blackrose_weirdo

Random Freaky Things You Should Know About The Blogger

1.Thinks that all inanimate objects have feelings, especially electrical appliances. Why else do you think they broke down?

2. Will not talk to strangers, but will be more than happy to greet all cats/dogs/birds/iguanas on the street

3. Never spends more than RM50 on a single item when shopping, unless if it's meant to be priced above RM50 (e.g. baju raya)

4. Will not text/ym/skype/fb anybody on her friends list first unless if it's really important, or unless if she's crushing on that person

5. Has a laptop named Kikirara Shoten, or Kiki, which she regarded as her own younger sister

6. Talks to herself when going out alone, commenting on the price of things, the hideous design of the clothes on sale, complaining why people stare at her, etc...

7.Is willing to survey all shops on the shopping complex before making her final decision on which thing to buy

8. Despite that fact, she's still a compulsive buyer

9. Finds geeks/nerds as interesting. Hence Sheikh Mohamad Faisal whatever.

10. Is fascinated with the way people who make hideous clothes think

11. Is fascinated with the way people who make embarrassingly awkward TV commercials (Balang Kuih Are Wanted Rose/Minyak Kelapa Dara Bio-Asli/ Minyak Angin TYT/Coco Pie) think

12. Is quarter-deaf. Has difficulty in understanding spoken words

13. In spite of that, she could listen to indirect conversations/gossips without any problem

14. Has black-and-white syndrome. A person with this condition views that only black and white items stand out from the rest

15. Started composing songs at the age of 10. Started performing her own songs at the age of 12, during her primary school's Majlis Penyampaian Hadiah something

16. Finds herself attracted towards emo guys/girls and cutters

17. Hates guys who approach girls by making catcalls/ using lines such as "Hai awak, sorang je ke?", "Awak, awak ni cute la", "Hai awak, boleh saye teman?", "Hai, sape name?Leh mintak no tepon?" etc

18. Because of that, she wishes for all guys to have nineteenth century manners/ immense gallantry

19. Wears a sour and unfriendly face when going out alone to avoid said catcalls

20. Injuries, including cutting injuries, actually give her goosebumps

21. Loves pale lips looks, achieved by putting a small amount of foundation on the lips

22. Never missed voting on DJmag's Top 100 DJs Poll since 2004

23. Never missed voting for Paul van Dyk on the said poll since 2004

24. Loved Backstreet Boys at the age of 8, and Linkin Park at the age of 10

25. Has a collection of Baskin-Robbins spoons and Secret Recipe receipts

26. Has a total of 26 fangirling obsessions

27. Will not like the most popular character in a movie/book/manga. Example Robert Pattinson/Edward Cullen

28.Secretly believes that Raphael Adams exists

29. Is very interested in traditional Malay music/arts

30. Puts a sachet of rose fragrance under her pillows. Try it - it makes your hair smells real good

31. Loves to comment/criticize while watching Malay movies/teledrama

32. Finds sadomasochism highly interesting >:P

33. Despite loving psychedelic trance to death, most of her composed songs are ambient/house music

34. Judges guys by their names. Loves guys with angelic names (Raphael, Raziel, Mikhail, Gabriel, Ariel, Nathaniel)

35. Is a part of the minority most of the time, except when it comes to buying shoes every 3 months

36. Comes up with new theories every week (known as Fatimah's Theory)

37. Strongly believes in modern medicine (hence pharmacy) but finds it bothersome to take medicine

38. Changes her trademark regularly. At one time it's Sekian Harap Maklum, and now it's alrighty

feel free to add anything that I've missed here

blackrose_happiness

nothing beats two lolita bffs with something in common...

(pix from Miss Lumpy)

Some while ago (short term memory loss...can't remember when~~) our ESLS teacher gave us another essay task. This time it's an individual work. Horrors coz I'm disintegrating - the last essay proved everything. Anyways that's not my point now, my point lies in the choice of topics she gave us. One was about the causes of happiness, the other being the effects of obesity, the rest were regarding illiteracy and poverty, which was soo not my thing. At first I was planning to do that happiness thingie, but considering that I was never entirely happy, either with myself or with others (talk about pessimism... "Everything's plastic...we're all gonna die anyway" - Elizabeth Wurtzel in Prozac Nation), I decided that I was not in the position of writing such essay. After all, what do I know about happiness anyway? Most of the time it'll be that adrenaline/dopamine/serotonin rush I got when I accidentally/deliberately cut myself, but I'm sure Miss Albita won't accept that as a legitimate point. So I chose obesity. Haha.

Leana chose that happiness topic. And she told me something that has struck me deep in my heart. Not that she hurt my feelings or anything, but her point reminded me of something. Myself. Her point was "being on common ground makes us happy".

(is the preposition correct? told you I'm disintegrating)

Undisputable. Being on common ground makes you happy. When you're in a group of like-minded people, you will feel a lot happier. If you can find something in common with that person you've just met yesterday, chances are your relationship will go far. People with more or less the same experience in life will become more understanding towards each other. Despite being grounded for a week by your parents, you can still feel happy because your other self-mutilating friends will always be there for you, giving encouragement while they watch you cut yourself live via webcam (NOT my own experience!!). Simply put, people feel better when they're included; when they know that they won't be put aside for not having anything in common with the people they are conversing/dealing with.

When you and your friends love, say, Evanescence, you could spend the whole day (week?) listening to their songs, make amateur reviews about Call Me When You're Sober, imitating Amy Lee's looks or arguing about whether the band is a goth band or an emo band. When your friend loves Super Junior while you indulge yourself in David Guetta (he's a house music DJ/producer in case you don't know), you'll find yourself wishing that David Guetta has as big a fanbase here in Malaysia as SuJu's. You can always talk about David with your friend, but chances are he/she would prefer to hear you babble about David Archuleta instead. Which you would not, considering that you listen to house music. Worse, when everyone in your class love Super Junior yet none of them love the said house music DJ David, you'll end up lost in the middle of their merry conversation about all 13 members of the group. (All scenarios do not reflect real events)

And later you'll develop an illusion of being rejected by the crowd. Which would be bad coz being social animals, humans love to be a part of a group, or an organisation.

So what would you do when you can't find anything in common with the people around you (around you means people you can get access to/meet with, not some strangers from chatrooms or forums)? Stay emo and cut yourself? Tell the whole world you are alone and nobody understands you? Choose to be what you are and face the risk of being alienated? (These sound familiar to you? Don't answer)

Most of us would automatically adapt, trying to 'fit in the crowd' by immersing ourselves into whatever heck those people were enjoying. When you're the minority you have little choice but to do so. But this poses the risk of losing your 'identity', making you look like 'just another stereotypical girl/boy among stereotypical people'.Therefore, those who are unbearably stubborn in terms of self-identity might want to consider 'infecting' the majority by exposing them to any curiosities you are getting into. Compared to the former, this has proven to be extremely difficult, especially when the 'victims' fall under the unbearably stubborn group as well. Can't fit either one? Then the only option left would be sinking yourself down to the endless pit of loneliness. You listen to your own types of music, watch your own types of movies, wear your own types of clothes, have random conversation with random people on the Web, all the while complaining about not having people to actually understand you ('understand' is a very hyperbolic word, please bear in mind).

Not that I'm trying to tell you that two or more people with nothing in common can't be good friends, but it's just that people feel happier when they have like-minded friends around (some exceptions apply, especially for those bizarre types whose hobby is to get the most random set of friends possible. Believe me, there are people like that). For those without common grounds, intimacy/close bonds can still be formed, but often compromise is needed to ensure that the relationship lasts longer. Some people prefer like-minded friends than friends with less affinity, but this doesn't mean that you have to be dumped by your bff just because you enjoy Malay novels while she and her other friends love Twilight Saga (again, just an example).

As for me, I personally believe that one should find that said common ground within his or her community/network, and make him/herself feel included within that niche so as to avoid cutting. No, wrong. I would opt for that sink into the bottomless pit of loneliness whatsoever thingie, but since it's not an entirely good thing to do (especially when you're refraining yourself from doing cutting again), I would try and find that common ground. Wherever/whatever it is.

So let's all find our common ground and live a happier life together XD

blackrose_influenza

So the big event has arrived. The parade of the A (H1N1) virus, right here at our beloved INTEC. When you're an aspiring virotoxicologist (the study of toxic effect of viruses in humans - I made that up but I would like to make a thesis on that) you tend to view this with amazement. Wah, so the deadly virus, close companion to Ebola, beloved sister of Spanish Flu, is now so close to me. How interesting.

(I am not that crazy/obsessed to let myself be infected with it, anyway)

Thanks to that infamous virus, all UiTM branches were forced to be closed, sending us students for a quarantine at home. This very abrupt news broke out yesterday, barely after I've finished making plans for my going back home next forthnight. And it was very abrupt that I had immense difficulty on believing it, due to the informal method used to relay the message (Zetty my housemate: Tim, kite kne balik ah! INTEC kne kuarantin! Me [just awake from my beauty nap]: Tipu ah [continues sleeping]).

I didn't mind going home, really. I've been planning to do so anyway. But how the hell am I going to buy a Shah Alam-JB bus ticket within such a short time?????

So I planned to buy the ticket this morning, along with Linda. Failed to analyse the severity of the whole situation of people rushing to go home, we went to Ole-Ole and had some karaoke sessions (wanna go bowling but the place was damn packed). Only at 11.30 am did we manage to leave Section 18 for the bus station. And as expected, tickets were sold out everywhere.

Dang.

So, panic-stricken, I searched for any ticket counter selling tickets to JB. Dragging along my berat-cam-anak-gajah (heavy-as-a-baby-elephant) bag, I began my quest for the valuable Willy Wonka ticket. Asked the people behind the counter, "Tiket bas ke JB hari ni ade lagi x?"

Counter 1: "Hari ni sampai Isnin habis la dik"

Counter 2: Ditto

Counter 3: Ditto ditto

Counter 4: "Ade, tp kol 9 malam dik"

Counter 5:"Ade, kol 3 petang. Nak tak?" (Yes of course la kak! Thank God!)

Alrighty, so I got da 3pm ticket, and it was barely 12 noon. No big deal? Maybe, if I'm taking the bus from Terminal 1 (I could like, go window shopping or something). But what the heck am I going to do at Shah Alam bus station, a place where the only window shopping you could get involves staring at shelves of Twisties, refrigerators of soft drinks, an avian cage with doves and a little yellow ayam serama chick (comeyyyyy), myriads of counters selling tickets to Kelantan, and various lauk kampung for lunch?

Ah hell. It's better than not getting any tickets at all anyway. Shou
ld not grumble and always thank God for His mercy and blessings. Humhum.

So yeah, back to the question. How am I supposed to spend the excruciating 3 hours before the arrival of the bus? I am sooooo not going to sit there and let myself collapse from heat stroke. Then suddenly, Subconscious provided me a solution. Hey, it's the bus station. And INTEC's just across the road. Why don't you go and have some fun in the deserted INTEC library and get yourself some hypothermia-inducing air-conditioner, Maya? Subconscious, you're ingenious!

And so that leads to this situation:

(it's H1N1 season so it's only appropriate for me to read something related to virotoxicology - um, I mean, viruses...)

I really love that library. It has all kinds of books you could think of. It even has toxicology books ohmigod! And the air-cond is damned cold! And I get to check my Facebook with my faithful laptop there! I was right, Subconscious, you are ingenious! Even though I had to suffer some mild awkward moments going there with the rattling sounds of my luggage trailing with me, it was worth the effort. And finally after I decided that I'd had enough of the books, the WiFi and the hypothermial air-cond, I returned to the bus station and wait for a few more minutes for the arrival of the JB bus...

JB, my beloved homeland, here I come!

Oh wait. Forgot something. Where is my mask????

blackrose_bahasa jiwa bangsa

Aku suke tol menipu orang. Kali ni aku tipu korang ngan tajuk blog aku.

Sure korang pelik, nape aku tetibe tulis dalam BM ni? (alrighty, bukan Kamus Dewan punye BM, tapi still leh paham kan?) Narnye xde reason pun, saje2 jek. Cam best la pulak ngimol dlm BM SMS ni. Lagipun aku xnak certain people yang hanya leh paham BI tp xleh phm BM bace post yang ni n terase la hape la (xyahla tanye aku sape diorang). Hati orang mesti dijage, tu satu akhlak yang mulia.

Btw ingat x last post aku yang sal eclipse bagai uh? (kalo xingat leh skrol bawah...dipersilakan...) Post yang ni didedikasikan untuk mengexplain (aku suke gune word hybrid camni) part yang last skali uh. Simply put:

Aku dah clash

Bukan niat di hati nak promote kat orang or membukak iklan bagi single guys yang lain mencarik teman idup diorang, tapi aku rase sangat terpanggil untuk mengimol something pasal tuh kat blog aku. After all, blogs are for expressing your thoughts, d-oh.

Problems started mase gerhana matahari bulan 1 aritu (26 Jan, see last post). Malam lepas gerhana tu, aku dapat mesej kat fs dr sorang makhluk Allah dari I**q ni, die kate die sangat tertarik sebab aku ngan die banyak persamaan. Dari mesej kat fs, kitorang progress to YM pulak.

Dipendekkan cerite la kan, pas beberapa minit kitorang chat (aku tak tipu n ni bukan hiperbola macam aku bese buat tu), tetibe die tanye aku soklan cepu emas, iaitu "Do you have a boyfriend?" Aku yang terlalu jujur ni pun jawabla no, walhal tyme tu aku masih digantung tak bertali. Pas lame2 tu, die progress lagi ke next stage (bile orang dah tanye ko ade lover ke tak, mmg nampak sangat la wey yang die ade niat lain uh). Next stage die ialah dengan bertanyekan pada aku "Will u be my girlfriend?"

Hambik ko.

Aku mintak mase 2 hari. Lemme think about that first. Soal ati dan perasaan bukan leh wat main2, or so aku berhujah. Bodo x bodo uh, mintak 'thinking time' 2 ari jek? Gile. Lepas ari tu hari2 kitorang YM. Dalam jangke mase 2 ari tu jugak r die xputus2 tanye aku dah wat decision ke blom. Tengok r, blom ape2 lagi dh tunjuk pushing attitude die uh.

Dan sebab rase rimas kne push constantly, aku jawab yes.

Bodo kan?

Memule memang r excited. Sebab die perkenalkan diri die cam seorang Victorian dark count something tau tak, ngan genteel manners die bla bla. So naturally, I was attracted (baru attracted, huh). Susah nak jumpe guy yang ade characteristics cam Raphael (well not exactly cam Raphael, tp adela sket2. Not in terms of looks, but in personality). Apparently die ni bercita-cita nk jadik animator, sbab die sangat suke games n animations (esp the ones with blood and gore, and fighting stuffs). I said okay, fair enough. I don't judge people based on their interests. Die kate susah nak jumpe girl cam aku yg interested in bende2 yang same cam die (back then la. Aku dah lame x update fs profile aku, so mase die bace sal aku tu die ngah tengok aku pade mase Form 3, n tyme tu aku still lg into KOF la, Street Fighter la, Castlevania la...). Mmg so flattered la bile ade org puji aku ni tu la ni la, kate aku beautiful la (itu sumer hanya tipuan. I'm not beautiful dammit).

Tapi bile lelame, aku rase len macam. Die cam terlalu obsessed kat aku lak. Hari2 soh online, kalo xonline die sms "why don't u online?". Hari2 mintak gambo la, voice recording la, video la. Hape mamat ni, bisik hati kecilku (cheh). Bile dah slalu aku rase rimas la pulak. Bese r aku ni xsuke dipakse/di-push, so bile ade orang push aku sure r aku beng tol x tol x??? Lagi satu aku anti, aku xsuke tol bile mak bapak/siblings taw yg aku ngah bercintan cintun ngan bf aku, but he seemed like wanting to tell da whole world about it. Malu n awkward weyh!

Oh, aku ade mention x yang die nak gile kahwin ngan aku? Kahwin, as in, lafazkan akad nikah, jadik suami aku, rukun nikah, tanggungjawab suami isteri, bla bla...?OMG!@!!%$^%&^*%$#$

Kemuncak segale2nye adalah mase satu malam tu, aku YM ngan die, n tetibe die tanye soklan cepu emas lagi. Since die mati2 ingat aku mmg nak kahwin ngan die (which I'm not tp aku trpakse gak ckp yes sbb nak jage ati die), die expect aku akan bukak segale rahsia aku kat die gaknye. Watafeck??Aku cakap yang aku ni secretive, tp die pakse gak. Die pakse aku open up for him n tell him aku pnye darkest secret (die ckp "i won't push u, but please consider bla bla"). Like hell la wey. Mak bapak aku pn xtaw, nikan nak gtaw this single stranger? Gi mam. Sejak ari tu, aku ngan die dh mule jdk renggang (dh lame dh narnye. Tp aku pendam)

Sampaila eclipse 22 July 2009, a fateful day in our relationship. Aku realize yang selame ni aku hanya berpura-pura. Aku xcinta pn kat die (not anymore at least), but it took me almost 3 to 5 months to realize n to tell da truth. What took me so long?

AKU KESIAN KAT DIE!!!!

I believe that life is like a courtroom. It should be fair all the time. So aku rase xfair la kalo die gegile sayang aku, wat tu wat ni, korban tu korban ni, tp aku wat cm susu dibalas tuba plak. Kalo tuba okey lg, tp besenye as a toxicologist aku curah cyanide jek trus. Oleh hal yang demikian aku pun paksela diri tok bertahan, but later I realized that aku xleh nak selamenye jage ati/ikut kehendak orang. I have a life of my own too. I don't wanna be confined to the tangled strands of fake love. I just wanna be free. And I hate pretending (tp napela aku slalu wat?hmmm).

So aku ngan berat ati (sambil menyalahkan diri sendiri) mintak cerai (remember, aku dh jadik 'bini' die).

Of course la die xnk trime, n salahkan bff aku plak, tp pastu ngan senangnye die ckp bye.

Dammit, why make me feel damned guilty??????????????????

Seriously aku ckp, sampai skarang aku rase guilty n rase it's unfair for him, but what can I do? Xkan aku nak terus menerus seksa hati aku sendiri (seb bek aku xwat self-mutilation taw)? Xkan aku nak berterusan tipu die n tipu diri sendiri? Xkan aku nak jeopardise future aku? Ne taw t aku leh jumpe laki yg wayyyyyy better? Xkan aku kne selamenye jage ati orang len, walhal ati aku sndiri xterjage? Cmane kalo kitorang btol2 kahwin? Sanggup ke aku tinggal ngan lelaki yg aku xcinte forever, n pretend aku sayang die for the rest of my life? Sblm aku cerai lpas dah nikah, bek aku 'cerai' sekarang. Ni for his sake jugak. Makin lame simpan, kalo satu ari t kantoi, makin dahsyat collateral damage die. So bek aku stop skarang.

I'm sorry I have to be that selfish. But I just wanna be free.

So, from the eclipse it started, from the eclipse it also ended.

blackrose_eclipse

No, not Twilight Saga Eclipse (despite the Jasper fangirling mode that I'm in this week

The arrival of the new moon (refer to 'When Is The Next Full Moon' gadget) also marked the arrival of the second solar eclipse in 2009. Being a freaky Goa/psychedelic trance enthusiast that I am, I've been waiting for this event since eons ago. The last solar eclipse, on January 26th 2009, was a partial annular solar eclipse so it lacked the darkness-y elements as only 96% of the Sun was blocked (okay so 96% is kinda a lot, but there's nothing significant about the surrounding of that day - Sun was still shining brightly). The 22nd July solar eclipse, on the other hand, was a total one. which was cool coz when you have total solar eclipse, people would start to mutter words like darkness, evil, bad omen, Damien, 666, doomsday, retinal burns from staring at the sun without proper eye protection, etc. Like, sooo Maya Arielle (minus the retinal burns part lah).

Only one thing, though. I was not able to witness the phenomenon with my very eyes, thanks to the fact that I'm currently living in Malaysia and Malaysia is not located on the umbra. Well, there would always be the partial solar eclipse, but d-oh, that's like, so not darkness-y (watched January 26th partial eclipse at home. I knew the feeling. No darkness whatsoever). To make things worse, it was raining barely half an hour before the actual eclipse started, obstructing any possible spheric form of the Sun from view. Even if it's not raining, I was in my Biology class at the time of occurence. What do you expect - me walking straight towards the lecturer in front, asking for an excuse to walk away and witness the solar eclipse, telling him "I am a freeky lunatic psychedelic trance devotee, and it's eclipse so I have to do my ritual eclipse dance, so that I'm able to be one with the Universe and posssibly gain access to next year's Full Moon Festival in Germany"? And then expect the lecturer to mouth off something that rhymes with "what the muck"?

So no eclipse. Hell yeah. Gone was my reputation as a psychedelic trancer.

But hey, there's always YouTube so I can still imagine myself doing meditation (not yoga - yoga haram doh) at Anjuna Beach, Goa while waiting for the peak event to happen.

Doh. Talking about eclipses and India, I suddenly remembered something. Total solar eclipse marks a very emotional phase of my life. From the eclipse it started, from the eclipse it also ended. WTF am I babbling about? Read the next post coz I'm too twisted to put everything here. Mwahahahaha.

(the next solar eclipse will be on January 15th 2010. Annular - very beautiful - but I doubt that we in Malaysia will be able to view it. T_T)

blackrose_minipost

like, very mini

turns out that i am not the only one obsessed about inferiority-superiority

will explain more later

oh i just love self-hate

what's wrong with me?????

there you go, ladies and gentlemen, my minipost on obsessions.

i should stop this.mwahahahahahaha (Marquis de Sade mode)

blackrose_bon odori!!!!!

OMG

OMG!!!!!!!!!

One fateful day my friend from the Diploma Kejuruteraan Jepun (her name is Shafienaz, thank you) started one fateful conversation. It was something like this:

Fify: Tim (kantoi name btol), do you know about Bon Odori?
Me: Of course I know that one! I'm dying to go there!

Fify: Wanna go there? It's on the 18th of July. Heard that INTEC will provide a bus to go there.

Me: NANI???????? (random Japanese words followed later)

I AM SOOOO GOING TO BON ODORI!!!!!!

It turned out that INTEC did provide a bus to go to Panasonic Sports Complex, hence saving my RM2 worth of bus fare (okay, so it's just RM2, but I can buy one ikan keli with that. Life is hard without allowances T_T). Initially planned to go there with Nemo and Fatin, but ended up going with Linda, Fatin and Oura instead (the two made a last-minute decision, while Nemo decided that a beauty nap is better than a Nihon festival).

By the time we reach there, the place was already packed with people.

Sugoi! I was like, am I really attending a Bon Odori Festival????OMG!!! It's been a part of my dream since, what, four years ago? And now I'm able to brag in front of my bro, telling him "Akak dah pegi dah Bon Odori [menacing laughs]". How sugoi was that?

Being compulsive buyers that we all are (despite the absence of JPA allowance money), we headed straight to the Japanese product booths. 6 pm at that time, we had like 1 hour to go before the real event starts, so might as well get something to eat. Or drink (not sake or Asahi beer!).

So the Sushi King booth became our first victim.

the RM4 crabmeat sushi. Jusco's was rm1 each, but what do you expect from Sushi King?

Linda and Oura. Linda's first sushi experience?

everybody say "Oishii!!!"

Food was okay, but the price turned us down. I would especially love to eat an unagi bento set, but for RM6? No thank you. Iie, arigatou (direct translation). One cup of ice cream can cost up to RM5, and two cute balls of mochi costed RM2. A bowl of ramen costed RM10 (yet people were waiting in long queues for it). I was dying for some dango and takoyaki, but there's too many people at the booth. So all of us had to do with nasi lemak for dinner (like, very ironic. You go to a Japanese matsuri to eat nasi lemak for dinner????).

others prefer unagi bento, but whaddaheck, nasi lemak rulezzz!!!

Apart from eating and 'shopping' (told you we're compulsive buyers), another favourite among us is to snap pictures with people in yukata...

sweet Japanese family ^^ awwww

we 'kidnapped' this girl while her mother went to buy some ice cream...smthg..

...And also with a Gothic Lolita (hello sister!!!) [note that at Bon Odori you are not advised to wear cosplay/Decora/Gosurori/Alice Auaa/Moitie/Algonquins/h.naoto Blood so as to respect the Japanese ancestors and their traditions. But the Gothic Lolita was cuuuuute!!!]

the gothloli's not at the centre. She's at the far right

cool plushie. Hangry or Angry?

And then, the best part would definitely be the Bon Odori Dance! We only managed to join the second part of the dance, but it was something not to be forgotten of. Fancy Parapara-ing to traditional Japanese songs? Then Bon Odori is the place to be! (You know me rite; that Parapara was an exaggeration).

hai!!!!let's parapara!!!!

It's a pity that our dance was cut short (very short indeed, we only managed to follow one-sixth of the second part dance T_T), coz someone (president of INTEC's Japanese Club I guess) told us we were required to go back at 8.30pm. But despite the short duration of our first Bon Odori experience, I dare say that it's one of the best things I've ever had in my life!

Who's going with me for next year's Bon Odori?