social study

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A different kind of Tiger mom - Onitsuka - Japan Day 4

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The previous post in this series is here..

After we had lunch near the golden pavilion, we took an Uber XL to Kyoto shopping area. It was already early evening and we went to the Onitsuka Tiger shoe store.

The little one had told us that we need to get her a pair of shoes at this store as it is a Japanese product that is cheaper in Japan than in the US. Also not all designs are available in US.

The Tiger mom went into overdrive to make her cub happy. We saw the line at the store was really long. Our friends saw the madness and said “we will go rest in the hotel. When you finish this and come back to the hotel, we can all go back for dinner”.

We stood in line for 2 hours just chatting with others in the line. Then our chance finally came. I had also selected a shoe in blue but it was sold out. Still we picked the version for the little one and also decided all of us should get one given the two hours spent in the line.

Then we made it back to the hotel. There is a Puma store right next to this one and we got socks for my buddy on the way there. We hope the Onitsuka’s are noticed on Bubb road during the local walks.. given their price, I might as well do pooja for it or carry it on my head instead.

Things we do…

We were to have dinner at a vegan place in Kyoto. Again a Jr. selection and she had made reservations. The food was good as was the service but the price was very high compared to other options we had seen. We were happy with the food. Then we made our way back to the hotel.

A very short video..

Our original plan had us spend another day here. We did change plans the previous day. We were going to our next stop a day early. It was going to be our last night in Kyoto..

Will start with our next stop in the next post..

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Japan Trip- Day 4 Kyoto to Todaiji Temple in Nara

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The previous post in this series is here..

While on the bus from Osaka to Kyoto, we had already decided to go back to Nara to see the Todaiji temple and the giant Buddha. It meant having to get up the very next day and take an early train.

There was no breakfast included in our hotel in Kyoto. Also, my BFF and me decided that there will be more Uniqlo shopping. That meant, every food item we had got from the US in case we could not find veggie food had to be consumed to make way for clothes.

We got up early, folks got stuff at a 7-11 outside the train station and we got on the train to Nara.

We walked literally past the deer park that we had visited the previous day and went on for another 20 minutes through quiet streets and parking lots to the Todaiji temple. This temple has a very very large Buddha statue and the entire temple complex is huge and amazing. It was built in the mid 700’s out of wood and metal nails. It is massive. Then the deer are everywhere. They smelled the energy bars in my bag and kept going for it!

The temple had a small hole in a pillar through which folks were trying to squeeze themselves. A few kids made it but adults tried and failed. I did a corkscrew maneuver through that tiny hole and my friend pulled me out a bit! Everyone there clapped for me. Apparently folks who can go through that hole in the pillar are in for good times. That certainly has been true. (you can see it in the video). It was a nice experience.

Do NOT miss this temple when in Nara. It will take at least a few hours to see the temple and the museum which is fantastic (sadly, no photos allowed inside museum) but you get to see the artifacts from 700 AD of wooden Saraswathi and Lakshmi that are even more impressive than the Bronze statues we see in Tanjavur museum that came 200 years later. Two photo galleries..

A few photos in landscape format..

It started drizzling when we came out of the temple. The photos we got were gorgeous with the rain clouds being all dramatic. We stopped for some ice cream on the way out. We were in two minds to eat something in Nara or go back to Kyoto and eat. Decided to stop at the 7-11 opposite the deer park for a short break (the restrooms are there) and we made our way back to Kyoto. By the time we had finished the temple the restaurants weren’t open.

Jr. wanted to eat in this famous Raman place in Nara, but it wasn’t meant to be.

A longer video highlight reel.. especially the train ride. Trains crossing each other every 3rd minute at that speed. 6 year old kids just traveling on their own for 30 minutes by train to go to school. A very different country and a very different culture.

We caught the next train back and were in Kyoto station. Our next location was bittersweet.. that in the next post.

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From Osaka to Kyoto - First stop Nara Deer Park

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The previous post in this series is here..

One of my contributions to this trip planning was an idea to just go from Osaka to Kyoto through a Viator bus tour with three stops on the way. If you are constrained for time this is a great idea as you get a guide for three important places.

We were pros at the breakfast area on Day 3 in the Toyoko Inn as the menu was the same. We went back up to the rooms to get our luggage and it was supposed to be a 15 minute walk to the bus pickup point. The pickup said 8:30. I suggested we leave early and we did leave early. What we saw there was similar to the National Geographic video of Antarctic penguins returning home and everyone trying to find their family all at once.

There were 20 plus buses on the side of the street with guides having flags, close to a 1000 people jostling on the pavement with all their luggage trying to find their guide and bus. The penguins had it easy!

Eventually we found the guide, walked back towards the hotel to our bus and got in. The guide was a Chinese guy who spoke good English. He said it was going to be a long drive to Nara and folks who wanted to sleep can. So I dozed off till we were almost at Nara.

Once we got off the bus we went to the deer park. We got a crash course on handling the deer and the brave ones paid and got deer biscuits to feed the deer. My first attempt did not go well as an aggressive deer bit me in the stomach through my shirt. We put some hand sanitizer on it and kept going. The second attempt was better as a few deer behaved and bowed before accepting the biscuit.

As a group we had fun!

After the deer we went to visit a smaller temple near the parking lot. We were told that there is a giant buddha temple 20 minutes walk away but we will have to come back from Kyoto separately as it was a half day affair to visit that temple complex. We made a note of that and got back on the bus..

Here is a video highlight reel..

The next stop was something else..

Copyright © 2012, Sundar Narayanan. All rights reserved.