Google Doodles and Logos - Its Many Faces

Here are some of the many Google doodles that I like:

For the birthday of Antoine de Saint-Exupery's, a French writer and aviator.

For the birthday of a Juan de la Cierva, Spanish engineer and pilot.

For the birthday of Cahit Art's, a Turkish Mathematician.

For the birthday of a César Milstein, Argentinian biochemist.

And of course, I must post a Japanese one since I'm still midway through writing about my Japan trip.

For the birthday of Katsushika Hokusai, a Japanese artist.

You can see more here.

Japan Nara Deer Park - My Eventful Day Trip

You see, the reason why I was really looking forward to this Japan trip got to do with visiting Japan's Nara Deer Park. 

Deers are one of the pretty/cute creatures that I like. The others being fox, owl and porcupine.

But the day didn't start off well with rain and strong wind due to Typhoon 14. We were hoping that the weather will turn better when we reached Nara but tough luck!

My Favourite Pair of NIKE Sneakers Abandoned

And the NIKE sneakers that I hardly wore fell apart as we were heading to the entrance of the park. I had to change into another pair of shoes that were really more meant for Singapore's humid weather. It was not covered (had patterned holes etc) and made of fabric. Due to the rain, I decided not to wear my tights and get my feet soaked. 

We tried to find another pair of sneakers before venturing into the Nara Deer Park. But the early hours only meant limited choices for me and Nara really isn't the most fashionable place to buy sneakers.

So optimistically, I went about looking for the pretty deers...

Scary Deer Warning

The walk in the park was nice but cold... My "ba zhang"/dumpling pics say all. At one point, my almost frozen feet got me so cold that I had to huddle up and rest. I regretted not bringing my boots to Japan as I was almost frozen to death. It was quite miserable for a while.

However, Nara is still a beautiful place to visit, even with a overcast sky. If you love nature, Nara is a must go place, only 40 mins away from Osaka. And it's amusing to see so many free roaming deers that are so tame. They're really comfortable with humans and oh so cute!

 We only visited one temple in Nara, the Todaiji Temple.

Cold & Wet Outside Todaiji Temple

It's a majestic temple with a huge Buddha statue. The whole building actually houses the mega-huge Buddha statue.

On the way out, we saw a group of naughty school boys disturbing the deers by tempting them with rice crackers and confusing them with a horse face mask!

It gave us a good laugh for a few mins.

When we reached Kofukuji Temple, I was worn out by the cold and my wet feet and the long queue into the temple was a put off. So, we decided against going in.

Leaving Nara Deer Park, a Udon shop with a long queue beckoned.

They had this cute couple Udon, 1 for the guy and 1 for the gal.

The guy's one comes wrapped like a package with egg and the gal's one have a sweet deer on the top of the egg! Kawaii to the max! The guy's soup is salty with slightly salty egg, whereas the gal's soup base is sweeter with sweeter egg too.

Nara is really everything about the deers, even the top of a shopping arcade.

After the tummy warming meal, we made our way back to Osaka.

If you have the JR pass, you can take the train to JR-Nara Station which is a 10 mins walk to the entrance of Nara Park. The Kinetsu Nara station is nearer but it isn't covered by the JR pass.

Leaving A Bit Of Me Behind In Nara

I've yet to cover Nara and really take in the scenery and what it has to offer and will want to visit Nara again.

'Til then, Sayonara!

**Read more about my Japan trip here.**

Beautiful Kyoto, Japan - My Travel Reviews

It's bliss when you land in a sea of black suit knowing that you're on a holiday and can take it slower than the rest. And so my Kyoto journey begins on an early Wednesday morning...

Upon reaching Kyoto, I suggest you go to the bus ticketing office on the right of the main Kyoto Station exit and get yourself a day bus pass at 500 yen.

They'll provide a very comprehensive Kyoto sightseeing map with the bus routes. As you can see from above, it's real neat and tourist friendly. 

Just in case Kinkaku temple is your first stop and you decide to take bus 205, do note to not take the rapid one as it doesn't stop at Kinkaku Temple.

Here's a breathtaking view of the Golden Pavilion aka Kinkakuji Temple. It's beautiful in the morning when the sun shines on its golden facade.

Each of the 3 levels uses a different architecture style as explained below.

Its winter view is simply amazing. I'll want to go back to Kyoto in winter some day...

Photo from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kinkaku-Snow-8-Cropped.jpg 

The walk in Kyoto was lovely. It's such an enjoyment to take in the beauty of the surrounding; The blend of nature with man's work. Walking from one place of attraction to the next was an enjoyment in itself.

Next, we went to the famous Ryoan-ji Zen Rock Garden.

It didn't help in calming bf down after I irritated him on the way in. I find looking at trees more zen than looking at rock. Or maybe he needed to sit there and learn to be zen, hehe...

The inside of this garden was pretty too.

We also visited the Kyoto Imperial Palace which was formerly occupied by the Imperial Family. The grounds around the palace is huge.

This is the road that runs leading through the Imperial Park and leads up to the main gate of the palace.

Path Running Through Middle of Kyoto Imperial Park

One Of The Palace's Gates

We arrived around 12 plus in the afternoon and was told to go to the Imperial Household Agency for registration. It was only there and then that we realised we had to register with passports and right after us, the staff closed for lunch.

Things to Note for Kyoto Imperial Palace Tour:

• Tours are conducted 2 times daily at 10am and 2pm
• Each tour lasts for an hour
• Bring your passport along for registration
• Be on time to enter the palace at the stated time
• Imperial Household Agency is located to the west of the Kyoto Imperial Palace

The holidays angels must have been with us that day for we made it in time that day. Under the sunny bright blue sky, we rested our tired feet, filled our hungry bodies and starting to camwhore until 2pm. 

Here are some pictures of Kyoto Imperial Palace. It is a really old styled Palace without furnitures on display. As all the furnitures are small and movable, they're stored away currently.

The very knowledgeable tour guide showed us how the distinctive and expensive palace's cypress wood roof is made.

It's a very labour intensive process to construct the roof and they need to be changed every 30 years. She shared that the budget for 20010 has ran out hence the roof  replacement  for the area below is put on hold until 2011.

This was where the Emperor resided. The whole palace has link ways so that he wouldn't have to place his feet on the grounds outside when moving around. As such, the servants can only move around through the underground passages.

We then went on to the Kiyomizu-dera Temple (Water Temple) to catch the sunset view. However, we were distracted by souveniors, food and even Geishas on the way up.

It's a pity we didn't ask for a picture with them.

On The Way Up To Kiyomizudera Temple

High Up With A Splendid View

Love Talismans For The Hopefuls

Otowa-no-taki Waterfall

Drinking from the 3 streams are thought to confer longevity, wisdom and health. 

Missing The Sunset At Kiyomizudera Temple :(

The Kiyomizudera Temple is huge and we combed through it briefly. We went near the Gion District after that and was distracted by shopping in Takashimaya. :| After buying some stuff, we were really exhausted and headed back to Osaka.

Posting these pictures make me yearn for Kyoto again. Kyoto is really a gem like many have acknowledged.

One day is definitely not enough to explore this city of beauty... 

Pretty Entrance Tickets To Kyoto Attractions

**Read more about my Japan trip here.**