I sniff...
Hmmm...I wonder what is that....
IT'S NARA DEER PARK!
We had our first bus ride in Japan from JR Nara Station to the park and visited the deers :)
We made our first few observations here! The route that the bus takes is actually quite convenient on foot as well! As such, few people actually take the bus and most of them are actually the elderly. The bus also stops for longer intervals at bus stops to ensure that all that wants to come aboard will have a chance, and we did not see anyone running towards the bus, afraid that it will leave without them -- A common sight in Singapore. Perhaps this is one of the ways Japan takes care of its ageing population :D
Having arrived at the Nara Deer Park, we were deceived by the deers...
Though these deers may look cute...
They're persistent and scary when you have food >:(
Apart from just observing Japanese behaviour, we also observed the behaviour of the deers!
Male deers have their horns cut off to ensure the safety of the people in the park. However, we spotted this "alpha-male" deer attempting to sharpen his already cut off horns, perhaps he's trying to look more attractive to the female deers haha :D
We also spotted a number of pregnant deers!
Deers also make good pokemon, below are the 4 attacks you can choose from when you have a deer as a pokemon.
Haha just joking! The deers in the Nara Park are intrinsically wild animals and they do attack people when aggravated :x However, they are also very shy animals and gets afraid easily when humans get close to them.
Here is Wei Lin feeding the deer a fallen leaf after many attempts :)
This beautiful deer is so accustomed to humans that she doesn't mind that we're so close to her, a rare sight indeed. :)
We visited the Todaiji Temple inside Nara Park as well, and the temple looks like it has acquired deer horns too! *Spot the 2 horns growing out from its rooftop*
The temple is home to the largest Buddha statue in Japan!
As compared to the temples back at home that are solely for worshipping, this temple was much too touristy for our liking :x It was more of an exhibition of the history of the temple and a place to sell religious/ superstitious merchandises instead. There was a pillar with a narrow square at the bottom in this section of the temple that is said to bring good luck to whomever who climbs through it. Though it may look foolish to attempt to crawl through this small little hole, many people were seen attempting to get through it so as to get some good luck. Naturally, we decided to take up this challenge to bless ourselves with some luck for the upcoming A Levels next year as well. I guess people are all the same despite nationalities, willing to go through 'hardship' to get good results.
Moving along our itinerary....we had a long train ride towards Asukamura, and everyone was evidently tired ><
Check out the countryside view from the train! Before long, we reached the outskirts of Japan, Asukamura! :D
We headed forth to the bicycle rental shop at around 3pm in the afternoon, only to find out that the full day rental for bicycles ends at 5pm...Regardless, we climbed onto rented bicycles and started our expedition in the village!
Look at how serious our first-man, aka navigator Wei Quan is!
The countryside air was refreshing and the view was beautiful. The atmosphere in Asukamura was definitely very different compared to the city in Tokyo and back at home, Singapore.
The people in the village farmed their own food and sold it within the village. We managed to spot a local small store and we realised that even though the store was close, the food was not kept or locked, reflecting the level of trust they must have within their small knit community in this village :D
We had a good snack in a pretty little cafe in the village.
We could also see that this cafe focused alot on ambiance and it was decorated very beautifully, the lighting and atmosphere of the cafe was relaxing and warm. However, there were very few people in the cafe. It was probably because the Japanese in the village are very family-oriented and since it was around dinner time, many of them were back home with their families instead of being outside :)
After a small little break, it was time to go back for a well deserved rest....
BUT WAIT!
EMERGENCY!!
While we were travelling back on the train, one of us realised that she lost something and we had to go back to Nara Park and investigate!
*BLACKS OUT*
It was too bad we didn't manage to find what was lost...but the shopkeepers we approached at Nara Park were really helpful! Though the shopkeeper we first approached was already packing up his shop, he still followed us down to the restaurant of which we thought the lost item may have been dropped. Later on, he even roped in a fellow shopkeeper and both men stayed with us throughout the entire duration of making our police report. Finally, when we wanted to gift them with our lion mascots, they refused to accept it, emphasising on how they were simply helping others, without the need for rewards. The actions of the two men really warmed our hearts and made us feel trustful towards the Japanese society in times of need. This incident may actually be a blessing in disguise as we managed to experience first hand the helpfulness of the Japanese!
Now we finally head forth for dinner at our trusty local favourite KFC!
We were the last few customers and apart from Mr Samuel Claus in the above picture, if you look closely at the back of this picture, by the time we were done, the staff at the counters were already gone >< But the amazing thing was that even though it was already past the closing time, none of the staff hurried us along and chased us out of the place, unlike back at home where there are news of some incidents of which shopkeepers chased their customers out because it was already past the closing time.
For more pictures on our journey, do check us out on Facebook! :D
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