Travelog: My Beef with Kobe, then Nara


Not literally because I don’t really have any beef with Kobe– although it must be said that Kobe is really known for beef! But there are many more things about Kobe that I love so let me already enumerate them through images.

Our first stop was at the Hakutsuru Sake factory.

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They had this nice permanent exhibit of how sake was made– from scratch to finish

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At the end of the tour, we had sake tasting. Haha I was a happy camper at 11am. LOL

And then we headed to a teppanyaki lunch where Kobe beef was served.

kobe4It was very good beef (and I briefly thought of mentioning Wagyu because I wanted to see which one fared better but I decided to just bite my tongue. But ooh I’d have loved to have them side by side :D)
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En route to Nara, more sakura!

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We reached Todai-ji Temple and the adjacent Nara Deer Park where the deer roamed around freely (and would occasionally nibble on your backside if they smell something edible in your pockets– or if you have some shika senbei or deer crackers lol).

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And when we walked through the temple gate, my jaw dropped at the sight of the Daibutsuden (the main hall of Todaiji), said to be the world’s largest wooden structure

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Daibutsuden houses the temple’s largest Daibutsu or Buddha.

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Took the time to walk around the main hall which also housed other Buddhist statues. And when we finally walked out of the hall and back into the complex toward the exit, I could not resist another shot. This was really so beautiful.

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Enjoyed some sticks of mitarashi kushi dango or glutinous rice balls on a stick 🙂

kobe15Kobe and Nara were so much fun. This has been such a peaceful and incredible trip so far and I’m loving every second of it!

We have already arrived in Tokyo via the Shinkansen and am slowly settling in before heading out again for dinner 🙂

x
TheBagHag

 

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