Which means there's a lot of catching up to do!
First things first was the long weekend a few weeks ago. It was great as I got to see Kara, who I haven't seen since graduation in 2010.
Our original plan was to visit an onsen I've been looking forward to for a while, but I figured that since onsen were plenty around Japan, it would've been better to take Kara out to a more special place.
You guessed it!
Nikko.
You might be wondering why the heck I'm always visiting Nikko, but it's pretty hard to say no to scenery like this.
My past two visits to Nikko were concentrated around the temples, so this time, we took the opportunity to visit the famous Kegon waterfalls and Lake Chuzenji.
The main point of the visit was to see the kouyou (紅葉, red autumn leaves), but unfortunately we were still too early to see many red leaves.
We were still lucky to have great weather on our trip up to Nikko though, as it wasn't raining and the weather was cool enough for a long sleeved tshirt and an optional jacket. Many other tourists were also enjoying the weather in boats all over Lake Chuzenji--Kara included.
We also left Nikko after having some delicious yuba-based foods.
During the trip, I also learned that apparently monkey poop is a "famous" product of Nikko (don't ask me why...)
The next big event was a fabulous fireworks exhibition in Tokyo. This was my last event with Bong before she moved to Gifu, so it was a bit of a bittersweet moment.
After fireworks, we ended up going to a yakitori place and then a Matsuya for some post fireworks, pre-moving food.
Following Bong's move was a week of reunions though. I got to see the mother of the family I stayed with in Akita during Golden Week.
And, as usual, I got to try delicious Japanese food in the presence of great company.
Following this reunion, I actually got to meet Seiko again and finally meet Sze Yen in person. Sze Yen and I were actually in the same department and had similar classes, but never actually met while in college despite the relative smallness of our departments.
It was also my first time having monajayaki, which was delicious--especially the cheese flavor!
The most recent major event was actually in Saitama--the annual Kawagoe festival.
I had been warned of the sheer size of the festival, but I don't think anything could have prepared me for the Kawagoe matsuri.
This festival is one of the largest festivals in Saitama and spanned several streets and blocks within a quick walking distance from the Kawagoe station, which meant tons of food stalls as people pushed their way through to see the beautiful floats that make the Kawagoe matsuri so famous.
The floats were beautifully made with plenty of beautiful colorful fabrics and gilded polished wood. I feel like one float would've been exciting enough on its own, but there were at least 15 floats all over the area as they moved about to represent their particular district.
I think this properly wraps up most of my October, and hopefully my next update won't be a month away....
Till next time!
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