We weren't sure exactly why we were redirected, and the consensus was that it probably had something to do with the Luminaria that was lighting up a section of downtown Kobe between Motomachi and Sannomiya.
On the way back up to the room, however, I noticed a couple of signs directing people with some connection to Minamoto jewellery towards the Camelia Room so the people who were filing into breakfast may not have been the Luminaria attracted overflow that wouldn't fit into the former venue.
The spread for the Viking didn't seem quite as extensive as it had been, but that was possibly because it was spread out across a far more extensive space.
After we'd been ushered to our table we set off in search of fruit juice to serve as a starter, and right next door to a couple of jugs of tomato juice I spotted a bottle of vodka and another containing Hughesy's condiment of choice. Yes, in a relatively confined space we had vodka, tomato juice and Tabasco sauce, the key ingredients in a Bloody Mary.
Japan, of course, is a drinking culture, but you don't necessarily expect to find the ingredients for a restorative hair of the dog alongside the fruit juice in the breakfast servery.
The two breakfast trays we ended up with made an interesting contrast, but things didn't quite head on without some crossover. Madam informed me that the salmon was particularly good, and when I headed off to verify the suggestion I found out she was right.
For her part, once the Japanese breakfast comestibles were done with, she was over to sample the selection of continental pastries.
There was a steady inwards flow of Japanese people looking to break their fasts, which raised another interesting point. Most of them headed straight towards the Western end of the catering, filling plates with hash browns, bacon and chipolatas rather than the Japanese options further down the room.
Now, it may be that they weren't familiar with the layout, or thought that what they saw straight in front of them was all that was on offer, but I don't think so.
Madam, initially bemused by the apparent refusal to do what she'd just done, and head for the Japanese staples, probably hit the nail on the head. Her suggestion that they'd gone for the Western side of things stemmed from the same source as her own determination to head for the Japanese side of the catering.