bon odori

just got back from bon odori not too long ago. fuuh, tiring, hot, sweaty (somewhat). But fun.

lesson learnt #1: wearing a yukata with the obi makes you sit as straight as a pin. And doing this for any period of time > 1 hour is. Is. Tiring. @__@ But is the end result worth it? I say yes. XD

ai and el came at about 430pm and we started to dress up. Earlier today mom and I had a test run, trying to put on the yukata - and we did pretty well~ at least now I know how to put it on right. And I also know what the holes at the side of the sleeves are for! XDXD I bet people who have not worn it know what it's for, they think it's only for decoration. Achievement, achievement!

The jam had already started by the time we reached there at about 6pm. There were so many Japanese kids and they all look sooo cute in their yukatas! I had to keep reminding the rest of us to not kidnap any of them home. Their fans this year was a simple bright orange (Blogger orange, if I may say so myself XD) with a small description of the night's events and a "3oth Bon Odori Festival" on the front. I don't remember, I took my mom's Sanrio fan which says "Brunch and Lunch" which are actually 2 dogs on the front. I think she picked it up in akihabara where there were a bunch of promoters handing them out on the street. XD I so love it. It's less coarse than the ones they were handing out though~

The fooood. X3X3 After awhile we decided we were hungry, so we strolled around the stalls (which were directly opposite the seating stands) looking for food. Had quite abit to eat actually. The picnic didn't really begin until reeis and her pack of friends came along.

brain fart: dai shokku!!! Saw Ronald. Of all people to meet. I thought I saw a familiar face walking past, so I had to go say hi.

Let's see.... we had unagidon, curry rice, lots of onigiri, mini okonomiyaki, ice cream, dorayaki, takoyaki, dango, some grilled sotong and sushi and downed it with some Pocari Sweat and bottled green tea. Don't ask me what the total cost was, I don't remember. Between the 7 of us we must have spent easily over RM50 on snacks, but it sure was filling.

Part 3 of bon odori has to be the dancing. XDXD This has to be the main highlight of the night since what celebration is complete without the dancing? XD So of course we danced.

brain fart: What do you call those balloon-yoyo things? I always buy them when I go, but I have no idea what it's called.

Dancing involves lots of clapping, little hops, moving front and back and some little twists with the fan. I don't know what all the songs are called...I only remember erm, Tokyo ondo, cause the rest of the song titles just didn't make very much sense to me. XP I think each dance session's about a 1/2 hour and 4 dances, twice each. XD I think I danced each dance, so yeaaay!! Achievement, achievement!

brain fart: There were these bunch of weirdos wearing pajamas complete with pacifiers. o_o I didn't type wrong, nor did you misread it. Just marvel at the oddities the world can produce.

brain fart: There were also lots of ah bengs and ah lians. Oh, cruel world...