Kobe Mosque and Harborland

After visiting Tama,we decide to go to Kobe.(it takes almost 1.5-2 hours) as report in hyperdia inclusive of transfer time to Kobe via train fr Wakayama).Kak Uda browse the Kansai Thru Pass guide and found out we can take high speed boat from Kansai Airport and reach Kobe in 30 minutes. Ok high speed boat it is!
From Wakayama we take the Nankai train to KIX. This count a 3rd time visit to KIX  , should we try another round of Udon? lol

They are promoting the Kobe-Kansai Airport bay shuttle services by  giving 50% discount for foreigner.Only  if u use the services on the day of your arrival at KIX. The staff checked our passport but yeah we already arrived Japan 2 days ago. We are only entitle to discount of 100 yen for using the coupon with Kansai  Thru Pass. normal price 1800 Yen

High speed boat to Kobe

The staff bow when we arrive and after we ride the coach

We then take the small coach provided to the Kobe Airport which link to Portliner (train ) to centre of Kobe.We dont need to pay extra as Portliner is covered under Kansai Thru Pass.

From portliner you can view Kobe Tower,Ikea in Kobe  and i captured this because i see sogo Ad.lol

Our first destination is Kobe Mosque. We stop at Sannomiya station . We read it is 10 minutes walk. We ask around but they don't know much/ or hard to explain to us. We also try google map but  it seems its take longer time maybe because its use only main road to get there. Last resort, we take the taxi.Hehehe. At least 4 of us can share the fare. The metre start with 660 Yen.However the traffic was quite bad we end up paying around 900 -1000yen ( lupa sudah)

Beautiful Kobe Mosque

Cite from Wikipedia  Masjid Kobe
"Kobe Mosque (神戸モスク Kōbe Mosque^?), also known as Kobe Muslim Mosque (神戸ムスリムモスク Kōbe Muslim Mosque^?), was founded in October, 1935 in Kobe and is Japan's first mosque.^[1] Its construction was funded by donations collected by the Islamic Committee of Kobe from 1928 until its opening in 1935.^[2] The mosque was confiscated by the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1943. However, it continues to function as mosque today. It is located in the Kitano-cho foreign district of Kobe. Owing to its basement and structure, the mosque survived the air raids that laid waste to most of Kobe's urban districts in 1945 and was able to endure through the Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995. The mosque is located in one of Kobe's best-known tourist areas, which features many old western style building."

We met Aminah Nur ( a Japanese Muslim with Hijab ) at one of the Halal store in front of the mosque. (There are 2 halal grocery stores nearby the mosque area).We ask her if there is any halal restaurant around. Only one restaurant at the end of the road. However the restaurant is close and only will reopen at 5PM. Aminah then brought us inside the mosque and ask us to wait and pray there first. We want to take her photo but she decline and said she is shy, she hopes that we include her in our do'a.Semoga Aminah sentiasa diberkati Allah S.W.T Amin.

inside the mosque

Its 4 season county, Alhamdulillah ada air panas untuk ambil wudhu'

Tandoori chicken (lunch + dinner combine)

Kat Naan inn ni ada selebriti pernah datang rupanya. Siti Nurhaliza dan Aizat. Actually i thought the chicken is only 1 piece but it is actually a whole chicken?? lol sebab lapar takle fikir lurus dah, we end up take the leftover back to hotel.

After take we went to Harborland to view Kobe in night. We also went to the nearby mall and went to Uniqlo. They have stock clearance for some item but not my kind of style.

Kobe tower

The Harborland station is just nearby the mall. We go back to Osaka using Hankyu line (both cover in the pass) . Its almost 9pm not  many people around so we manage to get a seat.

Tama The Station Master / Tama si kucing di Wakayama

Once i knew that Wakayama is near Osaka , its decided we must visit Tama!! I like cats.. one week before we went to Japan, our home cat OC died....im sad... kalau teringat rasa nak menangis ...
Anyhow life must go on...

How do u go to Wakayama ?
Tama works at Kishi Station  , Wakayama Electric Railway.
Since im using Kansai Thru Pass. This pass cover Nankai line which stop at Wakayama. Actually it is nearer to go to Wakayama from Kansai Airport ( only few stations) .But since we arrive Kansai at noon from Fukuoka/Tokyo, we decide to visit Tama early in the morning the next day. The advantage of  owning the pass, u can use it to ride the same line as many time as u want. From Nankai Wakayamashi -we exchange to JR Wakayamashi and stop at JR Wakayama .We have to purchase additional ticket 140 Y as Kansai Pass doesn't cover JR.
Anyhow it is advisable to check the schedule in Hyperdia so you dont have to wait so long for the transfer.

We got confuse a little bit using Nankai to Wakayamashi as the announcement is in Japanese but still u just need to ask and they will help u. eg Wakayama ? The staff answer answer hait! ok ! The Train master will also bow to u when he start the journey.

JR Train to Wakayama station "so flowery"

ticket

Once u arrive at Wakayama, u can see Tama everywhere.Just follow the photos and u will get to the ticket counter. The worker doesnt speaks english but she has a card in English which explain it is cheaper to purchase return ticket  for 640yen. The Wakayama Electric station has normal plain train or special train - Tama, Toy and Strawberry . You can ride it according to the schedule. Unfortunately during our visit only Toy and Tama Train available

Working schedule

We also found out actually there are 2 calico cats here- Tama and Nitama. Nitama is junior than Tama. It is Tuesday so we can meet them both! We ride the normal train to Idakiso station to meet Nitama first.

They also sell Nitama merchandise here.

Nitama

At Idakiso we ride the Toy Train or Omoden to Kishi in order to meet Tama. The train is full of toys of course.

There is place for baby and u can try the toy machine inside the train

View outside of train

Huge banner welcoming the visitor

Cute Tama but she is sleeping

Oh yup u cant touch them...so  u can only see her from the glass.At first i thought i can hold her, i dont know she will be in her room but its ok let her do the job. The job  description is inclusive sleeping inside the office...hehehe.

The station also looks like a cat

U can purchase some merchandise and relax at Tama cafe.

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My hot choc at Tama cafe

Ofcourse we need to ride the Tama train back to the JR Wakayama station weee.

Inside Tama Den

comics

 They also has Doraemon comics inside it...well because Doraemon is a cat!! err but due to tragic incident he lost his ears...sobs. Manage to record few secs video inside Tama Den

Anyway there are other activities eg picking Strawberry (hence the Strawberry train) and other place to visit besides Tama, but we only spend half day here coz we want to go to Kobe .

Tama is just a cat  but she save the railway and the town by bringing a lot of visitors. I believe the town folks treats her well, she has day off u know and besides her work is only sit there and sleep.

The official website regarding this railway and schedule
 http://www.wakayama-dentetsu.co.jp/images/wakayama_eng.pdf

One funny thing, as i already check the schedule from JR to Nankai Wakayamashi, i inform my sister she has only 10 minutes to go to toilet.From schedule the next train is another hour if we miss this train..its cold i cant  wait another hour.The train staff (female) already indicate the train will depart soon by honking (not sure what is the correct term)  lol... but after that, only my sis appear and i ask her to wave to the staff... i also shout out "chotomate"/WAIT  (lesson from J-drama years ago)  The train door open...fuhh..Arigato. Anyhow i think because of us, knowing how punctual the train in Japan, we may has cause a few seconds delay to the schedule...kominasai.Sorry . Anyhow visiting Tama and the rural Wakayama is a memorable experience to us.