Talk to the Hand 'cuz this Buddha Face ain't Listenin'

I am a jolly gaijin right now.  You're inevitably wondering why I am so happy. Well, I'm ecstatic because I am sunburned!! Hallelujah, we found a pool. Can I get a holler? I am so happy that I got to spend some much-needed time poolside this afternoon. And, I'm sunburned because I used SPF 4 sunscreen, so don't feel sorry for me. (I bet you're so proud, Heather.) It is a step up from the baby oil I've used in the past. Yes, I know it's stupid, and I'm going to be an old prune when I'm older, but I do enjoy a bronze glow in the summertime. 

The pool was quite fun but also interesting. In Japan, the women "enjoy" the pool practically fully dressed. They are almost always covered at least neck to thigh and oftentimes even wear pants. It is so unbelievably hot here that it actually causes me physical pain to see such a thing. They typically carry umbrellas to shade themselves while walking, gloves that go up to their elbows and large sun hats. As you can imagine, we gaijin most definitely stand out at the pool in our two-piece swimsuits. The Japanese women are much more intelligent for protecting their skin and usually look like they're 35 at 50, but I just can't let all of those UV rays go to waste. (This post won't be so funny when I have to get a melanoma removed.)

Enough about that. We had a great weekend again! This past weekend, we roadtripped it with two other couples to a little town called Nara. It's an extremely old town that was established during the 700's. The temples there were spared during the War. Thanks, Grandpa. 

Here we are under the entrance to a shrine in Nara Park.

This is me about to get malled by a group of greedy deer. Deer roam around freely in Nara and are considered messengers of god. One of these "tame" deer stood right on my foot for quite some time waiting for a biscuit. These "heavenly" animals are believed to protect the city and the countryside. The deer didn't like Travis so much. They could smell that he had killed many of their kind.

This photo is of the Todai-ji Temple, which is apparently the largest wooden building in the world. It is home to the world's largest bronze Buddha.

Above is the largest bronze Buddha. I like to call it "Talk to the Hand Buddha." Apparently 12 monks can fit into Buddha's left hand, which you can't really see in this picture. But, I don't believe it. Unless, of course, they are talking about Japanese monks. Then, I could maybe see it. Twelve American monks? I think not.

After we returned from Nara, we met up with some other friends for kaiten sushi, which is also referred to as conveyor belt sushi. It's pretty neat. You just have a seat and grab whatever sushi suits your fancy when the belt comes around to your spot. The sushi rotates along the belt on different colored plates. Each color denotes a different price. So, you just refer to the color key at your table to keep track of the cost. At the end of your meal, a waitress comes by, scans your plates and gives you a little hard plastic card. You take the card to the register, the cashier scans it, and you pay for your sushi. The thing that freaks me out is that I'm not entirely sure about the freshness of the kaiten sushi. I saw some plates go around several times. So, I prefer to special order, which is also acceptable. 

To view some more pictures, go here.