Japan Pilgrimage II Day 3 - Guest Blogged by 浪迹天涯小狗

WARNING: Image Intensive.. (Do I really have to do this every time?)


Me posing at the first gate of Kasuga-taisha~

Hohoho~ We're gonna find Chopper in deer-galore land of...

NARA!!~~~

*Chopper screams:"I'M NOT A DEER! I'M A REINDEER!!" p(ﾟ皿ﾟﾒ)

Ahh..

*ignores* MWAHAHHAHAH~



Astroboy. Probably pointing to the Kyoto Osamu Tezuka World in the vicinity of Kyoto Station.

Nope. After taking this same picture over the 2 trips, Mistress still have not led my paws inside. Perhaps next Kyoto trip??

Took a train from Kyoto Station and Mistress had to stand throughout the 1 hour journey. Walked out of the station in a daze after visiting the Tourist Information Counter to get some directions and was treated to a sight of obasans folk-dancing away.





The animals nibbled on their breakfast from Kyoto Station while waiting for the Nara Kotsu Bus loop service, which brings people around the various attractions in Nara for a fee of 180 yen per adult. Decided on Nara Park as our destination and walk around the other sites from there.

Nara lives up to its name as Choppers (Chopper: p(>.<*))could be seen virtually everywhere around the park! Mistress and gang had to constantly look out for "mines" as they trodded carefully along the street, avoiding the deers as they strode around. Most of the deers have been dehorned to prevent injuries to both the visitors and also the other deers, thus they all look tamed and not dangerous.

Appearances only.. We were standing nearby watching the show of The Deer Bullies The Human.

Man had in his hands some snacks (senbei perhaps) for the deers which are sold in carts along the streets. He starts feeding which leads to the deers doing a Bunshin no Jutsu.

分身！((((((-(-o()o-)-))))))


Man outnumbered by deers. Got scared and runs.. Deers give chase.


Chopper-kage (Chopper: !^*&$#*~!#) appears and Man was able to walk away with a smile after surrendering his hoard of deer goodies.

MWAHHAHAHHAHA~

Pity the guy but.. MWAHHAHAHHAHA~~~~ *KLONKS!* ☆⌒Σ(≧д≦) ○=(-_-;)
(Mistress attacks the gloating me)


Scout deers waiting at food stall to locate human targets.


Chopper-kage sama~


Deer,"Can I have some?"


& Lady promptly becomes The Pied Piper of Nara


The tourist-trap-minefield-street


Mistress attempts a dog's eye view shot when Birdy was busy paparazzi the deer.

The deer ended up headbutting Birdy with RR staying clear miles away and laffing.. wahhahhaha probably its the white jacket..

As you may see, it was a hot day in Nara and walking around doesnt cool things down. The cold-fearing animals actually removed their matching Uniqlo micro fleeces and tied them old-fashionedly to their waist (minus Mistress, she tied it to her bag).


Chasing Deers


Deer,"Stop following me!!"


Herds of deers at Nandaimon Gate


Peeps into Mistress's huge lens..


Lonely backview looking at the stampede of human feet.


National Treasures: Nio Guardian Kings of Nandaimon Gate




Peaceful lake inside Nara Park


Next stop: Todaiji Temple!
(500 yen entrance fee and Birdy says it looks like Gundam...)


Front view of Daibutsuden


Wonders what..


Daibutsu, world's largest bronze statue of Buddha.


The 2 statues flanking Daibutsu.


The pair of guardians flanking each side, Komukuten & Bishamonten.

Some artefacts to see if you take a walk around the temple.

Miniature model of Todaiji.


Miniature of the grounds.


Wood used for the temple.


Head sculptures of the guardians.


From the entrance of Daibutsuden.


The temizuya at the temple resembles more of the setup for nagashi somen. Maybe they do use it as that on special occasions?


Chop Chop!!


Mistress just finds having a small bucket of water for fire emergency uses interesting.
Dun think its gonna help much in an all wood structure I guess..


Giant senbei. For the deers or humans?


Deers do the following.. 1) Bite, 2) Kick, 3) Butt, 4) Knock Down.
They forgot one.. Chase!


Deers to hang on your handphones.


Came across this very interesting mobile i-dunno-what-but-shld-be-some-oven-or-furnace-thing-for-toasting-the-sweet-potatoes.


Yup, we got 1 to share. Yums!


Relaxing at the nearby munching house.


More deers


Deers eye view


Took a walk along Kasuga-taisha Walkway.


Peekaboo again

Its kind of tough walking on the gravel path that stretches about 1km.


Deer incoming


... & Mistress was headbutted... HAHA!


As we walked, we chanced upon this tree with a signboard in front of the Botanic Gardens. Somehow, the animals concluded that the tree must be some special tree as it has a signboard in front of it.


Rows and rows of stone lanterns as we near Kasuga-taisha.




Mosses that witnessed the passing of time.


Sogo Logo-ed stone lanterns.


Leaning giant tree that must have been about 100+ years old to grow to a height of around 20m (?).
It simply leaves us in awe~


Heartwarming~


Stacks of wine barrels just outside Kasuga-taisha entrance




Kasuga Taisha. World Heritage Site.
Famous for its numerous lanterns, stone or bronze.


The first gate of Kasuga-Taisha


Faded paint


Temizuya


Peek-a-deer!


More stone lanterns.


Another stairs conquest of Mistress.


Kasuga Taisha. Obviously repainted recently.


Mistress spotted the clouds forming a mysterious symbol in the skies!
A sign from the heavens!


Bronze lanterns line the perimeter of the temple.
The area had been zoned off from the public. Probably to protect the lanterns from itchy hands.


Priests at work


Candid! Kiddo decked in elaborate costume but with a blur look. HAHA~


Classic phototaking spot at Kasuga Taisha.


More bronze lanterns!


And stone ones!~


Tonnes of love emas.


Another priest at work.


Temizuya and that should be a well with the bucket on top.


Description of the 15 affliated taishas.




Loads of emas. I'm not surprised if it tallies close to 10,000.


Emas to wish for bigger upper??

Apparently not. Its for blessing for women illnesses, specifically separated by upper half and lower half.


Another type of ema perhaps. Din read what its for.


A classic example of life after death.


More & more stone lanterns


Countless!


Another fearless lady.


Zebra crossing, deer draining?


Gravel & sand minefield again..

Various streetshots of Nara that Mistress took while walking to the next destination.










Chanced upon Yoshikien Garden, free for tourists, 250 yen for locals.
Its next to Isuien Garden, which charges 650 yen admission.
The bunch of animals promptly decides to go for the free one, met with yet another staircase climb.. and later on sitting on the stone bench refusing to bulge another step.


The Pond Garden


The Moss Garden


Mistress taking note of the soles of her shoes pre and post Japan, but only remembered to do it after the 3rd day of strenous wearing.


There's a bunch of artists recreating the sights and colours of Nara onto their canvases.

We landed ourselves at the nearby Kofukuji Temple next.


The Five Storey Pagoda of Kofukuji


The Eastern Golden Hall


Northern Octogon Hall


Spotted this techy obasan taking photo




Plant pods as makeshift shelter from the sun.



Daruma dolls for sale!~


May your wishes be heard~


Belfry


Mistress's Stairs Conquest again


Huge lake that Mistress keep hearing as "LEG"


Birdy's friends.


Rows of shops selling stuff from traditional snacks to 2nd hand cameras.


Shopping District


The colourful exterior of Nara Station

The bunch of us took the train to Namba, Osaka in search for our dinners (even thou its still bright and sunny out).


Mugi is stunned by the HUGE Onigiri~


Yui gets distracted away from her quest of reaching the green tea mochis that the animals got from a popular shop.


Weird building. Wonders what the structure is for. Earthquake prevention measures? THEME PARK RIDE!?!?!


Got a bit lost in the huge subway station and had to asked for directions to the tourist information counter as we had to purchase the day pass for tomorrow's itinerary around Osaka.


Took a break at Mac Dees as it was still bright out there and the animals' legs are breaking~


Carbonara burger

Mistress wishes for all these seasonal burgers to make their ways to SG as she's super bored of the regular Mac Dees menu.


Something that couldnt be found in our part of Asia.
BACON POTATO PIE!!~~~ Yums~

After sitting around for about half an hour reading thru the stuff that the tourist counter gave us, we got our butts out of Mac Dees and tried to navigate the huge subway station again.


Dotonbori!~
The stretch of neon lights, huge crabs, food and life!


Spotted! Sumo?


Takoyaki store.. With a penguin sign?
Penguin-yaki?


Landmark of Dotonbori. Tsutaya bookstore & the huge crab!


Neatly parked bikes


The crab that appears in millions over tourist photos of Dotonbori.


Very cool design. Its full of clowns or gymnasts walking on tightropes.


元祖串かつ だるま
Daruma Dotonbori, selling kushikatsu. Main shop in Shinseikai but we've been seeing this fella at a lot of places!~

After walking up and down and up and down Dotonbori, the animals finally settled for ramen at this obscure stall nearing the end of Dotonbori as there's seriously too many choices of food and also most of the restaurants in the main area are overfillingly crowded!

The ramen is quite normal standard btw.


OP!!

Filtering off from Dotonbori are Shinsaibashi and Amerikamura.

Shinsaibashi is full of pachinko holes and gaming arcades. We never did walk to Amerikamura thou.

Think the animals probably walked more than 10km today. Mistress couldnt stand the niggling pain in her right knee anymore and hopped into a drugstore at Namba station, coming out with a 40 pc salonpas box happily..

(=￣□￣=).. Wonders y Mistress doesnt complain about her right index finger after so many clicks of the shutter!?