No Deer Here...Nara

Brellowgirl
Oct 30, 2015
4 min read

10.29.15

I'm sitting on a train to I don't know where because we missed getting off the train at Nakatsugawa. My feet hurt and for some reason I haven't bought anything but my pack feels heavier every time I put it on my shoulders AND I'm still jet lagged. I told Kunal that every day around 6pm I just feel drunk and that, I suppose, is what jet lag does to you. Mind you, this is not a lightheaded, I'm walking on clouds and can fly kind of drunk but a sloppy, I smell bad and I can't even keep my eyes open kind of drunk.

10.30.15

This is totally the beginning of the end. I'm so bad at keeping up with blog posts and this is proof. We visited a Confucius shrine the other day and I read my horoscope. It said that I am weak-willed. I know that already, due to my unending list of unfinished projects, hobbies, books, diets, exercise regimens and blog posts. I promise to try harder...famous last words. Since my last update we've traveled from Kyoto to Tokyo. We took a day trip to a city called Nara where hundreds of deer roam the town freely. The minute you start walking from the train station to the park BAM there are deer everywhere. Standing in the middle of the road, hiding behind trees, head butting people in the behind wanting to be fed, etc. they can actually get pretty aggressive and I got chomped on myself while I was busy taking pictures (please refer to the picture of me minding my own business while a deer trys to eat me). The deer are regarded as messengers of the gods in Shinto religion so nobody bothers with them and they are free to do their own thing. Nonetheless, it was very interesting to see all these deer overpopulating the town and walking amongst all the tourists. Nara is also home to Todai-ji Temple which is a UNESCO World Heritage site and home of the world's largest bronze Buddah which in Japan they call 'Daibutsu'. It was a sight to see and the temple was beautiful. When we got back to Kyoto we went to see Fushimi Inari-taisha. It's a Shinto shrine that has hundreds of torii leading up and around the Inari mountain. It's a shrine dedicated to Inari who is the Shinto spirit of merchants, industry, agriculture and fertility. Every torii (the orange arches) was donated by a business. It's really cool to see all the torii lined up and there are so many winding and leading paths of these that stop at different mini shrines along the mountain. Yesterday we spent a bulk of the day on trains from Kyoto to Tokyo. We were slow getting off the train at one of our stops and ended up missing it putting us hours behind schedule. What made that better was as the train door closed on my face at that same moment I turned around to look at Tia and she was holding both of our rucks. I saw her lose her balance and fall forward onto the backpacks in suuuper sloooow motion. It made missing our stop bearable because all we did was laugh about it until we got off. By the time we got into Tokyo it was getting dark so we dropped out bags off at our Air Bnb in an area called Asakusa. I remember being here two years ago and it was really awesome walking around the streets and recognizing places I've eaten in and pictures I took of things in the past. It's familiar and that's one thing I love about traveling. I've only been here twice in my life but I feel like I know this place. We had dinner and walked around the ancient Senso-ji temple at night. So much better than during the day when people are everywhereee. It was beautiful out. That temple is Tokyo's oldest and it's so grand. In Asakusa the streets are filled with all kinds of vendors. Clothing, shoes, kitchenware, purses but most importantly...FOOD. Hot buns (manju), yakitori skewers, mochi (pounded rice which is then dried, cut and roasted), takoyaki balls (octopus pieces which are put in batter and cooked into balls then covered in sauces), green tea ice cream, red bean everything and more. It was bustling and beautiful at night with all the string lights. It felt like a summer carnival. It's now the afternoon of the 30th and we're walking around the Decks Shopping Mall in Odaiba. THERE'S A TAKOYAKI MUSEUM IN HERE. so of course I'm sitting here having octopus balls with my aunt. We got some covered in mayo and teriyaki sauce and others plain that you dip in a soy and vinegar sauce. SO GOOD. This is like a huge mall/arcade. It's a kids paradise. Actually there are tons of adults here playing games-I guess it's everybody's paradise. Odaiba is a man made island in Tokyo Bay and it's honestly so weird. It's like being in NY (they have a replica of the Statue of Liberty) and then inside one of the malls there's a huge fountain that reminds me of the inside of an AC casino.

Fast forward to the evening. I'm tired and have a huge headache. My feet definitely hurt now. We walked and shopped all day but I don't have the money nor the space in my bag to buy anything. I also don't think my pack could get any heavier-it feels like I'm carrying around rocks. Mom and Tia rode the giant ferris wheel in Pallett Town (it makes me think of Pokemon everytime I see the sign) and Nani and I got ice cream while we waited. We went to a vegan restaurant for dinner and I passed out early because my head felt like it was going to explode.

I have pictures for you guys and will try to write later tonight.

Much love,

Cas