Travel Blog: Japan Trip 2013 Day 8 - Nara, 日本之旅第八天

日本之旅第八天：6月9日2013年, 星期天 - 奈良
Japan Trip Day 8: 9 June 2013, Sunday - Nara
日本の旅行第八日：６月９日２０１３年（月曜日） - 奈良

It was our last day in Japan! Have to treasure every moment we had. We took the train to Shin-Imamiya Station and transferred to the JR Yamatoji Rapid Service. The whole trip was 690 yen each. We arrived at Nara in about one and a half hours. We got a local map of Nara from the train station and then proceeded to navigate our way to Todaiji. Of course I made use of my GPS on my smartphone as well. We walked along the local streets and saw some shops selling local fruits, clothing, souvenirs etc.

Tickets to Nara.

Welcome to Nara!

We were here!

Some Shika-san cookies.

We got a local map of Nara to navigate around easily.

We came across a beautiful pond along the way, before we arrived at a five-storey pagoda right outside Kofukuji, another temple worth visiting. That was where we saw the first deers of Nara. As we walked on towards Todaiji, more and more deers could be found wondering around the park. They were also many people selling deer rice crackers, called shika senbei, at 150 yen a pack. Many tourists would buy these snacks to feed the deers.

Beautiful pond in the middle of the park.

Locals praying to a statue of a god.

A majestic five-storey pagoda.

Shika senbei (deer rice crackers) can be bought from these sellers throughout the park.

The deers were really everywhere. And so were their dung lol. They were very tame and either slowly walking around grazing or lying on the ground half asleep. They were really adorable and cute! And then there was also some bazaar or festival going on in the park area near the Nara National Museum, so a lot of locals gathered there to have fun.

Look at how tame the deer is!

"Where's my shika senbei?"

Tame as they may seem, but once provoked, they could do some serious damage!

These fist-sized deer dung could be found littered around the park. Be careful!

Some bazaar going on. And a performer performing some show for the kids.

I don't think you'll get to see this very often.

Walked past the Nara National Museum.

Some deers found this good spot for resting.

We then continued marching onwards to Todaiji, and as we drew closer to this UNESCO World Heritage site, the roads became more and more crowded with tourists as well as locals. We finally reached the gate of Todaiji, which was a gigantic wooden structure so massive that it would take a minute or two to walk from one end to the other. We merely peeked through the gate to see the Great Buddha Hall which contains the world's largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana as it was so crowded and had to pay an entrance fee just to see a bronze statue. Therefore we hung around the area for a while before turning back to go back to Nara Station for our train ride back to Osaka.

Flooded with tourists and locals alike.

Entrance gate to Todaiji. Just look at the size of this monstrosity.

The Great Buddha Hall of Todaiji.

Some tall weird-looking sculpture or structure.

Back in Osaka, we went back to Dotonbori area and found an Ichiran Ramen restaurant just right next to this iconic building belonging to the Don Quijote, a discount chain store. The structure outside the building looked almost like a roller-coaster. It was by chance we came across this Ichiran Ramen outlet as we were not really looking for it.

The strange-looking building of Don Quijote.

And Ichiran Ramen is just right next to it!

We quickly queued for our seats as soon as we found it. The queuing and dining was a totally new experience. First, we had to purchase our tickets for our ramen from the vending machine, where we could choose the various ingredients and add-ons like kaedama (additional noodles), eggs, etc. This is of course nothing new as almost all of Japanese restaurants do that. But there was also an empty (or taken) seat indicator to show which seats were available. The staff would then bring you to an empty seat once there were vacant seats. Therefore you do not get to choose where you wish to sit or to sit next to your friend. You get your own personal space or cubicle to enjoy your ramen. It seems that they do not really encourage you sitting next to a friend. Probably to hasten the customer to quickly finish their ramen to free up the seat for the next customer. But one of the reasons they have such a concept of seating a customer in his or her own personal space or cubicle is to ensure the customer is fully focused on their ramen to fully savour the goodness and flavour of their wonderful creation. What's also interesting is the way you order the food. You write on a slip of paper to indicate the levels of spiciness, the amount of spring onions, how tender your noodles are, amongst other preferences. Then you present your order chit to the front of your table and press the bell in front of you, where a staff would receive and go off to prepare your ramen. Once your ramen is ready, the staff would lift up the bamboo drapes and present you your bowl of ramen, do a little bow and say some usual Japanese phrases to tell you to enjoy your meal, let down the drapes and then you start enjoying your ramen. All these is done without the staff showing his or her face at all. There is a small tap for you to get cold water from as well so there really is not much interaction needed with the staff. A really unique dining experience only available in Ichiran Ramen restaurants.

Back to my ramen experience, I simply loved the ramen! The taste was just right and the spiciness made it really tasty. This pork bones ramen was, at that time, the best ramen I tasted. It was so good that I emptied the bowl almost immediately. Not a single drop of the gravy was left behind. I was totally satisfied and enjoyed the meal. I would definitely visit Ichiran Ramen again if I go to Japan again. Dear and Nut also enjoyed their ramen as well. We were saying we should have ate at Ichiran much earlier, instead of on our LAST day in Japan.

Can't wait to sink our teeth into their ramen!

Yes you have to get a ticket for your ramen first.

A closer look at the choices available.

An empty seat indicator. How convenient!

Your personal space for enjoying their delicious ramen.

Dear and Nut get to sit next to each other.

Looks like an ordinary tonkotsu ramen...

But it was SOOO good that I finished EVERYTHING!

ICHIRAN Dotonbori
Address: 7-18 1F Souemoncho Chuo-ku Osaka-shi Osaka-fu 542-0084
Business Hours: 24 hours
URL: http://www.ichiran.co.jp/english/html/kin_douton.html

After the satisfying meal, we walked along Dotonbori Canal, seeing tourists enjoy their cruise on the Dotonbori Cruise ship, and decided to fill our stomachs once more with some local snacks. We found a takoyaki store which had a long queue forming, so we decided to try some. It was really good as well! Wished we could stay in Japan longer...

Nice cruise along Dotonbori Canal.

Quite a long queue.

Tastes really good!

We made our way back to the underground shopping areas near our hotel and got some yakitori, and croquettes from the nearby Takashimaya shopping centre. We would finish them on our train ride to the airport.

Spoilt for choice!

Yakitori to take away and enjoy on the train ride.

Looks so yummy but we just bought one to try on our trip to the airport.

Finally, our most dreaded moment was here - checking out of our hotel. The hotel staff of Swissotel Nankia Osaka was very helpful in helping us bring our luggage through a special hotel lift direct to the train station. We were told to make our way to the station, which was just directly below the hotel situated in the same building, as we cannot use the special hotel lift. We met at the station and the staff helped us to get our tickets for the limited express Rap:t train to Kansai International Airport (KIX). The price for the train ride was 1,100 yen. Normally it wouldn't be at this price as there was some promotion going on.

The futuristic-looking train had a cool-looking head, almost like a helmet of some cyborg. The limited express Rap:t train would bring us to the airport, while stopping at a few stations along the way. In less than an hour, we arrived at the airport.

This futuristic-looking train brought us to the airport in less than an hour.

Noooo! I don't wanna go home!!

Our final ticket for our 8-day trip in Japan.

Tired but thoroughly enjoyed the trip.

Goodbye Osaka! Goodbye Japan!

At the airport, we deposited the Mifi in a package that was provided when we received it into the mailbox. Thanks to the Mifi, it was a really simple, easy and convenient way to get mobile internet access for our trip in Japan.

We then settled dinner at some restaurant in the restaurants area of the airport. Ordered some soba and tempura don. Tasted really good as well. What a wonderful way to finish our last meal in Japan.

Looks really appetizing!

All Japanese food look and taste good!

After the dinner, we made some final splurge at the souvenir shops. Royce chocolates, Sakura and green tea-flavoured Kit Kats, Tokyo Banana cakes, biscuits. And that completed our tour of Japan 2013.

It was 10 June 2013 (Day 9), Monday when we arrived in Singapore. All tired but satisfied with our wonderful trip to Japan. When will we go again? Probably soon. =)