Deer me, is that another shrine

This blog begins immediately after where the last one ends...Me, Zak, Sam and Jazz embraced an old tradition of karaoke. For the first time Zaks minimal Japanese didn't get us through and we ended up with an unlimited premier drinks package and a session 3 times longer than we planned. 

After a few technical issues we got underway. During renditions of Eminem, George Ezra, Hanson and Backstreet Boys...the machines all written in Japanese provided some challenges and drinks were ordered to the booth. Sam managed to get to the soft drinks page and a lime and soda was delivered. My first sip and I suspected something wasn't as usual...the new taste was vodka - after 38 years and 10 months I've finally tasted alcohol...it's rank...I don't know what the fuss is about. 

Due to this our morning began a later for the group than planned and a sore head for me. We had planned over curry (Ka-ray in Japanese) that we would visit Fushimi Inari Taisha in the morning and the famous bowing deer of Nara in the afternoon.

As the morning was pleasant we decided to walk to Fushimi which allowed my head to clear and the group to stretch in preparation for the hike up mount Inari. Bouyed with rumours from our resident weather woman that Michael B Jordan was in Kyoto and might be at the temple, we hurried in the hopes we might glimpse him. We fuelled up at our go to place now for breakfast and lunch which is any 7 Eleven's hot food counter. Curry bread is a delicacy I believe Gregg's should invest in as they would make a killing, curry sauce in a fried bread bun... That's all the best foods in one place. As we walked down an unassuming street, a small way in the distance we could see a mass of school children being hoarded in the direction we were heading.

Arriving behind the mass of students, at what seemed to be a typical Japanese temple with a shrine (the big red gate looking things) at it's entry point. Little did we know we would pass through close to 10,000 shrine arches built into a mountain and climb what seemed like 70000000 steps to reach the top. Now people have said that the end sometimes never lives up to the journey and in this case they have been proven right. The climb treat us to breath taking scenes and photos a professional Instagramer would be proud of but upon reaching the summit, we found a temple no different to several we passed on the way up and a guy in a white robe throat singing something we couldn't really understand to appreciate.

Having descended the mountain passing through all the gates we had passed on the way up we decided to catch the train to Nara. As some of you reading this know Jazz, you will be aware of the general dislike she has for animals and the fear with which she will give even the nicest or non threatening creature. She decided to bow out and explore the city for a little retail therapy. So with a hug and a pocket wifi at her disposal of she waded in to the gathering throng of tourists. That left us five grabbing our favourite mode of transport, the train. This turned out to thankfully be a painless and somewhat rather pleasant experience as apposed to what we had gone through before. 

By the time we reached Nara the sun was high in a cloudless sky, bathing us in a delightful warmth. We bobbed along the main street through Nara with our destination of the Nara park fixed in our sights. A quick side glance at a 7 Elven lead to a brief pit stop for some more curry bread to fuel for the final push to our destination. Those of you who are unaware of Nara park, it is a park on the outskirts of town that is home to hundreds of wild deer that have learnt to bow for food. It's as adorable as it sounds and truly something that has to be experienced to be believed. We spent a couple of hours plumping up several deer and getting chased by several more for the food they had witnessed there fellows enjoy. I made a new best friend who loved scratches behind the ears. After we no longer had biscuits to feed the deer we began our slow meander back the train station, which saw us come across a man carrying a meerkat on a lead and a shop dedicated to all things cat, pig and owl (Sam was in her element). We did a light shop in a arcade where Sam won a poo bag charm and boarded the train home to catch up with Jazz. Joining her in her retail therapy we wandered around a few more shops before grabbing food and heading home for the evening. We finished off on the rooftop with a few beers and some rounds of Uno.

Satisfied with the day we had.

Zak and Colin