Summer Pleasure: Yukata

Hi again, everybody! How's life? Wishing you're fine as ever :) Sorry for being in hiatus in this several days. I just passed my exam week, but it doesn't really mean that I can embrace my summer holiday and start my vacation from now on, because I still have 2 days of Japanese culture intensive course and 1 report to submit until next week. Yeah I know, ganbarimasu !

I went to Yokohama to watch firework festival (again), along with my friends and we all dressed up in Yukata ! For you who doesn't know what yukata is, it is the "light version" of Japanese Kimono and it's usually worn during summer. Yukata has so many variants of motives that define the beauty of summer in Japan. 

Loving Mariko's obi. So cute ><

 Ruru and I . Ruru looked so pretty with that blue yukata ! :)

 Cho-chan, looking gorgeous in that pink yukata. And it matched her pink sandals as well :)

 from left to right : Jong Woon, Mariko, Maru, En, and Ruru. We were on the way to the station.

 All the motives are looking great, aren't they?

 Luckily, we got free fans ! It was so hot that day.

 Mariko being uber cute !!

 Pardon my mischievous habit of taking anonymous' photos. I just couldn't help to show you the other motive of yukata. hehe

 Seemed so cute, going to date in yukata. Will try it someday hahaha.

 It was quite cloudy since the morning but fortunately there was no rain. Some people even had been waiting in the venue since 1 p.m while the firework started at 7. Everybody had marked their territory with mats ;D

 The view from our "territory"

 Two cute chicks that I love <3

My favorite pose of Maru

I know it's blurry but I love this photo so much 

Finally arrived at the station near our dorm, and we proceeded to take purikura ^^

It was super fun to spend the whole evening with the girls! And now I'm thinking about buying my own yukata and wear it to various summer festivals x) . Lately I've been surfing through the web and found that Rakuten got some interesting choices with the best deal of JPY 3,980 for a set of yukata (one set is included Yukata itself, geta (Japanese wooden sandals) and obi). Woohoo !

See ya on the next post !

xx,

Shabrina

Hiratsuka Tanabata Festival

Went to Hiratsuka, 30 minutes by train from my dorm, on Saturday along with Maru-chan, Asuka-chan and Mi-chan, we spent hours of joy walking along the streets in Hiratsuka, and of course with big smiles attached on our face :) I think I couldn't be happier spending my time with them that day! <3

Arrived in Hiratsuka Station at 4 p.m and the street was so crowded
with the-so-excited-people to attend the festival.

The tanabata wish tree

We were so excited gazing at those beautiful Tanabata Kazari (Tanabata Ornament) till we realized that we had reached the end of the street. Now let's satisfy our sweet tooth with Japanese street snacks! <3 

Kakigoori or shaved ice which is flavored with various syrup variants. 

It was so hot that day, so we decided to buy it also, since we can't help seeing so many people enjoying kakigoori! Yumm! 

The interesting part was when we chose the flavor. I put 4 kinds of flavors; grape, strawberry, calpis, and melon haha! can you imagine how it tasted? :p

Next, Mi-chan and I bought the long waffle stick. Mi-chan chose vanilla flavor, and I chose the choco one! 400 Yen for each ;)

still about Mi-chan and I, we bought yaki-pasta. It was so cheap, 100 yen/cup :D

We stopped by for awhile every time we enjoyed our snacks and then continue to walk again to grab the others. I'm sure going to a festival like this will spoil your diet, no lie! haha

Now Maru-chan's turn. Takoyaki! who doesn't like this tasty  squid balls, huh?

Well, while Maru-chan was enjoying her takoyaki, Mi-chan and I (period!) bought the giant Jaga-bataa or buttered potato. And ended up we both were so stoked (for sure).

the left one was Mi-chan's and mine is the right one with corns. Yumm...

500 yen each

Despite our fully loaded stomach, we kept going down the street.. happily! :D

hiyashita kyuuri (the chilled cucumber). Looking tasty! ::drool::

Karaage (deep-fried chicken). Mi-chan bought this, anyway :D

Ringo-ame (apple sweets, so the apples were coated with sugar and to be enjoyed like lollipop). It's interesting that they shaped like Mickey's head :D

Anpan-man and Kitty-chan Castella (sponge cake)

The chilled pineapple. We bought this! :D sooo yummy.

Character shaped candies. Maru-chan bought the Pooh shape one :D

Okay, let's walk again.. 

I don't know what their names are, but those characters are so popular in Japan since I way too often see them in the stores, streets, and almost everywhere in public.

Kin-gyou scooping game. Finally could watch it right in front of my eyes since I was only able to watch it through Chibby Maruko-chan anime or the other Japanese animations :D

so happy!

The day was getting darker, till we decided to get back to the first street where we aimed to see tanabata kazari again that was said to be sparkling beautifully at night.

it's written "tanabata matsuri"

Well, we had reached the end of the street which means our journey in Hiratsuka has ended up safe and sound (and still with the stoked belly, haha). It was a really fun day, we spent for about 4 hours together. Summer heat is coming near already, and I'm so excited to enjoy numbers of festival in Japan. Oh, and I'm diggin' to wear Yukata as well! Hoping that every thing will run well during my first summer time in Japan, and I'm going to be fasting since tomorrow. I can't be more vibrant right now, so excited to welcome my first Ramadhan in Japan :> 

And here's the video for you! Enjoy, and don't forget to leave your comments! <3

                     

xx,

Shabrina