Today I slept in a bit, and then jumped on the train to Kobe. I wasn’t really shopping for anything, I had just heard that it was a big shopping day, and one of the biggest days of the year for shopping in Japan. Since I was taking the train, there were no parking hassles, so I thought it would be fun to look around.
There weren’t as many people as I expected, but it was very busy. Some streets were impossible to walk through, and a couple of times I had to turn down an alley to cut across another way. Since I wasn’t really going anywhere, it was no problem.
The big temple in Kobe was hosting a New Year’s celebration, so I went in there and took some pictures. It’s a pretty nice temple, and it was packed. I’m glad I got my New Year’s prayers over with the other night.
I had lunch in a food court in an underground shopping center that I had gotten lost in just a few months ago. There was a juice bar there, and I had a banana and milk drink that was OK, but didn’t rock my world. I do miss Jamba Juice.
Finally I decided to head home. On the way back I did my good deed for the day by helping a lady carry her suitcase down the stairs at Akashi station. At first she was worried, but then she thanked me in English when we got to the bottom of the steps. I hope that makes up for knocking down the old lady in the elevator the other day.
