All good things must come to an end. This was the second last day of our Japan trip. There’s so much more we wanted to see, yet so little time. Sigh.
We rented a Toyota BB for our remaining two days so we can travel further and visit more places. It also makes economical sense to drive ourselves to the airport on the last day rather than cab which cost a bomb in Japan.
Free breakfast at the Super Hotel we were staying in
The Toyota car rental place which is walkable from our hotel
Our funky lime green Toyota BB
Mark setting up the GPS for me so I can drive the car
Paying road toll - if you think ERP is bad, this is ten times worse
We woke up relatively early that day and headed for the Akashi-Kaikyō Bridge (明石海峡大橋) upon collecting our car.
The Akashi-Kaikyō Bridge also known as the Pearl Bridge and is the world’s longest suspension bridge (measured by the length of the center span of 1,991 metres/6,532 feet/1.24 miles). The bridge links the city of Kobe on the mainland of Honshū to Iwaya on Awaji Island by crossing the busy Akashi Strait. It carries part of the Honshū-Shikoku Highway.
On our way there, we had brunch at a cafeteria at a nearby rest stop. The food was good and cheap. I presume it’s liken to our “mixed food stalls (杂菜饭)” or “economic rice stalls (经济菜饭)” in Singapore. I also tried the Japanese McDonald’s Quarter Pounder which according to Mark, had beef patties that tasted much juicier than the ones in Singapore. It was a lie… the patties tasted the same to me. Mark is just being biased towards all things Japan as usual.
After brunch, we did a bit of light shopping at a large suburban mall, located next to the rest stop.
At the rest stop
Rachel and I with the Toyota BB
The cafeteria where we had brunch
The interior of the cafeteria
Mark is spoilt for choice for dessert
Lots of food to choose from
Rachel with her brunch
Our brunch
Curry rice
Tofu
Another tofu dish
Fried sotong
Japanese omulette - one of Meiyen's favourite food
Bamboo rice which we were starting to grow fond of
Gyoza
Strawberry dessert
At McDonald's - Rachel went to test out her spoken Japanese by ordering a Quarter Pounder
Double Quarter Pounder
Rachel managed to complete the order! 
The Quarter Pounder feels puny and tasted the same as the one in Singapore
The large suburban mall we shopped at after brunch
Jojo from the manga, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険)
The comical alien character in the manga, DR. SLUMP
Toilet paper with random facts written on them
I don't think anyone would dare wear this in public in Singapore
Manga cloth
Hello Kitty cloth
Peach jelly dessert
Mango dessert
Free magazine (actually, it's more like a giant catalogue book full of ads)
We had a lot of fun at the Akashi-Kaikyō Bridge. There are observation platforms for us to walk on part of the bridge to experience the strong wind and marvel at the engineering. Mark and I were quite wary of the transparent glass tiles on the platforms which felt like stepping on air when you are standing on them. The ladies had more fun with it than us as we were experiencing “jelly feet”.
At our destination
Tickets to the observatory platform
Comparative length of the four longest suspension bridges in the world
Checking out the telescope
Interesting sights are indicated on the drawing on the glass panel
Looking out for suspicious ships
We spotted a ship through the telescope
Mark and Meiyen toying with the remote for a live camera on the bridge
Sea view from the observatory floor
The coastal area
Faraway ship
The observatory platform is open air
Scary... standing on transparent glass tiles
Finally managed to conquer my jelly feet
Another picture of Rachel and I
Standing on "air"
Rachel and I by the observation window
Brave obasan cleaning the grilles
You can see parts of the bridge, just behind Rachel
Ink chop which Rachel collected at the end of the tour
Rachel and I in front of the bridge
Another picture of us showing more of the bridge
This is just a small portion of the bridge - that's how long it is
Side view
From a distance
Bottom view
Jogging track by the bridge
Later in the day, we headed back to Mt. Rokkō (六甲山) and visited the Kobe City Rokkosan Pasture. We got to play with sheep there and also checked out the Kobe Cheese House which had many exhibits and demonstrations on how cheese is made. It was a pity there was a very strong wind blowing that day and we weren’t unable to properly visit the entire pasture. The rain, the wind and the bitter coldness almost killed us as we tried to make our way to some of the attractions situated at far flung locations at the top of the hills. It was so bad that our umbrellas were damaged and we could feel the wind resistance pushing us backwards as we trouped back to our car.
Mt. Rokko
Just arrived at the Rokkosan Pasture
Our admission tickets
This place feels more like Europe than Japan
Another view
Rachel is still smiling because we don't know about the rain and strong wind yet
Exhibition area
Different kind of cows
Different kinds of wool
A full piece of wool from a sheep
Kobe cheese
Interesting poster
Registration for cheese-making workshop; it was already closed when we reached
Disappointed that the cheese-making workshop is closed
Mt Rokko cheesecake
It tasted quite good, but rather expensive for the small serving
The cheese-making area
Cheese in the making
One of the room where they make cheese
Another cheesse-processing room
Large slabs of cheese in the making
Rachel with sheep
Staring at us
Walking carpet
Stroking a sheep at the shed
Buying food from a vending machine to feed the sheep
Feeding the giant walking wool balls
The sheep like this waffle biscuit very much
The sheep won't stop chasing Rachel once they knew she have food
Rachel was having lots of fun
Meiyen wants to play with the sheep, but is very scared of them at the same time
Meiyen playing catching with the sheep
Rachel and I with the sheep
Truck to transport either the sheep or wool
Large shed where most of the sheep are kept
Blah Blah Blah
A lazy sheep that hung it's head on the ledge to stay awake
Another shot
Rachel and I in front of the shed
Close-up of the two of us
The inside of the shed
Close-up of a sheep
Flowers
Rachel likes the pasture very much
Braving the rain and wind
Various European-styled houses and sheds
Rachel beside the sheep dog which was hiding in it's kennel
A picture of the sheep dog
Goat pens
Sad-looking goat
Another snowy white goat
Resting goat
Two little goats
Look at the state of the umbrella!
We were really struggling to walk properly
We survived! (but our umbrella didn't)
Manga titled "Heidi" - about a girl who grew up in a pasture
Heidi and her friends
Close-up of Heidi's friend
European novel styled Heidi poster
Heidi-themed Cafe
Wide variety of cheese from around the world
Keychains
Heidi tin can candies
Hay view from the top of Mt Rokko
Another shot - I am sure the view will be fantastic sans the fog and rain
We headed back to Harborland for our last bit of shopping after that. Mark then made all of us accompany him via train to another station because he felt like eating something special for the last day and was not impressed by the restaurant choices at Harborland. Rachel and I had sashimi dons for our last dinner in Japan. The restaurant we found was very popular and we had to queue for quite a while to get in. It was worth it for the price and quality. Mark and Meiyen went to try out the beef don which Rachel and I were very impressed with during our visit to the area two days ago. They liked it too.
Chestnut ice cream which Rachel bought to eat on our way to the dinner place
My delicious Belgian chocolate puff
The yummy seafood don Rachel and I tried
Outside the restaurant
My salmon with mayonnaise don
Rachel's seafood don
The four of us then had gyoza for a after-dinner snack. The interesting thing is, we were not allowed to sit in the restaurant as we did not order any alcholic beverages – that was the house rule in the gyoza specialty restaurant. Apparently, the Japanese only eats gyoza together with alcohol?
Crappy burnt gyoza
We had Haagen-Dazs ice cream for dessert. The price is surprisingly cheaper in Japan than Singapore despite the lousy exchange rates. They also have more flavours on offer.
At the Haagen-Dazs restaurant
Special Haagen-Dazs' Valentine's Day chocolate
Mark and Meiyen's Haagen-Dazs
Rachel and I had a green tea and chestnut cone
After that, we went back to Harborland to retrieve our car and headed back to our hotel to tuck in for the night. Tomorrow, we will be leaving Japan and returning back to sunny Singapore. Oh… and as per our previous days’ tradition, we had supper at our hotel meal area, feasting on food we swept up at the supermarkets. Mark bought a set of yakitori which he was very eager to try. However, he never got to taste them as he stupidly place the yakitori into the microwave to reheat together with the plastic container. In the end, the plastic melted and stuck to his yakitori.
Mark bought these for supper, but he did not get to eat them at all
Rachel had a can of sparkling beer
Snacks we bought to bring home to Singapore
Links to my previous blog entries on my Japan trip:
Day 1 – Kansai Airport, Hokkaido
Day 3 – Asahikawa, Asahiyama Zoo
Day 4 – Sledding, Shiroi Koibito, Crab Buffet
Day 5 – The 60th Sapporo Snow Festival
Day 6 – Staying with the Asai, Shōnan
Day 8 – Shibuya and Akihabara, Tokyo
Day 12 – Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan and Dotonbori
Day 13 – Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge and Mt. Rokko
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Pingback: Alvinology goes to Japan – Day 14 of 14 « A L V I N O L O G Y
Pingback: Alvinology goes to Japan – Day 14 of 14
Heidi the manga? I watched that show growing up, Dr Slump, wow,
You should compare the taste of the DARS chocolate you bought in Japan and Singapore’s
The ones from Japan are a little more bitter than the ones sold in Singapore.