I haven’t seen real snow in entire life. I mean the Philippines is a tropical country and there are just 2 seasons here plus all the countries I’ve been too are also tropical countries. LOL. It’s either hot or super hot. Yup, that’s a joke but you get the point. It’s currently January and it should be the coldest month in the Philippines but it feels like summer. Ugh. I can only imagine how hot it will be in the upcoming summer season. Tank tops all way.

With that being said, of course, who doesn’t want to experience snow first hand???!!!! It’s also winter when I went to Japan so I was expecting to really see snow. Unfortunately, it doesn’t snow on my tita’s place. I’m so naive to think that just because it’s winter, it snows. It doesn’t work that way. My tita and tito Takeshi were so excited I’m going to Japan they really pulled out all the stops to make my stay worthwhile and this includes bringing me to a place where I can see legit snow! Well it’s partly real and partly fake snow so it counts as my first encounter with snow, right? hmmm… right. :) Tell me otherwise. haha!

Rokko Snow Park

The plan was to wake up at around 8 and leave by 9am to go to Rokko Snow Park in Kobe. But there was never a call time in my stay in Japan that was followed. We always wake up late because we are always tired from the previous day’s activities which in this case was me and my tita’s Nara Park and Shopping day. 

Kobe was part of my initial itinerary more specifically Rokko Snow Park but I never did imagine it’s the same snow park my tito will bring me because since this trip is lax, I don’t mind changing my day’s activity depending on my mood. I never actually planned to visit Rokko Snow Park knowing that I’ll be alone and I don’t know any snow sports activity. But lucky me, I just had my first snow ski experience. Yahoo!






It was quite far from my tita’s place. We drove for around 2 hours going to the snow park. I don’t mind though because the scenery is so beautiful. Is there a place in Japan that isn’t beautiful????? The traffic is oh so awesome. haha! It was also during our drive going to Rokko Snow Park that they decided to have a karaoke night. HAHA!

Rokko Snow Park is situated in an elevated place. Not sure if it’s a mountain but the view from the sidelines is very pretty. I feel like I am watching a real-life anime. Now I know animes that portray Japan isn’t lying, it is like that in real life. omg.

Clothes for the snow activities are for rent as well as snowboards and skis. There are sizes and many designs to choose from. The shoes are also available for rent. I just don’t know if it’s a separate payment or already included in the clothes rental payment. The shoes are freaking heavy. We are like robots when we walk lol. 

My tito Takeshi is skilled in skiing so he’s the one who’s in charge of teaching us how to ski. In the end, I’m not a sports guru who can learn how to ski in 4 hours but I sure did try my best to at least decently ski and not fall at the same time. haha! We built a snowman, cliche threw snowballs at each other, and just enjoyed the day. Just by writing this down now makes me so thankful again about this trip.

This ski trip is not complete without trying a ski lift! I didn’t know though that it costs extra bucks, I thought the usage was already included in the extra tickets. It costs 200 yen each ride at Rokko Snow Park. 

Nankinmachi (Kobe Chinatown)

After a well-spent afternoon at Rokko Snow Park, tito Takeshi brought us to Nankinmachi, also known as Kobe Chinatown. This is where I found out that a stick of Kobe beef costs 1000 yen. 3 pieces of small meat for roughly 500 pesos. Girl, I am so intrigued wished I tried it. 

There are many stalls like most Chinatowns, the most popular stalls are food stalls of different kinds. There are some that sell Chinese food, some sell sweets, fried snacks, milk teas, and local Japanese stuff. I also tried this pudding from Kobe Milk which currently has the Guinness World Record for “most creamy dessert puddings sold in one hour” which they just recently earned last December 7, 2019. Cool. 

Like most Chinatowns from other countries, there’s a lot of people walking by, mostly locals I think.

After strolling around Chinatown, we first stopped by a grocery store to buy ingredients for Nabe which my tito Takeshi takes pride in cooking. hehe. We are all still full from eating merienda at Chinatown so we went to the karaoke first before heading back for dinner. 

What can I say? Even the karaoke in Japan is cool. HAHA. There are Tagalog songs too. It’s fun knowing both my cousins like to sing, especially Anika whom my tita told me is always at the karaoke with her friends every weekend. haha! Anika and Keigo are both good singers. It’s fun watching them sing Japanese songs while I try to sing by while slowly reading the Hiragana characters. Thanks to my Japanese 1 and 2 at UPD. Lol. I managed to sing First Love by Utada Hikaru in Nihonggo when the English version that was selected turned out to be a different song. Lucky for me, the song was slow enough for me to read the characters. At least my short stint of learning Japanese helped me sing a song. HAHA ugh.

After our karaoke night, we went home and eat the Nabe tito Takeshi prepared for us. Told ya, it was always a full day in Japan. Every day is full of adventure. LOL. And this doesn’t end yet coz the next day, me, my tita, and Anika will go to Universal Studios Japan. Wuhoo!!! We are all joking during the drive to Rokko Snow Park how we will cancel USJ because of swollen legs. Thankfully we all went back in one piece and still manage to push through USJ. Though I could say my right thumb is still injured. I am still yet to see a doctor because it’s almost 3 weeks and I can’t still fully use my right thumb. Hopefully nothing serious that would prevent me from doing activities.

So yep, there it is. My first Snow experience, a trip to Kobe Chinatown, plus a Japanese karaoke sesh all in one day. (๑>◡<๑)

Cheers! xx

More information:
Rokko Snow Park
Nankinmachi (Kobe Chinatown)