Friday, January 24, 2014

D is for deer (Nara, Japan)

If you ever visit Nara Park, you will encounter these deer everywhere. They are wild deer but you are able to buy deer crackers (鹿煎餅 Shika-senbei) to feed them from little booths or at tables around the park. You are asked not to feed them anything else. 

"According to local folklore, deer from this area were considered sacred due to a visit from one of the four gods of Kasuga ShrineTakemikazuchi-no-mikoto.[2] He was said to have been invited from Kashima, Ibaraki,[3] and appeared on Mt. Mikasa-yama riding a white deer. From that point, the deer were considered divine and sacred by both Kasuga Shrine and Kōfuku-ji.[3] Killing one of these sacred deer was a capital offense punishable by death up until 1637, the last recorded date of a breach of that law.[3]
After World War II, the deer were officially stripped of their sacred/divine status,[3] and were instead designated as National Treasures and are protected as such."
(Taken directly from Wikipedia)







Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Universal Studios Osaka, Japan

Last weekend friends came over from Australia, which would have been cool enough but I also got to visit Universal Studios with them. Being January, it was quite cold and it probably wasn't the best idea to go on water rides, but we didn't think we'd get that wet! I am talking about the Jurassic Park ride in particular and so if you don't have a waterproof jacket on, then definitely invest in the ponchos they have available next to the line up, you'll need it. 

The other important point to know is that the park closes at 6pm during certain seasons so you may want to get there at the opening time to ensure you make the best of the whole park. 







You can find the website (In English) here.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Osaka

Had an overnight stay at Osaka when friends came over from Australia. I'm sad to say there wasn't much chance for photos but it was a good night. 



Monday, January 6, 2014

Port Adelaide Dolphin Cruise

Part of my getting more organised plan this year, was to sort through my many many photos stored on my laptop and I found a lot of photos from a cruise down the Port River. Unfortunately for me, like most times I did not see many dolphins and when I did, my camera was never ready. Others have been lucky enough to see dolphins swimming next to the boat for quite a distance. No matter what, the cruise is a very cheap way to spend the afternoon and there's some nice scenery along the way. 

There is generally no booking needed unless you have a large group and there 2 different companies with booking offices on the docks. After the cruise you can walk down the main street or go take a look at the markets on the docks. You can also climb the lighthouse. 

The pictures below are actually a collection of different times I have been on the cruise. 










Sunday, January 5, 2014

Yaizu

Last year I took a photo a day, just to prove to myself I could (It is much harder than it sounds) and this year I wanted to do something different. I found the 52 Week Photo Challenge 2014 on Facebook. Every Sunday a new theme is posted and so you tag your photo with the group name. Week 1 is Black and White and since I didn't have access to a zebra, I took this photo. 

 You can see other photos from Yaizu below.









Saturday, January 4, 2014

P is for port

These are photos from my recent trip to Numazu. You can also see photos from the Numazu Deep Sea Aquarium here.






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P is for Port

These are photos from my recent trip to Numazu. You can also see photos from the Numazu Deep Sea Aquarium here.






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Friday, January 3, 2014

Numazu Deep Sea Aquarium

I came to Numazu mainly because it is on the train route from Shizuoka and so I decided to do a little bit of exploring. This place was about a 40 minute walk from Numazu station. There is probably a bus from the station that takes you to the port (where the Aquarium is located), but I enjoyed the walk. You kind of get used to walking or cycling in Japan. 

It costs 1600¥ for an adult ticket. It's not a big aquarium and you wont see large sharks and things like that but you will see many of the creatures that live in the depths of the ocean and there are plenty of them. There is an English pamphlet, which is helpful and the signs next to each little aquarium has the animal name in English and how far down in metres they live under the surface of the water. Most other information is written in Japanese. Admittedly, my Japanese is pretty shameful but I enjoyed this place. 

You an visit the website http://www.numazu-deepsea.com or see the reviews on tripadvisor.











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