Day Nine

Having spent the evening nursing a sunburn, I was certain to slather on that disgusting sunscreen paste before heading to Japantown for the Obon Festival.

The Obon Festival is a Buddhist tradition, a time of celebrating community and honoring loved ones who have passed. The local Buddhist temple organizes and hosts everything and the event is a mixture of food, live entertainment, games, Bingo, and learning.

I grabbed a lovely piece of sidewalk in the shade between two tarps that had been taped down to stake their own claims. While I had a wonderful view of the dance platform, my view of the Taiko drumming was atrocious, so I moved and baked in the hot sun (I'm getting a tan!) The Taiko was fascinating and the participants were having a great time while entertaining us not only with their music, but also with their antics.

I snuck away from the drumming crowd in order to grab some food before the lines were crazy. I sampled some imagawa yaki but decided that I should have dinner before dessert. I picked up a skewer of beef teriyaki, a set of six pork gyoza, some beautifully fluffy white rice, and my first ever tempura. Anything is better deep-fried and this tempura consisted of sweet potatoes, green beans, zucchini, and shrimp. To bring home, I picked up two of the imagawa yaki and a bag each of kuri and mushi manju. I actually think I like the kuri manju better; who would have thought that lima beans could make a great dessert?

I also had the pleasure of attending a "Buddhism 101" talk at the temple. The sensei made the chat fun and informational and the altar itself was gorgeous. The incense, however, did a wonderful job of screwing with my allergies.

I stopped back home to change clothes and wash up after all of that sweat and then caught the light rail to San Jose Skate for the Freaky Tiki Throwdown roller derby.

I've never seen a roller derby before but it was easy to catch on quickly and man was it fun. The chicks were great athletes, pretty damn hot, and the game itself is fast and fun. I'm dragging my husband to a roller derby when I get back home.