This week I went to two different festivals.
The first one was a Chrysanthemum festival at a temple in Ueno. At this festival, people from all over, young and old, try to grow Chrysanthemums and they are graded on how beautifully they were grown. There are so many different types and they were very beautiful. Many people came to view the flowers. They also decorated the temple in flowers and made statues of famous people from Japan with flowers. Japanese really pay attention to the aesthetics of all things, and it makes all the difference. I love being able to experience the beauty in even the simplest of things.
The second festival was called "Tori no Ichi" Festival in Shinagawa. At this festival, they sell these decorated rakes and people can put them in their businesses or homes to bring luck. Some of the rakes are very large and some are small. The bigger ones are usually very expensive. Once you buy a rake, the vendors will clap their hands and say a little chant to bless and thank the person. People also bring their rakes from the previous year to the temple where they will be burned. If these are burned, it is supposed to be bad luck. It was the first time for me to see this festival and it was quite exciting!
This week I had my 22nd birthday. It is strange to think I had my 20th birthday also while being in Japan. For my birthday, I visited a cat cafe! It was an interesting place that had a manga/internet cafe on the first two floors and then on the top two floors there was a cat cafe. When you go in, you change into slippers and then wash your hands really well. You can rent books and read while the cats sit next to you or on your lap. You can get as many drinks as you want such as green tea and coffee. I have seen other people there who sit and knit with a cat next to them. There are some cats that are on diets and there are some cats you cannot hold. You can also buy snacks for the cats and they all come at you at once. some cats climb up on your shoulders. There are at least 20 cats there. It is definitely an experience anyone should have if they like animals.
I also tried a restaurant called, "Avo Cafe" in Jimbocho. It is a small restaurant that changes the menu daily and all of the dishes include avocados. Avocados are my favorite food so I was really excited. I got Thai style curry with typical vegetables used in Japan such as lotus root, pumpkin squash, okra, and sweet potato and of course avocado. My friend tried a Hawaiian inspired dish with spam, egg, seaweed, and avocado. It was my first time trying spam cooked and it was actually okay tasting. xD They even had avocado cheesecake!
For dinner, my past host family made my favorite dish for me which is called Temakizushi. Basically, you buy and cut up all the ingredients for sushi such as tuna, squid, salmon, shrimp, cucumber, carrot, mayo, natto, seaweed, wasabi, ikura, and more. Then you just make sushi rice. All you have to do is put rice on a square of seaweed and add the ingredients you want. You wrap it up and then eat! Everyone can make the sushi they want to eat. Also, they got me a cheesecake with all kinds of fruits on top of it. Overall, it was a very nice birthday and I was so glad I could spend it in Japan.
The first one was a Chrysanthemum festival at a temple in Ueno. At this festival, people from all over, young and old, try to grow Chrysanthemums and they are graded on how beautifully they were grown. There are so many different types and they were very beautiful. Many people came to view the flowers. They also decorated the temple in flowers and made statues of famous people from Japan with flowers. Japanese really pay attention to the aesthetics of all things, and it makes all the difference. I love being able to experience the beauty in even the simplest of things.
The second festival was called "Tori no Ichi" Festival in Shinagawa. At this festival, they sell these decorated rakes and people can put them in their businesses or homes to bring luck. Some of the rakes are very large and some are small. The bigger ones are usually very expensive. Once you buy a rake, the vendors will clap their hands and say a little chant to bless and thank the person. People also bring their rakes from the previous year to the temple where they will be burned. If these are burned, it is supposed to be bad luck. It was the first time for me to see this festival and it was quite exciting!
This week I had my 22nd birthday. It is strange to think I had my 20th birthday also while being in Japan. For my birthday, I visited a cat cafe! It was an interesting place that had a manga/internet cafe on the first two floors and then on the top two floors there was a cat cafe. When you go in, you change into slippers and then wash your hands really well. You can rent books and read while the cats sit next to you or on your lap. You can get as many drinks as you want such as green tea and coffee. I have seen other people there who sit and knit with a cat next to them. There are some cats that are on diets and there are some cats you cannot hold. You can also buy snacks for the cats and they all come at you at once. some cats climb up on your shoulders. There are at least 20 cats there. It is definitely an experience anyone should have if they like animals.
I also tried a restaurant called, "Avo Cafe" in Jimbocho. It is a small restaurant that changes the menu daily and all of the dishes include avocados. Avocados are my favorite food so I was really excited. I got Thai style curry with typical vegetables used in Japan such as lotus root, pumpkin squash, okra, and sweet potato and of course avocado. My friend tried a Hawaiian inspired dish with spam, egg, seaweed, and avocado. It was my first time trying spam cooked and it was actually okay tasting. xD They even had avocado cheesecake!
For dinner, my past host family made my favorite dish for me which is called Temakizushi. Basically, you buy and cut up all the ingredients for sushi such as tuna, squid, salmon, shrimp, cucumber, carrot, mayo, natto, seaweed, wasabi, ikura, and more. Then you just make sushi rice. All you have to do is put rice on a square of seaweed and add the ingredients you want. You wrap it up and then eat! Everyone can make the sushi they want to eat. Also, they got me a cheesecake with all kinds of fruits on top of it. Overall, it was a very nice birthday and I was so glad I could spend it in Japan.
No comments:
Post a Comment