Monday, September 15, 2008

Uchino Matsuri 2008

Uchino is a small town to the south of Niigata City. This is where I live. Last week, people of Uchino celebrated the end of summer by having a festival.

Lanterns are the must for festival

It was brilliant idea to do the festival in front of the train station. Easy access.

They were many stalls including this one. Choose your mask from ultraman to Stitch for RM24.

Scratch and win or 'Tikam-tikam' is one of the most visited stall during any festival in Japan. Youd could probably win a PS3.

Min-you nagashi was the main event

...and dance all night long

The festival continued to next day.

This is the representative from our zone, Uchino-Yamate, for the Uchino Parade.

The main street in Uchino was closed to give way for the parade. I never knew that pig can climb coconut tree!?

Small 'mikoshi' is easy to lift.

But big mikoshi are not. Nice *** though (LOL).

Some ritual ceremony. They sprinkled 'sake' on a the street and circled around the split.

These kids were really in high spirits

These 2 gentlemen reminded me the famous tv siries in 80's, ninja.

Anpan-Man came to support. But could he fly with a bath towel as a mantle?

He was the man of the day

...and even lead the 'ondo' dance

We love Uchino! Do you?

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Budo Gari in Shirone

We went to Shirone with several Malaysian friends for 'budo gari' a.k.a. grape eating spree.

It is F.O.C. to enter the farm. If you want to enjoy the fruits, you can choose several options. We chose the kyohou (giant grape) course for 1,200 yen (approx RM 40).

Showing of harvests

Pick your grapes, wash them, sit and eat

This unique variety called manicure finger because it looks like women fingers with manicure.

Other than grapes, the farm had many kinds of fruits too including strawberry, kiwi, peach and pear

They was a section for playing with rabbits and goats too. The fence wasn't good enough for the tiny ones. We found Several outlaw rabbits sneaked out for freedom.

Dream Car Show Niigata 2008

Dream Car is a famous 'pimp my ride' like group in Japan. The group came to Niigata for showing off their machines.

In Japan, autoshow is not just about cars. The group had their own pretty young models to show off too. They were called the Dream Car Girls.

These gentlemen didn't know what's the meaning of quiting. They followed wherever the dream car girls roamed-.

The delicious pink Hyundai Tiburon. Even the mag wheels were pink too.

The Bentley GT with front bonnet carved with 12 K gold

The Skyline GT-R with its well known round tail light

Another Skyline GT-R showing what it made off

The fierce looking Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. Better get a house rather than this monster machine unless your are filthy rich.