Nara - My Dear or My Deer?


On our way to Nara. Boarded the wrong train and had to pay for the price difference. As you can see, this train is much more "high-class" than the one we planned to take.

Some famous day trips from Kyoto/Osaka including Himeji, Kobe and Nara. I already featured Himeji in my previous post and today I am going to record down my wonderful experience at Nara. 

Before I start, I would like to share about Kansai Pass, which we thought it is a great deal to travel in Kansai area. The pass allows you to ride on subways, private railways and buses throughout the Kansai district,including Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Kobe and Himeji. You can get either a 2-day or 3-day pass, then just arrange all the long distance journeys within these days. It will help to save a lot of money. More details about Kansai Pass here.  

The deer are aggressive! The deer are aggressive! The deer are aggressive! Important thing needs to be mentioned thrice. Actually they don't really bother you most of the time, only when you have .... their food! And they turn aggressive, chasing after you, trying to bite your clothes until you give up the oat biscuits in your hand to satisfy their cravings. One packet of biscuits costs about 100 yen. I still remember our very first packet of biscuits disappearing within 30 seconds because my boyfriend got a scare from the crowding deer and he just threw everything on the floor. However, after a while, you will get used to it and start enjoying the feeding process. They are so adorable! The cutest thing, they will bow back if you bow to them! (Even though I read an article after the trip saying that they bow due to annoyance!)








My dear showing so much love for the deer.

The deer was totally unimpressed. 

Apart from deer, Nara is also well-known for Todaiji Temple, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. We tagged along a tourist group to hear the histories of the temple. 






Inside the Great Buddha Hall, there is a hole in one of the pillars. We saw a lot of Japanese school kids queuing up to pass through the hole. Apparently you will be blessed with happiness and health if you crawl through the hole, which signifies the Buddha's nostril. The hole is really ... small, about the right size for a kid to pass through. Until I saw a man managed to climb through it, we decided to give it a try, it seemed possible.

He did it in ease.

And I looked like Japanese ghost "Zhen Zi"...

And that was me, waiting to be rescued.

Didn't even get to pose for a nice photo because I was laughing at myself hysterically. 

Despite having a bigger built, my boyfriend did much better than me, so embarrassing! 

We had our lunch at St Marc Cafe. Something different after so many days of Japanese cuisine even though we have this cafe back in Singapore as well. I like the fusion between Western and Japanese, the pasta was so delicious!





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