
After that, we wandered down to Meriken Park, where the 1995 earthquake memorial is. The earthquake killed over 6,000 and left 300,000 homeless, destroyed 120 of 150 wharfs and caused 1km of thei elevated expressway to collapse. I they've created a memorial in a park down by the water, including leaving a a small section of the destruction in place. You can see the pavement all broken up and the lamp posts are nearly at 45 degree angles - it was quite the site.
And then it was Sunday - our whole reason for coming here. Aya and Kevin's wedding. It was one of the list beautiful weddings I've been to - the venue was amazing and Aya and Kevin both looked gorgeous. Aya was in a traditional white kimono for the ceremony, which they did in English and Japanese and then later changed into this incredible red dress that was covered in flowers. The ceremony was lovely and it was followed by a toast in a rooftop garden and then we headed down to the reception room for dinner. Dinner was delicious but I don't think it'll be a surprise that the dessert buffet was my favourite part :). The reception was lots of fun - speeches, videos, etc. Very different from a wedding in Canada and it was a great night. It was followed by some karaoke and a couple of drinks before we headed back to the hotel to crash for the night.
Yesterday was a lazy day - we slept in, I did some shopping, and we just relaxed before one last dinner in Osaka. Today has been packing, keeping our eye on weather conditions in Toronto and crossing out fingers we aren't delayed. Here's hoping the worst of the storm has passed.
On Saturday, we took the train out to Kobe so that EDP could have Kobe beef in Kobe. Kobe beef is *very* expensive but how often are you in Kobe? We found a place that was fairly reasonable (only $50 for 5oz!) and hopped on a train. Once in Kobe, we found a tourist info centre and found out the restaurant was about a fifteen minute walk. Well, when we said walk, the girl must have heard subway ride because it took us much closer to an hour to find the restaurant. It was a gorgeous day for a long walk so we didn't mind but it was good we gave ourselves lots of time before our reservation to get there.
Lunch was amazing. Like totally amazing. The restaurant was teppanyaki style, meaning they cook in front of you. We started with some delicious potato soup, followed by a little salad. While we had those, the chef was preparing our beef. He was nothing short of an expert - the beef was cooked perfectly and was by far the most amazing beef I've ever had in my life. It pretty much melted in your mouth. So we got a bit of beef, followed by some roasted vegetables and then some more beef. It was all finished up with some green tea ice cream and a coffee. It was one of the most amazing meals I've ever had in my life.
After that, we wandered down to Meriken Park, where the 1995 earthquake memorial is. The earthquake killed over 6,000 and left 300,000 homeless, destroyed 120 of 150 wharfs and caused 1km of thei elevated expressway to collapse. I they've created a memorial in a park down by the water, including leaving a a small section of the destruction in place. You can see the pavement all broken up and the lamp posts are nearly at 45 degree angles - it was quite the site.
And then it was Sunday - our whole reason for coming here. Aya and Kevin's wedding. It was one of the list beautiful weddings I've been to - the venue was amazing and Aya and Kevin both looked gorgeous. Aya was in a traditional white kimono for the ceremony, which they did in English and Japanese and then later changed into this incredible red dress that was covered in flowers. The ceremony was lovely and it was followed by a toast in a rooftop garden and then we headed down to the reception room for dinner. Dinner was delicious but I don't think it'll be a surprise that the dessert buffet was my favourite part :). The reception was lots of fun - speeches, videos, etc. Very different from a wedding in Canada and it was a great night. It was followed by some karaoke and a couple of drinks before we headed back to the hotel to crash for the night.
Yesterday was a lazy day - we slept in, I did some shopping, and we just relaxed before one last dinner in Osaka. Today has been packing, keeping our eye on weather conditions in Toronto and crossing out fingers we aren't delayed. Here's hoping the worst of the storm has passed.