We went to Nara on our first day in Japan because my mom heard about the deer there. And since it was far away from Osaka, we wanted to get started with that first.
There were already a couple of deer while we were walking from the station going to the temples. I warn you, the deer are actually pretty scary. They have these booths which sells deer food for around 100 yen. But after you pay and get the food, the deer would all swarm around you and get the take the food before you can even give it to them. Hahaha and that wasn't all!
After this picture was taken, the deer behind me grabbed the map on my hand. Hahaha and he pretty much did the same thing to my mom.
Look at that deer checking my hand for some more food!
We tried dango and it was actually pretty good!
We couldn't get far and explore some more because it started raining again so we just walked back to the station and checked out the alleyway beside it.
We dropped by Chococros since we know they have delicious croissants when we had it back home. I ordered the Strawberry shaved ice while my brother ordered the parfait. They're both delicious!! I love the huge purin (Japanese pudding) that comes with the parfait.
We had a taste of dorayaki which is the Japanese red bean pancake. It was good but I don't like it that much since I thought it was too sweet. You must try it though!! I always see them eating it on anime shows. You know Doraemon? Yep, that's his favorite snack.
The day before we leave, we went to Kyoto! And this is the part of the trip I was most excited about because I heard about Kyoto and how you can experience the traditional Japanese culture. We arrived at the station in Kyoto and we went to the Tourist Information Center for some maps. They also have suggested routes to take and some bus information. We bought the day pass for transport which includes the subway and bus.
We went to the Nijo Castle first since we were taking one of the suggested routes from the tourist center.
The place was very peaceful and calming. I can honestly say that walking around here gave that relaxing aura that you just want to walk slowly and appreciate nature.
Very zen.
Japan = walking walking and walking
But that's okay since there's a lot to see!
Our next stop was the Kinkaku-ji Temple (Golden Temple) and my brother was pretty excited about this.
Such a cool entrance ticket!! Right?
This photo does not do it justice! It was too beautiful you just have to go there and see for yourself!!
Up close
It was so hot that we took a break and had some cold desserts. In case you're wondering, my brother's holding Red Bean soft serve ice cream.
We went to this small Japanese Garden which was very zen and really gorgeous. It's around Arashiyama! We took a break here because we were tired from walking under that heat. It helped that it was relaxing to look around the place.
It was getting late so our last stop was Arashiyama! These are poles we saw when we arrived at Arashiyama station.
Haha, sorry, the weather that day was too hot for me. Look at that face!
We went back to the station around 4:30PM because it would take us several minutes to get there and we were meeting Akiko-san's family for dinner in Osaka. I wished we stayed overnight in Kyoto though. I think we missed a lot of places to explore. Definitely coming back there again!!
We rode the shinkansen going back to Osaka. Haha we know it was a waste of money since it was only a 15-20 minute ride but we wanted to experience it. It took us around an hour going to Kyoto and just imagine how fast the shinkansen was if it only took us 15 minutes to go back to Osaka. Cool, right?? Tokyo to Osaka next time!!
I really wish we could've stayed longer in Japan. I think we missed out a lot. There were still definitely a lot of places to explore. Next time! Next time for sure! (Our family's planning to go back to Japan to spend Christmas on 2016, how about that?! I wish it would push through!)
xo
B
PS: If you haven't read my other posts about my Japan trip, check it out here:
Labels: Japan, Travel
