Where was I? Oh yes, we just got back from Hiroshima.
Our next day was spent in Osaka with my buddy Mitsu. Although I don’t really have any photos from there except on my phone, we walked all around Namba, tried some okonomiyaki and some shabu-shabu, and took pictures in front of the Kuidaore drummer boy. If haven’t been there you’ll have no idea what I’m talking about, which is exactly why you should go and see it for yourself!
The next day we went to Nara, home of pretty much All Old Cultural Sights in Japan. First stop was Nara park, where I bought a pack of deer biscuits and gave them to Mom. Watching her freak out while a dozen deer surrounded her was worth the 100 yen. We wandered a bit before arriving at Todai-ji, the big big wooden temple, where the cherry blossoms were actually blossoming.
Spring strikes back in Nara
And of course, the inside of the temple is really cool, but they don’t allow tripods inside– precisely because it’s impossible to take a good photo of the inside without one, and they want to sell you their photos. Screw that, I’ll put the camera on a ledge and take my own anyway.
Inside the temple
Afterwards, we meandered up the hill and had lunch in a small restaurant that didn’t look like it was doing much business, then wandered around to see some other temples.
I’m not sure why I was so fascinated with this wall.
Some neat bronze lanterns up the hill
Next stop was Nikko, which we thankfully hit out of tourist season. Located near Tokyo, Nikko is another place famous for its temples. The first night we were directed by the hotel owner to a yakitori restaurant; the walls were covered in business cards and paper money from all around the world. Most of the customers were English-speaking foreigners, and so the staff were used to people who didn’t speak Japanese. What caught my eye was the surprisingly mature 5 year old kid who was astute enough to figure out what orders went to which person at each table, and even gave everyone at one table a piece of gum from a plastic box. When our order came, he walked right up and sat down in the empty chair at our table to eat his dinner. When he was done, he quizzed me for a while on different things in the restaurant before bringing a book over to look at. I asked him to draw his favorite animal and just chatted with him for awhile. At one point he asked me with a straight face if I was Japanese, which is seriously the best compliment I’ve ever gotten.
The next full day was spent wandering around the rest of the temples and then taking a bus up to see Kegon falls. That twisty one-way road up there is awesome. At night I met up with Ian, who had arrived that evening, and we stopped by the conbini to grab a couple beers and chat for awhile.
The one in the middle just caught a whiff of natto.
The tomb of Tokugawa
Final stop was Naruko up in the mountains near me, where I hoped to treat the parents to some relaxing hot springs. My buddy Yassan helped secure the hotel reservations, and I have to admit he has excellent taste. The food was fantastic… at least I thought so. He also drove us all the way out to Matsushima with his two daughters who had never been there. I had exactly 3 photos left to take on my card, and none of them are really better than previous shots I have of Matsushima.
Anyway, that’s it for continuity. Now maybe I can go back to posting random stuff again.
I will get Dad to send you a picture of you and Mitsu–we got several good ones. He said he wanted copies, too, so you’ll need to let us know where to send them.
I had hoped you would post some pictures of Mom feeding the attacking killer deer. :P
I have to save SOMETHING for blackmail.
Yeah, please send me our photos. Those were good times.