Thursday 25 February 2010

Nara - the arrival, the hotel and the not Michelin starred meal

We could see where we were staying as soon as the train pulled into Nara Station. A huge concrete block in the style of Soviet Russia loomed over the station. A large neon Lohas at the top of the building confirmed this was our hotel. The Super Hotel Lohas JR Station Nara.

It is modern and clean inside the hotel and you get to choose a pillow and yukata (like a kimono/dressing gown) from the pillow room. No keys for this hotel either. You're given a PIN to enter your room. The ladies are given a PIN for the ladies hot spring bath too.



The room is smaller than the Monterey but it is more modern looking and we have a view, of sorts, of the railway station. The ladies are given a free gift of toiletry items on arrival too. Blokes get nothin'. We've got a huge Hi-def LCD TV. There is a vending machine in the hall where you pay 1000 yen to get a code to watch movies - adult movies too. You can preview them for free. They pixilate the good bits in the previews.






After dumping our stuff it was time for a wander through Nara to look for a feed. We're limited to suggestions from the Lonely Planet or The Rough Guides for eating in Nara. There isn't a Michelin for here unfortunately. Tonight though we decided to live dangerously and just go for cheap slop which is harder than it sounds because the Nara isn't a big city and much of it starts shutting down at 8. We did find a place after perusing the plastic models of the food they serve. What do you think, does my meal look like the plastic model? As you can see Michelle is happy with her chicken noodles. Mine had the whole kitchen sink. Noodles, tempura, sashimi and rice. Definitely no Michelin stars here but it was quite alright and only cost 2100 yen or about $25. About a fifth what lunch cost us today in Kyoto. Can't complain about that.




Cute phone boxes.

Back home to the Hotel after a pit stop at the Lawson downstairs to pick an ice-cream and a Kit Kat (oh yeah).

No comments:

Post a Comment