Day 11: Nara and Osaka

Nara 

We'd only just arrived in Osaka but we were straight off to Nara for the day. We loved the deer park it was a beautiful place to walk around and reminded me a bit of Bradgate Park at home. We bought crackers to feed the deer which was fun (and not like Bradgate Park!).

It became even more fun when one of them got bored of waiting for their turn and bit Aaron on the bum! I had read online that some would bow for crackers and whilst most didn't, a couple did which was really cool.

Then it was off to Todaiji temple which was really impressive and the giant Buddha was insanely big- his hand was 1 and a half people long!

One with other tourists in to give a sense of scale!

There was a column with a hole in the bottom: supposedly if you can fit through the hole, which is the size of the giant Buddha's nostril, you will be granted enlightenment in the next life. Realistically only children would fit through, which is a shame as I was all ready to give it a go- until I saw it!

We bought a roof tile to help with the repairs to the temple and wrote our names, address, and wish as we were told to, so a little bit of us will remain in Japan :) we also bought fortunes, Aarons was good but mine was bad (basically everything I do will fail etc) so I tied it to the rail outside with the other bad fortunes to neutralise it. Aarons was good though so he has kept it. Then we walked back through the park and went for curry for a late lunch (chicken katsu), and then had a wander around Nara old town before heading back to Osaka. 

We saw this walking through Nara town: the guy with his hands on the green thing was constantly turning and folding it whilst the other guy simultaneously whacked it with that mallet thing. Some serious trust required for that job!

Dotombori

I had thought I would enjoy Osaka shopping more- the shops certainly looked more my style than the ones in Tokyo, but sadly not- I mostly found lots of overpriced American imports! Managed to get a cute hoody and that's it.

We walked around Shinsaibashi and Dotombori. For dinner we went to an okonomiyaki place by the canal but it didn't actually have okonomiyaki so I had tonpei (pork omelette) and Aaron had Osaka soba (basically a chow mein). They cooked it in front of us and then served it onto the hot plate on our table.

Busy streets, at 11pm on a Tuesday!

Then we went for a wander a bit more and Aaron tried takoyaki but these ones were odd- instead of being chopped up the octopus was whole (baby octopus) and its head was in a ball of batter but tentacles were sticking out of the bottom. Aaron said its head popped when he bit into it *gross!* and he only ate 1, wasn't a fan!!! After that we found an arcade and played on mariokart and that drumming game a few times before heading back to the hotel.

Next post: Day 12: Osaka and the return to Tokyo

Strange takoyaki

Interesting warning poster! I get what the first 3 are, but what is the 4th warning you of?!