December 11th, 2023

Day 8

Today is the day that I head towards Nara, the place with a lot of deers. After taking a shower, I headed downstairs to the restaurant next to the hotel lobby for breakfast.

Breakfast selection wasn’t plentiful; it was shockingly western. For a hotel that boasts tatami floors, I am very surprised to see that there aren’t a lot of Japanese food options. Had a decent amount of breakfast, and I headed upstairs, grabbed my stuff, and went on my way.

Breakfast Verdict:

★★☆☆☆

I can’t remember exactly if the ride to Nara was the one that I had the interaction with the conductor, but I can’t seem to place it exactly. Anyway, I’ll treat this ride as the one. As I am writing this sentence, I am almost certainly sure that this was the ride. Anyways.

When I got on the special-rapid train that is all reserved seat again, I didn’t pay for a reserved-seat ticket in advance like the time I went to Kinosaki Onsen on Day 4. It’s not that I am a sloppy person, I just didn’t know the train was reserved-seat only until it was announced on the PA system.

So I got on the train, picked a train car that’s less crowded, and picked a seat hoping that I am not sitting on someone else’s seat. Don’t want to be rude. When the conductor eventually came to my seat and asked for my ticket, I paid with credit card.

When the conductor was passing by again, I stopped him and asked him how he was able to find someone who didn’t pay for a reserved-seat ticket with pin-point precision, he laughed, and told me that there is a machine on his belt that is able to tell who didn’t pay for the seat. It would seem like that there are sensors underneath the seat that can sense if someone sat on a seat. If the seat wasn’t paid, or if the seat was paid but it was sat on before the station where the passenger was supposed to get on, it sets off and lets the conductor know. Very smart way to ensure a smooth ride. Respect.

After a while, I got out of the station and headed towards my hotel that I did pay for in advance. The hotel was located right near the Kintetsu station, in a walking district. I must stress the word “Kintetsu” here, because "Kintetsu station” is its own separate station, and it only runs Kintetsu trains. So if you are on a train that is not from the “Kintetsu” system, then the hotel is very far away from an actual train station.

The hotel is also in a very nice walking district where there are a lot of restaurants and store on each side of the street. It is convenient if you do not order breakfast at the hotel. Once you’re there, the hotel’s sign does not say “Iroha”, but “168”. Turns out, the name Iroha is just the pronunciation of “168” together. We have 168 hotels in China, but I never knew it was in Japan. Cool.

Hotel name: Iroha Grand Hotel Kintetsu Nara Ekimae

Address: Konishicho 30-1

Price: 296.46 RMB (42 USD)

Verdict: ★★★★☆

After I left my luggage there, I went to Nara’s few warranted attractions, the Todaiji temple. Nara was Japan’s first permanent capital, and it has got one of the coolest temples in all of Japan. Luckily, I can get to Todaiji Temple just by Kintetsu, so I just needed to return to the Kintetsu station to catch the train.

My first stop, was a side temple. Now, since I haven’t done my home work, I thought that was the Todaiji temple. The side temple is just that, it’s not the main temple. It did house 4 statues of gods, with a giant pagoda model inside where it houses a golden Buddha. I am not allowed to take pictures there, so I can only describe it to you.

I was the only one there, though. That made me think there may be something wrong with my judgment that this was in fact the Todaiji Temple.

As I marveled along the temple walls, I finally found the entrance to the real Todaiji Temple.

It was majestic.

There were more tourists there, so I can’t get a clean shot of the temple grounds without getting some of the people in the shot. Understandable, although not ideal.

Inside the temple, it houses the “Giant Buddha” statue made of bronze. The statue was breathtaking. I’m in no way religious, but seeing a religious statue that shadows you is still makes you feel very peaceful. I feel like I am protected from the world by this statue.

There are 2 Bodhisattvas’ on each side of the Buddha, and two gods behind each Bodhisattvas.

Since it’s still a very heavy bronze statue, there of course are beam supports behind the Buddha to make sure that it doesn’t fall.

Behind the statue lies a scaled model of what the temple grounds used to look like. It is very different from what it looks now.

The Todaiji Temple itself was subjected to natural disasters, stressing on the “s”. It was rebuilt many times. This is what the temple used to look like when it was first built (the picture on the left).

This is what the Todaiji Temple looks like when it was rebuilt to reflect the current day version (the one on the right). I am guessing that the Buddha Statue was rebuilt a couple of times too.

On the right side of the temple, there is a giant hole in one of the main pillars of the temple. Instead of filling that hole, the temple purposefully put up a challenge to see if anyone is able to go through the hole. Now, I am not a pervert, but there was a girl with mini skirt that was doing the challenge right now. She took a while, so I had to take a picture with her in it. Had to pick an angle that was the least disturbing.

This is a description of the remodels and rebuilds of the temple. The one in front of our eyes was built in the Edo time period. See, the Buddha did get smaller, which means it was rebuilt as well.

Todaiji Verdict:

★★★★★

When I got outside, I planned to look for the deers. As I was searching on my phone, I noticed that there was a deer in front of me. Turns out, the park of the deers was right in front of the Todaiji. I just didn’t notice it while I was searching for the temple itself.

It’s either that or the deers were only let in at a certain amount of time of day, which I am sure is not the reason. Eh.

You can feed the deers with crackers prepared for deers. They sell for 200 Yen per pack. Once you have the crackers on hands, though, deers start to come to you. They don’t give a shit about you without crackers. Now that you have some, they give a shit about you now, just not as much. They will do the bow for asking for the crackers, but be mindful, these are wild creatures. They will bite you and push you with their heads.

They are also violent creatures, violent within their species, though. When there are more than one deer seeking after your crackers, the more dominant one will constantly chase away the weaker. Cruel world.

See how they bit my hoodie?

This is one of the few deers that still have its antlers uncut. To protect tourists, the local government regularly trims male deers’ antlers. They either cut it right off as the deer matures, or they trim it regularly once it was completely cut off. They really do push you with their heads, so imagine all the screaming and the bloodshed if there weren’t protective measures being pushed forward. Ugh.

There is a sign that is everywhere in the park, to remind you that the deers are no mere house pets. They will kill you if needed. Violent creatures. Cute as a button though.

After finishing a pack, the deers no longer give a shit about me, so I went to a water fountain to clean my hands. I then reached the temple museum, where there is a giant 1:1 replica of the buddha’s hands. They signify different messages.

Photography was not allowed inside the museum. It was very dark inside, and first, you need to watch a short documentary of the temple, and then you can proceed onwards to the exhibits. The exhibits were plentiful, and there were many statues of Buddhist origin that were preserved perfectly. There was a Kan-on statue where it is missing her hand, so you can see the bare wires that was supposed to be the support for her missing hand. That’s when I realized that they use wires as the skeleton of statues back in those times as well.

Museum Verdict:

★★★★☆

After I fully toured the museum, I bowed out, returned to the lady who sells those crackers, bought another pack, got the attentions of the deers again; when the pack was out, I was not given a shit anymore. Stupid but cute deers.

My next destination is the famous Kasuga Daisha, a very important Shinto shrine in Japan’s history. Once I went up a hill from the Todaiji Temple, I saw a few restaurants. I picked a restaurant that has a model of their “Toriyaki Rice” on display outside the store.

Before the food arrives, there was a self-select Omikuji on each of the tables. You are supposed to put in a 100 Yen coin and make your selection based on your personality. For example, one of the question was “if you like to finish stuff faster or later”. You then proceed to the next question based on your answer. I, completely didn’t see the question part, and just picked an Omikuji randomly. Suffice to say that even if Omikujis are real, mine will not be correct.

Food arrived. There was nothing else, just the Toriyaki Rice itself, and some side dish for flavor. It was okay. It literally was just Toriyaki and rice, so there’s no surprise there. Although it does get kinda oily after a while because there are no vegetables.

Restaurant Verdict:

★★★☆☆

Once I was finished with lunch, there was a kind old man who sells the same kind of crackers. I opened the pack, fed them, bought another pack, and fed them again. It is addictive. When I asked the kind old man if he has a trash can where I can throw away the deer cracker packaging, he said that those packaging papers are edible to the deers, which shocked me deeply. When I try to offer it to the deers, they really do eat it.

My clothes were not clean after that.

Continuing uphill, there was yet another temple. It’s free to enter, so I just got up there, prayed for a bit, and took some photos. On the deck of the temple, you can see what’s down hill. Pretty cool.

I continued to press onward, and there was an actual park for the deers. I, wanting to go to the Kasuga Daisha faster, didn’t stop to feed them. It’s not like they give a shit about my presence without crackers. I am mean that way.

When I finally reached the famous Kasuga Daisha, the door to the shrine ground was free to enter; but you need to pay to enter the shrine itself.

There was a room where it is used to simulate what the lights look like at night during one of the festivals.

The video is cooler.

There was also a live ceremony that was happening right in front of my eyes when I went up there to pray. Pictures aren’t allowed, so I didn’t take a picture of anything outside. Yes the light simulation was allowed.

Kasuga Daisha Verdict:

★★★★☆

Took one last picture of the giant door of Kasuga Daisha, and went to the other temples near it. It has a system of smaller shrines that gives you good luck on different subjects. There is a love shrine, there is a good business shrine, you name it.

I’ve prayed enough today, so I only took a picture of one of the shrines. It was unattended, and so is a lot of the other shrines. Not as interesting. So I pressed on forward to get out of the hills.

At the exit, there is a cute sign that tells you to not feed the deers with anything else other than the crackers. Cute.

When I got out of the hill by myself and was looking for the bus stop that will take me to my next destination, I realized something horrible. There was no bus stop at the exit where I got out; I have to walk all the way back there to find the main bus stop. I was tired from all the walking, but I had to do it.

Got an ice cream at the sweets shop near the bus stop. It was half matcha and half vanilla. Not bad.

Restaurant Verdict:

★★★★☆

My next destination was the Heijo Palace. This is the only one that I hate myself for ever taking my precious time of attending.

Based on the website Japan-guide.com, the Heijo Palace was the former site of Nara’s Imperial Residence, which seemed like a worthy trip for the old history geek Brian. After devouring my ice cream, I got on the bus, and waited for the bus to drop me off at the Heijo Palace.

The one thing that I didn’t know that I wished I knew was that the Heijo Palace that you can see right now was a complete rebuild based on the what the ground looked like and sketches from the past. It was not finished rebuilt, so workers are still working on the half-finished rebuild. If you wanted to take a look at the Heijo Palace, just take a look at the front door. No need to go in any further.

If you are stupid like me, you can definitely keep pressing forward to the other structures, which are miles away from the main entrance.

When you arrive, there’s nothing. The building that was finished was just a shell. It has nothing. The structure on the right where they are still building the replica, was in shrouds. There are ladders where you can climb to take a gander at the insides of the shroud, but I could see nothing. I commented to the staff that I couldn’t see anything, and they laughed.

When you cross the second door, you will see the Imperial Residence. It is, of course, a replica that only has the exterior, nothing inside. Still, it was a lengthy walk to get to the exterior. I didn’t want to get there, but the only way out of the Palace grounds that doesn’t require me to walk all the way back is by the Imperial Residence. It was just that. See how far it is from the second door?

Heijo Palace Verdict:

★☆☆☆☆

As I was finally out of the shitty palace grounds, there was no bus stop or stations anywhere near me. I had to walk on the side of the street for 30 minutes to reach a station.

Once I got on there, I saw a guy who sleeps weird. Okay, why do I say that this guy sleeps weird? Normally when Japanese people sleep on the train, they sleep with their heads down. It puts a terrible strain on your neck as your head is one of the more heaviest organs of your body. Still, every time I see a Japanese person sleep on the train, and it happens on every train I took, they put their heads down. Like the two people on the left.

This guy, though, clearly having a good dream, had his head up and his mouth wide open. He was like this when I got on the subway. He was still like this when the train reached the final destination. When the train fully stopped and everyone got out of the train car, he had to be waken by another passenger who was kind enough to wake him. Rather interesting.

When I got to my hotel, based on weather predictions, it was going to rain. I received my luggage from the front desk, checked in, dropped my stuff, and proceeded to look for food around town.

When I exited the hotel, it started to rain. I brought out my trusty little green foldable umbrella that I took with me everywhere in my backpack just for a situation like this that didn’t happen quite often enough for me to justify ever carrying it with me in my backpack because it really is quite heavy and had put a strain on my back so yeah.

I walked around town to look for a Japanese food place. The only one that is both open and close to me is the fast-food chain “King of Dumplings”. I decided to explore further, and if I see nothing that meets the eye, I will return to the King of Dumplings.

So I kept exploring, and after a while of walking, I saw a Okonomiyaki place. Didn’t want to have Okonomiyaki that day, and since I really wanted to try out the King of Dumplings which was featured in the games of RGG, I returned to the restaurant.

This is what I ordered for dinner. Carb overload, I know. I really didn’t think the serving of the fried rice would be that big.

Well, technically this restaurant is not Japanese. It serves Chinese food. Gyoza, or dumplings, came from China. The way we eat it is that we boil them raw. The way that Japanese people eat dumplings, is that they first pan fry it, and then boil them. The fried rice was also a uniquely Chinese thing, which also happens to be one of my favorite food items ever. The fried rice here was descent, although a bit too oily. Didn’t finish the whole thing, fearing that whatever I ate here that night will become part of my butt the next morning.

Dish Verdict: ★★★☆☆

I was surprised that they only had 3 pieces of dumplings. I made a comment on Instagram that for a restaurant named the “King of Dumplings”, Dumplings are surprisingly not the main dish. My friend Mika Kodaira, who I’ve known since college, replied that she has never thought of it that way. Hmm. You also dip the dumplings in vinegar.

Dish Verdict: ★★★★☆

The soup was thick. It was just normal Chinese egg soup. Same old same old.

Dish Verdict: ★★★☆☆

The Karaage, or the fried chicken, is uniquely Japanese. You eat it by dipping it in Mayonnaise. It wasn’t half bad.

Dish Verdict: ★★★★☆

Over all, I did enjoy myself at the restaurant. I was very tired that day, and having some hot carb thrown in my face was what I needed.

Restaurant Verdict:

★★★★☆

After that, went back to my hotel, booked the hotel for the next day, and went to sleep.

Nara Verdict:

★★★★☆

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