Can I be an Influencer Now?

Just a quick note: I added photos to the previous post, so check it out if you haven`t already.  I`ll add some to this post shortly.

So todays trip to Nara turned into a day trip.  I set out with a general intent to stay there over night but decided otherwise.  I`m typing this up at another Popeyes Net Cafe and the Japanese keyboards are a little weird.  Not sure where the actual apostrophe is I think I`ve been using that weird alternate one.

I did leave on time this morning.  I showered (which was great), packed my bag and left just before my end time.  Total was just ￥3500, about 31 bucks for the night.  Well worth it.  The train to Nara has various stops along the way but no transfers, and took about an hour.  Once I got there I saw what I expected: deer everywhere.  There are sacred deer that roam around town, but I haven`t googled what makes them sacred yet.  The first group I came across were about 4 of them next to some guys trimming the upper branches of a tree and when the branches fell the deer would much them.  Although they go everywhere they congregate most in Nara Park where they have wide open space and people feed them crackers they buy in small packs.  The deer will also bow to you if you bow to them.  Then they expect a cracker.  I didn`t feed any but got plenty of video of other people doing it and then getting slightly terrified because now they have a pack of deer running up to them and trying to get the rest of the crackers.  I also tricked some deer by bowing to them and then not giving them anything when they bowed back and pet a few when they randomly would come to check me out.  Also, maybe it was a normal tourist day, but there were tons of Chinese tour groups specifically and it was crowded all over town but made it easy to watch people-deer interactions.

Past the park was Todaiji, a very old Buddhist temple.  Outside, it was the largest wooden structure until some other ones were built fairly recently (like last 15 years if I remember right, I`m again not bothering to google it).  Inside it holds the largest bronze Buddha in the world.  There are 2 smaller Buddha on either side of him and in each corner of the temple statues of each of the four heavenly kings in Buddhism.  

It was raining pretty heavily on the way there, and I donned my poncho.  After going through the temple I was actually pretty bummed out from the cold, rain, and sore feed, so I grabbed a Macha soft serve and sat for a bit under an awning.  At this point I realized I was feeling pretty bad out and realized the issue was I`ve been constantly thinking about where I`m going to sleep at night.  It`s something I was thinking about while walking around and looking at things and was distracting me from having a good time.  My first time camping in a park was pretty meh, and if I did it here I`d have to basically go in the forest, and it was raining which is the worst thing.  

At any rate I didn`t want it to be a stresser on whats supposed to be a fun trip, and decided I`d mail home my tent and stick with internet cafes.  Immediately felt much better and was having a great time again.  It was still raining and cold so I went over to the Nara Museum which was fairly close.  It turned out to be an amazingly good choice.  Besides being dry and warm they have a large exhibit of Buddha statues, learned about meaning of different mudras (hand positions you see in Buddha statues), types of beings in Buddhism.  It had several statues deemed National Treasures, and amazingly wasn`t crowded.  It had benches and I could take it slow.

I stopped for lunch at a place that had deer themed Ice Cream.  I got Tonkatsu which is Deep Fried pork cutlets coated in panko, served with rice and curry.  I`ve made it twice myself, but this blew it out of the water.  Probably because the meat cuts were better, the breading was better, the curry wasn`t store bought.

Also I know I keep bringing it up, but my feet are a major driver now for what I want to do at a given point.  My normal point of reference is the state fair.  After the state fair I`m like "Phwew that was a lot of walking, my feet are sore".  Since I`ve had no permanent spot, I`ve been constantly moving.  Despite that I was passing another temple, Kofukuji on the way back to the train station.  I stopped by and it was quick so I was glad I did.  The coolness was on the outside.  It has a very tall, very cool pagoda.  It also had a temple to pray at which I did after watching (stalking) a guy doing it before me.  I knew the general process but wanted to double check.  Its:

1.  Donate monies in any amount into a slotted box

2.  Bow your head

3.  Ring the bell with a rope, but stand to the side of it, not directly in front (cause the middle is always reserved for any deitys who show up)

4.  Pray for something nice

After I took the train back I went back to DenDen town to get more pictures and see if there were cool things I missed.  The biggest neatest thing was I went into an arcade that was 6 stories tall.  Each floor had different stuff, each with crazy, loud, flash games I`ve never heard of.  The guy there was cool with me taking pics and long as I didn`t take pictures of customers.  I went into a few more stores and took some pics and left.  I once again headed off to Starbucks to wait a few hours before I could get the 10 hour deal at Popeyes, use the wifi, and rest my feet.  On the way back I stumbled across "Kitchenware Street".  It had all the cool super expensive cutlery and just about everything else.

Finally I headed to a different Popeyes.  Apparently they don`t charge universal rates.  I looked this one up and it had nicer `rooms` which could definitely fit someone not of Alex/Japanese stature, and is also about 5 bucks cheaper.  The one I was at last night had a guy 2 booths down from me with his feet sticking out the end.  So far it seems the downside is there are quite a few more cubes together in a room and the soda selection is way less interesting.

Also as my mom said she would (if anyone notices my mom`s comments where she`s all like "love mum-"), she did.  I told her my plan and she texted back "That sounds wise".  Well when you hang out with the Buddha the whole day, some of its gotta rub off on you....aaayyyyyy.  

Tomorrow I`m off to Kyoto where I hope to take things slow and I`ll be at a hostile for my entire 7 day stay there.  I`ll have the morning to try and ship out my tent and probably my sleeping bad.  I`ll keep the blanket and bag around to use in the net cafes.

Also I wasn`t sure where to put this but the reason of the title post is the western tourists here fit into a couple groups.  There`s the buddy backpackers (like me but lamer cause they need friendship), there`s the old couples fulfilling their dream to tour the world (often with a tour guide they can ask awkward questions in the format of "Is it true Japanese people xyz"), and there`s the influencers.  I`ve been watching those influencers and I think the trick is to look like you don`t care about what`s around you, and you definitely don`t care that someones pointing a camera at your face.  I took a video of these two guys doing the posing today and it was amazing.  Nara was the prime place for influencers though.  A lot of nice looking girls posing artfully with the deer; its basically Instagram heaven.  I should have something worthy in my pics today.  I`ll take a look!

Buy this matcha ice cream.  Its real good!

#influencer

Not my picture but they don't allow photography so I googled part of the exhibit.

Kofuku-ji

Part of Denden Town.  The Taito Game Center was the arcade I went into.

Huh...this place has free wifi.

  That's pretty neat!

One hallway of Popeyes.  The cubicle rooms are in a square surrounded by the shelves on the right.