Day 20: Nara

This morning we had French Crepes for breakfast. They are very good with fresh fruit and whipped cream! Naomi shared her photo albums with me, which were really cute. I think I looked through about six or eight photo albums from when she was younger. It is neat to get an idea where the families are coming from. The Pieczulewski's lived in San Francisco for some time, so Naomi is an American citizen by birth.

After breakfast and looking at pictures, Charles, Sachiko, Naomi and I left for a trip to the city of Nara. Nara used to be the capitol before Tokyo. I was excited to see the city, its temples, and the infamous bowing deer rumored to be in the park. I slept on the subway again; it is hard not to fall asleep on the subway. When we arrived in Nara we had to walk a few blocks to get to the main attractions in Nara Park. What was the first thing we saw?...a lot of deer roaming around! The street vendors were all selling food for people to feed the deer with, and Sachiko bought some for Naomi and us. The deer we first encountered were too aggressive for bowing. Instead, they just chase you and try to take all of the food out of your hands. If you turn your back they will lick your shirt or your arms. Naomi gave the food to me and all of the deer surrounded me. I tried to get them to back off, but they were some relentless beasts. Eventually, we just ran away and acted like we didn't have anymore food. Naomi found some calmer deer which actually would bow their heads several times when asking for food. It was pretty neat!

Within the park there were several temples and other buildings for people to look at. We walked by one pagoda, which is about five stories tall, as we worked our way to the main attractions. Since there were some restaurants nearby, we figured we better eat before moving into the park. We stopped at a Japanese restaurant which had a wide variety of Japanese entrees. I chose the chicken curry and rice, which was delicious. I love spicy food, so the curry was a nice choice for that. After lunch we had to dodge some more deer on our way to the Todai-ji Temple. The Todai-ji Temple houses a very famous Buddha statue.

When we approached the Todai-ji Temple, the size of the Japanese-style building was impressive. As we entered, we lit some incense in a cauldron and wafted the smoke over our heads as those who have come to worship the Buddha do. The smoke cleansing of the body is akin to the use of Holy Water upon entrance of Churches in the United States. We also cleansed our hands before climbing the large stone staircase leading to the Temple doors. Once your eyes adjust from the light outside to the dimly lit inside, then your eyes can behold the sight you have been seeking: the massive forty-nine foot tall Buddha! I was happy to find that they allow people to take pictures inside the Temple. I took some photos but, similar to my visit to the San-ju-san Gendo, I spent much of my time staring. The Buddha was built in the 700's, while the Temple around it was built in the 1700's. There were Temples housing the Buddha before this one, but each previous design had burned down. There were some other statues in the Temple as well, but all pale in comparison to the large Virocana Buddha.

The four of us strolled through many other parts of Nara Park, seeing small Temples, stores, museums, and a lot of deer. One part of the park has walkways which are lined with hundreds of stone lanterns; I would love to see the pathways at night when all of the lanterns are lit. As we were walking by the last area of shops I actually saw a couple of deer shopping for souvenirs. It was hilarious! It looked to me like the male was shopping and the doe was thinking, "No, dear. We don't have any money to buy these things." Check it out and you will see what I mean.

For dinner we went to a restaurant called Kushya: Japanese Pica-Pica Finger Foods. The name basically tells you that it is food on a stick. The food at this Japanese grill restaurant was absolutely amazing! Anyone coming to Kyoto, including myself if I come back again, should definitely eat at this place! They have their own website, www.kushya.com, that you can look at. Otherwise, just know that it is near the intersection of Kawaramachi Street and Sanjo Street. Some of the foods we ordered were: bacon wrapped chicken stuffed with cheese, and spring rolls of shrimp and cream cheese covered in a blueberry sauce (harumaki). After the very satisfying meal, we made our way home on the subway and called it a night.