If you have a few days in Osaka, you may like to reserve one to Nara, only 40 mins away from Osaka Namba Station by Rapid Express train on Kintetsu Nara Line. The capital of Nara prefecture is home to a couple of remarkably beautiful temples and artwork that dates back to the 8th century, but the biggest attraction of the city has to be the free-roaming deer in Nara Park. They’re tame but can be quite aggressive if you’ve food in hand. Don’t be surprised if you hear someone yelling help just because they’re chased by a deer.

Nara is a walking friendly city that you can visit most of the attractions in a day. Going up from Kintetsu Nara Station, you’ll find a shopping street filled with restaurants and souvenir shops. Even if you haven’t built up your appetite, remember to take away a box of Kakinoha sushi – pressed sushi wrapped in persimmon leaves – from one of the many stores. It’s my first time to try this kind of sushi and to be honest I’m not a fan of it. But this is a signature dish here like Okonomiyaki in Osaka. How can you afford to miss?

Apart from Nara Park, the two top attractions of the city are Tōdai-ji (Eastern Great Temple), which houses the world’s largest bronze statue of the Buddha, and Kasuga-taisha, a Shinto shrine famed for its many bronze and stone lanterns. These UNESCO World Heritage Sites can be easily accessed in a circular route.

On your way back to Kintetsu Nara Station, stop by Mentouan restaurant, where you can enjoy a bowl of Kichaku Udon that is intriguing for the eyes. Imitating a kichaku bag, the dish is served as a fried tofu bag tied with an onion string and immersed in a bowl of dashi soup. Smooth, chewy udon would be revealed when you tear the bag with a pair of chopstick. The taste of the udon is not something extraordinary, but it’s quite a gimmick that deserves a post on your social media.

Just a few steps away is the award-winning Nakatanidou, famed for its mochi (Japanese rice cakes) handcrafted using a high-speed mochi-pounding process known as mochitsuki. Their signature mochi is made by yomogi, a wild plant that gives the confectionary a natural green color and a refreshing flavor that balance off the sweetness of the red bean paste filling.

Deer in Nara are considered as the messengers of God, and there’re more than 1200 of them roaming in the city. If you’re looking for a close encounter, be sure to feed them only with deer crackers that you can purchase in the street, and finish your own food before you go into the park. These wild animals can get very excited when they see and smell food. For those who cannot handle their exhilaration, don’t bother to feed them, as it’s quite embarrassing to scream or run away with those crackers in hands. And it’s absolutely confusing for the deer.