Kichijoji Festival!!!!

Okay, so I thought that I loved Kichijoji before. But I was wrong. I LOVE KICHIJOJI!! It is so artsy, filled with interesting shops, and has all these little secrets that you have to snoop around to find! It is so a great place to explore, and if you get bored with the main streets, take a back road, or go underground. It's a blast!

I went this Sunday night with a friend named Shin from my dorm. Shin helped me buy a bike in the afternoon, and asked if I had time to kill during the evening. We rode my new bicycle all the way to Kichijoji (taking back roads and hidden paths to avoid the police - two people riding one bike is illegal in Japan), and got there in about 20 minutes. For free!! I didn't have to buy a bus or train ticket! He showed me how to get to the park, zoo, basement shops, washoku (Japanese cuisine) restaurants, and we even caught the tail end of the matsuri! I told you that there is a festival going on everyday in Japan; this past weekend was Kichijoji's matsuri, and I got to be right in the middle of it!

I'm so in love with that city, that I've made a photo album for it.

Anyway, after all of that excitement, I was thuroughly lost and couldn't have gotten back to my bicycle if Shin wasn't there. I guess living in a city is the best way to know how to get around in it, but I'll just have to visit Kichijoji in order to do more exploring. On the way back to the parking lot, we bought steamed buns (soooooo delicious~~~) and Taiyaki, which was warm, adorable, and tasty.

I really need to get back to Kichijoji soon, but maybe I should practice riding my bike first. I know that people never forget how to ride, but I don't completely remember. Who knows? Maybe I'll be back by this weekend to get more steamed buns!

Taiyaki

Taiyaki (literally “baked sea bream”) is a Japanese fish-shaped cake. The most common filling is red bean paste that is made from sweetened azuki beans. Other common fillings may be custard, chocolate, or cheese. Some shops even sell taiyaki with okonomiyaki, gyoza filling, or a sausage inside.Taiyaki is made using regular pancake or waffle batter. The batter is poured into a fish-shaped mold for each side. The filling is then put on one side and the mold is closed. It is then cooked on both sides until golden brown. Taiyaki was first baked by a sweet shop Naniwaya in Azabu, Tokyo in 1909, and now can be found all over Japan, especially at food courts of supermarkets and Japanese festivals. They are similar to imagawayaki (今川焼き?), which are thick round cakes also filled with sweet azuki bean paste or custard.