Last night was the
The weather was awful. It was astoundingly hot, and had been raining, slightly, all day. The clouds hung like a grey blanket a few feet above my head. I could almost touch them. They blocked out the sun, but instead of providing a shelter from the sizzling rays, the clouds only trapped the heat and amplified it. My clothes clung to my body. The weight of my backpack straps glued my t shirt to my shoulders. You could drink a gallon of water and not have to piss; only sweat left my body.
Of course, though, we had the a/c on in the car. When we arrived and stepped out, I asked if we could watch the show from the cool interior. I even offered to sit in the back seat. I questioned my own judgment for joining along in such awful weather… my friends too questioned my judgment given my last few questions.
We set off on foot toward an expansive rice paddy. Covering a few acres, it was home to much wildlife. Birds, and frogs mostly, which I saw occasionally hopping about in the grass (between the path and the paddy), much to the repugnance of my female companions. The all-pervading ugly, yet cute, feral cat was also there. But, of course, there were the bugs. All sorts of insects. It should go without saying that there were at least 10 mosquitoes for every human, which is the standard here. But there were also hoards of gnats, lime green grasshoppers, worms, singing cicadas, crickets, moths, and all manner of noise producing, biting, nauseating creatures. I, for one, do not mind insects. Luckily. Unless they are on my person without me knowing. Then, I mind.
We approached the area where the fireworks were to be launched over. It was a huge parking lot of a sports park. In the distance, I could see a pool with a concrete stadium, and a high dive. I instantly wanted to be in the pool. I wanted nothing more than to watch the fireworks surrounded by water, beer in hand. It was locked. I tried to climb the fence and, again, my companions questioned my judgment.
I left my pipe dream and decided to enjoy what the festival had to offer. The expansive parking lot had been lined with vendors hawking carnival style food and goods. The center area was covered in people staking claims from which to enjoy the spectacle of colorful exploding missiles. I was eager to see what types of carnie food the Japanese like. After helping lay out our tarp and set up the chairs, I was off, wallet in one hand, camera in the other, like a good tourist, to sample the overpriced and surely unhealthy, and possibly septic, fair food.
The stalls were as colorful as possible, each with lights and a generator. A long, vertical flag was posted on the top corner of each one, which I could not read, exclaiming the delight offered. I walked as close as I could to each front, hoping to catch a glimpse of what they were cooking. Needless to say, I cut through a lot of well formed lines in order to peek at the cuisine de jour.
There were many different edibles offered, I will start with the most ubiquitous: takoyaki. Tako, meaning octopus, yaki meaning grilled/charred. Picture a small round donut, sometimes called a donut hole, filled with octopus, grilled in a sort of waffle iron thing, and covered in sweet and tangy sauce. They are, without a doubt, delicious, but they have a caveat, in my opinion. I can only eat one or two, and they are never sold in groups of less than six. Too many for me. I skipped takoyaki today.
Next on the menu was, of course, yakitori. Yaki meaning grilled/charred tori meaing any leftover part of the animal that wasn’t used. It’s usually chicken or beef, but we’re talking organs, feet, necks, skin, cartilage, noses, anus, fat, brains….anything that cant be sold as “white” or “dark” meat. I, am needless to say, quite sick of yakitori. Since I cant read Japanese Kanji, buying Yakitori is somewhat of a crap shoot. Literally.
Next up was potato products, Yay! There were baked potatoes, split open and covered in slabs of butter, spiral cut, deep fried potatoes on a stick, and of course French fries. I ate all three. I love potatoes.
Next in popularity was the tubed meat. Although I didn’t see a normal hot dog anywhere, many places had “hot dogs” which were about 2 feet long and as big as your wrist. No bun. Only a stick from which to eat it off of. It looked to me about a pound and a half of tubed meat. A porterhouse among hot dogs. I am a hot dog connoisseur, and I skipped this carnie delight simply because of its size. It was incredible. I couldn’t help but laugh watching a 100lb Japanese girl eating a 45lb hot dog. (Keep your mind out of the gutter.)
After these delights, the list was tied among crepes, frozen bananas, beer, grilled squid and sweets of all sorts. I found one cart that was selling tacos! Real, Mexican style tacos! It was amazing. The man cooking them was, of course, Japanese, but he was legit by all standards. The taco came in a sort of half tortilla, half flat bread thing with beef, lettuce tomato, avocado and cheese. They were huge. I ate at least 12. Just kidding I ate 1. Although the beef was clearly seasoned with something labeled “taco seasoning” in Japanese, my hat goes off to the gentleman who was cookin’ them tacos. If you are reading this, I love you. You made my night.
Okinomiyaki was also present. Somewhat of an omelet, stuffed with chicken, cabbage and all sorts of items I cant even describe. It is tasty, but like takoyaki, it is only served in massive quantities of which I cannot eat entirely.
I was officially done with fair food. I felt sick. I retired back to the tarp and sat for a while, people watching. Men and women were dressed up in traditional Japanese summer clothes, called yukata. It was very nice to see the old mixed with the new…something that has become very familiar to me here in
The fireworks began to exploded overhead. A light rain was falling, no matter, the show must go on. Every 30 seconds or so, an announcer would stop the action and explain which company had paid for the fireworks. Very commercial. The big spenders like
After the show, there was the predictable mad rush for cars and traffic ensued. I fell asleep in the car with a fat stomach full of fair food and my ears ringing. It was a good night.
Sorry no pictures, blogger is not working at the moment. I will try again tomorrow.
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