Bon Odori 2009

Hey ya.. sorry that I haven't upload pictures taken from the 33rd Bon Odori last Saturday which was held at the Panasonic Sports Complex in Shah Alam. I was down and am still down with some viral infection.. there's the sore throat thankfully gone, the cough, the abdominal pain that visits me every other minute and the cold sweat which are all symptoms of the common cold. PHEW~

Anyway, the Bon Odori festival was an eye-opening. Both pros and cons. There were so many people and mostly were Malaysians' wannabes. Arrgh kinda heart wrenching to see people ignore the policy of 'Strictly No Cosplay' and 'Strictly No High Heels'. They must be either deaf or blind. Then, they should have shown some respect to the culture. Why on earth should you wear kimono with heels or worse, sneakers!

Lots of genuine kimono-clad folks. They are so sweet and very humble. Very family oriented. I see them putting on a great show both on and off stage unlike the copycats who I think put off the genuine ones. Food was great but the queue was terrible. What's so nice about the ice-shaving dessert anyway? Well, my kids love Japanese food. Ouch for our pockets. Hub said we spent almost RM200 for food and drinks.

It was also my first experience visiting a portable loo. Funny, it was cleaner than MidValley's weekend loo. But I felt stupid because Judith and I were scrambling inside this tiny cubicle thinking how to use the flush and the water sink. So, I spent some time reading the manual. LOL!

Let's get to the pictures!!!!

We parked very far away (Malay graveyard); we walked very very far

Kids seem to be loving it

First stop was YOKOMON ice-cream for the kids.. RM5 per cup.

Snacks for kids for later on


We sat in front of the flag poles and glued to it because it was jamming with humans

FOOD....

Unagi Sensei

THE CROWD....

Little boy sipping on Carlsberg


New trend.. band-aid on the nose






Everyone wants a piece of the ice-shaving action

THE STAGE....

Practice makes perfect



Tick Tock


When night falls


Look at the human fans and the hand fans.. woo hoo everyone was dancing

THE REAL DEAL....



THE OTHERS....



THE Right Kind of WANNABES....

THE One That Everyone Thought Was a Wannabe But Was The Real Deal

THE Wrong Kind of Wrong.... heels + fashion + hair

It was beginning to smoked. Perhaps using too much of charcoal as the cooking was freshly done then and there.




Before we left, I managed to get a picture with a few young kimono-clad girls. They weren't really friendly haha...

Kids happy with their lights... looks like Joe's eyes are glowing evilly.

We'll go again next year..hopefully, it'll be a better experience. I might get into the mood to wear a kimono top as well. I don't think I can stand the heat wearing a fully clad kimono. I don't know how they do it therefore, I salute those who wore it from top to bottom but the girls' makeup were definitely moving towards gravity.