Summer Fireworks 2006

As I've mentioned earlier, this post will contribute to the summer fireworks I have been to this year.

弟18回なにわ淀川花火大会
(The 18th Naniwa Yodogawa Fireworks)

The first one was on August 5, 2006 in Osaka, when Oh was still in Kansai. 8 of us took off from Kyoto in the afternoon to make it to Juso Station around 4.30 p.m. It was quite a long walk from Juso station to where we are sitting. We really are in debt to Poy, N'Bow and N'Tor who contributed great dedication to be in the heat reserving great spot for us since 2 p.m. (not to mention that fireworks start only a little bit before 8 p.m.!!!!) THANK YOU JA~~~.

Lotsa people in Yukata

N'Tor, Poy, Bow, Mai and Kee

P'Ton, Oh~, Nuch, Kuk, Tuck and Chua in the crowd.

Finally the fireworks started!! It was very grand, I have to say. We got to exercise our neck a lot. Geez, nearly had to lie down on the ground to be able to view the whole thing!!

from Kee's camera

my work without a tripod (but with someone's head!! haha)

Since I don't have a tripod, I captured the display in VDO files...

the one with Doraemon

look at how crowded it was!

We had to walk more than 30 minutes to catch a train home from Umeda, the terminal station. We didn't think we could have squeeze into any trains otherwise. But it was a good chance to witness that sweet daddy on the train. :)

2006びわ湖大花火大会
(Biwako Fireworks Festival 2006)

Our second and my last firework for this season was the one at Biwa Lake, Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture. The event was actually scheduled for August 8, 2006, but dued to the effect of Typhoon#8, the event was postponed to August 11, 2006 instead. This time I went with P'Ton, P'Nha and P'Ni and reached there around 4 p.m. Good thing it was not called up again cuz it was slightly raining in the afternoon.

There weren't that many people as I expected, BUT there were a lot of empty mats people used to reserve space!! Argh! (one of them has "xxxx reserves for fireworks on 8/8" written on it!! -- ah... meaning that mat has been there since before 8/8?!?!) But oh well, we managed to grabbed a tiny empty space inbetween those reserved mats. In fact, one of those mats was half blown out of place. Lucky enough, the people reserving the space didn't show up, so we ended up owning that mat for our own. hee hee. (Of course, there were a few people joining us too.=P)

lotsa self properly reserved space

Biwako yukata atmosphere

P'Ton, P'Nha and P'Ni (please excuse me for not choosing proper lighting option!! m(_ _)m )

the firework was about to start

The fireworks here weren't as grand in size as the ones in Osaka. But I think individual fireworks here had their own charm. Some of them looked alike mixed flower bouquet.

flower bouquet

Biwako firework 2006

The magnificant ones were definitely the ones playing with the water reflection. One of my favourite ones was the fan shape fireworks which I could capture in VDO below.

Fan shape fireworks

After joining these firework festivals, I came to realize why Japanese always beat the crowd to see these things! I surely will find chance to see them again the following years! :)

Oh in Kansai

Okie doke... It's OH's time :)

Oh and I have been friends since junior high and we still keep very close touch now. She's about to finish her iMBA course from Thammasat University. And since her course is a Japanese Track, the whole program came for business study in Tokyo for 2 weeks. Riding on that chance, Oh came to visit me and Palang in Kansai.

I've actually uploaded the full set of her trip to Kansai in my flickr album earlier. I'll just resummarize her trip, then.

Friday, August 4, 2006

Oh came in at 7 a.m. with a night bus from Tokyo. Dang... I haven't had to be up that early (5.30 a.m.) in a really long time!! But that made my day so long. haha.

Anyways, after Oh dropping off her stuff at my place, refreshed a bit, then we took off touring Kyoto together. Our first stop was "Kitano Tenmangu Shrine", a shrine with famous god of education. A lot of students go there to pray for success in study.


Then, we moved to Oh's most wanted to see Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion.

trying to fit in the Japanese society. .. PEACE!! ￥（＾＾）￥

In the afternoon, we did a bit of shopping in Shijo and went to Higashiyama and Gion areas. I think we spent the most time in Kiyomizudera. Kiyomizudera is another world heritage temple in Kyoto. I personally like this temple a lot. We needed to climb up steep slope to go up the temple, but the architecture there is just amazing. This time we also swang by Jishu Shrine. What's famous about this shrine? --> GOD OF LOVE! hee hee.

There are 2 love stones as below....
(the 2nd one is the one in front of wooden signs in the far background)

what does it mean??

(results :: let's wait and see!)

the pure water, symbol of the temple

We continued walking down from Kiyomizudera through Higashiyama street and out Yasaka Shrine and into Gion.

Kyoto Atmosphere

unreal maiko-san

Oh~ walking down Gion street.

the real maiko-off-duty

Yummy greentea! :9

BBQ dinner party for Kee's party by Kamo River

Saturday, August 5, 2006

It was SOOOOOOOOOO HOT!!!!!! To make it a real Kyoto trip, Oh and I took a bicycle ride to Kyoto University and Heian Shrine. And just that, we were sunburnt! Argh!!

Kyoto University's Clock Tower and the Camphor Tree

The red Torii in front of Heian Shrine

In the afternoon, we went to Osaka with a whole bunch of Kyoto people to join a Firework by Yodo River (I will post another blog about summer fireworks later...)

On the way to the firework place.

Sunday, August 6, 2006

We went to KOBE! (yeah.. Kobe again.. hee hee... my 100th time this year, I think. =P)

Kobe Beef again. (This time I remember the name of the place! It's: Kawamura)

At weather cock tower, Kitano

Shopping in Sannomiya Shopping Street.

Chinatown

Kobe Tower

Our last stop was around Harborland. It was also the day for Kobe Thai Food Festival, so we stopped by for some food. Also, some sweets at Sweet Harbor right by where the festival was held.

P'Nha on duty.

Kobe night view with Palang

Oh's trip in Kansai ended here at Harbourland. Nice to have to you here na ja. It was sooooooooo hot, but I hope you enjoyed the trip na~~~. See you in Thailand ja~.