Yayoi Matsuri in Asakusa

yeah, it's pretty touristy but asakusa remains one of my favorite places in the city.



there was a tv show being taped at one of the rice cracker stalls. another food porn featuring some fairly famous japanese comedians:



the gate to the main temple:


and you go through only to find that it (kannon temple) is under major construction:


get your smoke on:


and your cleansing on:



today was Yayoi festival, with a ceremony by members of the Edo Shobo Kinen-kai (Edo Civilian Fire Fighters' Association):



bamboo ladders:


the priests finish their blessing:


and the firemen get ready:


and there is a sudden fury of raising and spinning the giant swizzle sticks:




afterwards, they did some acrobatics. remember those bamboo ladders?


they are set up and secured by the men on the ground:


one guy goes up:



and away they go!





i think there were 8 - 10 of them set up. pretty amazing stuff:


the exhausted finish:


and they packed it up and went home. this guy carried this huge ladder almost entirely alone:


love me some firemen!

Welcome to Cronesville

thanks to gwen stefani, a lot of people now know what harajuku is. what gwen DOESN'T know, is that there is a place known to the locals as "old ladies' harajuku" better known as Sugamo.

i call it cronesville.

it happens that sunday was the spring festival of the Togenuki Jizo Temple. old people have a myriad of physical complaints. they go to this temple where a particular statue is and they rub and clean the parts of the statue that correspond to their physical ailments. so, if the arthritis is killing your knees, you wash the statue's legs. and so on and so on. the line for this thing was outrageous. here, some olds get their cleaning on:


i had custody of my golden oldie for the day so i took him with me. since he absolutely didn't want to wait in line, we went for some personal service:


you give a donation, and the monk prays for your ailments to be relieved. grandpa being a more western dude than most olds, gave a strong handshake.


eating is his favorite hobby. here we are at kifukudo, a place famous for their an-pan (bread with sweet red bean) and coffee:



where to go when you're in panic about your pain:


lunch at my favorite vietnamese joint:


he has an amazing appetite:

Suspicious Looks from Little People

auntie yokies tries the strap-on:


with the 200 pound monstrosity known as The Stroller From Hades:


with mama and nana:

Grandpa

such a peasant fellow. bet you want one of your own.

Because Pork Was On Sale . . .

i tried a couple new recipes. here's my filipino pork, adobo style:


and my japanese pork, buta no kakuni (sidebar: those aren't massive pieces of pork. the bowl is quite small):


both dishes turned out pretty well. i was happy with the end result and together the two dishes provided several days of hearty meals (i think i am off the pork for a little while though. it was quite an overload . . . )

until it was in the form of pepperoni and sausage on this super tasty pizza at Pizakaya in the pong:


plus the shrimp quesodillas:


soooo yum!