Of Kimonos and Slitty Eyes...

Last Saturday was wicked, went down to the nearby Jaya Jusco at 7am to collect the latest Harry Potter book and i must say, this has to be the most shocking book of the series. Just when you thought you had it all figured out, BAM! J.K. Rowling smashes all your detective work into pulp of uselessness and then you clutch your head and say to yourself,"Damn".

That day also marked my first ever excursion to Bon Odori, a Japanese festival celebrating something i still do not know. Even the Japs there didn't know too. I first caught wind of its existence from a friend of mine way back when i was doing my diploma. He was known as Happy Chai and was a complete dimwit. And a nutter for anything Japanese. He asked me one day:

Happy Chai: Hey Clis, wanna go to Pon O Dolly?
I thought it was an invitation for a play of an obscene take on Hello Dolly.
Me: Huh?
A Friend: It's Bon Odori you dork.
Happy Chai: I said Pon O Dolly mah. Anyway, it is a Japaneese festiwal. Sure lot of chick wan. Come la.
Me: No thanks man. I've got errands to do. Err, you have fun. La.
Happy Chai: *crestfallen look* Okei.

Fast forward to last Saturday and voila! I'm driving on the Federal Highway heading towards Shah Alam. Went me and my family finally got into the stadium, i braced myself, for i was about to enter the realm of J-Pop, girls in tight uniforms and even tighter skirts, girls with pigtails the length of a pillar, boys trying to look cool with ludicrously spiky hair while possessing squeaky voices and for the penultimate, Raw Food. As i was making my way round the food stalls, i kept an eye out for any of my friends and of the many girls there. Of the former, i only saw one while the latter, well, my eyes were very much satisfied. My hunger however got angry. Not because i didn't do anything to quell but rather, the food sucked. Big time. Maybe it was because of the hands of unskilled Malaysians who were handling the makings of the food. Even the tea with 16 different types of tea leaves that cost me 5 bucks tasted like water with a pinch of salt. I dropped my RM5 omelette(managed to grab a small bite though) onto the grass and i threw away the rest of my RM5 noodles cos it sucked bad.

The atmosphere at the stadium end of the festival was bursting with life. All around me girls were giggling. I was ogling. The stage(which was in the middle of field) in which the performers will perform on was being set up and Japanese opera wailed from out the speakers like a banshee demanding for better sushi. After a while, a most un-Japanese thing happened; Avril Lavigne was now being blasted. WTF came to me faster than you can say "Kumbawa!".

By the time the official launch came most of the people had already congregated near the stadium to witness the performances. Then when the announcers said to take part in the dances, the people really took it to heart cos when the first move was performed, the crowd started to follow. Many of them laughed at themselves and their friends for executing the wrong moves. I laughed at them instead. The crowd got really worked when the second dance came on, it was more vibrant and fun. I thought surely a moshpit was gonna erupt soon. I got smelly armpits instead.

We left the place at around 8pm as we didn't want to get caught in the massive jam that was bound to occur later. As we were leaving, a group of old timers who called themselves The Hokkaido Soba Lovers Club serenaded the crowd with a special rendition of Rasa Sayang. It was more like Rasa Malang.

Beside the food being absolutely worthless, the whole festival was good. I personally didn't learn much other than i shouldn't eat RM5 omelettes while standing up. With chopsticks nonetheless.

I can't wait for next year.

Chris signing off...

PS: Jessica Alba >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> All the chicks at Bon Odori put together.