I'm A Brogger...: Japan Day 2

This day is mostly about the temples. 3 temples for the day, can’t remember exactly which is which. Anyway…

The cities in Japan are just typically Japanese. Once you see the architecture you’ll definitely know you have come to Japan.

Japanese school girls walking to school…we M’sians usually take buses or drive cars. DUH it’s bloody hot here.

This place is called Nara and there is a deer park…yes the deer roam freely around this place.

The temple is called Todaiji Temple.

This is the main shrine. There are actually two types of such similar religions in Japan involving shrines. The way Japanese pray in the temples we watch on TV are not actually that way, clap twice, bow twice and clap again. If the gods/goddess comes from a foreign land, then you do not need to do the clapping stuff. If the god/goddess are Japanese origin then only you do the clapping. In Todaiji Temple it is some sort of Buddhism and as we all know Buddhism comes from India…so no need for clapping…合掌拜拜就够了。

But before entering ANY temple in Japan there is a ritual which is a MUST that is the washing process. Always look out for such places that having running water and small scoops before entering the temples. That day we were lucky that we got to see a teacher teaching primary school students learning how to do the washing up thingy. It’s a pity that M’sian lack such knowledge and wisdom that we forget about our own religions altogether sometimes. Ok, so first you wash your left and right hands, then gurgle some of the holy water and spit it into the drains NOT back into the well or reservoir or whatever and then remember not to drink directly from the scoops, you won’t want anyone to drink your saliva. And lastly reinse the scoops clean for the next user to use them(yes, Japanese are always so careful, you’ll get scared after a while).

Inside the temple is very cold. Every time you breathe out, these water vapour becomes visible coming out of your mouth.

There is this hole in one of the pillars where students come and try to go through it to get blessings from the gods in order to succeed in life.

Every year on Chinese New Year, these shrines and temples will be filled with people coming from all over Japan to pray and to get blessings. And when I say people…it’s THOUSANDS of people at one go.

Remember the thing about deer roaming freely in the area?

AH crap we were all wrapped in jackets like ‘bacang’ and they wear short skirts…wow awesome.

If you happen to have any plastic bags or deer biscuits…GOOD LUCK WITH THAT…!!!!

The moment you do that they’d come chasing after you…bumping and biting. I got my hand bitten and my butt bumped by them…and it’s not fun at all, seriously.