Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Nara
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Woke up bright and early today. We're going off to Nara and it will take us quite some time to cover just a portion of the attractions.
My friend initially wanted to just pick up some food from Lawson's and get on our way, but as we were walking towards the train station, she decided to have a bento for breakfast instead. So we ended up sitting down for breakfast .......
We caught a regional rapid train to Nara which took about an hour to reach our destination. Once at the destionation, we went to pick up a map. They have a nice tourist information counter and they actually suggested a route for us to walk along. Basically most of the sights in Nara are in Nara Park. If you have no idea what kind of sights are in Nara, just think temples. And deer.
Along the way in the park, there were lots of deer roaming, as well as stalls selling deer biscuits for 150 JPY. There were tonnes of school children today. It might be some school excursion day or some school holiday or something. we have no clue but there were children crawling all over. The deer had a field day because alot of children bought the deer biscuits to feed them.
Our first stop within the park was Kofukuji Shrine. It has a 5 storied pagoda but we didn't go in to the pagoda. We think the ticket costs 1000 JPY.
Next up was Todaiji Shrine. It has the largest Buddha in Japan, apparently. Admission costs 500 JPY. We went in and took a fair number of pictures. we also saw children crawling through this hole at the base of one of the pillars. I have no clue what that is for but I guess it is grants something good for the children. They had a photographer take their photos as they passed through, probably that was one of the teachers who volunteered to do it.
My friend bought 300 JPY worth of souvenirs from that temple.
Next we went to Nigatsudo which was very pretty and had magnificent views of Nara. The surroundings were very well coiffed and it gave a very peaceful feeling to visitors.
Time for lunch! My friend was tired and hungry so we stopped by a restaurant. We had a simple lunch which of ramen and egg, which cost us 525 JPY. The restaurant was very nice though and run by an elderly couple. Tea was free flow.
After that we went to Kasuga shrine. This is a Shinto shrine and they have little shrines all over for various stuff that you would like to wish for, quite similar to Taoism where there's a different deity for every aspect of the universe (or pretty much so). As the japanese have a different style for offering prayers, it was basically monkey see monkey do for us lol. Kinda awkward but I guess it's the thought that counts!
Coming out of the Kasuga Shrine grounds, we took a walk to the Nara City Museum of Photography. It was a nice walk along the residential area and indeed it was a great opportunity to take a little peek into the everyday life of the locals. The houses were mostly pretty albeit small. According to my friend, her Japanese friend used to own a house (those small 3 storey type) somewhere in Osaka and it cost her the equivalent of about 80000 SGD.
Admission to the museum costs us 500 JPY. It was a nice little display of the photos taken by Irie Taikichi who has taken alot of photos around Nara. The current theme was about Buddhist statues. They also had video presentations on the photos taken by him. Nice stuff. Maybe someday I'll have a half decent portfolio.
It took us the better part of the day to get this far because we were walking rather slow. My friend's feet are killing her and it's only the 4th day of the trip! We have 13 more days to go, muahahahahahahaha!
Since she was tired, we started to walk back towards the train station. As we arrived there, we decided to have a KFC dinner. This was the only KFC that we have seen so far in Japan. We ordered a 4 piece chicken set which came with 2 pieces of chicken fillet. This cost us 1150 JPY. Drinks are separate and costs us 190 JPY each. My friend decided to add a pack of fries and that put her back by another 180 JPY. In total, the dinner cost the both of us 1710 JPY! very expensive KFC >.>
After dinner, we proceeded to the shop next door which sold pharmeceuticals. My friend bought a box of medicinal plasters (like Tokuhon, but she bought a cheaper brand) that cost her 498 JPY for 140 plasters. I think she will be able to use them all up this trip so no worries!
We also gallivanted over to a bookshop which had a section for video games... where I saw a second hand version of Final Fantasy IV JP!! OMG! It was going for 780 JPY and I was sp tempted to buy it just to own it. However, I don't like buuying second hand stuff so in the end I didn't buy it. I probably can't use it anyway. I wonder if one day I will regret it?
I also saw the Final Fantasy XI Premium collection!!! 11900 JPY! I so wanted to buy it.....I shall wait till I arrive at SE Character Goods Store before blowing my money away on FF stuff............ Was also tempted by the Final Fantasy Reminisce that I saw on sale.... grr. SE Character Goods Store here I come!!
After that we boogeyed our way back to Kyoto on the local train which stops at every stop. Took us well over and hour to reach Kyoto..... bleah.
Tomorrow... no plans yet!!
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