Japan 2016 - Nara Day 6

2017/07/11

Today's itinerary is a day trip in Nara.

We will be travelling here and there in the city of Nara today so we bought a Nara/Banjo one day pass.

Early in the morning we left our airbnb and took the subway to our hotel in Namba.

We dropped off our luggage and off we GOO!

First Stop: Zen-Ya

The hotel we're staying at is literally 10 steps away from the train station and the underground shopping street. At the Namba Walk, we found a nice Japanese diner? (食堂) Zen-Ya 膳や for lunch.

Most of the menu were teishoku, kind of similar to bento boxes, they all come with soup, a main, and appetizers.

I got this, the chicken namban and tofu hamburger set.

The tofu hamburger was actually pretty tasty, very light and healthy haha.

& my brother got this..

I don't remember the name of this one, but basically its tonkatsu or menchikatsu with eggs. Yum.

A set like this only costs around 600 yen? so the food was really worth its money :)

Second Stop: Nara Park

After lunch, we took the subway again and arrived at Nara Park. You will know immediately when you see dozens and dozens of deer walking around. (apparently over 1200 says the internet lol.)

The grounds of the park is very wide since it also kind of includes Todaiji and Kofukuji, as well as Kasuga Shrine on the opposite side.

For someone who does her homework before travelling, I have seen plenty of videos showing off these seemingly cute but dangerous animals lol.

There's even a warning sign for visitors hahah.

look at that headbutt!

Okay now that we know of the precautions, lets go buy some shika senbei for the deer!

Make sure to not hold on to the stack of senbei and tease the fellow deer, things may end badly lol...

Once you have their food on your hands, nearby deer will all swarm in trying to get a bite of it. If done correctly, the deer will behave and thank you for food; but if you wait too long, they will be quite angry!

here's dad being crazy...

A clip showing some deer with good manners haha. Too bad when I remembered about this I was already out of senbei :(

I tried... but they never want to face the camera, and just walks away..

(probably because I have no food for them /sigh)

blending in with the herd :)

Here's two of the only nice pictures I've got with the deer in Nara Park.

Still refusing to face the camera huh.

After about an hour of play time in this vast park, we stepped into an ice shop for a nice cool down from the heat.

Located right by the entrance of Nara Park, I have no idea what the place is called, but they make great ice treats!

We were planning to have some late lunch? so we just got a couple of things to share.

strawberry shaved ice

matcha shaved ice with red beans

Shaved ice was really what we needed after being under the sun for such a long time. So refreshing!

Third Stop: Kasuga Taisha

After a light treat we headed across Nara Park to where the Kasuga Taisha stands.

Walking along the Kasuga Taisha sando, is a completely different atmosphere than earlier, so calm and serene.

Kasuga Taisha is known for the stone lanterns, and they can be seen lining the road leading up to the main shrine.

We also spotted a few deer here and there between the stone lanterns, and they look fantastic together, like something taken out of a Japanese fairy tale.

so cute!

After a 10 minute stroll, we have arrived at the entrance to the shrine.

The interior is famous for its many bronze lanterns.

I really love the contrast from both sides aren't they beautiful?

Out of all the shrines and temples we have visited on this trip, Kasuga Taisha is definitely one of my top picks!

& since we are at a shrine, I obviously have to get an omikuji, especially when it's a deer representing Nara!

My luck has been pretty good during this trip, I got daikichi! yesyesyes

♥

On the way back, there we spotted a field where people were feeding the deer. I swear the deer on this side were sooo much more calm and nicer than the ones by Nara Park. We should've bought some food to feed them here. :l

Also spotted a doe and her deerling, adorable.

Before leaving I decided to have one last try taking a selfie with a deer, and omg, he just stood there looking at the camera! The only downside was the lighting...

But seriously would recommend spending most of your time here by Kasuga Taisha, becuase, beautiful shrine and nice deer. Unless you want to experience being crowded around by fierce hungry deer packs haha.

Fourth Stop: Shizuka 志津香

Shizuka is quite a famous place to have traditional Kamameshi in Nara. We read many blogs raving it so my mom insisted we try it out.

Kamameshi is generally Japanese rice cooked in an iron pot mixed with various vegetables, meat, and seafood.

This location is about a 5-10 minute walk away from Nara Park, so its fairly close.

We arrived after lunch time around 2pm? And there was still a little wait, so make sure to make a reservation or come during odd hours.

For the full post please click here!

Fifth Stop: Kofukuji 興福寺

After a nice lunch at Shizuka, we walked over to Kofukuji area and had a look around before we leave Nara for Osaka.

You know you're in Nara when you see signs of deer at every corner.

on the telephone poles

on warning signs in the middle of the road

We didn't end up exploring the whole area around Kofukuji but we snapped a few pictures.

The Toukondou 東金堂 on the left and the Goju no Tou 五重塔 on the right.

Goju no Tou is the tallest wooden tower in the world.

In front of Toukondou, there were many deer resting in the area. And since they seem like they woudn't run away I took a few more pictures with them.

Though I have to say, either they're sleepy or just very tired of our shit lool, very unimpressed.

Say Cheese!

Good boy!

On the opposite side is Hokuendou 北円堂, apparently the largest octagonal Buddist Temple Hall.

hey, stop drooling.

Last Stop: Kintetsu Nara Station / Back to Osaka

In Nara station and several locations in Nara is the famous Mahoroba Daibutsu pudding shops (まほろば大仏プリン).

This was just a small take out shop so we picked a few to take back to our hotel.

There is a wide selection of flavours, in truth I wanted to try one of each, as well as that giant pot of pudding, but there is no way we could finish all of that. In the end, we settled for five, one for each person. Yamato Tea, mont blanc, cappuccino, custard, and rare cheese.

mont blanc, they really had chestnut paste on top.

They were definitely worth the hype, plus, the little pots left over can also be nice souvenirs!

I also spotted these at the station, which were hilarious.

A few gag snacks, from far left is deer poop (soy sauce peanuts), deer boogers (chocolate peanuts I think), and on the right, Humans only senbei (because the ones we fed were for deer) hahah.

We bought these in a souvenir shop somewhere along the way to the station haha.