While we were getting ready, we found the Kyoto map Robert had picked up at Narita Airport. We had stopped at a bookstore the night before to try to find a good one and fortunately didn’t buy one, since the free one we found in his bag was better than the ones at the bookstore. It had a good bus map, which was truly necessary for getting around, as the subway system was not very extensive.
Before we left for the day, we booked another night at the Hyatt. We had originally planned to stay at another hotel in Kyoto on Saturday since the Hyatt didn’t appear to have rooms, but they were able to extend our reservation. We were really glad. Besides being a really nice place, it meant we had to spend less time packing/unpacking and moving around.
Thursday was our trip to Nara, which was about an hour from Kyoto. When we switched trains, we saw a really funny sign about the dangers of smoking. The sign included possible effects of smoking such as burning children in the face. We were also entertained by the cloth used for the priority seating area. It included pictures of people with crutches, carrying kids and pregnant ladies.
Once we got there, we took a long hot walk through the town to get to the park where all of the shrines were. On the way we ducked into a small café and purchased croissants that were stuffed with a banana slice and chocolate. The café was called Choco Cro and Amy was very pleased later in our trip to find out that it was a chain. There was one outside of our hotel in Tokyo that Amy frequented daily for the last few days of our trip.
Once we entered the park, we saw a line of deer following an elderly Japanese man. It was apparent he was trying to shoe them away, but they wouldn’t be deterred. Once we got a little further into the park we saw lots of signs talking about the deer. There are tons of “tame” deer that wander the park. Amy found a lady that was selling deer biscuits and decided she wanted to feed the deer. Once she started feeding them, there was a frenzy, and Amy ended up getting bit through her shorts by one of the deer. She ended up throwing the rest of the biscuits at the mass of deer and running away.
After escaping the deer, we went to Todaiji temple and saw a 53ft high Buddha and a bunch of other big Buddhist statues. The temple had a large wooden pillar with a small hole bored through it, and a popular belief holds that if you can squeeze through the hold you will attain Nirvana (enlightenment). A large crowd was gathered around, and we saw a child squeeze through first and later a grown man. Leaving the temple, we stopped to get some Green Tea ice cream and Amy found a handkerchief to help keep herself cool. We walked through some botanical gardens and saw ladies sweeping the gravel road with homemade brooms.
There were a ton of stone lanterns leading to and surrounding the Kasuga Grand shrine which was next on our list. After that we went to lunch at Noh restaurant (which was also in the park). I had beef curry and Amy had seafood curry. Apparently we only received the Western menu. The food was okay and the view was nice, but we wished we had gotten a Japanese menu too. For dessert, we found a snow cone place that allowed you to pick/apply your own syrup.
We saw a five story pagoda and a lady throwing water on a shrine on our way back to the train station. The water being thrown on shrines turned out to be a regular occurrence, but we never were able to determine the religious significance. Once we got to the train station we were off to Osaka.
We were tired and hot and weren’t sure whether or not we really wanted to go to Osaka, but decided to go anyway. It wasn’t too special, just a big city. We went to the Aquarium which was huge. The aquarium was pretty cool and they had a big tank with a huge shark and a bunch of huge rays. We also got a picture of a Japanese-style toilet - aim carefully!
After that we went in a nearby tourist mall that had a Café Du Monde. We were really surprised to see it, but it was the real deal with coffee and beignets. The Japanese apparently have a big affinity for doughnuts and we think that is where Café Du Monde/the Beignets come in. We left the mall and saw a huge Ferris wheel. There was a bunch of signage, some of it said “world’s biggest Ferris wheel” and some said “one of the world’s biggest Ferris wheels”, but we weren’t sure which was correct.
After that, we went to an observation tower that overlooked the city. We went to the top using glass elevators and a glass enclosed escalator at the top. The view was pretty cool. At the bottom, we hopped in a photo booth and had our picture taken. We shot the camera the peace sign. Whenever we saw anyone getting their picture taken, especially young people they would always hold up the peace sign.
After that, we went to an observation tower that overlooked the city. We went to the top using glass elevators and a glass enclosed escalator at the top. The view was pretty cool. At the bottom, we hopped in a photo booth and had our picture taken. We shot the camera the peace sign. Whenever we saw anyone getting their picture taken, especially young people they would always hold up the peace sign.
Next we grabbed dinner at a mall “food court”. It isn’t like an American food court since the restaurants are separate and have separate seating areas. I was surprised to see that they all had seats for people to wait in line outside and most of them had a wait. We picked one and ordered off of the picture meeting. Apparently you have to be extra careful when ordering by pointing. The waitress didn’t understand what we wanted and something else came out. I thought we did a good job pointing, but realized later on that you have to actually touch the picture of the thing you want with your finger and then make your wait staff touch it too. The waitress seemed about sixteen and was mad at the world – getting our order wrong didn’t seem to improve her mood any. I can honestly say that she was the only Japanese person we encountered that was the least bit rude or showed any frustration with us. They first brought out a pork cutlet and then brought out the right thing Amy ordered, noodles with tempura. I had rice with tempura. We also found some blueberry and apple Moschi Balls at a store later that night. They were supposed to be treats, but we did not enjoy them. At least we branched out! They were gelatinous balls that seemed like they should have been cooked and didn’t have much flavor.
No comments:
Post a Comment