Golden Week Road Trip
April 17-May 5

April 28- OSAKA Dotombori bridge..you can see the whole city alongAn English Menu @ a Bar in Osaka that resembled Easter Island

Amerika-mura (アメリカ村, often shortened to "Amemura") or "American Village" area is where I found a dress that I fell in love with only to quickly fall OUT of love with it when I saw the price! Ameremura is said to be the source of most youth fashion trends in Japan…but we saw more fashions DON’Ts than do’s.

We also went to Pure which is a hip hop club in Downtown Osaka. After walking forever in heels aimlessly and asking locals who weren’t any help at all probably due to the fact that it’s a strip club during the week and only a night club on Saturdays…we finally found it! Good music, a lot of foreigners and free drinks… Definitely a good night ;) …met two new people we nicknamed Fuzzy Top and Shovels…made for an interesting night

Pam the party animal...daydreaming of the events to follow

April 29- NARA

Traveled about ½ hour to Nara to see the World’s biggest wooden structure. Tōdai-ji (東大寺) is home to the Daibutsu (大仏), the largest Buddha statue in Japan and one of the largest in the world supposedly even though I thought it was less than impressive.The Daibutsu-den, which houses it, is said to be the largest wooden building in the world. It's listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The giant front gate, Nandai-mon, is guarded by two fierce protectors with beady eyes that glared down at you as you entered the temple. (It's also swarmed by deer, who know this is the best place to come looking for a hand-out.)



After the Daibutsu, is a wooden column with a small hole carved through the bottom. Enlightenment is reportedly promised to anyone who can squeeze through this hole. I guess a whole lotta kids found enlightenment this day because they were the only ones skinny enough to fit through the tiny hole. We didn’t even attempt to climb through, not because we were afraid to get stuck but because the line was too long…


To the right of the entrance to the Daibutsu-den is a statue of the Yakushi Nyorai. Weird looking, it's actually a Buddha of medicine and healing. Touching a part of the Yakushi Nyorai and then the corresponding part of your own body is said to heal any ailments you have there.
According to legend, the god of the Kasuga Taisha came riding a white deer in the old days, so the deer enjoy protected status as envoys of the gods but now they are there purely for looks, making the entire place smell like deer crap and boosting the economy by making tourists buy cracker for 300yen a pop.This is Kyoto Train Station...it's amazing! We are about 11 stories up when I took this picture

on top of Kyoto Station... Me and my Happy Face on Happy Terrace

We went to a whole bunch of other shrines but I have no clue which ones or what they meant. They were really pretty and we walked pretty much all day. After today, I was shrine-d out for the entire rest of the trip and seriously, they all started looking the same after the first dozen or so.

ha ha ha...my attempt at being artsy!

Geisha's doing what Geishas do...scurrying to their next appt.

The view from one of the shrines overlooking Kyoto.. It was soo pretty and the Cherry Blossoms are still in bloom

The hike up to one of the shrines

You know it's gotta be Golden Week... look how crowded it is...It was so hard to take pictures without having a billion people in the backgrounds

That night we went to an Irish Bar and I had an Irish Rump roast for the first time EVER...

..whelp thats Saturday, Sunday and Monday.. I'll write about the rest tomorrow!