Neighborhood Obon Festival 2015

Not *my* neighborhood, but hubby's colleague W. and her husband M. invited us out to Roppongi Bon Odori Saturday afternoon, so why not? We actually got off the train at Azabu then walked from there to Roppongi. There was a gigantic festival in Azabu that went on for at least a dozen blocks right up to Roppongi, where Bon Odori was held.

Oh man, we had no idea what we were walking into until we got there. There are 13 millions people in the Tokyo metro area and I swear they were all there at the festival! My photos just don't do the crowds any justice at all. Actually, I couldn't take pictures of the crowd because, well, we were pressed back to back and inched along heel-to-heel. Add in heat and humidity and it was a disaster. We were all drenched in sweat and could take pictures only after having escaped to a smaller alley, and thus it looks like hardly anyone was there when it couldn't be farther from the truth.

Japantown, San Francisco Part II (Picture heavy!)

A long overdue follow up for SF Japantown, since these pictures were taken back in April-May T.T

I'm loathed to say this, but the Japanese food at Japantown leaves little to be desired. How ironic that it's Japantown, and you would think there are things reminiscent of Japan food wise. But nope. What you see may resemble Japanese food in appearance, and with the exception of a couple of okay places, the rest are either meh or down right disgusting.

Taste of Colorado, Denver

Over the Labor Day weekend, my family and I went to the Taste of Colorado Festival, which is held every year around this time. It's basically a huge festival with lots of food, snacks, desserts, drinks, and other craft tents covering several stretches of street around the Denver City Hall and Capitol Building. There are live music too!

Neighborhood Obon Festival 2012

I thought I'd end the month of July with this post ^.^

This year, our neighborhood's Bon Odori (Obon Festival) was on the last weekend of July, 2 weeks later than last year's. Hubby actually saw a flier advertising it this time, so it didn't catch us by surprise like it did last time. We went out there pretty early, about 30 minutes after it had started and the lines for snacks and drinks (yakitori, yakisoba, hot dogs, beer, shaved ice, etc.) were already out the park's gate!

Watch a video I took of the festivity while standing in line for yakisoba ^.^

I'd say this year's Bon Odori was much more lively than last year, which was a bit more solemn due to the earthquake and tsunami occurring just a few months back. Lot of kids were running around, kicking up a storm of dust but no one minded, except perhaps those who were eating ^.^' Watch this video I took of the opening dance.

Bean-Throwing Festival

For the past week my local bento shop had this beautiful poster of these yummy things that look like Oshinko rolls, so hubby and I inquired into it. Turns out those were ehomaki (恵方巻) for the Setsubun (節分), or Bean-Throwing Festival. that is celebrated on February 3 of every year. The "ritual" of the festival is for someone to wear a demon mask standing outside the door, and then the person inside the house would throw a handful of soy beans out the door while reciting, "Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!" (鬼は外! 福は内! - Demons out! Luck in!). Supposedly, all evils are chased out this way and the household is kept safe and healthy for the rest of the year. 

I was way more interested in the ehomaki than anything else, so Friday night after work I finally caved and grabbed some at the Seven Eleven across the street from my work. And guess what came with the ehomaki I bought - a demon mask and a package of toasted soy nuts ^.^ How cool is that?

Neighborhood Obon Festival

It was a quiet and otherwise slow Saturday afternoon for hubby and me when we started hearing drumming, then minutes later, folk singing. We blew it off, that was, until it went on, and on, all the way until dusk. By then, we were hearing kids squeaking, tween girls squealing, and tween boys shouting.

The center stage flanked with a large Taiko drum and adorned by pretty lanterns.