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Japan trip
Day 8 - 13th June - Nigatsu-do hall, Nara (Part 5)
Steps up
The hall from below
More steps up
Wooden carvings decorating area under eaves (I'm sure that part of the building has a name)
Looking down
City view
"Not for drinking"; Unlike most other washup points, you're not supposed to drink from this one. The moss probably has something to do with it.
Not only did Nigatsu-do not charge an entry fee, there was a free rest stop (it being on top of a hill and all that) with free barley tea, hot and cold water.
Steps down
Slope
The hall from below
Pillars
Schoolgirls and deer
As you might be able to guess, since schoolkids in school uniform at sites of historical interest travel in groups, there was a large group of schoolgirls present. This was very irritating, because they were very chor lor (unrefined); one schoolgirl flapped her skirt up and down vigorously, and another hiked hers up with her hands - both exposed green shorts underneath (the lesson we can learn from this, boys and girls, is that phenomenon of moral hazard is cross-cultural). Then, the one who hiked up her skirt and 3 others sat on the steps across from me, and I had to turn my eyes away from a sea of green. GAH GAH GAH
Deer
"Instructions
You can buy a soft drink easily!
1) Choose whatever you like.
2) Drop coins into tha slot and press a lighted button.
3) Take a drink from tha slot below.
4) Thank you very much. Don't forget your change."
What kind of idiot cannot use a vending machine (well, maybe my brother-in-law)? Also, they forgot: 5) Please enjoy your drink
"鹿皮
鹿皮相談"
What happens to old deer [Translation: "Deer skin. Deer skin consultation" (???)]
At this point, it is apropos to once again quote from Nara: A Cultural Guide to Japan's Ancient Capital:
"The deer were always permitted to wander freely in Nara since they were considered the sacred messengers of the gods, and at one time the killing of a deer was penalized by the execution of the miscreant responsible for the death of an animal"
Go figure.
Japanese Anything and Whatever canned drinks
Tropicana. I don't know why it's "Packed with the Quality Approval of Kirin" - shouldn't it be packed with the "Quality Approval of Tropicana" (since it's their brand)? Maybe the Japs don't trust gaijin brands.
Deer in shop
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