Japan : Tokyo, Osaka
Winter 2015
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Arriving to a captivating sunset for Year Ender 2015, in Osaka
(Dec-2015) |
Journal Entry... Didn't I say I'd put the Japan travel experience on repeat? It's a short flight away, and holidays are on its way!
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Like a Sky Suite
at Ambassador Transit Hotel |
22-dec: Singapore layover... Shortest distance between two points is indeed a straight line. What could have been a mere 4 flight hours to Japan, from Manila, had turned to a day's worth of transit via #SingaporeAir. Hubby, who booked the flight, looked forward to his food trip at Changi airport for i.e., char keow teow, bak-ku-teh... Flight arrival in Singapore (3 flight hours) was late evening, and outbound flight to Tokyo (6 flight hours) was early morning. Check-in: #AmbassadorTransitHotel, on air side, I was like in a Sky Suite in first class.
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| Two Peas in Tokyo |
23-dec: Arrived Tokyo... Check-in #CenturySouthernTower, in Shinjuku area. On Christmas Day (Dec 25), I remember turning myself in, feeling jovial, making a mental note to take a photo of the "Christmas Tree display" at the hotel lobby. Did you know? Lights display in Tokyo gets turned off right after Christmas day. Next day, I went down to the lobby to find the Christmas tree gone. In its place was a "Fortune Tree" for the incoming New Year 2016. Glad I was able to take photos of the festive lights display around Tokyo leading up to Christmas Day...
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| Christmas lights display in Shinjuku area |
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| Christmas lights display in Shibuya area |
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| Christmas lights display in Jingu-Mae area |
30-dec: Day trip to Nara... That day was finding "Bambi" day - Walt Disney's character deer. Over in Nara, there are hundreds of them, Bambi deer. This one particular deer by the entrance to the temple perfectly fit the "Bambi" part. The wild deer are allowed to freely roam Nara park. Quite at home in their natural habitat, those Nara deer were no longer afraid of the humans, who were taking turns to pet, feed or take pictures of the deer, or all three at the same time.
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| Finding Disney's Bambi - deer freely roaming Nara Park |
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Deer feeding
at Nara Park |
WARNING: Don't feed the deer random things, not unless the deer insists. Here's my version--
"At the intersection, three deer crossed the street. I patted one furry head, and the deer stayed put. Before I knew it, the deer dove its nose into my coat pocket, where I kept a Tourist Map. Deer bit the map (probably thinking it was food) and managed to pull it out. I gently tugged on the other end of the map to free it, out of fear the deer might choke eating it up.
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Human: Want some cookie?
Deer: How about a sundae? |
I must have convinced the deer it was not worth eating paper, when the deer let go of the map... But the deer told me go buy "deer cookies" sold at JPY-100." For every eye contact I made with those gallivanting deer around Nara Park, the deer said, "I want a cookie!" Did you know? Nara wild deer had taken on that Japanese culture of bowing their heads whenever fed. I've used up JPY-500 worth of deer cookies feeding the bowing deer at Nara.
Link to YouTube>>> Ungkler Travels | JAPAN feat. Finding Bambi in Nara
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| Nara wild deer is considered to be messengers of the gods, in Shinto religion |
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Three's a crowd -
photo-op with deer |
After running out of deer cookies, hubby and I hurried to enter Todai-ji Temple, before its 5PM closing. Inside the temple was the enormous sitting Buddha. Also in the temple, I lined up to worm myself through Buddha's nostril - a narrow opening in a tree trunk - "to gain enlightenment". My body fit right in, until I got my left arm stuck I feared I'd break a bone worming myself out.
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Doing a deer-whisperer
to a Nara deer |
Unsuccessful ones got pulled back from the tree trunk opening... and met the crowd's laughter. Like the guy, who was with his girlfriend, who got himself stuck immediately after worming himself in... girlfriend kept laughing at the boyfriend first, then takes a photo of him, before pulling the boyfriend out by the legs-- the boyfriend probably wished the ground would open up and swallow his girlfriend whole, by that serious look he gave her afterwards. A big LOL!
