Lightning Show in Tokyo

Photo credit: tamegoeswild

Last night was crazy!

I was to meet my son, Zach, at Aeon Mall after work. I was sleeping inside the train (as always!) when a frightening sound woke me up. I looked around and saw the surprised and scared faces of the passengers. The train was still moving so I knew that there wasn’t any accident.

Then it came again…first a flash of light, then a sound which was so loud that for a moment, it felt as though my heart leapt out from my chest. Thunder! I looked out and it wasn’t raining. I checked my phone and the weather said that there won’t be any rain. Good!, I told myself. I didn’t have an umbrella with me. Then, another flash of light and that loud, cracking sound again.

Inside the bus, the thunder and lightning came nonstop. I was just about to fall asleep (again!) when I suddenly heard a continuous and a very loud rapid dripping sound from the roof of the bus. I looked out and there was heavy rain already. I got worried because I was just three stops away from where I will get off. Uh-oh, this isn’t good, my brain told me over and over again.

At my stop, I braced myself for the rain that was waiting for me the moment the door opened. I let out a shriek once I got off because the rain poured heavily on me. How heavy? It was like someone was continuously pouring a bucket of water over my head. So by the time I got to the mall (which was, by the way, just less than a hundred steps from the bus stop) by running, I was soaking wet.

To make the long story short, both Zach and I were soaking wet by the time we were home. Apparently, Zach didn’t bring an umbrella because he said, he checked the weather forecast on his phone and it says: 0% chance of rain. Yup, hooray to Iphone’s weather app for accuracy!

Maybe some of you might ask, why the hell didn’t we just buy an umbrella from the mall? Well for one, umbrellas inside that mall are freaking expensive! The cheapest is around 1,800 yen! Also, during our trip in Kawagoe a few days before, we already spent unnececessary yen just buying umbrellas which we never used. That story will come up on one of my blog posts soon.

Anyway, I have compiled some pics from last night’s lightning storm. They are so beautiful and scary at the same time. Nature can be so freakingly amazing sometimes.

photo credit: twitter @iyphotooffice

photo credit: twitter @KAGAYA_11949

photo credit: twitter @KAGAYA_11949

It is Wrong…

…to put all your knowledge on something;
you’ll end up being brain-drained

…to expect too much from anything;
you’ll end up disappointed.

…to rely too much on anybody;
you’ll end up frustrated.

…to put all your effort in a relationship;
you’ll end up exhausted.

…to put too much passion on things that matter most to you;
you’ll end up being taken advantage of.

…to put all that you have —body and soul included—on a love;
you’ll end up feeling that you will never be enough.

..to give all the love that you have to anyone;
you’ll end up getting hurt.

…to think that love is all that matters;
you’ll end up wondering, “Where the hell is love when I need it??”

But…is life not worth all these risks and pains?

Bon Odori Matsuri

It was an unusually cool August evening…it was the perfect timing for a Bon Odori Matsuri.

Bon Odori is a festival dance which is held in the evening during Obon. In the old days, Bon Odori is performed to welcome the spirits and to send them off again. The people danced while wearing a yukata to the beat of the flute and the Japanese drum called taiko. But nowadays, Bon Odori is usually done as part of the summer festivities of the towns or villages.

My son, Zach, and I went to a Bon Odori in our neighborhood this evening. At first, we were just walking around, trying to find something to eat from the stalls that were aligned in the different corners of the place. They held the festival inside a big bamboo park.

After munching on some popcorn, we lined up for yakitori. Yakitori are grilled chicken skewers. The sellers were volunteers around the community so these yakitori were home made. And I tell you, they are 100 times better and tastier than the commercial ones.

After we finished the yakitori and the cotton candy which Zach tasted for the first time, we decided to watch the festival dance.

There was a make-shift stage and the main dancers were on the stage while the people playing the taiko (Japanese drum) were on the upper most part of the stage.

Below the stage, the other dancers performed and guests such as ourselves were welcome to join.

The dancers were so lively that one will be enticed to join them. So I did! I danced with them for the last 30 minutes of the festival with Zach joining us later on. There was one very nice lady who taught the steps to us and to some Junior High School boys while we were doing the dance.

We definitely had fun and it was one of those moments when how I wished I can speak fluently in Japanese so I can tell the people there how much fun we had. But since I can’t, all I could utter, especially to our “dance instructor”, was a heartfelt Arigatou Gozaimashita!