thai food, dancing elvises (or is it elvi?), and other general strangeness

Ah, Tokyo. home to so much weird stuff, especially in the late spring as it begins to warm up and all the kooks comes out to play.

the thai festival was on at yoyogi park on sunday and my friends and i went to check it out. we had a good time scoping out the thai food, arts, crafts, goods, and music. i think it's so funny that a lot of the people here totally look down on foreigners (especially stealth foreigners -- you know, looks japanese but really isn't), but they LOVE the foreign food and culture. it's kinda like, thanks for visiting but don't stay. the festival was completely packed. we had a tough time even getting food or getting through the crowds but it was totally worth it. we got to eat some very authentic stuff: green curry, the minced pork and holy basil stir fry, some pork noodle soup, pad thai, and some grilled chicken. i even got to eat some weird ass fruit that i would probably never get a chance to try unless i go back to Thailand: rambutan, dragon fruit, and of course mango which i LOVE! yum yum! a foodie's paradise.

it was so weird to see all these half kids as well. it made me feel like tokyo was more like home. a real melting pot rather than just a city that calls itself that. i saw the one of the cutest kids i've ever seen there.

here are a few shots from the festival. some hand crafted sweets:


and some beautiful melon and turnip carvings:

but i was more excited by my post-thai festival discoveries. i finally got to see the dancing elvises! or is it elvi? these are a bunch of middle aged and older japanese dudes (and a couple of their babes) who go to Yoyogi park on the weekends dressed like rockabilly elvises (think Travolta the Revolta in Grease). they blast their music and they just dance. and it seems awful choreographed but no matter, it was fun anyway. here's a few shots:

Then, we got to see some interesting freaks out by the bridge in front of Meiji shrine. the best of which were the Tokyo circus peeps:

This guy was awesome. without a doubt the funniest dude out there. And he was dancing (or some might call that gyrating) like there was no tomorrow . . .

there were also a few other random freaks (the lolita-goths and cowboy guy and lots of trannies) and freaks who were offering free hugs (suz and i got a couple) but they just couldn't hold a candle to these guys! the only other fun thing i saw were these Jamaican themed post cards that this Japanese rasta wannabe dude was drawing. they kinda looked a bit like elementary school crayon art but i though the engrish on some of them were quite funny:

Ah, good times.