Business Hotel New Takatsuji Nara

... 2 tiers de sa taille originale et est encore le plus grand bâtiment en bois du pays. Le plus drôle de cette visite fut de voir les écolières s'enfuirent des cerfs en criant et en gloussant. Ils ne voulaient que la nourriture qu'elles avaient dans leurs mains. Déguedinez les nounounes! C'est juste ca qu'ils veulent!<br><br>Bref une belle ville, intéressante, mais une journée suffit pour voir le plus important.<br><br>Dans le prochain épisode : La capitale...Tokyo!

... to imagine. I could feel the ghosts of the past all around me. The ceremonies that must have been held there...the pilgrims that must have traveled there (and are still coming). It is a lot to take in. But, as amazing as these things were it was the park-grounds which impressed me the most. No, let me rephrase that. It was Mother Nature`s constructs that impressed me the most. The beauty of the ancient trees. The sakura ...

... the woods to see the views of Nara. A fair few shrines and temples later I popped out at Ni-no-Torii gate. I spied a Western looking chap without a coat (the fool!) clutching a Lonely Planet. Then I spied on the ground was a pink Hello Kitty purse*. The chap was Alan from Edinburgh who has quit his job to work in Japan, and thought it would be warm enough to not bring a coat (the fool!) - we thought it best to take the purse ...

... of the Bhudda's nostrils and if you could fit through it you were said to receive eternal good fortune. Unfortunately it was only big enough for the local school kids and I don't think my tempura-filled frame would have squeezed through. That would have been cool though - eternal fortune and all that lark. Our last stop was Kasuga Taisha which was essentially Brick Tamland's Dream World as it contained some 3000 odd ...

... which w*s just *s well, *s by the time the show w*s *bout to st*rt it w*s p*cked with *dults, school kids, h*ndic*pped people. At le*st we h*d front row se*ts! The demonstr*tion is *ll done in J*p*nese *nd *lthough you c*n't underst*nd the words, it's *ll *bout the *ctions! They used re*l we*pons such *s throwing st*rs, K*t*n*s, S*i d*ggers &*mp; Bol* Sickles *nd it w*s * pretty good demo. Pete loved it. We hung *round * little *t the end of the show - which w*s just *s well ...

... t really come in handy when your town is under attack by an army of angry Samurai wielding flaming torches. Which is why almost everything is a reconstruction. Unfortunately, Todaiji was partially burned down during the first few years after it was made. Yet it still stands to this day and is gigantic. Whats scarier is that what stands now, is still just one third of the original.<br><br>Inside Todaiji Temple is the most breathtaking thing I have ever seen. It contains Japan's ...

... out of for who knows wh*t re*son, which involved folks sitting *round * gi*nt m*n m*de pool to c*tch koi with * rod; the weight of which would determine the *mount of mool*h you r*ke in th*t night. This, combined with the f*ct th*t every other corner w*s serving Os*k*'s delicious speci*lty dish, Octopus Dumplings, m*de for *n over*ll gre*t visit.<br><br>The following d*y w*s b*ck to temple-town, with * visit to the 'sm*ll' town of N*r*, which is home to * number of f*scin*ting n ...

... for two d*ys *nd spent the first d*y exploring Fukuok*: Which *ctu*lly only re*lly involved going to C*n*l City, * huge complex th*t h*s been n*med * 'city within * city'. It h*d ret*il stores from Gucci to Hello Kitty, Pokemon Centers, Hundreds of b*rs, * The*tre (Which w*s showing the Lion King music*l) *nd even Hotels. We ended up wondering *round *nd getting lost *nd eventu*lly found * Movie The*tre, *nd decided to go see Sweeney Todd. Lets just s*y, I ...

... World Cultural Heritage Site that is covered in gold and sits out over the water. It is a true beauty. From there we went to Ryoanji Temple where the famous Zen rock garden is located. We sat for quite awhile in front of the 15 rocks and drank in the serenity. Not to mention tried to cool off. It was quite a day full of Japanese history. (See my Japan trip travelogue--June 2007 for more info)

... finished. I took a sip, and then I very nearly spit it back out. Nothing against the tea, which was fine, but there on the television was Iron Chef's own Chairman Kaga - only he wasn't wearing a sparkly Liberace suit and biting into a yellow bell pepper. He was, instead, grimacing and throttling a young woman to death. Sure, I knew that the guy who played Kaga was a fairly successful actor in Japan, and seeing him in a daytime soap opera should have been expected. Still, there's ...