Boom, boom, boom

My weekend adventures were pretty great, as far as weekend adventures go. Fireworks and chillin'. What more could I ask for?

When I accidentally left a little later than I intended, I thought it would make me a little late. However, I ended up arriving at the meeting place almost an hour late! Which was sort of okay because Matt was also late. (Even later than me!) Unfortunately, Tyler had already come and gone by that time, since we had no way of contacting him. I felt bad, but it's not like I could do anything about it.

So I met Matt's Japanese friend, Tomo, who'd been there since the actual meeting time, and we waited for Matt. He spoked da gooder Amurrcan then I didded Japanse. Jealous!

Matt arrived and we traipsed along to our destination.

It's at this point I feel I should point out I've been wearing sandals since I left my apartment for fireworks. I'm not used to wearing sandals while out and about. Flippy-floppies, to be exact. I couldn't make my feet walk "normal." It felt weird.

Soon enough, we were at our destination - a large field! The fireworks had just started, but Tomo's family was already there saving a spot with a large blanket. We found them, introductions were made, and the celebration began!

It was pretty rad.

We had edamame (soybeans) to munch on, and some sushi rolls to devour. I accidentally grabbed the nattou roll, but Tomo saved me just as I was about to take a large bite. Phew! Instead I ate a shrimp roll. It was ever so delightful!

The fireworks were pretty great, too, of course! I think it was literally the first time I've ever had a camera in my hands while watching fireworks. Which is strange, but I guess now that I think about it, not entirely unbelievable. At any rate, I thoroughly enjoyed taking a ton of pictures, and managed a few that I really like. Eventually I will upload them to my flickr, of course. Dial-up is slow!

The coolest part, though, was being surrounded by all the people in kimonos or yukata. (Honestly I can't tell the difference between the two, unless I look really close, so I'll henceforth refer to them all as kimono. Just know that yukatas are meant for more casual summer occasions - to keep cool. I have a feeling most of what I saw were kimonos.)

There was one adorable little girl in front of us who kept dancing in her pink kimono, with the large bow tied at her back. Adorable! Ohoho. I would've taken a picture, but that could have been construed as either creepy or super creepy, so I didn't. I think she was in one of my better pictures though... completely on accident, I swear!

Then it all ended.

We walked to the bus stop and waited in an obscenely long line that literally wrapped around itself, spiraling inward. But since we were less than 500 feet from Tokyo Bay and I could smell the beach and feel the ocean winds, I didn't care. I would've stayed there longer. Felt so good. Love it. The ocean. Love it.

But, alas, all good things come to an end. Tomo and his family waited with us, but it was only me and Matt who actually took the bus. It was a long and arduous trip, but I survived. Stayed the night at Matt's place, 'cause the next day was food day at Robert's. Aw, yeah.

TO BE CONTINUED AT MY OWN LEISURE