(PHOTOSCAPE & PHOTOSHOP ughhhh),
I'm finally ready to blog about this EXCITING EVENTTT!!
And I haven't blogged in a long while, haha XD
Before that, read what Wikipedia has to say about Bon Odori :D
Bon Odori explanation - but jump right to the bottom to 'in Malaysia'
Here was the leaflet that a college friend of mine showed me - electronically, I mean.
Source: dslrfanclub
So, he told me that he was going early, since there would not be a parking lot,
and you'd have to park far far away :/
Knowing my family members (yeah, I went with them :3) I guessed we'd be late.
Yup, we were hahaha XD XD
It was difficult to find parking, zzzz.
But we managed to park, not too far, and not too near :x
Anyways, once we were inside, we were given door gifts. (or maybe they're Entrance Gifts? :O)
lol
Yeah, I only took the pic when I arrived home :)
Nice right? XD
Somewhere near the real entrance to the trackfield :D
Yeah, it was THAT dark XD
Then, we had to stop for a toilet rest.
(Out of habit :/)
But while near the mobile toilet stalls...
Cam-happy time!! :D
1. Mum and Kak Suvari :D
2. Mum & Yours Truly :D
I'm SOOO HAPPPPPPPPYYYYYYY!!!!
(peace yo.)
After that, I tried to be sneaky (I was kinda sneaky the whole time, though) in order to take the
cute 浴衣 (yukata) pictures XD
Definition of yukata: Summer Kimono.
It is made up of a thin fabric so that the wearer would not sweat. I think.
Summer is summer, after all -___-;;
Oh, and did I mention that there were TONS of girls (young, teenage, adolescent and adult)
wearing 浴衣??
Enjoy these -sneaky- picture first DX
Yeah, kinda blurr.
My first sneaky picture XD
And then, I started snapping random shops/stalls that were set up,
especially just for this event!!
Sake stall!! :D
I only know this by the 'Wine' sign :/
Later, I find out that the second kanji means 'sake' XD
Feeling hot? Fancy some 氷 (koori/ice)?
Of course, once my Mum saw this, it was the first shop we visited.
And I complained. Where's my scallop? (I forgot it's Japanese name T__T)
The first stall anyone would see when they enter XD
They actually have a mini-conveyer belt you know.
And it was packed. We shouldn't have taken too much of this DX
But ah well, the Salmon was nice♥
Jellyfish♥!!!
After having 9 plates (RM45), we left to see other stalls.
That was when Mum spotted Sakae Sushi.
Seriously, Mum? XD
No, we did not go in.
I wasn't interested in sushi anymore. hah!
What's in the middle? -winks-
So the next thing we did (Mum, Kak Suvari and I) was to join the 盆踊り (Bon Odori dance)!!
:3
Assuming you only read the part about Malaysia's 盆踊り in wikipedia, I'll tell you a little bit of info...
that in different regions in Japan, there are different dances.
Each of these dances are related to the type of work prominent in that area (in the olden days, I think).
So they have many types of different dances.
They will have the main stage, where the professional dancers will dance in a circle,
and the public will follow suit around the stage.
Back to 盆踊り!
I pulled Kak Suvari (coz she did not bring her phone XD) towards the stage, where people
were already dancing.
The professional dancers on the stage.
They were dancing around the drums.
(I don't know the name of the drum troupe in Japanese.)
Then, we followed the crowd.
In my terms? This is called FLASH MOB!!! Whooopppeeeee~~~
It was SUPER FUN!
Remember the Entrance Gift Fan? We used it to dance too XD XD
I can't remember the steps, but it was really simple to follow. And repetitive :3
During the 2nd song, I noticed that we started at the edge of the area... but now it was
the middle of the public dance area XD
After the 3rd song, the three of us realized that we were not at the original spot
where we started dancing. So we had to walk back through a semi-circle to find Dad XD
Some pics of other people dancing!
Going round the circle....
Put your hands up!! ;D
Oh, I like this very muchhhh!!!
ホント好きです!!
People watching at the stands.
(Which I'm glad I wasn't doing, else I can't appreciate it XD)
Dancing... (Put your hands up #2!!)
Going 'round again! :D
Rowing the boat? XD
Random dancing pic XD
Geh, you can't really see the dance in the pictures, huh?
(Sorry, I did not touch a DSLR or camera for a long time + too excited, so
timing is all out) DX
But not to worry, here's a Youtube video of 1.5 minutes long that you can enjoy.
(Yeah, iPhone video mode woohoo!!!)
Enjoy!
Well, after dancing, we decided we wanted to eat BBQ meat♥...
Unfortunately, Mum led the way all the way to the dessert stalls DX
Where we bought only snacks. There, I mean.
Yeah, -edible- souvenirs, bought by Dad and Mum.
No, they can't ignore good chocolate XD
When Mum finished, she came out with 3 plastic bags full DX
Cream Puffs, anyone?
Knowing I can get this in Midvalley, I decided to only pass it by.
Ah, Aeon (Jusco) is here too.
But that is to be expected DX
The stall next to it... is where we got our 'main course'.
(Or half of a main course, which included the earlier sushi :)
I actually took this so that, I'll be able to decipher what it says... one day :D
I only know that the second Kanji (高) means 'expensive'/'high'.
And I'm kinda regretting I didn't study Katakana.
There's a lot of signs using Katakana!!! D;
Kak Suvari with her Sparkling Orange XD
Truly, we bought fishballs and sausages here.
I only took this pic for the Kanji. keh keh XD
After that, we sat on the ground (where it was cooler, and facing the stage)
and enjoyed the half of the main course.
While that, I decided to take some pics of the food and the surroundings! :D
My 2nd stick of fish balls :D
Surroundings #1: A group of yukata-wearing kids♥
Surrounding #2: I realized I was just watching Japanese families at a Bon Odori -jawdrops-
I tried -eavesdropping- to listen to Japanese pronounciations.
But sadly, I can't catch words, just sounds TnT
Surrondings #3: Their yukata colour combination is so cuteee!! :D
By this time, I had already finished my food and was now craving for some...
アイスクリーム!!
(Ice-Cream)
So, to fulfill my promise of buying dessert for everyone,
Kak Suvari and I walked to the other end of shops to buy some アイス:D
Here was where I bought RM30 worth of ice-creams 8D
Yeah, everything was RM6 in this stall.
I bought 5 tubs, eventhough there was only 4 of us at this event DX
(白氷/shirokoori is being greedy DX)
If that wasn't enough, I even bought you-need-to-consume-now-ice-cream because
it can be readily eaten DX
Here it is:
Well, there was more of it.
I already ate some XD
Kak Suvari's Green Tea ice.
I'll call these 'ice' cause they are sort-of ice-cream without the cream :/
But it's not just ice cause the taste of the tea and chocolate was there. Ahh, I don't know its name D:
Yeah, I'm a super happy 女の子 (young woman)!
The アイスクリーム of my parents:
Matcha (Green Tea) and Vanilla for Dad
(ZOMGOSH!! So DAMN NICE!!)
Mint for Mum:
爽やか!! (Refreshing!!)
All of them was solid and PACKED with flavour.
Definitely worth that RM6! :D
After we finished our ice-creams, it was time to leave ;(
Well, they left before us XD
As we exited from the Matsushita Sports Complex,
I saw a stall which read something like:
Nihon no Omakage
Not sure about the last word (even the pronounciation), I thought it was 'souvenirs' or something.
Rightly so. I bought a headband for RM10 XD
It reads, "Nippon"/"Nihon".
Which mean "Japan" XD
The shopkeeper tried to ask me which school I went... but I didn't feel like telling him,
so I ignored him lol.
And he suddenly shouted, "Only Japan, no Malaysia!" in Japanese.
I understood the whole thing, so I silently smiled to myself.
Japanese language learning pays off!! ahahaha XD
We arrived at 7.30pm, and we left at around 9.45pm. I think.
I wasn't paying attention to the 時間 [time].
My final verdict:
I AM SO GOING AGAIN
NEXT YEARRRR!!
But this time, I'm going with my friends.
I'd bring my family... if no one comes with me :x
And I'm glad that I actually went XD
yes, it is expensive and all, but I think it would be cheaper if we don't consume
unnecessary foods from famous brands (please don't come after me, xxx and yyy).
I'd rather be eating an obento instead of fishballs and sushi.
(cause even outside restaurant sells those :/)
But ice-creams are a must!
And then, we shall have our own after-party... what do you think? ;)
Final pic:
My two cherished souvenirs 8D
