Enoshima Island

On Sunday, I continued my adventurous weekend by hiking with friends on Enoshima Island.  It is located about 40 minutes from my house on the Sagami Bay.  The whole island is dedicated to Benzaiten, the goddess of music and entertainment.  Legend has it that she made it rise from the bottom of the sea in the sixth century.  It is connected to the mainland by a 600 meter long bridge, but we went by train.  Thank goodness, because apparently everyone in Japan was eager to get out and enjoy the beautiful day.  The trains were packed, but the traffic getting across the bridge was worse.  

 The island is full of things to do, including shopping, eating, and sightseeing.  The roads are steep and there are tons of stairs...let's just say that I am counting this adventure as a day of exercise instead of the gym.  My calves are still sore from all the climbing!

 Here is the entrance to Enoshima Shrine.  

 A statue at the top of a long staircase.  

 The lines were incredibly long, but the sights were worth the wait.  We just kept going...up, up, up to the top where there was a fabulous garden and light house.  

 Here is just one view of the garden.  A British man named Samuel Cocking purchased much of this island in the name of his Japanese wife.  

 I paid a small fee to go to the top of the lighthouse.  It again, was a long wait, but worth while.  The views from the top were spectacular!  I'm pretty sure that straight across the bay is my house.  It was also nice to see all the trees changing color.  It is happening really early this year, probably from the lack of rainfall. 

 Here's a view of the bridge heading to the city of Enoshima.  

 Here I am at the top.  It was such a beautiful day!

 While wandering around the gardens, I found the Aloha festival.  It was so relaxing to listen to the Hawaiian music.  It reminded me of my home away from home away from home.  

Here is the lighthouse tower that I explored.  It was all lit up at night with colorful lights that kept changing.  I can't believe that I was all the way up at the top.  

 We kept on hiking even though it was getting dark.  We were trying to make it to the tide pools and the caves on the back side of the island.  

 I saw this dragon and just had to capture his ferocity.  

 Here we are...we finally made it all the way to the back of the island.  We wanted to check out the tide pools with crabs and fish.  It was a long hike down, especially knowing that we were going to have to make our way back up all those stairs.  

 There were still tons of people out exploring.  I think they were hoping to see a gorgeous sunset, but the clouds came in just in time to dampen the view.  It was still awesome, though. 

 This is a hidden local fishing spot for the locals.  There were tons of fishermen still out here with their poles and nets.  

 Overall, it was an action packed weekend with wonderful fall weather.  I was super excited to get out and explore Japan a bit more.  I can't wait for the next adventure!

Oktoberfest Japan

Our second festival of the day was Oktoberfest.  It's a really big deal here and last for three weeks.  We had to wait in line just to get in and then there was no way that we were going to find seats.  So, we did a couple laps and then settled in for the night.  In order to get the full Japanese Oktoberfest experience, we had to get the beer hats.  They come in a set, as everything does here.  So, we got the beer, the hat, and the pretzel necklace times three.  As we were exiting the line with our goodies, we came across this jovial gentleman.  He was having a great time and we wanted to document the craziness.  It was the beginning of a long and adventurous evening.  

 Here is a picture of one of the beer stands.  They were inside with a big tent and outside too.  Surpisingly, there were all different varieties of beers and sausages.  I had to steer clear of all the pork though, so I just ate my pretzel.  

 Here's another beer stand. There were over 70 different varieties.  Most of them were from Europe, but there were some local ones too.  

 Here I am against the beautiful backdrop of Yokohama.  You can see the ferris wheel near Landmark Tower...it was magical.

 Here I am getting sassy...and it's only beer number two!  Well, beer number two at Oktoberfest.

 Here's another stand.  I love that the signs are in Japanese.  It really shouldn't still take me by surprise...I do live in Japan.

 Mmmmmm...sausages...too bad I can't eat pork.  Bah!

 Ah, the German band...I did upload some videos to Facebook if you'd like to take a look.  I am trying to get them on Youtube, but am having some technical difficulties.  Be patient.  I will do what I can.  The highlight of the night was when they played Stand By Me followed by the Chicken Dance.  The crowd went nuts dancing and singing...it was a blast!

 Here I am in line to get my last beer of the night.  Do you see the size of that thing?!  

 This is inside the tent...Wow, there were tons of people!  The outside area was packed too!

 Yeah!  I loved the live music!

 Here's to the fabulous festivals that I have had the chance to visit lately, and the fantastic friends who accompany me.  Maybe some of these posts will be motivation for you all to come and visit me!  Cheers!

World Festa Yokohama

It was a beautiful Columbus Day weekend here in Japan with lots going on...I met up with some friends to head to Yokohama for another multicultural day.  Our first stop was the World Festa.  Eisuke was getting me all pumped up, because he said that between two days of festivities, over 500,000 people were supposed to show up to enjoy the food and fun.  However, when we got there, it wasn't so great.  Of course, we had a fun time anyway.  Here we are getting a photo with the cute Miso Soup Man.

 Eisuke was sharing his paella with me...the theme this year was seafood, since it is a prominent staple here in Japan.  I'm just glad that after eating some of this my mouth didn't taste like "ocean" as Eisuke would say.  

 We were super excited to see the tent for the United States...

 ...and this is what was inside.  A bunch of crap, plastic toys that were probably made in China.  Who was in charge of this?  You're making us look bad!  Mark made sure to point out that even though they may be from China, they sure have a presence at the Kentucky State Fair, where he's from.  It was still a big disappointment.  I would love to know what you would have put in the U.S. tent to represent us...

 I had to stop by the Ecuador tent to see what kind of gifts I can look forward to once my mom gets back...it looks like I'll probably get a little fake alpaca statue with fur glued to it...or maybe some mittens or a hat made of alpaca fur...just please don't get me a rancher vest.  They had plenty of them here.   

 Here's a view of the main stage and food court.  They did have a lot of food stands.  I chose the Brazilian beef skewer.  It was fabulous!

 They also had some really random things...imagine that...random things in Japan!  There was a stand where you could rent costumes for the day and walk around wearing them, but you had to return them before you left.  This lovely lady was dressed up, I think as Commodore Perry, but I'm not really sure.  She was super excited to be in pictures though!  After posing with her, we headed off to our next festival.  

Namaste Indian Festival

After leaving the Mexican Festival, we hopped a train to Yoyogi Park where we met up with more friends at an Indian Festival.  It is the largest Indian Festival in Japan and they expected more than 200,000 people.  Honestly, it was fantastic!  There were tons of food vendors, tents with shopping, entertainment, and other sights to see.  Here we are with the Lord Ganesha.  According to Hindu religion,  Ganesha became the Lord of all existing things after winning a contest against his brother, Kartikay.  When tasked with a race around the universe, instead of taking off running like his brother, he walked in circles around his father and mother, Shiva and Parvati, as the source of all existence.  

 My favorite part of the festival was the shopping.  Here are some magnificent textiles...in fact, I bought some myself.  One for the back of my couch and the other as a table runner.  I have to say that each time I see it, it makes my day a little brighter.  They are just so beautiful.  

 While browsing the booths we came upon a woman doing henna.  I was super excited and hopped in the chair to get painted mine.  It was amazing how quickly she worked.  In just over 5 minutes she was finished.  

 Here is the final product.  I loved it so much that I have even contemplated getting this design as my next tattoo.  I had never gotten henna before, and was surprised that she put it on like cake icing.  Once it dried, it was like mud and cracked to fall off.  The "mud" stained my skin and when it fell off, it left a light brown stain.  The picture below is before the mud fell off.  I would have liked it to be darker, but I suppose I'll just have to venture to India for the real thing.  

 Let's just say that the Indian hats don't look great on me.  I'd much rather wear a scarf.  

 Here is a shot of some of the entertainment.  There were tons of shows, but this was the main stage.  I was bummed to miss the Bollywood dancers...I was too busy shopping. 

 As I was browsing, I noticed the tag on these pants.  I thought, exactly how big is size free?  

 I REALLY wanted to buy these...even just for Halloween.  I'm sure that if I wait long enough, I will see a pair walking around Tokyo or even on the train.  

 Don't worry Mom, I didn't buy any more shoes.  I just thought it was an interesting picture.  

 Some more of the brightly colored textiles for sale.  

 This is a sand sculpture...I was amazed at how intricate the details were on the face.  

 I haven't yet made it to the real Taj Mahal, so I will have to settle for this right now.