Ok, went to the Chofu Hanabi Taikai tonight. Oh, yeah, kinda getting numb to the same thing each time...thousands of people oooohhh-ing and ahhhh-ing to the same exploding firework that looks like Hello Kitty or a heart, or looks like that kid in high school who had acne on top of the wall of acne covering his face. Still, it's hanabi, lotsa drunks, lots of cute girls, lotsa Yaks selling food that I'm hoping works it's way through my intestines without too much pain.
Learned something tonight.
Yaks, or Yak-related stands were selling beverages (soda, ocha, etc) ffrom 250 to 350 yen for what can be found at any conbini for 150 yen. Nice mark-up. Found the sponsors (Domino's & Coca-Cola) were selling the same drinks for the same 150 yen. Now, do I support J-organized crime or multi-national companies of dubious intentions? I went with what left more money in the wallet after purchase.
After the planned explosions began, there was an announcement. Poor little Kaori-chan was lost and her parents could find her by station 3 or 5 or whatever. They ended up repeating this every ten mnutes up until the end of the hanabi. Guess mom and dad were digging the alone time or that Kaori had possibly just gotten kicked out of the nest.
After tonight's event, Kaori would be given a stale Yak-made Hiroshima okonomiyaki and placed in foster care. In 12-15 years, she and her first boyfriend would go to their first hanabi taikai together. When the first starburst exploded, Kaori would have a flood of repressed memories come back all at once, suffer a complete breakdown, resulting in permanent catatonia.
Hoping the Edogawa Taikai on Aug. 1st can match the "illumination" that tonight's Chofu taikai provided.
