Fireworks and Fried Potato

Friday was a night filled with unexpected fun and amusement. We were invited to a fireworks festival at Kamakura beach, and it was amazing how many people were there. The main street leading to the beach was closed down in order to accommodate the crowd. A majority of the people were in their yukadas (summer kimonos), and because of all the beautiful patterns I saw that night, I am now in search of one of my very own. Next time we get invited to a festival, Mike and I want to try to look just as good as Kazuho and Rich in their outfits.

The first thing we did when we got to the festival was taste some of the food from the various food vendors that were lining the sidewalk. Our favorite, hands down, was the fried potato. First they took a jumbo-sized potato and dunked it in some batter. Then it was fried in a big vat of oil. Finally, it was cut into more manageable pieces and for the finishing touch... about half a stick of butter (or so it seemed) was placed on top. We all had to share this one- there was no way one person could've eaten this whole thing...unless they were looking for a heart attack.









After carbo-loading on the potato, we headed for the sand and took a walk on the beach. We saw some interesting things while on the beach, but the highlight for the night had to be the naked Japanese guy who was dared by his friends to dive into the ocean in his birthday suit. We do have a picture of that, thanks to Mike, but I'm a bit wary of putting that on the blog. Instead, these pictures of us hanging out will have to do...

The girls









The guys









Swept off my feet with a little peek-a-boo hello from Kazuho.





After all that fun, we're determined to try to find all the fireworks festivals that are left before summer's end. Too bad we didn't discover these fireworks festivals until now when summer's almost over. Oh well, there's always next summer...