Fawning Over Japan

Day 6- Nara Park and the Inari Gates

After the previous day's emotional turmoil, I bought myself a pork bun to at least start the day off in the right direction. I had gone one day without one, and I was already feeling the withdrawal effects. I knew with the pork bun in my hand I would have a great day.

The first exciting stop of the day was at Nara Park, just outside of Osaka. Walking up to the park gates, I was greeted by deer roaming the streets. I simply had to feed them, so I bought a pack of deer cookies and went on my merry way. As soon at the deer saw I had food in my hands, I was immediately surrounded. I would crack the cookie into small pieces and slowly hand them out to the deer in my general vicinity. The trick was to bow to the deer, and then they would bow back to you while taking the food out of your hand. Walking further into the park, I made acquaintances with a deer I fondly referred to as Timmy. Timmy was a big boy driven solely by food. I gave him a few pieces initially, and then turned to feed other deer. Timmy apparently did not like this, so he bit my jacket sleeve and yanked me down to his height. I did not appreciate this. I decided to find other more friendly deer that would not grab at my clothing. As I was bent over feeding a smaller deer, Timmy circled back around and head butted my backside. Had I not had my feet firmly planted, I would have gone face first into the mud. I quickly realized Timmy would not ever leave me alone, so I resorted to chastising him whenever he would do something inappropriate or rude. I did not plan on becoming a mother in Japan, yet there I was, standing in a park disciplining my deer child. By the time I left the park, my jacket was filthy and I was sporting a killer bruise on my knee thanks to Timmy.

Nara Park

My time with Timmy

Because the day was rainy and cold, we decided to stop for a hot lunch. The restaurant we were at was more of a cafeteria with several different restaurants attached. This meant lots of options to choose from. I decided to settle for a nice bowl of ramen with an extra egg, of course. While the noodles were not quite as tasty as the ramen from a few days before, they still filled my belly. The egg was delicious, and the pork was nicely seasoned.

After our quick lunch, we headed to the outskirts of Kyoto to visit the Fushimi Inari Gates. The bright red gates were like a beacon to visitors, drawing them in. It was incredibly crowded, and the large amount of umbrellas did not help, but we were determined to walk through them. It was absolutely magical walking under the gates with the deep green of the forest in the background. So much history was surrounding me and I was loving every minute. I was incredibly at peace walking through the ancient shrine and hearing the soft patter of the rain. We reached a small rest area overlooking a garden, and we sat for about 30 or so minutes before deciding to finish our little hike.

The majestic Inari Gates

The last stop of the night was visiting the Umeda Sky Building. The structure consists of 2 skyscrapers connected at top. The building was an impressive mix of glass and steel meeting at different points throughout the building. Walking through the sky bridge was an exciting little adventure, and riding the glass escalator to the top floor was enchanting. The lights of Osaka were shining brightly regardless of the rain. I spent some time walking around the floor reading about the building and its fascinating history. It was designed to withstand earthquakes and the architect had wanted the building to represent a sky garden. The topmost floor consisted of a 360 degree outdoor balcony. We spent a great deal of time circling the balcony and looking out upon downtown Osaka. The clouds created a hazy effect in the distance and there was a hint of the mountains. I never tired of looking at cities in the dark.

Osaka at night

We headed back to the hotel after a quick bite to eat and packed up our belongings in preparation for our journey to Tokyo.

Day 7- Journey to Tokyo

We set out for the train station (pork bun in hand), and settled in on the train for a long train ride. The long days were finally starting to catch up to all of us.

Once we had arrived in Tokyo, we decided our first course of action would be to grab some food. After much deliberation, we decided on a gyoza restaurant. I ordered the cilantro gyoza and it did not disappoint. The gyoza was bursting with flavor: savory from the pork, tanginess from the garlic, and a brightness from the fresh cilantro on top. The salad and broth were also delicious.

After lunch, we hopped on another train to head to our hotel for the night. The room was about 20 square feet and consisted of 4 beds squished right next to each other. I could barely spin around in the bathroom it was so small. Certainly not the end of the world, but it was a little tight at times.

Since the majority of the day consisted of travel, we decided to have an early night. We dropped by a convenience store to grab food. I settled on a croquette sandwich (simply dreadful) and a creampuff (surprisingly tasty). Although we had plans to go to bed early, a couple of us got the giggles and so we stayed up far later. Memories over sleep as I always say.