Nara Deer - An Exploration of A Mysterious Kindom
Trip Start
May 17, 2008
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3
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Trip End
May 24, 2008
Nara,
Kinki,
Japan
Monday, May 19, 2008
Oh, the train system in Japan! It is never late and always so frequent. From Kyoto to Nara is a mere 53 minutes' ride and departs every 3-4 minutes. Along the way, we really passed many people's backyards and I saw the other side of Japan: rural, country, poor, fallen behind, but equally serene and mysterious.
After getting off the train and with the help from a lady @ the information center catered towards foreign visitors, we got a local Nara map and found out that Toda-ji temple and the deer park weren't faraway! They informed us that the deers are most centered around temples and shrines
but they are still around...
. Are they really diety deers that live with the religion? Later, I found out why and laughed at my imagination. A cab took us right in front of Toda-ji temple. There they are!! Deers, deers...they are everywhere. I immediately bought a pack of deer biscuits (150 yen) and started feeding one deer closeby. However, this action didn't prove wise instantly: almost all the deers nearby swarmed over and circled around me in a blink of eyes, all of them staring at my biscuits with a pair of extremely hungry eyes. Do Japanese feed their deers? Seems not.
I tried to balance the food distribution among a crowd of say, 5? No, 6 deers. If I feed 1, the other would knock my hip with its horns yet not fully-grown.
Very soon, the situation went out of control. I tried to escape and the hoard of deers, or shall I say, hungry monsters, chased after me with full speed. I had to pitch the biscuits to Scott, who is anxiously waiting for the deer-feeding experience.
I saw him smiling first, said a lot of sweet words to his deer pals
chased by the deers
. Then I saw him running and hopping ontoa tall bench! The whole crowd jumping around the bench. I think he's at the edge of crying out "Help, help!" Amused by his helpless adventure caused by all the deer monsters, I got some interesting pictures (see attached).We made a mistake of not having lunch in Nara because we didn't realize that in Japan, restaurants didn't serve lunch anymore after around 2pm and only started operating again after 5pm. Therefore, it's not a funny feeling walking on the rainning streets of Kyoto searching for an open restaurant after getting back from Nara (with a completely empty stomache at 3:30pm), I now start to understand why the deers turned into beasts.
No, no, no, no restaurant was open at 3:30pm! Before we decided to walk into a Mini-supermarket and buy whatever we could find, we saw a student-like guy sitting in a very tiny restaurant with just one room, opened by a middle-aged Japanese lady with a kind face. We saw him wolfing down a plate of rice, which didn't look very fancy.
I ventured in and inquired about the possibility of dining here. She replied "We only have curry rice, with chicken or beef." I said, OK
circled by the deers
!It was a life-saving meal, and it proved correct that any food tasted the greatest when you are starving. We asked for 3 bottles of Asahi, 2 plates of dikons and pickles, 2 bowls of mixed vegetables and 2 huge plates of curry rice with beef and chicken. The food tasted heavenly and it might be pretty amazing to see two foreigners that hungry. We asked for more daikon and vegetables and she served generous extra portions with a pair of extremely kind eyes, reminding me of my mother.
We ventured into Pontocho again that evening in the rain and had a real sushi meal - sashimi plate. Scott, the moose that never touched any seafood devoured the raw fish without a blink of eyes. Later we visited a nearby jazz bar and moose and I enjoyed WONDERFUL jazz music with beers and strawberry cocktails (actually more like strawberry juice and 1 cup was 1500 yen!)
