Nara

We bought a ticket on Kintetsu-Nara which would bring us from Osaka Namba to Kintetsu-Nara station. The fare was ¥180 from Daikokucho to Osaka Namba, and thereafter ¥560 from Osaka Namba to Kintetsu-Nara. We did not want to use our KTP because we were saving it for Kyoto, our next stop.

We had to stand all the way in the train, which was fortunately not far. As soon as we reached Nara, we headed to the Information Centre - where I picked up a walking map of Nara. Now, the staff here was super friendly. She spoke good English and showed us how to get to our hostel in Nara ... and also recommended to me the 4 must-see places in Nara which were within walking distance.

We dragged our bags out the station ... and we actually went the wrong direction! After what it seemed like about 1km, we realised that we got our directions wrong. It was frustrating ... so we turned back. After a while, we found our hostel, Route 53 Nara. There wasn't anyone at the hostel but we could hear someone on the phone upstairs. So we called out our greetings ... and after about 10 minutes, a young man finally came downstairs.Check-in was at 4.00 p.m., but we could leave our bags at the foyer. Phew. Now, we could go sightseeing.

Nara boasts of many UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It was the capital of Japan from 710 to 784, and today, the historical monument provide an insight to those times in the 8th century. These sites include an archaeological site (the Heijo Palace Site), five Buddhist temples (the Tôdai-ji, the Kôfuku-ji, the Yakushi-ji, the Gangô-ji and the Tôshôdai-ji), a Shinto shrine (the Kasuga-Taisha).

And so we visited ...

Gango-ji

Founded in the 6th century as the first Buddhist temple in Japan

Kofuku-ji's Five storey pagoda dated back to 7th century; this one was rebuilt in the 1426 after it had burned down 5 times; and today is a symbol of the city of Nara

Nanendo or the South Octagonal Hall at Kofuku-ji

Tokondo or the East Golden Hall at Kofuku-ji

Nara is special because there are so many Sika deers roaming around freely. 

Sika Deers
Well, the deers were considered sacred as one of the Gods of Kasuga Shrine appeared riding a white deer. Up till 1637, killing a deer was a capital offense. Today, the deers were considered national treasures and protected as such.  

Deer crackers sold for ¥150
One tourist tasted the crackers and deemed them tasteless. Lol! Well, the deers liked them. :P

I saw the Cremia ice-cream being sold so I bought one to eat ....

Cremia, ¥500 and a Sika Deer at the back
Cremia is a premium soft-serve ice-cream, also known as softcream. Indeed it did not disappoint. It was superb. Read here for the details.

Next up, was Todai-ji Temple .... "very famous in Nara", the lady at the Information Centre told me that morning .... 

Nandaimon Gate

Todai-ji could not be seen from the outside and we did not go inside to see the Giant Buddha relic. We merely hung out at the grounds ....

Not going inside to see Todaiji and the Giant Buddha Relic remained the biggest regret for me today! Sigh.

Walking towards Kasuga Shrine ...

And we were done in 3 hours and it was time to eat. My friend ME wanted to try the kaiten sushi .... so we found one outlet just outside the Kintetsu-Nara station. These were some dishes that we ate .... 

I ate 6 platters of assorted sushi, which was a lot more than I expected. It's because the ball of rice in each nigiri was tiny and did not actually fill me up. The fresh ingredients were indeed good quality - so sweet and delicious! So those 6 platters cost me ¥1512.

¥150

This was just a normal taiyaki with pancake pastry; there were different fillings and I went for the one with the traditional adzuki beans ... this one does not taste outstandingly delicious ... 

Nakatanidou Mochi 

This shop attracted a lot of customers because of its mochi-making demonstrations ..... 

Lol! Pretty dramatic; the mochi-pounding process is known as mochitsuki

So I bought 1 piece to try ... 

Yomogi Mochi, ¥130

Mochi is made from glutinous rice, beaten till it becomes soft, smooth and chewy ; this one is green in colour with the addition of yomogi, a species of mugwort that's supposed to give the mochi a refreshing taste

Yummy! 

This shop also sells rice crackers ...

Rice cracker - I think this one is red perilla & ume flavour ....

We went back to our hostel and checked into our little room with 2 bunk beds. Actually, Route 53 Nara was really easy to get to. Just exit Kintetsu-Nara, and walk along the long covered shopping arcade called the Higashimuki Shopping Street. The covered walkway spans a few streets, passing by Daiso and McDonald's on the right. There's a supermarket and a church you will pass by on the right. Just walk till you pass a radio station on your left ... and then immediately turn into a small alleyway. At the end of the alleyway, turn right and you will find Route 53 Nara.

Later that night, we came out for a walk. I needed to make a phone call to our hostel in Kyoto because I wanted to get the access code to the building so that I could deposit my bags there before check-in time. We got to the public phone at the Kintetsu-Nara station and tried to call many times ... but it did not get through and I could not understand the Japanese instructions at the other end of the line .... so we went inside to the Tourist Information Centre .... and a kindly and friendly gentleman there helped us make the call. I got the access code in no time.

We hanged out at the shopping street for a while ... going in and out of shops ..... before retiring for then night.

Ikeda, Mino-o & Blue Label Crestbridge

I MUST go to the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum. I've seen it on TV for so long and I must go there for myself. So the first thing we did this morning was to ride out to Ikeda. Again, we took the Hankyu Takarazuka Limited Express out to Ikeda.

The Museum opened at 9.30 a.m., and we were one of the few visitors. Admission was free.

Alright. Momofuku Ando invented the modern instant ramen and cup ramen we are so familiar with, and he also founded Nissin right here in Ikeda. Everyone familiar with Nissin, right?

 Instant Ramen Tunnel exhiits the history of the instant ramen production line - approximately 800 product packages are displayed here ... 

Inside Momofuku Ando's research shack at the time he invent the chicken ramen 

Momofuku Ando's research shack

A hands-on ramen workshop was taking place upstairs ...

One of the attractions here was to customise your own cup ramen. Of course, I gave it a go. I purhased a cup ramen for ¥300. Next, I sterilised my hands. Then I designed my cup using only the coloured pens provided. Then I lined up at the "production line". The staff saw my colourful cup and told me "kawaii" ... heh ... I understood that much. "Cute".

I headed to a section where a round piece of deep-fried noodles was placed into my cup. Then, I chose the flavouring I wanted - I went for the original chicken flavour. I could choose 4 dried ingredients to be added - I chose spring onions, prawns, pork and kimchi. Lol. What a combination. Next my cup was sealed.

Then I was given a vacuum bag to put my cup ramen in, and I inflated it to prevent it from being jolted too much while on the go. Yayy! Happy!

Exterior of the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum at Ikeda, Osaka 

Yayy! I'm finally here!  

Cup ramen exhibit 

Turn the while to put the noodles into the cup ...  

Inside my cup ramen ... 

Sealing the cup

Yayy! My own cup ramen .... I have to eat this within a month. I'm so bringing this home to show it off. Lol. 

Next stop was Mino-o. I read about this place but did not actually think I would come. I only decided to come here today because we were nearby at Ikeda ... and so as not to waste time, I thought Mino-o would be a good place to visit. To get to Mino-o, we took the Hankyu train from Ikeda to Ishibashi. Here, we changed to the Hankyu Mino-o line. After 3 stops, we reached the Mino-o staion.

There's a park near the station. Minoo Park is a forested valley where we could see enjoy the beautiful late autumn colours in a natural setting. There was a trail of about 3km to Minoo Waterfall - the park's main attraction. I enjoyed the leisuirely long walk up - about 50 minutes to go up and another 50 minutes to get down.

The trail 

Some structures along the way ... 

Beautiful colours along the way ... 

The trail was good and a lot of old folks were making their way up and down the trail that day .... 

Enjoying the scenery .... 

Reaching the Mino-o Waterfall

Getting nearer .... 

Beautiful Mino-o Waterfall with a 30m drop

Back at Mino-o Station, we bought some bread from the bakery .... 

I think this was a croquet bun ¥190 .... I ate this together with a piece of fried chicken ... together, they cost ¥344

Alright. I had told everyone that I'd buy a Blue Label bag this trip to Japan. I'd been talking about it for ages, and all my friends have started teasing me about it. "You and your Blue Label!" They would say. Lol. So indeed, I had to go hunt for a Blue Label bag. Where would I start? Hmn .... 

Blue Label used to be known and sold as Burberry Blue Label and it was only available in Japan ... and that was what I knew of it. I had no idea that it was no longer so ... 

At Daimaru Osaka Station City the other night, one SA told me, "Burberry Blue Label is finished." 

Huh? Finish? I interpreted that "being discontinued". I was puzzled. Was I go go home without a Blue Label bag for real?

Today, at the Hankyu Umeda Store, the Burberry SA told me in her high pitch voice, "Burberry from UK only. Blue Label no more. Blue Label 3rd Floor. Go across bridge. 3rd Floor." 

Huh? Bridge? To where? Was there another building somewhere? Her instructions weren't very clear ... but I decided to check the 3rd floor of the same department store. Instead of the "bridge", I took the escalator down and went around the department store, and there it was the Blue Label Crestbridge. Lol. "Go across bridge" actually meant I should go to the "Blue Label Crestbridge" outlet. Muahahaha! 

Well, anyway, this is an article about Burberry & Blue Label Crestbridge and how they got divorced. Read here.  

So anyway, there weren't much choices, where bags were concerned - a few totes weren't to my liking, then there were the bucket bags and wallets .... and so in the end, I settled for a Block Check Pochette. 

https://www.crestbridge.jp/s/bluelabel/p/5510740112

I paid ¥20520 for the bag and got ¥1311 refunded. That meant that the bag would cost about RM750.00.

Hankyu Umeda is in fact one of the largest departmental stores in Osaka ... and we did go and survey the food deparment on the first 2 floors .... there were plenty of tasters too ... and we got to sample lots of food items .... 

And so I was going around wow-ing and tasting and snapping photos ..... 

When suddenly I was approached by a staff ... "Sorry, no photos". Lol. I bowed and apologised profusely .... lol. How embarrassing .... but it was fun while it lasted.

We did go to Shitennoji Temple for a short while. We got off at the Shitennoji-mae-Yushigaoka Station and it was quite a distance to walk to the temple .... 

 Shitennoji ... all quiet in the evening .... 

This is the oldest administered temple in Japan; built in 593 by Prince Shotoku

My friends were tired and did not even want to enter the temple grounds .... so well .... we just snapped a few photos and left. We went back to our apartments ... my friends' feet were sore, poor them. 

At night, we went to Dotonbori .... it was a really lively area. The whole street was selling takoyaki, with each vendor claiming to be sell the best takoyaki in Dotonbori. There was even a takoyaki song that repeated over and over ...

I wanted to eat rice .... and my friends wanted to try Yoshinoya ...

Yummy! Medium-sized beef bowl with egg and onions, ¥480 and ¥130 for the soup and pickles. 

So much rice in my bowl and so filling! It was a satisfying meal! We walked a bit off at Dotonbori ... but could not resist dessert ...

Tai Croissant, ¥200

Possibly the best I have ever eaten! What's great about this - the pastry is so crispy and so buttery; while the adzuki beans inside were so rich and powdery. I wanted to eat another one when I return to Osaka next week! 

With a full stomach, we went back to our apartment ..... tired but happy. :))