We set out for Nara the next day. When we arrived, I was designated navigator, though that lasted for about a minute because everyone else started wandering in their own direction. As soon as we got there, we saw the many deer, though they weren’t as exciting since we had already seen them on Miyajima Island. There were little kiosks selling senbei cookies to feed to the deer. In Nara Park, they were holding a music festival on the weekends, which it would have been cool to see, but we had come on a Monday. Nara Park was a green place: grass, meadows and trees. It had a couple of zen garden/pools, too, to spice it up. It was very pretty, and I am sure that the emperor used to come to the park a lot back when the capital was in Nara. I would have enjoyed the park more if it wasn’t so goddamn hot! We went first to Kasuga Shrine, which is famous for its pathways lined with what seems like hundreds of stone lanterns. This was our first time seeing the “bad tourists,” of which there were numerous during our trip. There were Chinese tourists that had entered a zone that had a sign saying “No Trespassing.” Actually, there was more than one such zone here, where Chinese tourists wanted to take a picture. For Japanese people, most of whom are religious, it is a particularly offensive slight to mar their shrines and temples, where their deities seek refuge. These tourists made me embarrassed to be Chinese; they showed no respect for places where they are just visitors. We also saw a camphor tree, which looked like the tree from the anime about a little god who lives in a tree and grants wishes. This is also where we saw a bunch of Torii gates, rendering going to Miyajima Island, where we saw the “floating” Torii gate, totally pointless. I liked the shrine. There were so many lanterns, it was very pleasantly overwhelming. I was thinking that the shrine would look really nice at night, and on a special occasion where the lanterns are all lit.
Next, we went to Todaiji Temple on the other side of the park. Here, there were people eating ice cream… and a LOT of deer. You had to pivot your body sideways to get past all the people feeding deer. I took a picture in front of the replica of the two hands of the Big Buddha Statue (Daibutsu) that Todaiji is famous for. In the gate, behind a netting, we saw the two angry Buddha gargoyles. My sister loved those guys. They were pretty cool, their faces looked so real. One of them, perhaps due to the lighting or the netting, looked positively 3D and alive. Unfortunately, we found out you have to pay $6 per person to get into the Daibutsu’s temple. My parents were tired, so only my sister and I went inside. Before going in to see the Daibutsu, off to the right was a little deity, with a note saying that if you rub part of your body that is injured and the same part on the deity’s body, that part of your body would be healed. There are candles lit in front of the Buddha. I loved the big Buddha. He was really big. He looked a gentle giant that was pretending to be asleep and meditating. He looked like he would come alive and start moving, asking who was disturbing his beauty sleep. There were some smaller Buddhas and protectors around the Daibutsu. I donated $1 to the cause of restoring the Notre Dame Cathedral in France, which caught fire recently. My sister and I left, and met back up with my mom and dad. We went walking around for a lunch location, and eventually chose a place down an alley. It turned out to be an artsy Japanese restaurant. The food choices were meal sets of vegetables that tasted like the forest, and looked like they would be served at a Michelin-star-type restaurant. It was interesting to go to such a restaurant, but the serving size was too small, and the food just tasted okay. My dad hated it, I think because he doesn’t like food that tastes game-y or forest-y. My sister ordered noodles, and she said she loved it. I tried her dish, and thought it was just okay. I think she liked it because one, she loves noodles, and two, being a vegetarian dish it was light. After this we left Nara and traveled to Universal Osaka, Japan’s version of Universal Studios. We got there half an hour before 3PM, which was the start time of a discount rate for a day pass. Surprisingly, my mom was okay with heading in at the full price. It was only until we got in a 65-minute line for Godzilla vs. Evangelion that I understood what the game plan was. My sister (the main planner for the trip) decided to go to Universal in order to see the special Japanese attractions that are only at Universal Osaka. The special attractions are mainly shows, with the Godzilla show being one of them. My sister’s idea is not inherently bad, but when I realized that all the lines were going to be 1-2 hours long, I was not happy. It just felt dumb to be at a theme park that we paid hundreds of dollars to be at, where surely not every ride had a 90-minute line, and spend the majority of our mere half-day there standing in line, even if it was for Japan-exclusive shows. While the shows were good, I did not feel like they were worth the $200 admission price. I think I would have preferred doing something else with the rest of our day, even if it was outside Universal. While we were in lines, I read a little bit of Crime and Punishment, and also went out to buy snacks and drinks. I got a Sailor Moon-themed smoothie, and an Attack on Titan-themed churrito. The smoothie was good, but when I got back to the family in line with my smoothie for them, we were told that we had to get rid of the smoothie. So unfortunately, my mom had to quickly slurp it all, and I am sure that wasn’t pleasant. The churritos actually weren’t too good. They were chocolate and orange-flavored, and were too sweet and weird-tasting. They tasted like pure junk food. To back out to the larger picture a little, it actually surprised us during the trip how many sweet shops and sweet products were sold by Japanese. Walking around, it felt like 50% of shops were sweets shops. I feel like Japanese people are largely not obese. So, why are there so many sweets shops? I’m thinking that sweets are offered as gifts, but maybe the sweets aren’t used for much more than that. And maybe the gifts aren’t even consumed. Anyways, we also rode the Lupin the Third ride, after a two-hour wait. Unfortunately, it required VR, which could not sync up with my terrible eyesight, so I couldn’t see the ride too clearly. The final thing we did there was watch the night parade. The themes were Harry Potter, Transformers, Jurassic Park and one other thing I can’t remember. It was cool, because the buildings along the route were also used as screens for image projection. There must have been a hundred performers in the parade, it was an impressively big undertaking. By the time the parade was over, it was 8:30PM, and we hadn’t had dinner yet. When we got back to Tennoji Station, we bought dinner at the convenience store (called konbini in Japan) to be eaten at our room. I got an eel bento box and a cup of ramen. The bento box was really good. However, the ramen was too salty. That concludes that day.
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AuthorI was born and raised in San Francisco, California. I am proud of my Chinese heritage, and I think my background gives me a unique edge on this vast field of opinion. As a self-proclaimed music historian, I have loved pop music ever since I first heard it. These are my opinions on some of the recent albums and songs that are making a splash in the industry. Archives
December 2020
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