On a whim to Nara

Household utilities and electronics are quite expensive here in Japan. For instance, a rice cooker cost easily 50 euro's, and those are the small, 1 person sized ones. A small oven or bread-baker is easily 100 euro's. Skillets and pans on the other hand are quite cheap and durable too. One of my enjoyments in life is a cooking/chef knife. Nothing beats a razor sharp knife that allows you to cut quickly and precisely. Those chef knives that are sold in the supermarket are top-notch. It simply cannot be compared to those regular knives in The Netherlands, plus you always get the creators initials or the name of the knife carved into the blade. How cool is that!?

After about 5 hours of sleep I woke up in the early evening, and without much to do I just roamed around in the city, ate some ramen, played some games and went into a pub. Nothing extreme as this was my first day in Japan after 2 years.

Brain: “Psst... hey... HEY! WAKE UP!”

Me: “Mmm...?”

Brain: “Rise and shine, it is morning!”

Me: “Oh, come on. It is 4:22.”

Brain: “The sun is almost up. If chickens can do it, you can too.”

Since it was early in the morning, the sun was about to break the day and I was starting to feel hungry I went for a quick breakfast at the konbini around the corner. After eating, I went for a 5km run as this is one of the best ways to deal with jet-lag.

According to the weather channel is was going to be sunny day of around 16 degrees, while in The Netherlands the temperature was around 5 degree. Late April and at the time of writing, it is snowing in The Netherlands. Ominous! Anyhow, since it was going to be a sunny day I just decided to go to Nara, for the third time, to see some deer's, temples and visit places in Nara which I have not yet had the pleasure of visiting. After arriving in Nara, it became clear to me that thousands of other people had the same idea of visiting Nara. It was quite crowded and it only became more crowded as the day passed. Especially the amount of Chinese visitors.

Not these deer's. They just chillin'

Around the afternoon I was famished and decided to go for a sweet potato which was grilled with charcoal, it was hell'a good. For those who have been to Nara know that you cannot eat anything near the temples without getting surrounded by deer's. One deer in particular, named Hank, was quite persistent. Hank acted more or less like a cat as he kept rubbing his head against my hands, shoulder or my head. After a while I gave him a piece of potato. After eating it, he did the same routine but this time Hank was a bit more vigorous. Meanwhile, without me noticing it, as I was paying attention to the deer that was trying to eat my potato, I was getting recorded by a few Chinese girls/women. The moment I noticed they were recording me, Hank took its chance, but rather then going for the potato, it went... for me. The bastard licked me on the lips. Of course they thought it to be humorous. I did not! Bloody deer kiss. After washing my face, I gave Hank the last part of the potato and went on my way to roam around Nara.

One of the things I noticed during my short breaks in Nara was that the Chinese people are big litters. They just throw their stuff on the ground: paper, plastic, anything. Unfortunately, there are many deers in Nara and I have seen them eat paper and plastic. Regrettably, I could not retrieve the plastic and paper from their mouths because by the time my hands reached their mouth they had already eaten it. This happened on multiple occasions. After giving a dirty look towards those litters, they simply just shrugged and walked off... The fuck?

One of the reasons I went to Nara again was a mountain I wanted to climb, as far as it can be called 'climbing', it is more like walking upwards. The mountain provides a lovely view over the entire city of Nara but regrettably it was closed until next Saturday.

Turtles are always cool!

Fun Fact: My Gaijin Force Field and Gaijin Deathstare are quite effective in Japan, especially in (local) trains.

Gaijin Deathstare, what?

As a foreigner, more specifically, foreigner looking you will get started at in Japan, a lot. A way to entertain yourself is to stare right back at them, and see who will be victorious. 9 out of 10, you will win. Sometimes you get a persistent person, and then the fun quickly dissipates. Usually from those cranky looking salary-man types.

The fun part of the Gaijin Deathstare is the moment you catch them looking or staring at you, is to look back at them, but without looking away. You can see them get nervous and uncomfortable quite fast. Its the little things in life that makes it fun to be alive.

There have been times where younger people, usually girls, stare at me from a distance as I walk towards the direction they are coming from and without looking away I too stare back at them. This usually ends up in either one of us or the both of us laughing out loud as we past each other. Fun times.

What about the Gaijin Force Field?

Well this is a interesting technique which unfortunately I do not have any control over. It happens in trains and buses where I, and probably those that have visited Japan before, have a 'force field' surrounding me which prevents anyone from entering the range of the force field. For example, there I am, sitting in the train during the early morning hours. Rush hour in Japan, namely Osaka, Kyoto and especially Tokyo is no joke. The trains are filled until you are packed like a sardine in a tin can. Whilst sitting I noticed the train getting more crowded as more and more people get on it as we pass each station. However, absolutely no one wants to sit next to the foreigner, me. They rather stands for 10, 15, 30 minutes than sit next to me. I do not believe I smell nor do I bite. In any case, it is somewhat relaxing as I have more space for myself on any train. This also happens when walking down the street. People actively avoid me, like something is pushing them to the side to let me pass. This skill however comes quite in handy during emergencies. If for instance, a person faints I can just stand around that person without anyone able to get close. This way, the person will actually have some space to breath.