Exploring the hood

I apologize for not updating in forever. So here are many many photos to satisfy :)

My friend Hsin and I spent an afternoon exploring everything between school and my neighborhood and we found some awesome stuff:

This is a little workshop where these two guys make basket like containers which people use to pickle vegetables. The man above is packaging the basket to mail it off, and while he works, he sits on the bamboo strips they use to make the baskets. Hsin and I were just biking past and Hsin asked the guys inside if we could look around! They took photos of us! hahaha

Here the man is actually making the baskets. He used a big hammer and it was really loud.

Hsin on my roomies road bike. There are many fruit trees in Japan...we wonder if the fruits dangling over fences are up for grabs...

A view of the Kobe Mountains and a japanese train!

Every now and then I run into dilapidated buildings tucked away deep in the neighborhoods. We climb to the top of this one, and the view from the roof was amazing:

Kobe has awesome clouds.

I am constantly amazed at the remarkable parking skills in Japan. Since there is not much open space, people manage to cram cars absolutely anywhere. Here it is blocking the entrance of the shop.

I walk up this road to get to school. The red gates mark the way to the shrine.

This is the shrine. I get to walk past it everyday on my way to school.

I walk past this construction sight everyday. Ive been observing the whole process. They tore down the house and are now digging a big hole. Look at the tiny space they are maneuvering that huge machine in!

When the sky is clear you can see the mountains on the other side of the ocean. Its so beautiful!