Hi ho, hi ho

My brain really didn't want to admit that the break was over, and that there's now an almost uninterrupted 10 week slog to summer holidays. I'm sure once I get into the swing of it I'll be fine and I'll hardly realise the weekend is gone before there's another one. For now though, I'm going to crossly get out of bed and frown all the way on the train to work. So long holidays, and thanks for all the fish.

We headed out Friday night for a birthday party which, at the time, I wasn't feeling overly enthused about - it was an all you can eat, all you can drink affair and I wasn't really in the mood to do either. Sky Buffet is a magical place though, far greater than the sum of its parts. In reality, it's a reasonable looking place with a nice view of Kobe, very average food and a beer machine. But as I gazed out over the inspired skyline, ate my third hash brown and watched the beer machine dutifully tilt my glass as it poured, something quite special happened - good times. I found myself with a top hat on the way to karaoke and this is what happened (described by one onlooker as "legendary"). The most terrifying thing about it was that I was stone cold sober. We ended up with about 20 people singing their little hearts out and still managed to get home on the last train - top score.

Saturday we went to a part of Kobe called Tarumi, where an outlet shopping centre called "Porto Bazar" (sic) sits on the seafront. Normally the words "outlet shopping centre" freeze the blood in my veins, but this one was outstanding (and actually had stuff beyond the 10% discount Nike singlets you might expect at home). The whole thing was modelled around a "Southern European town" - big white buildings, breezy boardwalks... and a pirate ship for some reason. It backed on to a marina-looking area filled with boats and was framed by Akashi bridge in the distance, which still manages to be gigantic when you're very far away from it. Somehow we managed to get through all 3 sections of the place, despite each one being big enough to stand as a mall on its own. It was just as well I bought new shoes - I think I had just about worn through the soles of my old ones by the end of the day. More of the revered walking animals that I'm desperate to ride were there as well and I actually saw one in action. Everything in Japan says please and thank you and plays a little song, including the panda, although it did stop its merry little tune whenever you pressed the reverse button. 2 Japanese kids sitting on a big stuffed panda, lurching backwards to the sound of a truck reversing beep - that's probably the best analogy for Japan I can think of.

Yesterday we went into Sannomiya and started scouting out hotels for parents, which I enjoyed more than I expected. There's something voyeuristic about looking into all their rooms, particularly the really expensive ones. I should have felt silly nodding sagely at the square metreage of a junior suite while wearing a t-shirt and jeans, but for that moment I was king. Unfortunately I'm back to being a pauper now, and will be for quite some time. A pauper with great shoes.

I didn't take my camera so there are no photos from the weekend on my Flickr this time around. We did take quite a few on Lisa's though - see them here.