Sunday, April 20, 2008

himeji

Today we went to the Himeji Kashihaku. It is an expo for sweets! Apparently this event has been around for 100 years and the last one was held in Kumamoto. I had seen an ad for it last year, and told Satoshi that I wanted to go.It is about an hour and a half from Osaka to Himeji by train.

After a couple days of rain, we were worried about the weather, but it turned out to be a nice, HOT, day.

For 2000 yen (about US$20), you get admission to the event. The thing that I hate about events/fairs in Japan are the tons of people that show up. Almost all the areas had a waiting time of about 2 hours! (no fast passes, here!)

Who knew there were this many different kinds of castella?






Or this many different types of momiji manju (maple leaf manju)?


The nice thing about waiting in line was that you had great photo opportunities to take pictures of Himeji castle.



A lot of the attractions had "no photos" allowed, but heck, if I have to wait 2 hours to see it, I think I deserve to take a photo.

So take photos I did (as well as everyone else...)












By the time we got through seeing 2 attractions, it was 14:00, so we decided to find lunch. The problem was how long we wanted to wait to get some...we found a really short line for these. Tempura--a fishcake that is fried. We had some with tako (octopus), renkon (lotus root) & cheese.

After having "lunch" we debated standing in other 2-hour lines to see other things, but it was HOT and sunny, so we gave up and headed back towards the station.

We stopped into a department store for some coffee. Can you believe this family left their baby stroller which was borrowed from the department store right in the middle of the walk area, went into the cafe and had their coffee while everyone outside had to be careful not to flip over it? (sigh)

I had the coffee roll (400 yen about US$4). A light, fluffy coffee flavored cake covered with chocolate.

Though it was a hot day, filled with lots of people, and long lines, we were able to see all kinds of sweets from all over Japan.

Hope you have a great week!

8 comments:

bourgogne said...

aren't food shows the greatest? ('cept for the lines) good for you to take pix. i HATE when they don't allow them. i got a tiny camera that takes photos in very low light without a flash just for that reason :D

manju!

K and S said...

Bourgogne,

I actually told Satoshi to block me, just in case they bust me for taking photos, but after I saw everyone take out their cell phones, I knew I would be okay :)

Take care.
Kat

Stephine Yoshikawa said...

Ahh. I remember when I came back from Japan my ex-husband and I saw two people sitting on the curb in a pharmacy parking lot eating and we were soo disgusted. Then we realized we were in the Japanese thinking mode... haha... you'd almost never see that there and in the U.S. it's an everyday thing. Kinda like your stroller experience. :~>

K and S said...

Actually the younger generation has started eating in the parking lot of the convenience stores here, MHM. We were upset with the stroller because someone else had the courtesy to move it, when the family came out, they put their baby into the stroller and left without a thought!

Take care.
Kat

Parisbreakfasts said...

Love the birdie picture!
Of course you should ALWAYS take photos when they say do not.
I find it an extra incentive.
The stolen shots are the most fun.
Maybe I should paint my tiny bluebird on a branch...
What a nice idea :)
Merci

K and S said...

You could use the plum branch too, PB! :)

Take care.
Kat

ilingc said...

I was in Poland back in Feb and almost all of the attractions that we visited had an addition clause that requires you to 'pay extra' to take photos in the venue. How ridiculous is that?!
Actually, that is not as stupid as the one who paid to take it. Can you guess who?? LOL.

I do agree with your sentiments. I think I'd probably do the same - ie. take a photo or 2 secretly, especially if I had been waiting all day like you had.

K and S said...

Yipes, have to pay to take pics with my own camera?? You are too honest to pay!

Take care.
Kat